I went to a neurologist yesterday for the first time since my accident on 8/9/12. First, I want to say that the appt. was very hard on me. I had a very hard time keeping up and comprehending everything he told me. I did have my father with me, so we went over everything afterwards during lunch.

The doctor told me that I did not have a concussion, I had a traumatic brain injury. I asked what the difference was and he told me that there is a difference in the force of the accident. I asked if it was similiar to a stroke (because of the bleeding) and he said "no". A stroke is localized bleeding and I was bleeding in many different places on the brain. I think when he says TBI, he is talking about someone that had a bleed. I am not sure about that.

He told me it would take at least a year to two for recovery. But he said chances are I will not recover fully and that I will have some symptoms permanently. He said with a TBI, he considers anyone over the age of 25 to be old in regards to healing. He also told me that I have a much higher risk for seizures for the next 10 years!

We also talked about the lack of pain that I have in my head when I have headaches. He said this was one of the major differences between concussions and tbi's. People with concussions have many more painful headaches than people with tbi's. They don't have much pain or headaches afterwards. He explained it like "They know they have a headache but they don't really care". I told him that I could feel the pulsating of the headache, but it was dull.

I also asked him about one of my eyes. Since the accident, below my right eye, it has been swollen. As my roommate said "I look like a football player with the dark bag and the swelling". Just what I wanted to hear. Anyway, I asked if that was also a cause of the injury. I really thought he would say no, but he said yes, that it definately could be from the fall. Again, I forgot to ask if the swelling will go down.

He did an exam and I can say that I did not do well on the balancing act he was trying to get me to do. Tippy toes, stand on one foot, etc. I am going back next week and I will be doing some testing. I think the tests are to get a base line of where I am at now. He may also be ordering another MRI and an MRA(?) to make sure I have not inherited my mother's aneurysm.

After leaving the appt, I realized I did not ask him about PCS, PTSD or the panic attacks that I seem to have now. He did give me some text that he copied out of one of his books, but that has left me with more questions.

I was so exhausted from that little trip to the dr, I slept for 3 hours when I got home. I feel like I have regressed back to the beginning again with brain fog, dizziness, memory problems, fatigue, etc!

I don't mean to go on and on. I was hoping that some of this info might help others and if anyone has any thoughts, I would love to hear them.

Thanks,

Patty