Traumatic Brain Injury: Come introduce yourself

Hello all, sorry I’ve been a little slow in formally introducing myself to the group. I blame my “first time snowbird” status, having escaped to Florida for a while where I’ve taken time off and tele-worked less than usual. I’ve met many Midwesterners while here and we universally agree that breaking up winter with warmer temps and less outerwear as well as trading boots for flip flops is swell, and a luxury for which we are all grateful.

Anyway, Anne here. I’ve met everyone by phone but by way of a short recap, I’m a nurse and researcher at Mayo about to hit my 35 year anniversary, all in brain injury care, rehabilitation, and research. Which means I know some about the things you are discussing, but my vantage point differs as a provider because I haven’t “walked a mile in your shoes”. I’ve learned loads of important things from the many people with injuries I’ve interacted with over the years, as I'm already learning from you. I'd like to honor everyone's experiences and willingness to share by paying it forward and supporting each other here.

Let's use my intro to get things re-ignited. How are you doing today? What's one thing that you're grateful for today?

Hi @roslyna, welcome to the TBI group. That sounds like quite the fall. I'm sure you don't like re-imagining it. I invite you to explore the other discussions in the group and add your thoughts. You can see all the discussions here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/traumatic-brain-injury-tbi/

Roslyn, Is this the Stroke INSPIRE program you attend weekly? https://www.parknicollet.com/healthandwellnessinformation/stroke-inspire I thought I would share the link in case other members are interested. What do you like most about the in-person support group?

Hello My name is Roslyn. Late August 2018, I was sitting on a old walker just outside my (apt) separate garage when I moved backward & hit a crack between garage floor and street. I had been resting sciatica nerve in my right hip. The walker collapsed resulting in my falling backwards hitting left side of my head on walker and making contact with cement near top of my head. I cracked my head resulting in blood on the brain & a small bubble under the skin. I was in process of moving out when this happened. Anyway, I kept up with moving to a new place. I put cold pack on head at night. Next day, I gave-in & went to North Memorial - Robbinsdale via ambulance. A nurse there thought my Medic-alert bracket was a regular piece of jewelry. EMT stopped her (No needles or PB in arm). Had lots of X-rays. 5 Drs. evaluated me. Was kept there 3 days, Stayed with a friend for 3 days instead of going to nursing home for 2 weeks. Had to go to HCMC for neurology evaluation for 3 months. North Memorial had wrong address on my referral to HCMC. Asked a friend to drive me to & from HCMC as traffic downtown is 'nightmare' to me. Have lots of ups and downs dealing with vertigo, strength, organizing my days. Attending a group called "Inspire" based at Methodist Hospital on weekly basis. Most of group has survived strokes. They are amazing & super positive!

I had a follow up scan that showed a large gray area, and when I asked, was reassured by doctors that it was nothing to worry about. Some days...I also worry when an attack starts with a brief stabbing pain in either eye.

I'm glad you are getting attention for your headaches! For me it was a routine follow-up CT scan that discovered I had developed a large hematoma. I had driven myself to the appointment expecting to hear that everything was ok, instead I was admitted and had surgery the next day. In retrospect, the headaches I was having had increased in severity but I had written that off as typical TBI symptoms. To this day I still get anxiety over symptoms.

I didn’t do a reply to your post, sorry!

I have indeed brought it up. First to my primary, then to all my therapy peeps, and the one thing that was helping was the acupuncture. Which Medicare and my car insurance people are now debating.

Hi Mugglemary, I hope you have raised your headache issue with your caregivers, especially if they are getting worse.
Wishing you the best,
Jim

I thought I was all back to normal two months after my accident. New normal describes what I really experience every day. After my accident, more symptoms have begun revealing themselves.
A sensation that I had water in my right ear and I couldn’t pop it. Second only to restless leg symptoms. I also have diminished hearing.
No sense of smell. I HATE this.
More and more painful migraines.

Welcome Sarah. Good to hear your recovery is going well. My accident happen just a few of days after yours. My recovery is also going well but I think your comment about a "new normal" is right on and applies to us all. Accepting my limitations (hopefully just short term) has really lowered my stress level. Stay positive!