Frederick Memorial Hospital handout about concussions:
A septic guy came to clean out our septic tank (which it turns out wasn't even needed). He came at 7:30 am when I had just woken up and was ill from whatever happens to make me ill and unable to think when I sleep. I jumped up and got dressed and went outside to try to help him find our septic tank. It had been a warmer day the day before so some snow had melted into the driveway and then refrozen into black ice over the night. While walking down the driveway with the septic guy, I slipped on the black ice and smacked my head really hard on the pavement. I remember it now, but still vaguely. I didn't remember it for a long time. The septic guy helped me up and helped me walk inside, and I seemed fine. I was talking normally and rationally to him, and telling him that this injury was a bad thing because I had had previous head and neck injuries. He tells me that then I told him I would go upstairs and get the plans for the house, which might say where the septic tank was. He says when I came back down the stairs I started yelling at him asking who he was and why he was in my house. I don't remember any of that period. I became conscious again about a half hour later. I remember I was sitting in a chair and the septic guy was standing in front of me and I was confused and didn't know what was going on. I called Kelli, but apparently I had already called her once while I was not really conscious.
emails:
Dear family,
Lesli had an accident this morning - most likely hit her head. She is having some amnesia symptoms. Steve is going to Frederick Memorial Hospital with her right now. She is going in an ambulance. Doug is on his way home or may already be outside or at the hospital.
I am at Lesli's house with Daniel and the septic guy. Sorry to send this in email, but I thought people may want to know, and I don't have everyone's phone number with me.
Kelli
Clarification - Lesli doesn't remember the accident. The rest of her memory may be fine, I really don't know. She did know my name second time we spoke on the phone, so that seems like a good sign. I didn't get to talk to her in person. The whole chain of events and dialogue with Steve and septic guy is a little confusing in retrospect.
Kelli
Steve Doug & I at hospital
This morning the septic tank truck guy came to lesli & doug's.
Lesli went outside and was on the driveway helping him look
According to septic man - lesli fell & hit full weight of head (back) on driveway
Septic man got her up & got her inside
She was freaking out & wondering who this guy was in her house
Steve went over - ambulance was there. Doug was at work.
Doug met them at hospital
No screws or titanium is through skin
She has feeling in her limbs & vision has returned
CAT scan was done it will take 1 hour to review full data
She has hematoma but not insane
Kelli has daniel at kelli's house
Summers with EDC need to wear soft helmets
We can tell people they are 1920s vintage football helmetsI have to be back to rockville w elisa in 2 hrs
michael
Sent via AT&T Blackberry
I'm doing okay. I have a really really bad headache. Worse than usual. And a lump on the back of my head. The pressure in my head feels worse and the whooshing sound in my ears from the venous sinus stenosis is worse, but other wise i'm fine. Nothing got hurt but my head. :)
Lesli,
I'm glad you are feeling better. I am sorry I was not more reassurring to Daniel. It kind of felt like we didn't know how you were for a long time, and then we knew that you were ok. I probably did not emphasize this enough. I didn't think you were going to die because you seemed a little too energetic for that, but I wasn't sure what was going on. When the paramedics came back for your MRI's I figured you were directing that and that you were probably doing better if you had sense enough to bring that up.
I was really worried the first time you called because I couldn't understand you and you were pretty upset. I just told you we would come over and you seemed positive about that. I thought Daniel got hurt or something else terrible. The second time you called, I got a better sense of what was going on and Steve was on his way.
Kelli
I'm just glad the poo truck guy kept his head, called 911 and even managed to find the septic tank and pump some poo out of it.
Clearly being a cyborg is not all it's cracked up to be. I wonder if the 6 million dollar man would have been so successful (as a show not the character in the show - he could be as successful as the writers wanted him to be) if they had used the word cyborg at all. I'm not sure american culture of the 1970s could have handled that.
I'm glad that we have city sewer service. My back hurts enough without having dramatic poo truck adventures although we do live much closer to the hospital. If my doctor moves back to frederick and I have my screws removed I think I will walk to the hospital for my surgery. That way I don't have to worry about parking.
I tried getting on the computer but it made it hard to type. I am now back in my usual position with the computer on me.
steve
"A concussion is an injury to the brain, usually caused by a blow to the head. The brain normally floats in fluid inside the skull. A blow jolts the brain so it moves around and hits the walls of the skull, damaging brain tissue."
lesli
A septic guy came to clean out our septic tank (which it turns out wasn't even needed). He came at 7:30 am when I had just woken up and was ill from whatever happens to make me ill and unable to think when I sleep. I jumped up and got dressed and went outside to try to help him find our septic tank. It had been a warmer day the day before so some snow had melted into the driveway and then refrozen into black ice over the night. While walking down the driveway with the septic guy, I slipped on the black ice and smacked my head really hard on the pavement. I remember it now, but still vaguely. I didn't remember it for a long time. The septic guy helped me up and helped me walk inside, and I seemed fine. I was talking normally and rationally to him, and telling him that this injury was a bad thing because I had had previous head and neck injuries. He tells me that then I told him I would go upstairs and get the plans for the house, which might say where the septic tank was. He says when I came back down the stairs I started yelling at him asking who he was and why he was in my house. I don't remember any of that period. I became conscious again about a half hour later. I remember I was sitting in a chair and the septic guy was standing in front of me and I was confused and didn't know what was going on. I called Kelli, but apparently I had already called her once while I was not really conscious.
emails:
Dear family,
Lesli had an accident this morning - most likely hit her head. She is having some amnesia symptoms. Steve is going to Frederick Memorial Hospital with her right now. She is going in an ambulance. Doug is on his way home or may already be outside or at the hospital.
I am at Lesli's house with Daniel and the septic guy. Sorry to send this in email, but I thought people may want to know, and I don't have everyone's phone number with me.
Kelli
Clarification - Lesli doesn't remember the accident. The rest of her memory may be fine, I really don't know. She did know my name second time we spoke on the phone, so that seems like a good sign. I didn't get to talk to her in person. The whole chain of events and dialogue with Steve and septic guy is a little confusing in retrospect.
Kelli
Steve Doug & I at hospital
This morning the septic tank truck guy came to lesli & doug's.
Lesli went outside and was on the driveway helping him look
According to septic man - lesli fell & hit full weight of head (back) on driveway
Septic man got her up & got her inside
She was freaking out & wondering who this guy was in her house
Steve went over - ambulance was there. Doug was at work.
Doug met them at hospital
No screws or titanium is through skin
She has feeling in her limbs & vision has returned
CAT scan was done it will take 1 hour to review full data
She has hematoma but not insane
Kelli has daniel at kelli's house
Summers with EDC need to wear soft helmets
We can tell people they are 1920s vintage football helmetsI have to be back to rockville w elisa in 2 hrs
michael
Sent via AT&T Blackberry
I'm doing okay. I have a really really bad headache. Worse than usual. And a lump on the back of my head. The pressure in my head feels worse and the whooshing sound in my ears from the venous sinus stenosis is worse, but other wise i'm fine. Nothing got hurt but my head. :)
I slipped on black ice in our driveway and landed straight on the back of my head. The cat scan came back fine. No internal bleeding or unusual swelling. And, I didn't fracture my skull or break a hole thru my skin on the screw plates (which can lead to a major infection travelling down the rods and ending in meningitis). So that is all good.
We'll have to do more to prevent black ice in future.The main thing i'm worried about is breakage of the bone fusion for my skull which makes me have more instability when i lie down, and i'm worried about permanent increased intra-cranial pressure. I won't know for a while I guess. I'm having a hard time lying down because of the headaches but otherwise i feel fine. My back is fine and I have most of my memory back. I still don't remember falling, except as a dream sequence, and there is a period I don't remember at all but i remember most of it now and i remember doug's fone number, kelli's name, and what day of the week it is. My vision was blurred at first but only for the first hour or so. I asked Daniel why he didn't go to school. He said Kelli gave him the choice of going to school or to her house and he chose to not go to school. I asked why again and he said, "Well, did you go to school the day your Mom died?" I said, but i wasn't dying. He said, "Well, I didn't think you were dying, but I thought something like it."
So i feel bad he had that scare. I told him if he'd just expressed his concern to kelli she would have reassured him, but oh well. I don't know what I may have said to him while i was blanked out but still talking. He says I was crying and asking who the septic guy was.
THanks Michael and Steve for the support at the hospital, and thanks Kelli for watching daniel and doing our dishes! And thanks HEidi for the yummy dinner.
Lesli
I'm glad you are feeling better. I am sorry I was not more reassurring to Daniel. It kind of felt like we didn't know how you were for a long time, and then we knew that you were ok. I probably did not emphasize this enough. I didn't think you were going to die because you seemed a little too energetic for that, but I wasn't sure what was going on. When the paramedics came back for your MRI's I figured you were directing that and that you were probably doing better if you had sense enough to bring that up.
I was really worried the first time you called because I couldn't understand you and you were pretty upset. I just told you we would come over and you seemed positive about that. I thought Daniel got hurt or something else terrible. The second time you called, I got a better sense of what was going on and Steve was on his way.
Kelli
I'm just glad the poo truck guy kept his head, called 911 and even managed to find the septic tank and pump some poo out of it.
Clearly being a cyborg is not all it's cracked up to be. I wonder if the 6 million dollar man would have been so successful (as a show not the character in the show - he could be as successful as the writers wanted him to be) if they had used the word cyborg at all. I'm not sure american culture of the 1970s could have handled that.
I'm glad that we have city sewer service. My back hurts enough without having dramatic poo truck adventures although we do live much closer to the hospital. If my doctor moves back to frederick and I have my screws removed I think I will walk to the hospital for my surgery. That way I don't have to worry about parking.
I tried getting on the computer but it made it hard to type. I am now back in my usual position with the computer on me.
steve
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