Things I can't change but wish I could

This afternoon I had one of those patient experiences that makes me want to scream. I was the only provider in my team area this afternoon, so all walk-ins are automatically mine. The two patients we had walk in (show up wanting to be seen without an appointment) were assigned to me, so I would have seen them, anyway. One of them was a pregnant lady who is not doing well since she stopped her psych meds because of her pregnancy. Not such a hard visit, really, despite the tears. Yes, psych meds do carry some risk of harm to the fetus, but trying to grow inside a mom who wants to hurt herself isn't real healthy, either. So we re-started the psych meds, and I'll see her again next week and see how things are going.
The encounter that made me so upset was the 10-year-old Boy who presented with Aunt to be seen for "head injury." Not usually the sort of thing that one takes care of in the family doctor's office. Well, when I got a chance to go talk to Boy, Aunt wasn't even in the room with him. So the only story I got was from Boy. Apparently, Uncle had been driving Boy and Cousin home from school yesterday afternoon when he ran out of gas. He told the boys to start walking home, and he'd catch up with them after he got gas. Along the way, Boy and Cousin ran across some Hoodlums. Not especially hard to do in the neighborhood where Boy lives. Hoodlums were angry at Boy for something (noble) he had done earlier in the week, so one of them (age 9) hit him in the back of the head with a large stick. I asked Boy if he passed out, and his answer was "I didn't pass out completely--I was only out for a few minutes." He, predictably, had a headache after this incident, but Grandpa (with whom he lives) didn't have any medicine in the house, so his plan was "If it's still hurting you tomorrow, we'll take you in to see the doctor." Well, guess what. It still hurts. And when I went to check Boy's pupils, he wouldn't let me shine the light in one of his eyes. It hurt too bad. So right off, we have at least two bad markers: head trauma with loss of conciousness, and photosensitivity. I sent them off to the ER--do not stop, do not pass go, do not collect $200. I tried to explain this to Aunt, but I think she was so drunk she didn't catch much of it, so I made sure Boy understood what I needed him to do. I think he's the most responsible person in his life, anyway. When I explained to Aunt that Boy REALLY needed to go to the ER for a Cat scan of his brain, all she wanted to know was "can he get his flu shot?" Well, of course he can have his flu shot, but THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT!!!!!! I just hope they actually show up to the ER. I hope the ER takes him seriously. I hope some adult in his life grows up in a big hurry. I hope Boy doesn't end up like his dad.
Happy Thanksgiving.