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Head injuries
May. 13th, 2015 05:45 pmMy boyfriend recently suffered a fairly bad head injury at work. Thankfully, he is OK. I know this could have gone much, much worse. He fell pretty far, too. We are both incredibly lucky this went as well as it did. People die from tipping over in a chair or slipping in their bathtub, or get massive bleeds and end up in comas or end up with brain damage or need to do major physical therapy to get back to their normal lives. And I am incredibly grateful and thankful that that wasn't how this played out. So far, he seems to be fine. His face looks a little beat up and he's exhausted, but he doesn't have headaches or ringing in the ears or double vision, he seems to be able to pay attention (unless it's the doctors who are talking, he seems to tune them out, but I'm hoping that was all it was), his temperament seems the same, i haven't noticed any physical stuff, etc. Once he has a day or two to get some serious rest and get back to his normal routine (except work, he's going to be off work at least two weeks, the neuro doc said people with this kind of injury usually need a month off).
Unfortunately, with head injuries, all of this is just the first step. Don't get me wrong, it's a VERY GOOD first step. Next is seeing if he has any neurological issues. Could be personality changes. Could be cognitive issues. Could be physical issues. Could be none of the above. A couple of my colleagues have had family members with head injuries. One said that her family member suddenly had an extremely short temper, but it got better after about 6 months. Another said that her family member seemed fine but a few months down the road started having seizures and had some odd issues like problems with test-taking (not being able to differentiate between different answers). I am of course hoping that he has no issues, and if he does that they're minor ones and/or short-lived. we'll see. I'm looking for some tests i can give him at home so i can come prepared to the next meeting.
And then there's the workman's comp issue. I'm hoping his workplace won't be a bunch of dicks about it, but a few days in a neuro ICU plus multiple cat scans and x-rays and consults from other doctors is going to add up really fast. Plus his work situation is complicated (he works for a temporary labor company but he's been on long-term assignment to the same company for more than a year, and that company exclusively works for another company, etc). So basically, right now, i'm nervous but cautiously optimistic. We'll see what the doc says at the follow up, and what his company says about the workman's comp.
One of the reasons he went to college was to get away from situations like this so hopefully now that he has his degree he can start looking for something better and safer. Maybe we wait on interviews until his face is a bit healed though. He did joke that he could say 'see my face? this is why I'm looking for a new job' ;)
Unfortunately, with head injuries, all of this is just the first step. Don't get me wrong, it's a VERY GOOD first step. Next is seeing if he has any neurological issues. Could be personality changes. Could be cognitive issues. Could be physical issues. Could be none of the above. A couple of my colleagues have had family members with head injuries. One said that her family member suddenly had an extremely short temper, but it got better after about 6 months. Another said that her family member seemed fine but a few months down the road started having seizures and had some odd issues like problems with test-taking (not being able to differentiate between different answers). I am of course hoping that he has no issues, and if he does that they're minor ones and/or short-lived. we'll see. I'm looking for some tests i can give him at home so i can come prepared to the next meeting.
And then there's the workman's comp issue. I'm hoping his workplace won't be a bunch of dicks about it, but a few days in a neuro ICU plus multiple cat scans and x-rays and consults from other doctors is going to add up really fast. Plus his work situation is complicated (he works for a temporary labor company but he's been on long-term assignment to the same company for more than a year, and that company exclusively works for another company, etc). So basically, right now, i'm nervous but cautiously optimistic. We'll see what the doc says at the follow up, and what his company says about the workman's comp.
One of the reasons he went to college was to get away from situations like this so hopefully now that he has his degree he can start looking for something better and safer. Maybe we wait on interviews until his face is a bit healed though. He did joke that he could say 'see my face? this is why I'm looking for a new job' ;)
