I recently received the honors of joining the fine ranks of those who have incurred a serious head injury. I fell at work and my head made firm contact with a desk and then a concrete floor. This resulted in a Temporal Basial Skull Fracture from behind/below my right ear and extending up toward the top of my skull. In all, about a four or five inch area. The impact resulted in a brief seizure and multiple hours of general stupor. I cannot remember the fall, the impact, the EMT team, the neck brace and backboard, the ambulance ride, or about 3 hours of the ER visit before they gave me the honors of staying as an inpatient at the hospital for five days of testing, poking, and general invasion of what normal folks consider privacy.
The neurologist seemed only concerned with determining if I had a seizure first (causing the fall) or if the seizure was a result of the fall. They determined that it was a result of the fall and the neurologist seemingly washed his hands. He gave no further discussion or prognosis concerning the trauma to my head.
After release from the hospital I continued to have issues with focus, concentration, memory issues, and headaches. We called the neurologist office and they set up a follow up appointment. I had great expectations for this appointment as the cognitive issues I have been experiencing give me concern about returning to my particular occupation (which requires a great deal of fast paced multi-tasking, clear recall and memory, and the ability to handle multiple stimuli in quick succession all day long).
The neurologist did not seem to remember that I had a seizure at all, did not listen to my concerns, told me that I should be functioning as normal (despite my clear attestation that this was not the case), and essentially told me to return to work and driving. I am a bit concerned about this and would like to seek a second opinion... does anyone agree with this logic? Or am I overthinking it and should just slog back into the office (potentially putting those who depend on me and the acute nature of my cogitative abilities in a precarious position)?
I agree with you. I would get a 2nd opinion too. To be told to return to work and driving would frustrate me too, when you have these problems. I have learned after years of going to doctors, that they are people just like us and capable of missing something or misdiagnosing, or making mistakes. When a person hits their head, it is common for doctors to check their head only, and miss the parts connected to it, that may have been injured also, which is the neck. You do not have to have a broken bone or disk problem to have concussion symptoms, just ask any whiplash victim, like me. I had all of your symptoms and more, and physical therapy was the treatment that helped me. I am not saying yours is the same problem, but that because of your symptoms, you should be rechecked, and your neck should also be checked, the muscles in it, to atleast rule this out. Good luck to you
Yes get a second opinion!!!!! I looked around and found a good resource right in your area. The Center for Head Injury Services is in the Westport area of St. Louis, they can be reached at 314-983-9230. Give them a call and they should be able to direct you to a good neurologist, make sure you check the doctor out before you make an appointment. Did you get a CT scan? Was there any type of bleed in the brain? (not necessary for a brain injury to take place) I for one would not set up an appointment with the same neurologist that you saw in the hospital. Let us know how you are doing!
