Tanner's Accident

Tanner had a traumatic accident happen on the day we were supposed to leave and drive home to Utah. Tanner was strapped in his booster seat that was attached to my Mom's bar-top chair, eating breakfast at the island. I was on the other side of the counter making pancakes and heard a BANG. Tanner had kicked off the island so hard that the entire chair, with him attached, fell backwards to the tile. I was there within seconds and at first it almost seemed like it did not affect him that much, but after a few seconds he was crying and he could not keep his eyes open. I did not know much about concussions, but I had been told that you should not go to sleep.

The fear hit me, and I did not know what to do. I called Aunt Kelly because her neighbor is a pediatrician. He said I needed to call 911. The paramedics were there within 5 minutes and just as they pulled up Tanner threw up, so I was pretty sure he had a concussion. They looked at him and suggested taking him to the hospital by ambulance. I asked if I could drive him and made sure he would be OK if he fell asleep because I was still trying to keep him awake. They said I was fine to take him and he was fine to fall asleep as long as I could wake him easily.

Tyler, my brother, came over and he drove us to Mercy Hospital so I could sit in the back with Tanner. Tanner was instantly asleep, but I kept him in a light sleep. Mom and Aunt Kelly met us at the Emergency entrance and we were seen by a doctor in just a few minutes. The doctor ordered a CT Scan to make sure there was not any damage or bleeding. Tyler took Tanner back to get the CAT Scan, but he could not calm Tanner down enough for them to get a good picture. I went back and even after swaddling him he was not still enough. Tanner was still so tired and upset so he fell asleep in my arms in just a couple of minutes. We were able to get the picture without waking him. The CAT Scan showed a skull fracture. The doctor suggested keeping Tanner over night, but transferring him to a hospital with a pediatric neurosurgeon just in case the worst happened.

The accident happened about 7:30am, we got to the hospital about 8:30am and were finally in our room for the night at Banner Desert Hospital at 7:30pm. The pediatric neurosurgeon came right in to see Tanner and he further explained the damage. He was so nice and thorough and Tanner really liked him. He told me he had a skull fracture and that there was a little bit of blood. He told me not to worry about the blood, because it was to be expected from such a hard fall. After a long, tiring and stressful day, Tanner and I got a decent night of sleep.

In the morning, the surgeon came by to see Tanner and said we were OK to leave the hospital and that I was fine to drive home with Tanner that night. Although the surgeon said we were good to go, we still had to wait for the pediatrician to release us. So we were all set to go and then the hospital social worker came by to tell us she needed to report to CPS. I had been so calm and tried to stay as positive as possible, but she came I was mad. I still do not understand why she waited until we were all set to go to start the report. We were there about another hour and then finally released. I thought it was done, but CPS decided to investigate. They called my mom and said that I was not free to leave with Tanner until the following day. Aunt Kelly talked to the neurosurgeon and he called CPS for us and assured them there was no abuse and that it was an accident. Well even after the phone call from the doctor CPS still wanted to investigate, but they did say I was OK to drive home. They sent a CPS worker to the house.

The whole experience was scary and stressful, but I am so blessed to have a wonderful family that was there to help me. Tanner is doing well, but he is still having a hard time sleeping. It is so hard to know if his head hurts or if he is just screaming for attention. We will be doing a repeat CAT Scan soon to make sure the fracture has healed and that the bleeding is gone. I pray that the CT Scan will assure me that Tanner is 100% better.