March has many topics on the awareness front, but what is near and dear to my heart is Brain Injury Awareness. My son had an accident where at eight months of age he had two fractures to his skull. I had just dropped him off with a family member for the day and was heading to work. He managed to flip the chair in which he was eating breakfast in and hit his head on a ceramic tile floor.
I will spare you the details and scariness in between, but this required a scan in which they wanted him put under for, thankfully there was no brain bleed, but we stayed in the hospital for observation where my baby slept in what looked like a jail-type crib. I had never been so frightened in all of my life.
The people from the Brain Injury Alliance were given my information and they sent magazines monthly and called to talk about how my son was doing. The most difficult part of this situation was not the fall itself or the scary part in the hospital, but the waiting. Since he was only eight months old, we didn’t know if he would walk or talk and had a long time to watch for signs of additional damage as well. The folks that called me were wonderful. We talked through my fears and they asked a lot of great questions to help me to see normal progress or not in a child that age.
As the months progressed, and so did my son, our conversations became less and less scary. Mason had started walking, talking, showed no signs of damage, but I knew he still had to be monitored. To all of our delight, he is a very smart little man and exhibits no signs whatsoever of any damage and is eight years old now.
Throughout the years and all of the forms needed in order to sign kids up for things, I faced the head injury checkbox or question. I was always scared to fill this part out because I knew how much of a stigma that could put on him. While we were so fortunate that there was no lasting damage, that isn’t the case for all kids – or adults. This situation has given me so much awareness and sensitivity to those who have had brain injuries and the issues that surround the very many different situations associated with them. I knew that no matter what, I would love my son however things turned out, but I also look at others very differently now as well.
Thanks to the Brain Injury Alliance and all they did for us, and I am sure for many other people as well! I couldn’t have coped and dealt with this situation as well without them holding my hand during this process.