The following post is written by Annette Hagwood, RN, Telemetry, Sentara Obici Hospital, about a moment that made her want to become a nurse. 

Annette Hagwood, RN, Sentara Obici Hospital

 
My story begins on a warm April evening. My twin sons, Jarrett and Jeremy, and I were visiting my dad. My sons, who were eight years old, found a ball and decided to go outside and play with it because they were bored. They began throwing the ball up in the air and catching it.
 
After several times of doing this, they bumped heads. Jeremy came running into the house screaming “My head hurts so bad.” He was pressing his hands into his head, crying and he just kept saying, “It hurts really bad.”

 

It Will Feel Better…

As a mother of boys, I said, “Just sit here awhile and it will feel better.” Normally, after a few minutes, he would have gotten up and gone back outside and started playing again. However, this time he just kept saying “It hurts so bad.”

(L-R) Jarrett and Jeremy after Jeremy's surgery.

 At this time, we went home and I called his dad at work (his dad was a paramedic for the city of Norfolk) and told him how Jeremy was acting. By this time, Jeremy was vomiting. I knew something wasn’t right. He said to take him to the emergency room and have him checked out.

 

 

 Things Are Getting Worse

When we arrived at the emergency room, my friend Romel Perry was the nurse assigned to take care of Jeremy. As she was taking care of him, he became sleepy, didn’t know her or me and began vomiting again. The emergency room doctor was treating him for a concussion. Romel asked the doctor several times about having a CT scan done. The doctor told her no, he just has a concussion and I am going to send him home. Romel was persistent. She asked again if he wanted to order a CT scan. She told the doctor “He doesn’t know his mother, and he is vomiting.” The doctor consented. Thank goodness she was persistent.

Jeremy was taken for his CT scan. After the scan was completed, the technician came running back to the emergency department and handed the doctor the scan. At this point, I could tell something was wrong. He came over to me and said we need to transport Jeremy to Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters as soon as possible. He has a bleed on his brain and he is going to need surgery.

Jeremy’s diagnosis was an epidural hematoma- the most immediate of all medical emergencies. We left Sentara Obici Hospital and headed to Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. The neurosurgeon, Dr. Pennix, met us at the CHKD emergency room, took the CT scan and started explaining what was happening and what he needed to do.

Within a couple hours, Jeremy was in surgery to stop the bleed.

My Son’s Nurse, an Advocate

I am so thankful, that my son’s nurse was an advocate for her patient. She knew something wasn’t right and she kept being persistent. The doctor was angry at her, but she was looking out for her little patient and I am thankful that she did. If my son had gone home without the CT scan, he would have died or been severely handicapped.

(L-R) Jarrett and Jeremy are both doing well.

Jeremy had surgery on Sunday, came home on Wednesday and was back in school on Monday. Jeremy had no deficits from this accident- thanks to God and a nurse’s persistence.

At the time of Jeremy’s accident, I was not nurse. However, now that I am, this situation makes me more aware of what I need to do to be an advocate for my patients.”