It started on Friday night while I was prepping dinner on our kitchen countertops. I was chopping vegetables, facing the family room so that I could watch the kids. Koa, on the other side of the countertop starts to climb on top, where I had a giant knife in my hand. Not wanting to cut him, I asked Martin to please grab Koa and set him down. Martin does, and Koa throws himself into his usual, blow out tantrum where he throws his back backwards as hard as he can. Unfortunately, poor Daddy was not expecting this, loses grip and down Koa goes, head first onto our hardwood floor. The sound was not good. Not to mention that from the mere shock of it, Koa, still conscious, stopped breathing and started to turn blue. Running over I blew into his face where all of a sudden he took a deep breath and let out a bad wail. We knew that this was a bad incident, so we decided to take him to the ER immediately.
Lucky for us Loma Linda Medical Center hospital just opened not too far from our house where after a few hours... and not to mention two rounds of sedation that did not work on Koa, and a CT scan, they deemed that Koa not only had a skull fracture, but he had some internal head bleeding that was pushing against the brain. So as a result, they would be transporting us to Loma Linda Children's Hospital STAT where he would be put into the Children's ICU and observed by their pediatric neurological team.
Talk about scary right?
Thank goodness for Lynn and Zac (as always!!) who came to our rescue and picked up Malia that night at midnight, all the way in Loma Linda, just so Daddy and Mommy could be with Koa. Also that same night and around the same time, Ong Thuc, Ninong Christian, Uncle Andy and Auntie Amber drove all the way out there to make sure that their little boy was doing ok. They sat with Mommy and Daddy in the Children's ER while we were waiting for a bed in the ICU. Thank God for Aunty Amber (who not only drove Malia home back from Burbank and kept watch with her and Uncle Christian) she helped calm Mommy's fears of the worst when it came to Koa's head injury. :)
The next morning, Koa was back to his silly, and naughty self. He flirted with his ICU nurse, asked for cookies and crackers, danced in his bed and played and high fived with his visitors who came to check on him. Lolo, Lola and even Uncle Choi came out also, all the way from Burbank to visit him in the ICU and even brought him a VERY nice surprise... a remote control car and double chocolate Oreos!!! I bet in Koa's head he was thinking, "I should land myself in the hospital more often!" He had a blast with each of them as they came in individually to check in on him. Even Aunty Amber came back once again that night to bring Koa another surprise... chicken nuggets and a chocolate shake from McDonald's! Yes, my friends... Kekoa was one LUCKY boy during his brief (but too long and scary for Mommy!) hospital stay!
Luckily, we've got a pretty resilient boy. He showed no signs of head trauma and no other indications of something more serious as he was playing in the ICU and dancing in his hospital crib. We did have a lot of tears, anxiety, and fear- yes from BOTH Koa AND Mommy! But my little boy recovered wonderfully. The swelling and bleeding had started to subside in less than 24 hours and they discharged him on Sunday afternoon. We have a follow up to make sure that he's healed nicely. But in the meantime, no jumping from heights, and no activities where he could fall and hurt himself more, like bike riding. Which is precisely what Koa did as soon as we got home... pretend he was Baby Knievel and start jumping off of furniture. *SIGH* Thank goodness for a good health insurance.
Koa in the Murrieta ER, with his "I'm a good patient stickers" prior to having an IV put into him :(
In the Children's Hospital Neurological & Cardiac ICU watching High School Musical on his own DVD player
Out of the ICU and in the Children's ward where he was laughing, playing and enjoying movies. He even took a walk around the ward and picked out some toys for himself. And what were his choices? Cars of course!
Mommy fixing his cast (which quickly became his new best friend for a little bit) that covered his IV so he wouldn't tinker with it
