Jude

Today, around 2:40pm, my son Jude was riding his bike home from school. He rounded a corner and suddenly, blacked out. When he woke up, he'd crashed into a parked car and his forehead was against the handlebars. He broke the tail-light of the car, busted the brakes on his bike, snapped brake line wires. He really hit that car hard. He somehow managed to get home (he was one block from home). He was crying and all disoriented.

I put him in the car and drove to the crash site, took pictures of the busted tail-light and left a note on car door for owner to call us. When I got back in the car, Jude couldn't put sentences together. He was having trouble staying awake. His eyes kept rolling back in his head. I figured he had a concussion and called the doctor's office.

They brought him in right away. Jude couldn't stay awake. We got him into the ER and they ran tests. They did a scan of his head. They drew blood and took urine. Jude was in and out of consciousness. He did not flinch or even move when they poked him with the needle to draw blood. He was lethargic. A nurse asked if he was sedated because he was so still.

Tests came back clear. But we still don't know why Jude fainted in the first place. Yesterday we noticed that he was especially quiet. He's usually pretty talkative and makes lots of funny noises, cartoon voices and plays with the dogs really boisterously. But I mentioned to my husband that Jude was very quiet which was especially odd since it was his birthday.

Then today, fainting. I'm still freaking out about the fact that he fainted while riding his bike. ON A STREET. Oh, I can't think about that. I can't.

They are keeping Jude overnight in the hospital to run more tests. Neurologist needs to check him out. And other specialists. We will know more tomorrow.

For now, I'm trying to count all the mercies, here. He fainted on a side street--not a busy street. He crashed into a parked car--not a moving car. He wasn't hit by any other cars while he was blacked out. He made it home. Our doctors' office saw us immediately. We got into the ER soon after.

I had friends praying for me through the whole thing and I can truly say I felt the prayers. I was calm and focused the whole time. I only cried once they let Jude fall asleep after removing his neck brace. I'm pretty sure I'm in a state of shock. So many tiny things could have gone differently.

I'm trying to focus on the abundant mercies and the goodness of my friends and family during this time. We don't have answers yet about WHY he fainted. They are checking on possibilities of seizures, etc. I started to Google for answers but that just made me freak out even more.

I'm gonna try to sleep a little now. If you can, say a prayer for our family. Matt is with Jude at the hospital now and I came home to talk with the other kids for awhile. I'll go back in the morning so Matt can go to work.

In the meantime, thank you for your prayers and support. I would also like to say a very special thank you to the wonderful medical staff, technicians, admittance folks, the Emergency valet guys and everyone at St. Joseph's CHOC hospital. I am simply amazed by the level of care and love we have received.

I'll post again soon once I have more answers. I need to try and get some rest now. Thank you for your love and support. More soon. xo. EE.

{please forgive me if this post is jumbled and incoherent, I didn't proof it, just wrote it straight through after this crazy afternoon. thanks for your grace.}