Reality Check

Ninja is not indestructible. 

I know, I know...blasphemy...but it's true.

We found this out last Monday when Ninja was hospitalized due to a hairline fracture on his skull. His SKULL, people.

Not gonna lie, Mama was freaking out a little.

Still in pain, but in good spirits Ninja smiles for the camera.
He had to wear this neck brace for 30 hours...it's my new disciplinary tool. No joke.

Here's the quick story: No, he wasn't climbing on the counters, or the armoire, or the fridge, or the building ledge...He wasn't running or jumping or sliding down banisters, he was actually being normal. He was just washing his hands in the bathroom.

He says he was standing on the toilet and hit his head on the "sink-uh" because he "slipped and fell." Lie.

I just know that he was balancing on the edge of the sink while washing his hands, (<-- a big "no-no" but much cooler than easily standing on the toilet or stool) and I think he fell backwards onto the slate floor. 

I was in there before he even got up off of the floor. Ninja's a big bruiser and has sustained multiple injuries to his body, including his head, but this time was different. He was crying in a way that I have never heard before and although there were no signs of swelling, bleeding or a bump, he was clawing at his head and acting "different." I could tell his pain level was at a 10.

fast forward....

We got expedited right to a room at Illinois Masonic and had a CT scan done within the first 30 mins. Obviously, it came back showing a hairline fracture. They transferred us over to Children's Memorial where Ninja's condition was monitored for 24 hours.

He couldn't move his right arm because of the IV and he couldn't move his neck because of the brace, but he still managed to get a few good smacks on the nurses butts and climb off of his hospital bed (OVER the bars) about 3 times (once he was allowed to walk around and was no longer delirious)...needless to say, not ONE person questioned my parenting (which would have been fine if they had-I know it needs to be done) because after spending 2 minutes with him, they knew he had brought this upon himself and there was nothing anyone could have done about it. 

Since the only thing we can do about a hairline fracture is wait for it to heal, I was told to keep him relaxed and calm and was reminded multiple times that climbing, running and jumping were things he shouldn't be doing for the next 6 weeks. Yeah, ok, sure...I almost handed the nurse a paper with ninjatanuz.blogspot.com written on it, but then I figured I would definitely get questioned about my parenting if any of the staff at Children's were to read this blog, so I just smiled and nodded. 

And just to add insult to injury, the first thing Ninja did, the moment I signed the release forms, was bolt out of his room and race through the hallways of the extended care ward until TWO doctors and my cousin finally caught him. 

I smiled to the nurse and said, "I'm sure we'll see ya soon."


(Just wait 'til I tell you what he's been up to this week.)

Side story-> Ninja thought he was pretty badass at the hospital. We used his love of superheroes to help him through some of the scary parts. The CT scan was "Batman's super high-tech camera" and he needed to get pics of Ninja's head for a special mission and his IV arm was Iron Man's new weapon that he needed Ninja to test (Ninja hated the IV the most, but had tons of fun "shooting" the nurses whenever they checked his vitals).

P.S. Illinois Masonic is an AMZING hospital and I fully intend to write a letter praising the ER staff. Children's Memorial had the SWEETEST nurses and although there were children in MUCH worse condition than Ninja, they treated us like we were #1 the whole time. Awesome hospital. 

On the other hand, Thorek Memorial is the WORST hospital in the world and I plan on writing a letter expressing my disdain toward their ER staff who told me my son was probably just "throwing a fit" and tried to send us home with some Tylenol.