← Return to Traumatic Brain Injury: Come introduce yourself

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@icydecember

Hello,
I am Jim from Minneapolis. Last December a little after Christmas, I stepped from a stair onto an icy landing and fell, striking my head on the bottom step. Mostly I don't remember, but I was taken to HCMC where a CT scan showed I had fractured my skull. I had no other injuries thankfully. The next day I was sent home.
Three days later I was back at the ER after having fainted at home and making a loud crash that got my wife's attention. I spent the next six nights in the ICU at Methodist with low sodium, called "syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion", big name for something that's fairly common.
A couple weeks later I was starting to return to work part time when it came time for a follow-up CT scan. The scan showed I had a subdermal hematoma that was pushing my left hemisphere into the right. I was admitted the same day and had surgery the next day to remove the clot. Five nights later I was back at home again.
It all sounds very dramatic but I have recovered well and am back at work full-time. I feel very lucky and I'm very thankful for the skill of the surgeons and doctors and nurses who treated me.

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Replies to "Hello, I am Jim from Minneapolis. Last December a little after Christmas, I stepped from a..."

@icydecember, Jim, Did your second fall have any relationship with your first fall? Did you work reduced hours and work back up to full time?

It must have been very discouraging going home from the hospital thinking things would be OK, then having two more events/set backs. The anxiety caused by TBI is very real because no one knows what percentage of recovery any of us will achieve. Glad to hear you have recovered well. Sorry to hear you had to go back to work.