Traumatic brain injury/mild, moderate,severe
 

Hi Everybody,
I found a website called traumatic brain injury.com. You can look up symptoms of mild, moderate or severe brain injury. There are also numerous resources on this website including referrals to lawyers, doctors, treatment, new updates on news etc. i have symptoms of severe traumatic brain injury. I knew that already but it made me understand a few things like why I am having flaring emotions, sleep disorders, seizures, trouble controlling bowels (I pee about 100 times a day) that is an actual symptom and many others that I cannot remember now. But it was helpful to understand that these things are symptoms. It was also helpful to understand the severity category. There are some on here that I know are in the same category as me but most these other new people I think are in the mild category. Anyway, there are a lot of resources on there to help people like us. Please check it out. I don't know how to post a link or I would.
Brain

I Can Relate
 

I went threw both list on website and I am severe traumatic brain injury....My hope just turned hopeless today in reality....lost & crushed!:Noooo::Sob:

What happened today Mia? I hope what I posted did not upset you. This was not my intention. I was only trying to give everyone more information on there situation and resources to help them.
Brain :hug:

No Not You
 

This At&t commercial that I posted got to me....you are good I found it very interesting such as the frequency in urination and other things that I was wondering.I thought it was just me!Good research how did you find that?:hug:

Just surfing the web. Wow, it just took me 20 minutes to figure out how to spell surf. I was always such a great speller. All I can do is laugh about it. :)
I thought the lawyers on this site might be helpful because they specialize in traumatic brain injury cases. I am gonna call them and see if I can get a lawyer to help me with disability. I know many of you have Workers Compensation and injury from motor vehicle accidents that you may need specialized lawyers for.
This website also has numerous other resources and keeps up on the latest research being done to help us.
Brain

Laughter is Healing LoL
 

I don't even want to talk about who I was before versus now!Have you seen my sentence structure or whatever it is...just a mess<<<<I laugh at myself all day to make it to next day....day in...day out over and over:hug:

Have hope friends. Even though I am in the severe category, I pass as normal to others for a short period of time. My speech slurring has cleared up a lot. People don't think I am drunk or a heroin addict anymore. :winky: **** what can I do but laugh?
Somehow I have passed as normal enough to not get diagnosed with this until 8 years after the fact. Was just diagnosed with chronic pain and PTSD until i started having seizures and saw a neurologist finally. Have regained the ability to come here and type messages and talk to you all.
It is Amazing to me how a human being learns coping skills and ways around things when injured or sick. Have also learned not to let the opinions of others effect me. Avoid negativity at all costs. Whose to say what could happen, I have proved the doctors wrong on numerous occasions.
Brain:grouphug:

This may be better on the "hope and healing" thread, but FWIW, on admission to hospital my GCS was 11 (moderate), my duration of posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) was greater than 4 weeks (extremely severe); I had a skull fracture, epidural hematoma with midline shift, and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

My last NPA (5 months post trauma) showed no residual cognative deficits. Today I'm back to work, living a normal life.

The very best to all of you on continued recovery.

:grouphug:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27291/#A1433

Don't Mind Me
 

I am having problems with my nice mixture of PCS & PTSD.So If I seem really scattered in emotions that is because I am!:(I am going to PTSD psychologist today.Thank the higher power

Lightrail,
You are my hero! Honestly. You are one badass person. Who could get hit by a freaking Lightrail and now be back to work and living a normal life? You are amazing.
How long did it take to get to this point? I had the real severe amnesia after the accident score also. Went a long time of total amnesia. I wonder what I did during this time and how my co-workers did not notice or if they did why they did not get me help. You would think one would notice if they were speaking to a zombie huh? Guess not.
Anyway, really you are my inspiration and hero. I always think of you when I start to get down.
Much love,
Brain :hug:

Thank you for that. About 5 months.

I awoke in neuro rehab about 5 weeks after the accident. I did have a few scattered memories from the month in ICU, but most of the things I “remember” never actually happened, at least not the way I remember; my neuropsychologist called these confabulations.

The first week in neuro rehab is also a bit blurry. I remember some of my first speech therapy appointment. I didn’t know what year it was. I got my age wrong. I didn’t know who the president was. I didn’t know what hospital I was in or why. I did remember my name, and the names of my wife and kids.

I had speech, occupational, and physical therapy 5 days a week. After a while I began to piece things together. When discharged from inpatient after 4 weeks, a NPA indicated I still had deficits in spatial orientation, executive functioning, and working memory. I continued with outpatient therapy and things kept improving. I had a second NPA around the 5 month anniversary of the accident. That evaluation stated:

"On examination, the patient demonstrated intact cognition in all domains assessed including learning and memory, attention, processing speed, language skills, and executive functions. He has shown an excellent recovery from his severe injury only five months ago. From a cognitive standpoint there are currently no concerns with respect to the patient returning to work full time or returning to driving."

I am truly grateful. Wishing all of you continued progress.

:grouphug:

Wow! I wonder if the difference is that you were hurt so severely that you were put in the hospital and ICU and got the right treatment right off the bat. I somehow flew under the radar but was severely hurt. I am just so glad that you are doing so well. You have done a great job.
I do not know how much recovery I can have at this point. I am just hoping the neuropsychological evaluation people can come up with something that can help me. I have my (hopefully) last session with them at the end of the month. I will see what they have to say. Holding on to hope.
Brain

Yes, I believe the early treatment was key to my recovery. I was fortunate in that the accident happened about a mile from one of the top 10 neurological hospitals in the nation. They performed the craniotomy the evening of the accident.

Don't let go of that hope. Hopefully the NPA will give some direction on the best course of treatment. Best to you.

Early Treatment
 

I was one that did not get early treatment and now I have PTSD :confused: you have brought hope to me I appreciate your story.:grouphug:

I only had mild tbis, thank god, but too many of them. I am amazed by how much those of you with severe tbis have had to deal with! I will try to remember that whenever I start feeling sorry for myself! I have a good friend who had a severe TBI and she's living a full healthy life now! It does happen!

Lightrail
 

I was wondering since this was very traumatic do you have PTSD?

Hi Mia.

Actually no, I have no PTSD symptoms. I think this is because I have no memory of the accident. I have 4 days of retrograde and about 5 weeks of post traumatic amnesia. I still ride the train from time to time with no sense of anxiety.