Traumatic Brain Injury: Come introduce yourself

Hey @hevykevy, I bet you're not the only ones with eye issues post TBI. Would you mind starting a new discussion about it?

Hi! I’m Mike from a Minneapolis southwestern suburb. Last mid-October I was knocked down a flight of stairs and was unconscious for anywhere from 5 to ? minutes (I was alone at the time). The result (besides 3 broken ribs) was a severe concussion and subdural hematoma that bleed in 4 areas of my brain. I finally finished my hospitalization the day before Thanksgiving - when the recurring periodic bleeding finally completely stopped.

Overall, I’m doing fairly well. I had been going to physical and speech therapy regularly until we all got the Stay-At-Home order, and next week I will resume speech therapy via telemedicine. I still struggle daily with a fuzzy feeling in my head (iI often say it feels like I’ve got a head full of cotton. But that is manageable. My biggest concerns relate to my dizziness and word-finding problems.

My hopes are that through this group forum I can find out if I’m an oddball or if others have similar problems.

To clarify, my dizziness is not like the room is spinning (like I’m drunk) it more unsteady- like I’ve just stepped on the dock after hours of being at sea. Also, it’s not constant - there are good days and then there are days I can only get around by using a cane (otherwise I bounce off walls and furniture as I walk like a drunk).

So, that’s my story and I look forward to “speaking” with you folks. Oh, one other thing I should mention is that I’m 71 years old and not exactly a frail old man - I’m 6’4” and 250 pounds.

Hello Everyone, my name is Dan I’m excited to be a part of this group and to learn. My TBI’s are dirt bike and car accident related. I believe to have had four TBI’s, two of them I was hospitalized for specifically. Thanks to Mayo Clinic for putting this together.

Welcome to the group, Maggie20. I can sure relate to the vision issue. When I woke up in the hospital, I was seeing two of everything. One of them was slanted about 15 degrees. No matter how hard I tried, I could not correct this. Fortunately for me, it went away, mostly. I still see double on occasion, and I have shadows next to letters when I read. I need to use eye drops now. It is amazing how much we depend on our eyes.
I can't make any promises for your recovery, I have been amazed at our body and brain's ability to heal itself. At first, I wasn't aware of how much damage had occurred, as I went back to work within 2 weeks of the accident(I was only working half days), but as time went on I realized there were more things that I couldn't recall. But things continue to improve.
It is good to hear that you are getting help and that you are improving, even if it is a huge test of our patience. Also good to know that you are in tune with your current limitations. It is much safer for all of us, but also helps us mend faster if we don't over do it.

You’re a member of the club! My dizziness is exactly as you describe, and I can’t predict when it’ll happen. I lie in bed and turn my head and I get dizzy. Sometimes when I’m out and about, I stumble and worry that people will assume I’m drunk. PT told me to move my eyes first, gradually, in increments as I turn my head. Sometimes I remember.
The word-finding problems drive me nuts. What my speech therapist told me was, don’t panic, think of things that it’s associated with, or how it’s used and don’t worry, you’ll get it, or the person you’re with will come up with it. I’ve used online search sometimes. The worst thing is people saying “well, that’s just getting older”: I was in the hospital, received pt and speech therapy, and also have a card in my wallet saying I have a brain injury. So, no, it’s not just getting older.

Hi, Dan! Welcome to the group!