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Tuesday Hop : http://www.boobiesbabiesandablog.com
Those of you who have followed my blog for a while now know that 2010 was not my best year. For my new friends I will give you the condensed Reader’s Digest version.
My stepson Michael was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident; 9 surgeries, coma for 23 days; he is still fighting his way back. Our 8 year old grandson, Dominic had a metal pole go clear through his ankle in a freak summer camp accident. Miraculously he is back to climbing trees.
Our newest grand daughter Peyton Elizabeth was born miraculously healthy after a high risk and difficult pregnancy.
I was involved in an accident. It was in our neighborhood and a young woman was driving much too fast for a neighborhood. She ran a stop sign and hit my car’s passenger side. I immediately felt a very sharp pain in my neck, shoulder, arm and I thought 2 of my fingers were broken.The young woman attempted to leave the scene then came back and started to shout at me. I called the police. A nice officer showed up took the report and I left to go to work. While at work, I had a bit of a panic attack. I was also developing a headache. I left early and went home.
By the time I arrived home, I was a basket case. I felt like a big knot and my head was pounding. My sweet husband told me to go to bed and he brought me tea, toast and Advil.
I slept horribly. I had vivid nightmares. I woke up with the worst headache. It was so bad I was sick to my stomach the entire day. Convinced it was my nerves, I took it easy and just rested.
The next day while my husband was at work I called him and told him my shoulder, arm and fingers were really hurting. He called and made an appointment for me to see an orthopedic Doctor that afternoon. (I know amazing right). He prescribed the usual muscle relaxers; steroids and pain medication. He thought I had a neck and shoulder sprain and suggested therapy.
The next day I headed out to my daughter’s house. I drove 45 minutes past her exit. I stopped the car got out was sick got back in the car and drove to my daughter’s house and acted like nothing happened.
Now, this is hard to admit but I am a big fat medical (and just about everything else) know it all. The crazy thing is I have led a long and interesting life and if it could happen the chances are, it happened to me, or someone I know. Something really was amiss because the {real} me would have immediately known I had a concussion.
I would have been familiar with the symptoms because I suffered several concussions as an adult and most likely a few as a child.
2 ½ months later I was finally diagnosed with post-concussive syndrome. There is no specific treatment for post concussive syndrome. Instead your doctor treats the individual symptoms. The types of symptoms and their frequency are also unique to each person.
I really thought this was an important post to write because people die from concussions, or as they are sometimes called closed head injuries.
One of the worst symptoms I was experiencing was dizziness. Full blown head spinning and vomiting dizziness. I was sent to a balance center. There I had therapy that actually makes you dizzy supposedly so your balance system will re-learn how to balance you. This was awful. I went twice a week and was so sick in between I was useless. I was also sent for MRI’s and hearing tests. I suffered a significant hearing loss in my left ear.
1) Headaches that occur after a concussion can vary and may feel like tension type headaches, cluster headaches or migraines. Most are however, tension type, which is most likely due to a neck injury suffered at the same time as the head injury. In some cases, people experience behavior or emotional changes after a mild traumatic brain injury. Family members are usually the first to notice that the person has become a bit more irritable, suspicious, argumentative or stubborn. {Insert fast food and police rage here}.
2) Memory, cognitive and thinking problems may also appear. No medications are currently suggested or recommended for these symptoms. Brief focused therapy on how to use a pocket calendar, an electronic organizer or other techniques to work around memory deficits are often helpful. I suppose this would be helpful if you could remember where you put them. I had no idea how forgetful I was. My husband was becoming more and more frustrated with my ‘forgetfulness’.
3) Depression and anxiety are also symptoms. It was suggested I see a psychologist who had experience working with people with brain injury. In my case because of a history of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and severe OCD issues anti anxiety and depression medication was prescribed. Education about the disorder can also be helpful. {One of my reasons for this post}.
Some experts believe post-concussive symptoms are caused by structural damage to the brain or disruption of neuro-transmitters systems, resulting from the impact that caused the injury. {Am I losing you here}?
My symptoms were being treated and I was finally starting to feel more like myself. I had been frustrated because my book had been put on hold for an entire year. I had a lot of catching up to do….and then out of nowhere, I was curled up with gut wrenching pain. My gall bladder needed to come out. Six days in the hospital, different medications and I was dizzy and sick again. I was devastated.
I started to pass out. I ran back to the neurologist. Medications were adjusted and I returned to therapy. The crazy thing now is I am aware of my memory loss. I go nowhere without my calendar and a notebook.
Did you know that a 15-mile an hour accident generates 10 G’s of force on the head—a fighter pilot can start to lose consciousness at 6 G’s.
How many times do we hear our children really smack their heads, we are so scared, and the doctor says it is a mild concussion. If you take anything away from this post, let it be that there is no such thing as a mild concussion and if another is suffered, it is worse and so on. If you are an adult, think of it as shaken baby syndrome for adults.
I cannot help but wonder now if forms of ADD and autism can be caused by head or neck injuries during birth or just from playing as a small child. .Please put those helmets on your kiddo’s and if you have that ut-oh something is not right here do not stop until you are satisfied with the diagnosis.
With all of the changes expected in health care it is so important that,we all become vigilant and well informed.
Thank you to:
My favorite quote today is:
Never argue with an idiot. They will bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience.
Doreen
