Mother agonizes while doctors decide on surgery

The swelling around Griffin Cox's head appears to have worsened somewhat, but doctors will wait until next week to decide whether the Glen Ellyn boy needs surgery.

And the delay is agonizing for his mother, Jenny, who expected to know Friday whether her 9-year-old son must have a portion of his skull removed.

Doing so would allow doctors to repair the membrane covering his brain that was damaged when Griffin was hit earlier this month by a line drive at a White Sox game.

Though he fractured his skull in two places as a result of the accident, Griffin bore little pain and didn't experience serious symptoms until four days later.

That's when he started vomiting and a large swollen area surfaced opposite the spot where the ball hit.

At issue, Cox explained, is whether the liquid leaking outside his skull is blood or spinal fluid.

Blood may reabsorb, but the presence of spinal fluid could mean a more serious injury and sway doctors toward the need for a surgical repair, she said.

Griffin's doctor, neurosurgeon Andrew Chenelle, said Friday the texture of the lump seemed to indicate it might be filling, at least in part, with spinal fluid, according to Cox.

It's going to be challenge to keep Griffin, an avid Sox fan, from doing his favorite summer activities for another four days while he awaits the next doctor's visit.

Luckily, though, he's still pain-free. Friday marked his fourth day without the assistance of any Tylenol for the pain.

"He's certainly not bedridden," Cox said. "It just scares me because I don't know what to let him do. He could do anything and fall."

Griffin was visiting the White Sox June 4 with his little league team when a line drive hit him just above the right temple.

The force of the blow shifted his skull, causing a fracture on the right side of his head as well as the left. The swelling is occurring on the left, rear side of his skull.