Rodrigo Duterte
Footballguy
Long story that I'll try and make short but I could use some advice on a few things.
It's been almost 11 weeks since an accident where I fell down some stairs to my apartment. No bleeding or anything obvious. A few hours later I took a LYFT to the hospital, walked into the ER and checked in. While there, I fell twice, I believe after some medication. The 2nd fall was bad, on my side, head-first to my ear area, almost as if I was knocked out. And nothing broke the fall. I think that was when the fractures occurred, and most certainly the hematoma/head injury. It was massive. I ended up in ICU for a few days. I know I had at least one seizure, but everything after the hospital falls is foggy and I don't have my records, yet. About 6 days later, I got out with the help of a caregiver.
The most significant damage -- in order -- is to T9, then T10. Followed by T4 and T5 (and maybe T6), some of which is compression. Everything's been pretty vague and thus I have no real map of where to go from here. I feel like once the Neurologist saw that the fluid in and outside my skull had subsided, and he knew I wasn't going to do any sort of surgery, they tossed the file aside.
As for the head injury, I continue to have difficulty remembering things. It's extremely frustrating, and I worry a lot about what this means down the road for me, but what can you do? Couple that with the loss of activities and . . . Hello anxiety, insomnia, etc., not nice to meet you. But with what's going on in the world, I tell myself I am still lucky. A consolation I am holding onto.
So I was basically told 3 months for recovery (doing nothing) and then I can start PT. That was about it. Since I'm 2 weeks away and still having significant mobility issues and pain, I have much more time to recover, I'm afraid. My unhelpful neurologist told me that he can "cement" the fracture(s), or I can hope it heals naturally. I chose the latter. With the 3 mos. almost up, I'm concerned about what steps to take, especially finding a good PT to work with. Along with all that's transpired, I'm just not sure how this is going to work, exactly.
BTW, insurance (Blue Shield) denied the 2nd visit to my Neurosurgeon last month, which is upsetting considering my Doctor's office told me I had approval prior to the visit. This was for my spinal cord update ($1800). Now I will have to call their inept office and go through all that. They've been difficult to deal with from the get-go, even though I have been extremely polite and always early and prepared with paperwork, but I digress.
Anyway, I am looking for advice on a number of levels. Would love to hear from anyone that's gone through a similar injury. I'm in my 50's and was very active prior. It's worrisome to think that things I love doing, might be gone for good, especially stuff like snowboarding. I want to rehab ASAP, never been cooped up this long. Add that to helping take care of my almost 90 year old Mother with high BP, and I sure could use some exercise. I've been diligent in rehabbing a myriad of prior injuries and would love to start working on things now, although this time will have to be different.
It's been almost 11 weeks since an accident where I fell down some stairs to my apartment. No bleeding or anything obvious. A few hours later I took a LYFT to the hospital, walked into the ER and checked in. While there, I fell twice, I believe after some medication. The 2nd fall was bad, on my side, head-first to my ear area, almost as if I was knocked out. And nothing broke the fall. I think that was when the fractures occurred, and most certainly the hematoma/head injury. It was massive. I ended up in ICU for a few days. I know I had at least one seizure, but everything after the hospital falls is foggy and I don't have my records, yet. About 6 days later, I got out with the help of a caregiver.
The most significant damage -- in order -- is to T9, then T10. Followed by T4 and T5 (and maybe T6), some of which is compression. Everything's been pretty vague and thus I have no real map of where to go from here. I feel like once the Neurologist saw that the fluid in and outside my skull had subsided, and he knew I wasn't going to do any sort of surgery, they tossed the file aside.
As for the head injury, I continue to have difficulty remembering things. It's extremely frustrating, and I worry a lot about what this means down the road for me, but what can you do? Couple that with the loss of activities and . . . Hello anxiety, insomnia, etc., not nice to meet you. But with what's going on in the world, I tell myself I am still lucky. A consolation I am holding onto.
So I was basically told 3 months for recovery (doing nothing) and then I can start PT. That was about it. Since I'm 2 weeks away and still having significant mobility issues and pain, I have much more time to recover, I'm afraid. My unhelpful neurologist told me that he can "cement" the fracture(s), or I can hope it heals naturally. I chose the latter. With the 3 mos. almost up, I'm concerned about what steps to take, especially finding a good PT to work with. Along with all that's transpired, I'm just not sure how this is going to work, exactly.
BTW, insurance (Blue Shield) denied the 2nd visit to my Neurosurgeon last month, which is upsetting considering my Doctor's office told me I had approval prior to the visit. This was for my spinal cord update ($1800). Now I will have to call their inept office and go through all that. They've been difficult to deal with from the get-go, even though I have been extremely polite and always early and prepared with paperwork, but I digress.
Anyway, I am looking for advice on a number of levels. Would love to hear from anyone that's gone through a similar injury. I'm in my 50's and was very active prior. It's worrisome to think that things I love doing, might be gone for good, especially stuff like snowboarding. I want to rehab ASAP, never been cooped up this long. Add that to helping take care of my almost 90 year old Mother with high BP, and I sure could use some exercise. I've been diligent in rehabbing a myriad of prior injuries and would love to start working on things now, although this time will have to be different.
