True Story of Brain Surgery

To learn more about brain injuries and how to prevent them go to these websites:
For Kids

Brain Injury and Early Childhood Education

Traumatic Brain Injury

To learn more about CAT scans go this web site CAT scans.

Ellie had her 4th birthday in January, 2004.

It was June 30th, 2002. Ellie, my sister, was 2 ½ years old. She was playing on a concrete driveway. She fell down and was crying a lot, but my parents thought she was okay.

Ellie woke up from her nap the next day. She was still crying, then she said the clearest words of her life, “My head hurts!” She went into unconsciousness. My parents rushed her to Children’s Hospital. She had a CAT scan and the doctors discovered a skull fracture and a blood clot. She was rushed to surgery.

I was really scared. "My sister could die," I thought every night as I laid on my friend Emma's extra bed. Her father was a close friend to my family. He helped me pray for my sister every night.

After the surgery, Ellie was not allowed to eat or drink until she had another CAT scan. The CAT scan came out clear. After the Cat scan, Ellie finally got the juice she had wanted for 8 1/2 hours.

She also had to get 30 stitches on one side of her head. They were in the shape of a question mark. When I first saw her, I couldn’t help but be disgusted. Half of her head was shaved, and the swelling was so bad that her right eye was swollen shut. But I knew the swelling would go away, her hair would grow back, and she would start to feel better.

Ellie is 4 years old now. I’m glad my sister is okay!

Credits

Images

Image of crying head, and bottle from "Microsoft Clipart Gallery Online" <http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?cag=1>
(January, 2004).

Glossary

CAT scan: head x-ray