To Take Him or Not to Take Him

Today, Baxter hit his head.  Hard.  He's hit his head many times before, because he's an active little boy, but this was the hardest yet.  I immediately started to wonder what I should do.  He cried, but then he wanted to play.  I frantically googled "how to know if an infant has a concussion."  He wasn't dizzy, vomiting, confused, irritable, there was no ear/nose/mouth drainage, and he did not lose consciousness.  He was drowsy, but that could be attributed to the fact that it was nap time.  I checked his pupils to see if they dilated and they did. 

Everything pointed towards not having a concussion, but I couldn't get a hold of Eric, so I didn't know what he thought.  I decided to call the doctor, and get his opinion.  Surely if he didn't think Baxter had a concussion then I should stop worrying.  I called, I spoke with a nurse, and I got a call back.  "Go to the ER" I was told and "get him a CAT Scan."  What?!

After that statement I had to make, what I think, is one of the hardest decisions as a parent.  When your child is not obviously injured (broken bone, bleeding profusely, etc), but there is the possibility that he is, what do you do?  And I honestly believe that the answer has something to do with the type of insurance coverage you have.  Eric owns his own company, so this means we are completely responsible for our health insurance.  And if you aren't responsible for your own, let me tell you, it's expensive (and let me also tell you that I may be slightly or more than slightly jealous).

The contemplation of that decision actually made me cry.  How can I question whether or not to have my child examined for a head injury?  But how can I have this CAT scan done (for lots and lots of our own money) and then find nothing wrong, knowing that it probably wasn't a concussion in the first place (based on the lack of symptoms)?  Ugh, I hate all this bull with health insurance and the cost of medical care.

I'm not going to start a rant, I promise.  I know doctors are very smart, and deserve to get paid for their expertise, but it's still so maddening that I have to question my child's health because of the high costs.  If you're a parent, have you ever been in this situation?  What did you do?

I am trying not to be over-cautious.  He's a little boy after all, and this isn't the last time he'd going to hit his head, but I also don't want to be under-cautious either.  Goodness, being a parent is tough stuff.