Blood Clot in the Gagittal Sinus
Lane's Story By Lane's Mom
In late July of 2008 our family had just begun our vacation in Texas. One day after arriving Lane, my 9 year old, started complaining of a really bad headache and soon started throwing up. This lasted the entire time we were in Texas, and I thought he had gotten hold of a really bad stomach virus. After we got back home, he was still complaining of a headache so I took him to his pediatrician. They said it was probably just left over from the stomach virus. After a few more days and terrible headaches, they were so bad he wouldn't open his eyes, we went back to the doctor and she diagnosed him with migraines and sent us home with a new prescription. This was on Monday, two weeks after the headaches started. By that Thursday he was back to having the really bad headaches again. We went back to the doctor on Friday and she scheduled us to go for a CT Scan on Monday. We went to have the CT scan around 11:30 that morning, and by 2:00 the doctor called and told me to bring him in later that evening for an MRI. We went back and had the MRI and they told us to go home and the doctor would call us the next day. We got about two miles from the hospital and the doctor called and said come back to the hospital. When we got back they told us they were going to admit us. Shortly after being admitted they told me what was going on, he had a blood clot in his sagittal sinus, which is in his brain. They said that he would be taken by ambulance to Children’s Hospital. We stayed at Children’s for nine days. The neurology team and the hematologist were all very helpful and kept me up to date on what was going on. He spent the first five days in The Special Care Unit because he was on Heparin and had to be monitored. Those nurses in that unit are the absolute best. After that he went to the 5th floor for the last four days and he made so many friends there. They released to come home and he takes two shots a day of blood thinner. He seems to be doing much better, not so many headaches. And we go back in one week, the day before Thanksgiving for another MRI to check the status of the blood clot. He always looks forward to going to Birmingham to his doctor’s appointments. And I know that every time we are there we are getting the best care possible. Just walking through the doors at Children’s Hospital you can feel the security and love. To me Children’s Hospital means knowing my child is going to be OK, knowing that in the event something goes wrong, they are there. It is a three hour drive to Birmingham for me, but it’s like driving around the corner because I wouldn't have it any other way. It changed me and my child. We stayed for nine days and when we were discharged, he cried, he cried because of all the other children who couldn't leave. He felt guilty because he was getting to go home and they had to stay. I can't tell you how that made me feel. Whether the illness is not very serious or life threatening any stay at childrens will change your life.
