Cavell Update

We made an unconscious decision to spare our reading public from the horrors of Cavell's face for a while.  It may have been out of sensitivity or it may have been because I got put in charge of the update and just never got around to actually doing the work.

Meanwhile, Cavell has continued his slow but miraculous healing process.  The swelling has gone down on his forehead but is still present.  The bruising has gradually worked it's way down his face, but still leaves a shadow.  Below is a series of photographs we took over the last month as he progressed.

Once the black bruising left his face, the red seems so much more violent.  While Cavell was in this condition, I took him and the rest of the brood to watch Stacy finish her half marathon.  At one point during our wait, it started raining, leaving puddles of water on the ground.  Cavell, being a boy, decided he needed to jump in the puddles.  Cavell, being a 3 year old boy is a little clumsy and he skinned his knee.  So there I am, in the rain with three kids wearing shorts and t-shirts.  Lex is crying because it suddenly got cold and wet.  Alayna is crying because she is done waiting for mom and wants to go home.  Cavell, my obviously abused son, is jumping in puddles, soaking wet, with copious amounts of blood running down his leg.  I have no idea how we didn't get picked up by the cops.

Satisfied with himself

That blood red eye was pretty disturbing

Aren't they cute?

The two scabs in the middle of his forehead remind me of a snake bite.

OK, which one is cuter?  Tough decision, right?

When the deep red coloring started to fade, we were left with this dirty, shadowy, mix of colors.  People knew that something painful had happened, but really didn't get the full effect at this point.

It just started to look like he had a really dirty face.

By Thanksgiving, the bruising had finally faded enough that it just looks like he has dark bags under his eyes.  As pale as his skin is already, he looks a bit overworked, malnourished, and in dire need of a nap. 

Of course, through it all,Cavell has remained his positive and upbeat self.  Part of that is due to his total lack of understanding of just how much he could have milked this opportunity, and part of it is just the kind of kid he is.

Recovery

Unless he is making a funny face, Cavell will not tolerate pictures. I haven't bothered him for one since Tuesday. Here is his funny face. He picked off another scab in ChildWatch today and this was the bandage they created since I didn't have his bandanna with me.  He didn't want me to take it off.  When I did anyway, he wouldn't let me take any more pictures.

When we got home later in the day, Cavell let me take some pictures if I held the camera the right way and let him take pictures of me.  He makes me say "Almond Milk" since I'm not eating cheese right now.

I tried to get a shot of Cavell's closed eye.  It is difficult to see (because he wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get it) but he has some green, flaking skin on his eyelid.  I think this is from all the rubbing he did to his eye when he was trying to see.

The resiliency of children is AMAZING.  Wednesday was the last time I heard someone comment that they thought he had on Halloween makeup or a mask; The Incredibles being the most common description.  The only really dramatic part of his appearance now is how quickly he has healed.  All of the puffiness is gone from his eyes.  Even the bruising is very faded.  While his skin is becoming mottled, the discoloring is dispersing rather quickly.  He still has a big knot on his forehead, but nothing like it was.  He has done such a thorough job picking at his scabs, there are only two left.

Don't Mess With Me

Best news first. Cavell can see in the mornings! I also felt good taking him to ChildWatch at the YMCA yesterday. Yes, there was shock at his face. He didn't want to tell the workers about his fall, he just wanted to play with the blocks and do crafts. I think the biggest part of this is HE doesn't see his face like we do. He barely looks in the mirror. If he can't see it and he feels fine, Cavell doesn't get what the big deal is.

We didn't go to the Y this morning.  Cavell made himself a walking bio haz-mat, again.  It was a simple decision.  We will be going this afternoon for Alayna's KidFit class and I am taking it easy on my legs with a bodyweight workout I can do at home during my taper week.  We didn't need to go to the gym this morning.

it's oozing, not bleeding

He did let me use a bandanna as a bandage.  Not only does it help to stop the bleeding that is occurring, it also keeps his fingers away from picking at the scabs and causing more bleeding.  Another added benefit?  He looks adorably tough.

Forgive the blood running down Cavell's face.  I had to take the pic while he was willing, and washed it off after.  I wanted to get a picture of Cavell's eyes.  They look pretty cool in person.  The whites of his eyes are pure red, but only on the outsides.  The whites on the side of his nose are pure white, not even a line of red.  How patriotic can he get with his red, white and blue?!

No More Pictures!

Cavell is a bit tired of us taking his picture.

I took some shots on Saturday while he and Alayna were playing FireMan and FireGirl!

I can see how his eyes look like a Batman mask while he is in superhero pose. Actually, he made me think more of the Power Rangers.

When he was done being FireMan, Cavell told me he was done taking pictures.

He was still adamant about it at bed time.  He started trying to hide his face by squashing it.  We are able to get a shot of the bruise that appeared on the back of his knee.  He has some other bruises that we are finding in surprising spots.  We think they were deeper bruises that have started to move and are now showing up on the surface.

The only way Cavell would agree to any pictures is if I let him do funny faces.

Then he smiled for us.

Cavell is still waking with his eyes swollen shut. Fortunately, the swelling goes down during breakfast.  I planned to start taking him out again when we could see his eyes.  Now that we can he has begun to pick on his scabs.  That wouldn't be too bad, except he becomes a walking "bio-hazard".  See, he doesn't bleed when he takes it off, he oozes.  It's disgusting.

Cavell's Progress

Cavell still wakes up blind. We figure that while he is laying down the swelling gathers instead of drains. This means extra poofy eyes and under the eyes and he doesn't even have the slit to peek thru.  It is sad and amusing to see him walk around with his arms stretched out.  I thought he would just want to sit on his chair, but he is just ready to move. Thursday morning he was using his stick horse as a walking cane.

He even let his sister act as his guide-dog. No, really. Alayna pretended to be a dog, and was guiding him around.  Then randomly leaving him and calling out, "Owner, come over here!"

But, as the morning passes the swelling moves down and he can begin to see.  While he was in front of a mirror, I asked Cavell what his face looked like.  He said, "My eyes are down."  I asked him what colour they were.  "Blue."  I didn't push it.  For a little guy that is still working on his colours, I realized it wasn't fair to ask him what colour this is.  Even I can't decide if I should say black, red, purple or ???

By the end of the day Thursday, even we could see a peek of his eyeball.  Eerie to see that bright blue thru all of that darkness. It's hard to tell, but you should be able to see a little reflection from his left eye (on the right side) in this picture.

Because Paul was taking pictures of him, Cavell decided it was time to be goofy.  This is when his papa asked him to try and open his eyes as much as he could.  That involves his whole face moving, led by his mouth.

Since he was seeing and then not seeing, he also decided to play peek-a-boo with the camera.

There is a definite BOO!! factor going on.

Cavell's Day

I know everyone is waiting for this post from Wednesday.  Some missed the initial post with the story of how this happened.  You can read that on the blog by clicking here.

We took Cavell to the doctor's office this morning.  The front desk ladies didn't react.  They thought he was dressed up early, being the Halloween season.  One said it looked like he had on a Batman mask.  What do you think?

to quote Nathan, "I am BATMAN"

They did call our NP (that my children really enjoy visiting) to the front to peek at him.  Probably a good thing, so that she didn't have her initial reaction in front of Cavell.  After being called back Cavell started to go into his stubborn, silent, pouting mode when the nurse wanted to weigh him.  Once we were in the room he was his joking, jumping happy self.  It was decided that the doctor would examine Cavell as well.  As the doctor was looking in his ears and pressing on different places on his eyes and face, asking if it hurt, Cavell kept telling him that he hit his head "here" smacking himself on the red target you see in the pictures.  I don't advise a close-up.  It's pretty gross when it is larger.  It looks even worse in person but the flash "cleans it up" a little.  We aren't posting the more gruesome looking shoots we have.

Still pulling down his cheeks so he can see

It was decided that Cavell would have a CT scan to check for any skull fractures or swelling and bruising to his brain.  While I did regular baby care for Lex (read that letting him nap in his own bed and feeding him) and picked Alayna up from school (early release day), Paul took Cavell to the hospital.  There were a number of waiting areas involved in the hour it took before Cavell could have his picture taken.  Cavell was happy to roam around and say hello to everyone he saw.  But, the people he saw were too shocked by his face to respond.  Cavell is used to happy responses and smiles and told Paul that nobody was saying hello to him.

Saying "CHEESE!!"

Before going in, Paul told Cavell that they were going to take a picture of his head and he needed to be as still as a statue.  The let Paul stay in the room and even on the table on Cavell to help keep him still.  Cavell did a rather good job.  They were able to get a good shot of the top two-thirds of his head, which is where they needed it the most.  He had moved while it was around his jaw.  Because there was no swelling or complaints/pain there they let that go.  The boys came home to wait for the radiologist and doctor to review the scan.

Talking to the Grandparents

After the doctor's call we immediately called the concerned grandparents to let them know that Cavell's skull and brain are sound and all of the bruising and swelling is outward.  Even the doctor said he was amazed.  With how bad Cavell's face looks, he was sure that there would be some internal damage.

Update on Cavell

Our poor boy woke up at 3 this morning and didn't understand why he couldn't open his eyes.  As one can imagine, he was scared.  I was able to tuck him back into bed after some snuggles.  A few weeks ago I watched a boxing movie that depicted someone slicing a black eye open.  It was very disturbing to me.  Paul explained that it allowed the blood and edema to drain out so the person could see.  Now as I watch my blind little boy, I can understand why a controlled cut could be worth it.  No, we are not going to drain Cavell's eyes.

When Cavell woke up again for the morning (at 5!) I was able to comfort him again and carry him downstairs to listen to the TV.  He walked to the kitchen for breakfast and did a great job eating his ball cereal (aka Kix) and raisins.  He didn't even spill his milk.  When he was done I took him back to the chair by the TV.

7:30 am and Cavell was already bored.  He began wondering the house, running into a couple of walls.  He even went upstairs to hang out with his Papa, but needed to be carried down.  By 8:30 he was able to just peek out from the bottom of his eyes.  This made him think he could run around; except some things stick out further than the wall and he has run into those, with his head.  He also asked for his frozen grapes for his eyes.  He used them for a while, and then started to eat them.

10 am and Cavell has fallen asleep.  Except, I couldn't tell.  At 11 he helped me make some really simple cookies.  He did a really good job and didn't even spill.

Cavell is again watching TV.  To see out of the bottom of his eyelids, he needs to tilt his head back and stretch out his mouth to move his cheeks out of the way.

The swelling is moving down and away from his forehead which is good.  It's obviously filled up his eyelids and now is migrating down his nose and starting to move down his cheeks as well.  The entire upper third of his face is losing definition.

All of this seems to be hardest on the parents.  Cavell is taking things in stride pretty well.  He was climbing up on my lap and doing back flips on to the floor this afternoon.  His sense of humor is fully intact.  The positive we are taking out of this is that he has slowed down enough that we get to sit down and snuggle with him during the day.

Monster

We call him monster.  Don't know why, but he's always seemed like a monster. Cavell needs a costume for Halloween.
We are thinking Ferengi. . .

Or maybe Frankenstein?


What would be your choice? Here is what we've come up with so far.

Cute little monster, eh?

Here's the actual story.  On our way home from a delightful parent teacher conference, Paul was walking and holding Cavell's hand.  Cavell was in a playful mood and Paul would lift him up in the air and swing him a few steps before setting him down.  Cavell got his hand so that he was holding Paul's hand instead of Paul holding Cavell's hand.  As Paul lifted Cavell up in the air, Cavell's grip slipped and he fell, landing flat on his face and knees.  Unfortunately, his face took the majority of the impact.

We got him up and carried him to the car.  He was no longer crying, just a whimper.  That was when we saw the golf ball standing up on his forehead.  We immediately panic, finish buckling kids into "safety" seats and drive home to get ice.  When we got him out of the van, the golf ball had turned into a softball.

We got him into the house and applied a bag of frozen grapes.  Cavell and Paul camped out in front of the TV discussing the merits of applying the grapes to the forehead to reduce the swelling.  Cavell was convinced that the grapes would do him more good on his knees.

About 20 minutes after coming home, Cavell stood up and walked over to the table to eat some Jello for his afternoon snack.  He was talking and playful and even giggling. He returned to his chair to watch the rest of "Cars" and generally annoy his older sister.

At dinner, during the prayer, he dropped his head down on the table pretty hard.  It didn't faze him a bit.  While putting him to bed, he jumped into his bed and threw his head into the mattress pretty hard.  Nothing. 

Pupils are even.  Speech is only as slurred as is normal for a three year old.  We are ready to pronounce him as OK.  Now if the parents can be as carefree about his head as Cavell is, we will be in good shape.

The pictures just don't do justice to the reality.  His face is pretty gruesome.  He started bruising up in the evening and has already started getting dark around his eyes and down his nose.  His forehead is swollen all the way across the front now instead of a round ball.  It's actually somewhat comical in a dark sort of way.

What will they think at the YMCA childwatch?