Traumatic Brain Injury

[livingwith]

I was kicked by a frightened horse over my right ear on November 1 2008. I suffered a crushed skull on my right side, 2 weeks in a coma, and 4 months of rehabilitation. I now have a plate in my head and thanks to very skilled surgeons and team at Rockford Memorial Hospital I have very little physical signs or symptoms of my accident. I have concentration and multi tasking difficulties and my husband and son are very frustrating to me all the time now. I used to have a lot of patience and now I d...Read the full article

[adaminnj]

Donna,

I know exactly what you talk about when you talk about your symptoms (AFTER TBI) I have been living like what you have described for 27 years at this point. I have had up times and down times but never "Normal" times.

I have a 7 year old boy who has had to learn to live with me, and a wife who helps me tremendously. The fact we don't have to much of obvious physical damage only hinders any help we may get. Fight for help now! try everything and anything I have been prescribed Dilantin to treat my anger / frustration, and it was useless.

We are kind of living just because the doctors could save us, but now that we are still alive how are we living? for the doctors It's kind of like fixing a car then tuning it on and put it in gear and stepping away to see if it still drives. For us the survivors it's like getting in the old car and having all the controls moved and some of them removed, some of the controls just work differently.
As well the limited help we can get is pitiful at best.
I wish I had an answer for you but after 27 year of living like crap, with pain, and disappointment all I can say is if you can find any help use it and try anything.

Seriously, 27 years are lost due to lack of interest from my doctors, and trying to fit in with "normals" has taken it's toll. Now that I'm in my mid 40's I'm having new issues and the old issues last longer and hurt more. I'm looking for some sort of help for the headaches, confusion, and other issues but I get stonewalled by doctors and insurance company (Currently the Canadian Gov.).

Keep smiling and trying.

[adaminnj]

PS.

About having to repeat your self.

I just had to yell and sharpen annunciation to my wife in loud - sharp - tones for her to hear me. I have noticed that I repeat myself lots, and that I sometimes slur my words unless I really am paying attention to how I'm speaking. I have never gotten any help with this issue, it's something I had to figure out on my own and try to fix on my own. with out shorten fuses from the head injury it is agrovating but it's not always the other persons fault.

My Doctor told me years ago that my brain injury should not effect my speech so I'm guessing that becaus of having our skulls fractured that the sound from out mouths don't resanate the way it use to and we dont hear sounds the same either.

My injury is on my right skull .5 in over my ear. I did not get a plate I got my skull pieced back together and then with some flexible wire popped back into my skull. My injury from what I understand (The bone fragments) was mostly to the personality part of my brain but I have seen my MRI 5 years ago, and a good part of my right temporal lobe is now scar tissue.

it sounds like our injurys are so similar. Very strange eh?