Is anyone living with a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury?
Hello all, to make a long story short as possible, I fell and landed on my head and neck Oct. 05 and have had the following problems: memory loss, confusion, extreme fatigue, neck, shoulder, head, arm, hip, side, and knee pain, numbness and tingling in both arms, partial loss of peripheral vision, feelings of a humming wave feel in my brain at times, loss of concentration (I could read a novel in one sitting before, now I am good if I can read a magazine article.), unexplained panic attacks, diagnosed with sleep apnea, fibromyalgia and cervical strain. I could go on, but you get the idea. I have been out of work since this accident, been in the hospital and vascular symptom checks out, MRI, bone scan, was told I should be thankful to be so healthy.....OK. I have asked my neuro why I keep having the above symptoms if I am so healthy, and what is wrong with my brain. I used to be a vibrant, mentally active woman. I now don't want to be around anyone other than my close family and best friends. I do not want to appear "stupid" to others for not being able to find the right word, or babble along and realize I have no idea what we were talking about. His response was perhaps if I go back to work and get back to my routine my memory would improve and I would overall feel better. I am still in physical therapy 3 days a week, and the job I have is working with 30+ teenagers at a time that are not on grade level (by at least2 years, but some 5 years behind) and trying to get them up to grade level in science and social studies. It takes a lot of energy, control, and attention to do this from 7:10 am to 3:45 each day. I cannot manage my own home and family like I was before, the thought of caring for 120 kids at that level blows my mind! Can anyone suggest what I can do to find out exactly what damage is in my head? Shouldn't something have shown up on the xrays, MRI, or bone scan? I was knocked silly, not out when I fell in October, but I have a really patchy memory of the whole day of and day after. I also slipped while running in my house last summer (yeah, I know, no running in the house!), and slid on papers and hit my head on a wooden trashcan. I was knocked out and don't remember much of that either. My son found me when he came home that afternoon sitting in a corner. I got checked out, and only had a really severe headache after that accident. When I fell on the back of my head and neck in October has seemed to cause permanent problems. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, any feedback, suggestions, or your own story would be appreciated!
~Mim
Re: Is anyone living with a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury?
are you seeing a neurologist or neurosurgeon?Having delt with both types of docs over the years,i would always take the NS hands down,honestly,they just actually go into the brain and the spine and know things by just 'having been there",that neurologists just do not seem to have a clue about.I have always gotten much better treatment and answers to my pretty involved questions from my NSs.You definitely DO need at least a second opinion here as obviously,something is not right by just the symptoms you mentioned.
where exactly did you have the MRI done,on the brain?C spine?I would think,given your symptoms,the c spine could possibly be where your problems are stemming from.But at any rate,you DO deserve to have some sort of answers here that you are never going to get from whoever you are seeing now.whether it is a neurologist or even an neurosurgeon,this guy appears clueless.not all NSs are created equal either as I found out while trying to find out what to do about a glob of blood vessels that were intermittantly bleeding inside my spinal cord right at the c 7 t 1 levels.
I ended up actually seeing three seperate NSs as I got two totally different opinions from the first two and needed that tie breaker.but for this last opinion,I went to the local university teaching hospital that was pretty close by.this was the best move I ever made.I was actually seen and had my surgery done by the head of neurosurgery at the university of minnnesota.this guy knew tons about cavernomas,much much more than the other two combined.
if you happen to live fairly close to(even within a few hours drive of)any sort of university teaching hosp,this would be where you should go,really.teaching hospitals are very different than any other types of hospitals and are also really up on all the latest info.But at any rate,getting a second opinion or however many it takes to actually Dx your problem,just do it.you cannot possibly be expected to live this way forever and deserve a doc who is willing to work for you to try and find the reason for your symptoms.
i wish you luck and please let me know how things go.Marcia
__________________
3-22-01,herniated C-6-7
11-20-01,placement of hardware for failed fusion
9-22-03,removal of cavernous hemangioma that was inside spinal cord. Neuro damage to L hand L leg and R leg.
Re: Is anyone living with a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury?
Thank you so much for your encouragement and advice. It sounds like you have had a terrible time! I am close to the Medical University in Charleston, SC (about 2 hours away). I saw the neurologist this morning, and he said he could do no more for me, that this was as good as it gets!!!! I thought I would cry. I showed him a highlighted TBI checklist of the problems I still have, and he is setting up an appt. with a neuropsychologist or neuropsychiatrist (I can't remember which). He said she will be able to tell if I am just depressed, still having sleep problems, or actually have brain injury. Somehow in the 6 months, multiple tests, hospital stays etc..... he seemed to have forgotten that I knocked myself silly when all this happened.....SIGH. I am going to give this other doctor a chance to help, then I will head towards a teaching medical university per your advice. I am a single parent fighting workmans comp (no pay since Oct. they think this all stems from a car accident 5 years ago that affected a totally diff. pt of my body, go figure!) and I need some resolution. My 13 year old son is so upset over the "loss" of his mom, and it is so exhausting to "fake normal" as much as I can around him. Thank you again, and I hope we can all get some relief and peace!
~Mim
PS, the MRI was on my brain and Cspine. I DO have a brain...lol they confirmed it, unfortunately my eggs are scrambled even though it does not show on the tests. I was not treated by a neurologist until over 2 weeks after the October fall, and never for the July fall.
Re: Is anyone living with a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury?
I also am suffering from a "mild" (not to me!) brain injury. My symptoms didn't appear until about 40 years after. I developed a violent head tremor and memory and concentration difficulties. I can so relate to your reference of "faking normal" because this memory thing is so bad, I ask a question and when I get the answer I'm totally befuddled because I don't remember asking the question. I too used to be vibrant and intelligent and now I feel like an idiot most of the time. My neuro is reducing my primidone by 1/2 and I'm so afraid the tremor will return. He said I might have to decide which I want most, my brain power or no tremor. Great choices, either way I don't want to be around people at all.
I just found this forum and I see that your question was posed back in Nov. of 05. I'd like to know how you're doing.
Re: Is anyone living with a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury?
Hi HappyValleyShar, so sorry to hear you too are suffering. My neurologist basically dropped me after he sent me to a neuropsychologist for testing. He said this was as good as I get and if I cannot work, then I probably never would. Well now. The tests show a major slowness in processing and altered memory ability, but they also show depression and anxiety. Well duh......I am still out of work, still in pt, and now may have to see an orthopedist for my nonhealing shoulder, a dental specialist for my jaw, and I start psycho therapy in May to try and "help" me learn to deal with all of this. But no, they will not go on record as claiming brain damage even though my IQ is well over 26 points lower than before. I am trying to track down my old records from child hood to prove this. It is quite frustrating to be told the majority of my problems are from depression. I have been dxed as depressed for well over 10 years now and have functioned quite well until I had this bad fall. It is so frustrating and yes debilitating to have the problems we have and yet as someone mentioned "look so good". Well if I looked as bad as I felt they would keep a bag over my head....lol. ANyway, still not a whole lot of improvement, but I have seen some. I can read more than a few sentences now and retain most of the information if I concentrate really hard. The worst part of this is the headaches that are progressively lasting longer and hurting more. I guess this is just the depression as they say, but the only thing I feel bad about is that justice has not been served yet, and I am really ready to quit living on equity and loans! I hope you are able to get the help you need. I have not stopped looking, just at a pause right now! Hang in there!
~Mim
Linear Mode
