Car accident - brain damage

[capra]

I'm in shock. Really. I don't know what to do, what to think. Previous thread
Today I learned that I have brain damage in the frontal lobe because of the accident.

[Maxx&Emma]

Oh my goodness! Sending prayers and good thoughts your way.

[katALlabs]

Wow so sorry to hear that but. Accidents cause some problems one never thought it could. Did they say to what extent the damage is?

[janedoe]

That's very scary. What are the doctors saying? I'm not sure how to put this but I think that brain damage is a lot more common than most people admit. Are you having difficulties as a result?

[SunDance]

Oh, gosh, Oya, that's not what anyone wants to hear about themselves (or about someone they care about...like a fellow Lab Board member). Did the doctors tell you what kind of symptoms you might experience? My neighbor has damage from a car accident and his memory is pretty bad as a result...but he was able to continue teaching for several years afterward until he was old enough to retire (good teacher...and he accommodated his memory difficulties to compensate...he wasn't just hanging around till he could retire). And his speech is a little slow...but not something you'd notice if you hadn't known him before the accident.

All good thoughts for you, my friend...let us be here for you. You have my email address, too...

[POPTOP]

Oh no! Is this like a brain concussion damage? This is so scary. Hopefully this is something that will resolve.

Sending good thoughts.

[capra]

I'll get the detailed report tomorrow (hopefully) and they will call me to discuss it.

I went to a neurologist because I was sleeping a lot. About 14 hours non-stop each day after the accident. For example today I had an appointment at 10 am and I woke up at 3 pm. During that time my phone rang a lot, dogs tried to wake me up but no, I couldn't wake up. Sometimes I heard the phone and the dogs but I couldn't open my eyes. In the end dogs could not wait any more and woke me up. The day before I woke up at 4 pm.

When I'm awake I feel numb. I hardly do anything. I feel tired. I forget to eat, I don't eat actually. I have lots of things to do but no motivation to do them. I feel strange.

People said that it is probably psychological since we had an accident. But I didn't feel like that. On the other hand I was 100% sure that I did not hit my head anywhere.
I saw a neurologist. He examined me like touch your nose, follow my hand etc. He said everything seems normal. This can be ptsd but just to be on the safe side he wanted an MRI. I told him that I did not hit my head. He said that it doesn't matter, you still can have brain damage because of the force and movement of your head.

Then the results came back. I wasn't expecting to hear such a thing. I asked him to show me the damaged region on the images. He showed me. I asked him if it will heal, he said yes. How much time will it take, he said I don't know, it changes from person to person. I asked him if the tissue is dead. He said no. But the detailed report will be ready tomorrow. He will talk to the neurology team and they will decide on the degree of the damage and the treatment. They can just leave it to heal by itself. I don't know the other options.

[capra]

Oh no! Is this like a brain concussion damage? This is so scary. Hopefully this is something that will resolve.

Sending good thoughts.

Yes, it is.
Since a car crashed us at the back and with that force we crashed the car front, my head went forth and back with a sudden force. Seat belt hold my body but not my head so the head freely moved.

This is my neck


This is a normal neck


Shape has changed, called whiplash.
Brain damage is worse. Whiplash is not that important at this point.

[Sue]

You don't need to hit your head to have this happen. Your brain hits your skull due to the sudden stop. It's called coup/contrecoup.
What happens in this situation is because the brain isn't attached, beyond the spinal cord, and is enclosed in your (hard) skull, when you come to a sudden stop, your body will stop, but the brain hits the skull, as it doesn't stop. It's very very common in collisions. It's also what is seen in Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Wikipedia has a decent description of it.
Coup contrecoup injury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As your doctor said, your brain will heal, but it might take time. I am truly glad they found this. The good news is there isn't any bleeding in the brain. That could be very bad, as the blood has no place to go, and would cause a lot of pressure.

An image of what happens in the whiplash situation:

[smartrock]

I'm so sorry to see this. Very frightening. I hope your symptoms resolve quickly.