Alex and Summer Camp

Alex being goofy on Father's Day eating watermelon.

Alex, Ian and Whiskey. (Alex is Ian's favorite person.)

Alex and Ian napping when Ian was about 5 months old.

Ian 'attacking' Alex in the family room.

(One of Ian's favorite things to do)
Alex was trying to play a video game.
Ian decided that Alex was on the floor and,

therefore fair game for a good attack.

My nephew, Alex, has had a hard time the last few days. The story goes like this:

For Christmas, Alex was given a 2 week stay at a summer camp near Somerset, PA. He was excited but a little nervous too. (Do you remember your first summer camp and how excited/nervous you were? I sure do.) So, for the last 6 months, we have listened to Alex 'worry' about camp. "Would he know anyone there? Would he be any good at the sports? Would anyone be better at something than him? What would we do without him for 2 weeks? Would Ian miss him? Etc, etc, etc."

Last week, Beth and I got all the laundry done, bought all his gear and loaded everything up. She and Grandma Muller drove Alex to PA (about a 5 hour drive) and Uncle David met them there. They hung out for a few days, saw some of the area including the Flight 93 Memorial. On Sunday, they took Alex to camp at SB2W. (Summer's Best 2 Weeks) They headed for home while he met his cabinmates and headed to his first summer camp meeting for a listing of the rules. (Asking him about purpling the next time you see him. I guarantee he turns red!)

The fun really began on Monday evening when the camp nurse called to say that Alex had fallen during a "Trust" game. (FYI: Beth was totally freaked by the "Trust" game idea. You know the one where you stand on a platform and fall backwards to be caught by your new friends. She never did that at camp and you should have seen the look on her face when the nurse described it! It was priceless to say the least.) The nurse and Beth discussed what happened and the nurse called the paramedics to take him to the hospital. One of the counselors, Eric, followed along and called us with updates. The Dr. determined that Alex had a mild concussion and needed to stay overnight. He also decided that Alex could not return to camp where he could possibly bump his head again. (This is Alex's 2nd concussion. He was about 6 when he jumped into our sectional couch head first for his first one. Mark learned a valuable lesson: When a child suddenly says that they are all right after they have been out of your sight for just a minute, it usually means that they are not all right.)

Alex spent Monday night in the hospital in Johnstown, PA. Tuesday morning Beth and her Dad drove over to pick him up. (On the way home, she started having car trouble and lost a filling in her tooth.) They got home late and Alex went to bed. Wednesday we noticed that he was just not right. All we could say was that he seemed cloudy or dull, definitely not himself. By Wednesday evening he was complaining that his head hurt more, he was dizzy, sick to his stomach and slurring his words. That's right; it was back to the hospital for him. They did another CT scan and determined that he is suffering from Post Concussion Syndrome. They also told us the symptoms of the concussion could take up to a year to go away completely! And, apparently each time you have a concussion it takes longer for the symptoms to fade.

The good news in all this, besides the obvious: Alex seems better today. We now have a great argument for not allowing him to play football. And, Ian has his favorite person back in town.