Dr Who Scarf Fight????

Yes You read that right... There was a fight between TWO teenage boys over a Dr Who scarf at the middle school yesterday. The end results were far from desirable and we can ONLY hope the primary party in this situation not only realizes the severity of the situation, but also learned a valuable lesson.

So what happened?

Well yesterday morning just before 9am I received a call from the middle school letting me know that Corbyn had been beat up. Initially, the school thought that we should press charges because there was no way he could have been involved in the situation. However, more pressing was the fact that we needed to get him to the ER immediately for a concussion evaluation and make sure there was cerebral hemorrhaging due to Corbyn being punched multiple times in the face, knocked out, and swelling already occurring.

With this being said my mind was racing a million miles. I called the peds and hematology offices and asked about which ER to take him. Both said the nearest local ER. I then called and cancelled my physical therapy appointments, Frank called work and was told to deal with the situation. We left for the school. The next call from the school was the assistant principal who informed us he was a partial instigator in the situation and she needed to talk with us as soon as we arrived.

Corbyn was already in her office and not looking happy at all. She informed us what she had already told us over the phone right in front of Corbyn and let us know she had to suspend him as well as the other child. The poor child when we agreed with her that he deserved the suspension. He had a look of horror and she (the assistant principal) had a look of relief.

That was totally not fair or right, mom and dad sided with the principal this time. Sorry kid, start a fight and you lose any chance for argument.

How did the fight start?

The kids were waiting for the 6th grader band and choir to finish practicing and got bored so they started bugging each other. Several kids thought it would be funny to poke Corbyn's Dr Who scarf. Well, Corbyn decided to tell the kids "touch my scarf again and I'll punch you in the face." After he said this, the kids took his "dare" to heart and decided to touch to see what would happen. Corbyn swung and missed the 1st boy, they kept on, so now this became a game to the others until he actually struck one of the kids. This child fought back. He fought back hard. Hard enough in fact to knock him out. Oh and he just happened to get the tallest kid in school too...

Normally, boys getting into a fight is not that big a deal. Well, that is when you have to medically normal teens. For 7 years now, as much as he wishes he were normal he is not. Corbyn has a platelet disorder called Chronic Refractive Immune Thromocytopenic Purpura or a bleeding/platelet disorder where the body kills the platelets before they can enter the bloodstream. A healthy person requires a 350,000 platelet count per unit of blood. During the time of the fight we thought Corbyn's platelet count was 33,000-44,000, however blood work proved his count was 12,000. Yes, that is only 0.03% of the required healthy count. Even at 33k-44k that is only 0.09%-0.1%. So even at 44k he would still not have 1% of the required platelets needed for clotting.

When the local ER saw the blood count of 12k, they freaked out and arranged for immediate PICU medivac to Johns Hopkins Children's Center Shock Trauma. He was transported for head trauma observation, emergency IVIg infusion, and PICU care if needed. Thank goodness the PICU care was not needed.

Yes, he is now home, exhausted, frustrated, tired from having to retell his story a millions times over, not happy about being chewed out. He is still suspended through tomorrow but hopefully having learned a lesson.

Although just because he is home, does not mean all is well. We have to watch him still due to the concussion he sustained. If his headache does not go away he have to call his hematologist back and he may still have to have another round of CT or MRI scans to check for micro-cerebral hemorrhaging. If he becomes dizzy or nauseous then we are to call the hematologist and peds dr right away and take him back to the ER. If he begins seeing spots, vomiting, and becomes dizzy, then we are not to wait, but to call 911 immediately. We are to inform them he has a platelet disorder, a recent concussion, and possible cerebral hemorrhaging combined with dangerously low platelets and that he needs immediate transport letting them know his hematology team is at Johns Hopkins.

All of this over a scarf....