What to call the hospital

Hello,

My 3 year old daughters platelet count is 14K and we have been told when she hits her head we have to go to hospital. What I'm not sure about is what type of head bang? Have you been told the same and if so when do you go in? For a small hit, or a big hit, if so what is big or small, should it be only if there is a bruise, or if it swells up, any part of her head? It can be hard to see if there is a bruise if it is under hair?

Occassionally she has hit her head, but not that hard, so I haven't gone in, but then kept worrying that maybe I should have.

The first major rule of thumb for head injuries is did she lose consciousness for any period if time at all, if she did get her straight to the hospital. I occasionally still bump my head now on things and have never been to the hospital. If you gut instinct is telling to take her or u think u will worry too much, then go and at least you can get some peace of mind from the doctors. They wont mind u going in or get angry for bringing her in if she doesn't necessarily have to.

I believe we were told that if she hits her head and experiences headache, nausea or vomiting. I too worry and never know when we need to go in or just wait it out. Good luck!

My son was just diagnosed with 13. He is only 23 months old and frequently hits his head. Within an hour and half of the dx he had hit his head twice pretty hard. Needless to say he is now walking around with a black forhead because he bruises so bad. I called the doc on Friday because you could actually see the bruise getting larger on his head. They said as long as he is not acting funny it should be fine. The growing look was the knot draining blood. Really scary still!! My son's hematologist has actually prescribed a soft shell helmet because we have issues with being able to keep his head from hitting anything! He is very accident prone and can't even wal through a door without hitting the frame.

Go with you mom instincts. That is what gets me by. As bad as my son's head looks they said just watch and observe his behavior. There is nothing wrong with taking your daughter in and just having her looked at if this is what eases your conscious. Sometimes it is always better just to hear the words "it will be fine."

I think that the advice we got was to get him to hospital if he had hit his head AND had any symptoms of a head injury - dizziness, sickness, sleepiness, slurring words etc etc. Basically the same as you would for someone without ITP, but erring on the side of caution if you are in any doubt at all.

My son once walked out of the children's ward where his count had been taken at 5K and straight into the side of a door. As we were there, we went back in, and they kept an eye on him for another hour - however, if we hadn't been there already, I wouldn't have taken him because he had no signs of a serious head injury, just a massive bruise.

Ali

Thank you for your replies. (Just realised the title should have said when, not what!!)

We were given the number for the childrens ward at the hospital and told to go to phone them and go in regardless of any symptoms, just if she hits her head. I posted a thread a week ago saying our daughter hit her head (not at all hard) she didn't show any symptoms at all, but we went in over a few hours her whole forehead swelled up and she was kept in over night and given a platelet transfusion and now has two black eyes and a very bruised face. It's now really confussing me when to take her in as that was not a hard hit and she didn't show any signs of internal bleeding.

It really is natural to be confused when to react and when not to react. The main thing is now that you have the ward number, don' be affraid to ring them and ask them if you are not sure. They are there to advise as well as treat. Please be reassured that next time she bumps her head, even a tap, you will feel less dauted about ringing them I hope.