So, it's been awhile...

Hey, friends! I know it has been awhile since I have posted. I appreciate all the emails you have sent to check up on me. As some of you know, life threw us a little curveball awhile back, and we have been spending many months dealing with everything that came along with that curveball. For those who have no clue what I am talking about, allow me to fill you in.

Our youngest son Ian is a bit of a wild man, and consequently, has no sense of his own mortality. He is always on the go. Always. He is my skateboarding, baseball playing, wrestling, bmx bike tricking, active kid. Awhile back, he was playing a pickup game of football with his friends, and he tore a ligament in his foot. That incident resulted in a leg cast. While wearing the leg cast (which should have slowed him down), he and a friend were chasing each other in my house. (I think he never heard me tell him NO RUNNING IN THE HOUSE!!) Ian turned a bend and headed (a bit too quickly) into our upstairs bathroom. His casted leg hit the area rug and flew out from under him. At this point, Ian twisted and hit his left temple on a metal handle on the bathroom vanity.

Now, you'd think someone would have filled me in on this accident as I wasn't home when it happened. No, that was not the case. Three days later, I received a call from Ian's school to come pick him up. He was dizzy, nauseous, and was complaining of a bad headache. He had also fallen asleep in class. So, as we are on our way to the doctor's office, he states, "I swear I will never run in the house again!" Oh boy!

So began our nightmare.

To spare you many details, I will tell you that Ian was initially diagnosed by his pediatrician with a moderate concussion. As this was his third, he was referred to the UPMC concussion center. There, he took a test which measured how severe his concussion was. Ian should have scored in the 50% percentile in each of three areas. In kinesthetic, he score in the 6th percentile, and in both auditory and visual, he scored less than 1%. Scary. Ian's concussion was not moderate; it was severe.

Ian was not permitted to return to school for the first several weeks, and while he was home, he wasn't permitted to to any school work. (Definitely not the best way to start a school year when you are a new transfer to the district!) Nor was he allowed to watch television, play video games, ride a bike/scooter/skateboard, text, or play on a computer. He couldn't play with friends, and he couldn't be anywhere where there were loud noises or bright lights.

Once he was cleared for school, it was half days only. Additionally, he hasn't been allowed any homework. He couldn't take tests or quizzes either. He has had to have many academic accommodations. We've been in close contact with his teachers, guidance counselor, and principal throughout this school year to be sure that Ian kept on track academically without sacrificing his brain's need to heal. Some days are good, and he returns home with very few symptoms. Then there are the days he comes home crying because his head hurts so badly. Those days he goes right to bed when he get home.

Lately, he has had many more good days than bad. He returns to the Concussion Center at the end of the month, and we are hoping this follow up reveals significant improvement. (Some positive thoughts would be extremely appreciated!).

At any rate, as life begins to settle into some degree of normalcy for me again, I am ready to hit the ground running with my blog again. Thanks for hanging in there with me!