Every once in awhile, you come across children's books that are more than just silly literature. Some books actually offer valuable advice that young children (and adults) should pay attention to. An example of such a book is "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed".


I've read this book to Jack a hundred times. And up until last week, the educational value of this book was little more than a fun way to count to five, and maybe an illustration of what a monkey looks like. But last Tuesday, Jack was the monkey jumping on the bed, and he fell off and bumped his head. Hard. Jack has a high tolerance for pain, so after 20 or 30 seconds of hard crying, not surprisingly, he calmed down. But when he vomited about 20 minutes later, I feared that the fall could be more serious than just a bump on the head.

I immediately called Jack's pediatrician, and he recommended coming in for a check up. I was able to get an appointment by 9:15 am, but in the meantime, Jack vomited for a second time.

At Jack's examination, everything seemed to check out just fine. But should Jack vomit again, or show signs of dizziness, I was advised to take him directly to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. After we got home from Jack's pediatrician, Jack ate a healthy lunch, and had no problems keeping it down. But in the early afternoon, Jack just didn't seem like he had his wits about him. So playing it safe, I made the decision to drive to Children's Hospital. (I had never been to Children's Hospital, so I had to look up directions on the internet).

We got to Children's Hospital by mid-afternoon, and after a very short wait, we were able to see a doctor. Again, Jack checked out fine, (heart rate and reflexes were fine, no blood in the ears, pupils dilated properly, etc...). But since we were at the hospital, we all agreed to get a CT scan, just to get a look inside Jack's head.

It was when we arrived in the room that held the CT scan equipment that the most traumatic part of the day began. Jack is one of those rare kids that won't allow you to put a band-aid on him. So I knew that we'd have trouble getting him to sit motionless for a CT scan. Because Jack wouldn't lie still, he was strapped down with a blanket. This only made the situation worse because Jack was very scared at this point. Since we couldn't get a clear scan of Jack's head, and we wanted to avoid making the situation worse, we decided to skip the the scan altogether. (Our other option was to have Jack sedated for the scan, which we opted against).

After we left the hospital, Jack appeared to have no other negative affects from his fall. And thankfully, he has been acting normal ever since that day. This time, all is well.

Although the day was traumatic for all of us, valuable lessons were learned. For Jack; don't jump on the bed! And the lesson for me; as a parent, always be prepared for a medical emergency. This includes having access to emergency phone numbers, (pediatrician, hospital, and even poison control), and of course, knowing where the ER is located at Children's Hospital. Planning a course of action while you are calm and level-headed is always easier than waiting to react when an emergency arises.