Absent from Archive

[zeebster (imported)]

Glad you've made it home. A couple of thoughts from a Retired Paramedic who had to play the bad noggin gig;

It is possible that you had a minor stroke known as a TIA or Transient Ischemic Attack. You get the stroke effects but they are temporary and thought to possibly precede a full blown CVA but that is mostly speculation. If that happened, it could very well have caused the initial fall. The thing about that is they (TIA's) rarely leave any damage to spot with an MRI. If they find damage on that scan, it'd most probably be as a result of either a full blown stroke or from the damage from the fall or intracranial bleeding. That is bad for a number of reasons from creating pressure inside the scull, to starving tissues of Oxygen to the fact that the blood running loose in your head can damage tissue as it's caustic to the brain cells. They will also most likely do a CT scan both with and without a contrast medium which they'll probably use during the MRI as well.

While I had some knowledge of what was going on as a result of my previous occupation, I also had a TIA six years ago. Testing for a cause of that revealed an unruptured aneurysm in the base of my brain and a hole in my heart. The heart fix was pretty easy in the Cardiac Cath Lab despite my initial worries, but the aneurysm was a whole 'nuther deal. They cut a hole in my head to access the critter, separated two lobes and went down between those to put a tiny Titanium clip on the base of the aneurysm and then cut it open to release the blood.

Basically, they created a brain injury and was treated much the same as you are currently going through. Bad news is that head injuries do not get any kind of real pain medication as the Doc's do not want your level of consciousness artificially depressed. So there are a couple of meds they might try, but don't expect any of them in high enough doses to do much good; sorry 'bout that one.

It took me a year to pretty much get rid of most of the dizziness, but it didn't all go away and it's been six years now. I understand the financial pressures, but you are at a very delicate stage of things and any other injury to your head from a fall or getting hit with something, could finish off the job. Stairs will be your enemy for the foreseeable future as well as things like cracks in the sidewalks and such. Please be careful all the time and good luck....

[devi (imported)]

My best regards! -Not on web too much nowadays. Sorry to hear this.

[kristoff]

was at the neurologists' a couple of days ago. She is happy with progress. She doesn't like the idea of going back to work as a driver, but I told her I was going to anyway. She said OK, try it and see if the vertigo is an issue. She thinks the vertigo is here to stay. she also says the brain damage could affect my ability to walk later on. She also said it might cause memory issues. Told her it already does - short term memory sucks - I just write everything down. But I am looking forward to re-starting work on Monday - beats sitting around the house all day. Three months away is definitely enough.