Polly in a Polo

Although I like to dominate the medical emergencies in our family I can't claim exclusivity. This week Polly decided to get in on the act.

Polly, for those of you who may not know, is a children's entertainer and actor. Last Thursday she was performing in Silhouette Theatre Company's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's children's story The Happy Prince at a primary school in South London. During one of the rapid scene changes one of the other cast members caught her a glancing blow on the temple with the statue of the prince. She saw stars but being a trooper and faced with a hall full of children she had no choice but to carry on. After the show ended Bob, who had wielded the princely blunt instrument, asked her why she had been holding the side of her head. She told him that he had clonked her with statue and Bob, who is amongst the top five people least likely to hurt someone in the whole country, was duly mortified. Anyway, they packed up and came home.

That night Polly's head hurting but she was sure she'd feel better in the morning. She was performing on Friday and Saturday and there was still the usual round of birthday parties for the boys to attend, shopping and household stuff to do. The headache continued and she complained of feeling nauseous but life didn't stop. By Monday it was getting ridiculous, she was getting very little sleep and we were both getting anxious. That night I put my wheel down. If she didn't feel better by the morning she had to see a doctor. Polly was getting more and more stressed. The consequences for all of us if she were ill were far reaching.

Next morning she headed up to surgery and was diagnosed as having concussion. She was told to go to the hospital to get checked out thoroughly in case there was bleeding on the brain. Bleeding on the brain! Blimey. Polly is an avid viewer of Casualty and Holby City and therefore knows all about the potential severity of a sub-dermal haematoma. She knew only too well that the poor doofus at the start of the program who bangs their head , ignores it, and then feels a bit sick will end up at the wrong end of a scalpel. Usually after wiping out a bus load of school children.

Obviously the doctor in E.R. had watched the same episode and sent her for a CT scan. Which is how Polly ended up on her back lying in side a giant Polo mint.

No bleeding was found and she was told the concussion will fade. The nausea has subsided which is probably as much to do with a reduction in her stress levels as anything else. When she got home she said pointedly, “at least I have medical confirmation I have a brain,” as she surveyed the state of the children I'd been left with.

Tomorrow is Blogging against Disablism Day so please join me here. If you would like to link to this site then please do. Apparently the more linked up I am the easier it is for search engines to find me. Who knew?

See you tomorrow.