Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Concussion Syndrome For traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post concussion syndrome (PCS).


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Old 09-25-2010, 11:43 AM #1
kdb2010 kdb2010 is offline
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Hello -

This is my first post. At the end of April, 2010 I was a pedestrian in a cross walk and was hit by a transit bus. It turned into me, so thankfully it wasn't going very fast. I was extremely lucky in many ways - it struck my right shoulder and threw me back so I landed on my tailbone and back of my head. The force of the head caused several contusions and bleeds - I luckily did not need surgery after a scary 24 hours for my family. I had bifrontal contusions, a subdural hematoma, and an something with the left parietal as well.

I have been out of work since then recovering. I have PCS, have to take trazedone to fall asleep, apparently my brain has forgotten how to sleep and stay asleep. I am still lightheaded every day, no dizziness. I have issues with all of my senses - I have lost 100% of my smell, and therefore most of my taste. ANd the docs don't seem to care about that which is so frustrating. I also have had issues with my eyes and ears - ears I have tinnitus, which has improved, but still am very sensitive to loud sounds and can't tell where sounds come from. My vision was really messed up when I woke up in the ICU, and has improved immensely but I say I feel like i am in the Matrix - I feel like I am not seeing things in real time. THe Doc says it should improve as the bleeding in my head subsides, which makes me feel like I"m making it up. A computer after a while is hard to look at, and my eyes by the end of the day feel overused if that makes sense.

I have a lot of anxiety and frustration/anger issues - quick to both. I guess I can thank the frontal lobe for that. I am anxious about a lot of things, crossing the street (and not because I'm afraid of getting hit by a bus, I don't remember the accident) but that my judgement is off...

I'm very anxious about going back to work. i have been scheduled for neuropsych testing in October and I am wondering what to expect. Not looking for answers to tests or anything -just about what they may or may not find, be able to help me with. The place I am going is supposedly really good with testing as well as therapy after - I guess I am afraid they are going to say what the eye doc said - you should get better - and make me feel like I'm making it up. I know I can't multitask anymore - I literally cannot do more than one thing at once. I constantly mix up my kids names which i never did before. I realize I did it immediately which is good, but I still do it. I have trouble following a long story especially with distractions.

I guess just wanted to say hello and see if anyone had any info on their experience with testing. Thanks so much.
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Old 09-25-2010, 01:26 PM #2
420_Helps 420_Helps is offline
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Welcome to the community and sorry to hear about what you’re going through, I am familiar with a lot of your symptoms.

On your job… let me add friends to this also… Keep them informed and let them know what’s going in your life (these are people who care about you and they went through an emotional roller coaster that comes with almost losing a friend or co-worker).
Learn to advocate for yourself… Tell them how the side effects of the head injury effected your cognitive, emotional, and physical abilities and while you haven’t lost your IQ, you will need to adapt to this new personality the accident left you with…let them know that you hate it (say it with a smile), say something funny about the crazy ups and downs you go through, or how you forgot the one thing you went to the store for… I forget that I’m forgetful and laugh at least once a day about it.

Something not mentioned much on the boards is self esteem… You will and can stay positive through this ordeal! One way to help is to mentally slow it down, you can only process so fast, Plan ahead on things you can say like, I’m sorry “Jane” that sounds like a wonderful story, would you mind giving me the cliff notes? I was in an accident that left me with a very poor attention span… People love that ****! They don’t know what to say or what you’re going through, so they avoid it…Be honest and straight forward and they’ll be on board with your recovery.
This was a nice post and you did a great job explaining yourself…took a little longer to post this, but you did it, you’re on your way!
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Old 09-25-2010, 03:10 PM #3
roadrunner63 roadrunner63 is offline
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No experience with testing; Monday we will be scheduling my neuropsych test. My PCS is from a car wreck April 13th. Although I've seen definite improvement I'm still far, far away from what's normal for me.
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Old 09-25-2010, 03:38 PM #4
Tengboche Tengboche is offline
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Default new, neuropsych testing

Hi,

So sorry to hear of your struggles!

I am about 15 months post concussion and I only started noticing signs of healing after about 13 months but did it ever feel good to have that feeling of "myself" again. I am dealing with alot of the issues still but am finding better ways to deal with them which makes life easier and less frustrating.

I had my neuropsych testing in June and spent the morning doing the "therapy" part, and testing in the afternoon. I was told by my therapist to ask for a break if I needed it, which I found helpful. There were people talking in the hallway outside my testing room and I thought that I was going to lose my mind. I asked the tester to talk to them, and they did.

I had to also ask the tester to turn off her computer because the sound was too distracting. There was a test that involved flashing numbers/letters on the computer and unfortuanely that triggered a massive migraine and I ended up in the ER practically screaming from pain.

So my advice is to ask for breaks when you need them, know that you are going to feel tired afterwards, and don't be too hard on yourself if you can't do things like you could before. I was really upset that I realized I couldn't figure out how to subtract numbers, but with time and practice it got better.

You have been through quite an ordeal, and you need to learn new ways to do things, but you will get a lot of support here.

Best of luck!!
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Old 09-25-2010, 04:05 PM #5
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Don’t sweat the test; it’s actually entertaining and a beneficial tool to help in your recovery.

I’ve never known anything other than PCD (or PCS) in my life, the tests helped explain many riddles in my life when it came to my cognitive abilities. IQ was much higher than my cognitive abilities projected… the neuropsych test results also introduced me to myself... my strengths and weaknesses.

Good luck to you

I scored 1st percentile with short term memory and recall abilities (99% of the population scored better, learned how to cope...a lot!)
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Old 09-25-2010, 05:16 PM #6
Mark in Idaho Mark in Idaho is offline
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Welcome to NT. I am also sorry for your reason for being here. But this is the place for you to be.

I disagree with the previous posters about the neuro-psych assessment. At this point in time, a neuro-psych assessment is going to be used to determine if, when, and how you can return to work. This is its purpose. If you ask for and get too many accommodations (quiet, etc), you will skew the results. You are not undergoing this assessment to achieve your best. You want to show how you function in a normal situation at the present time.

I have had three Neuro-psych assessments. The first was for Workers Comp. The NP Ph.D. did not understand my struggles with noise and visual distractions so instead, he used my comments to my detriment. He was being paid by the Work Comp carrier so he took every opportunity to bias his report against me.

The second was done by Social Security Disability. He did a relatively good job but was limited in scope due to SSDI limitations. Unfortunately, his report that I was seriously unable to work was denied due to an error at the SSDI state office.

The third was done in preparation for an appeal of the SSDI denial. The NP Psy.D. resident had a very quiet and sterile testing environment that skewed the results somewhat. Very few work places are quiet and sterile of visual clutter or bright lights.

Both the 1st and 3rd tried to put causation of my disabilities on depression. The 3rd even included the conclusions of the 1st in his report. They also tried to say I was faking the results. In both cases, I scored very high on the validity scales that are designed to find fakers. High scores mean the assessments were not faked. They stated that, even though he scored high on the validity scales, it is expected that he is malingering or faking his answers.

Don't ask for accommodations that can be used to push you back to work before you are ready. Healing can take time. Some healing never happens.

Don't try to use work-arounds to improve your score. Things like clustering for memory skills are not encouraged. Many work-arounds that you may have already developed or will learn are only useful on your good days. When you are overwhelmed, you brain will not have the focus to implement the work-arounds.

The different tests are designed to find your problems. They are not meant to determine if you are unintelligent or such.

So, relax, get your normal amount of rest, eat a normal breakfast, and take the different tests just as they are presented. Low scores just say you need more time to heal. They will likely do another NP Assessment at a later date to chart your improvement.

Someone mentioned therapy before the NP assessment. This would be if the assessment was meant to determine improvements from therapy. In your case, there should not be any therapy involved.

Attorney Gordon Johnson has some strong comments about Neuro-Psych Assessments at www.tbilaw.com

He has seen them used against brain injured client due to bias or poor interpretation of the scores. There is one test that can indicate depression if the scales are improperly interpreted. The same scales can also point directly at an organic injury that is still symptomatic.

Just remember, you want the results to represent your bad days, not your infrequent good days. The long day can cause fatigue but that is the purpose so don't worry about getting fatigued.

As 420 helps says, this assessment will introduce you to the new you. Relax and try to accept the new you.

I think I have started babbling and repeating myself. Sorry, common PCS symptoms.

My best to you.

Now, I will again watch Boise State Broncos play football and risk their brains. One player will likely be sitting out the game due to a concussion last week.
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Old 09-25-2010, 08:41 PM #7
Tengboche Tengboche is offline
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Hi

Just to be clear, I mentioned therapy because my therapist had done neuropsych testing in the past. My testing had nothing to do with gaging my progress from a theraputic point, it was just advice given to me by someone who was familiar with the testing.

She had told me that I could ask for breaks if I needed them etc.

Also, when I mentioned working around things, I am not referring to the neuropsych testing I was just referring to normal life.

Just do what you can do and try not to put additional stress on yourself.

Sorry if I didnt come across clearly.
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Old 09-25-2010, 09:35 PM #8
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hmmm, well okay....so what's a neuro psych test? What does it involve? Where should I go to get one & what will it tell me or do for this PCS?
I'm having biofeedback counseling therapy now that involves the use of the EEG used in the brain wave test. They refer to it as qEEG. Is this the same thing or different?
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Old 09-26-2010, 12:56 AM #9
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QEEG neurofeedback is a therapy that can help you learn to redirect some thought patterns. It can be very beneficial for some people. Hope it works for you.

Neuro-psych assessment is a diagnostic tool for measuring brain function and emotional condition. You will likely be directed to a abbreviated neuro-psych assessment by the SSDI people.

I am a big proponent of qEEG as a diagnostic tool and for therapy. Hope it helps you.
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Old 09-26-2010, 09:21 AM #10
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Greetings and welcome,

Oh so sorry to hear of your accident and your struggles with your recovery.
I am glad you have found this site because it is very encouraging, knowledgeable and caring. I have learned here how to be easy on myself as I live this new life with PCS.

I injured myself back in March 2010. This summer, I underwent the neuro-pysche testing. As said previously, it is exhausting. I slept the minute I got in the car at 2pm and slept to the next day.

During my testing, they asked if I wanted breaks but I kept going, pushing through even as the headache became more intense. By the end, it was very apparent I had reached my limit, which is what I wanted to do because I am a music teacher and my job is all about multi-tasking and keeping my students engaged, very mentally demanding even without a brain injury.

I was then referred to receive cognitive remediation with a speech and language pathologist and a cognitive behavioral therapist. I have met with the speech and language pathologist. Oh my, it was so refreshing to have someone affirm that I was not making this up. She understands!!!! I feel so relieved in knowing I have an advocate in the medical field. My neurologist however, dismissed me, no further appointments, and said it was all psychiatric.

These tests revealed where I am at, medically. My next steps are the rehab and well the job, that is way down the road for now. Healing is the priority and receiving the supports that will bring me back or lead me in the direction best suited for me.

Know you are going in the right direction and taking the right steps needed to uncover your abilities, so you can continue on your journey to recovery.
Peace
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