Had a few emails asking where i am....
Well on Saturday 7 May I had a pretty bad accident and you can read and meet the man who I think saved my life right here. I'm home resting, in a bit of pain, and suffering with vertigo as have a problem in my neck.
So that's it...quite horrific at the time, and with it being the head very scary. Now I have concussion that can stay for a week or 3....I don't know exactly but have to give it time.
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UPDATE... Well its been over 4 weeks since the accident and whilst Im alot better Im not 100%. My head still hurts and often have shooting pains through it. My neck and shoulder are still uncomfortable and cant stand lots of noise with banging and shouting...they just go right through me. I also seem to have done some damage to my pelvis area in the fall too. Ive been seeing a cranial oesteopath which has been a little weird but wonderful and that has definately helped. Having someone who can understand how you feel is sometimes all you need. I
Well on Saturday 7 May I had a pretty bad accident and you can read and meet the man who I think saved my life right here. I'm home resting, in a bit of pain, and suffering with vertigo as have a problem in my neck.
So that's it...quite horrific at the time, and with it being the head very scary. Now I have concussion that can stay for a week or 3....I don't know exactly but have to give it time.
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Head Injury, Private Hospitals and Social Security
So, once helicopterous came they took me to the USP Hospital. I dont remember everything that happened here but my partner has told me much of it. I was checked over initially if anything like neck or back was broken. I was also taken for Head Scan. My head was stitched up. It seemed I was there for hours....well I was and just as I was about to leave they saw my arm had a massive lump. They are funny as in the UK a doctor would touch it look at it but here they just take you straight away for an xray.
When leaving I was told to come back on Monday to collect my TAC (head scans).
Monday we went back, I felt lousy and had to ask to see a doctor again. I explained that I felt sick and dizzy, he checked my scar and said...all normal. How the hell can I be Normal? I got my envelope of head scans and expected to be sat down with a doctor to talk through them.....Nope. I just had my scans of my head / brain, with a letter that I translated to say they couldnt see anything bad. Told to come back on Saturday for Stitches out.
Feeling really bad the following day I decided to make an appointment with Centro De Salud, the social security doctors. If I laid on my side the room just spun around and around and I couldnt focus. I felt sick and just ill.
Wednesday I went to La Campana, saw a doctor straight away who seem to take note that I was feeling sick and dizzy. She touched my neck which hurt and said go for a neck xray. The next day I went to the Ambulatorio in San Pedro. Was in and out within 15 minutes. Then back to my doctor to show her the scan. The scan showed why I had what she called Vertigo. My neck is straight rather than curved which happens in a head trauma. She gave me ibuprofen for the pain and some other medicine for the sickness. She said that it could take time to feel back to normal. I have a massive bruise on my arm and this bruising is also inside my body. If I dont feel better after a week, she told me to go to the hospital again.
I had seen my acupuncturist who recommended that once its been 2 weeks I would be best to see an Osteopathy to try and put things back in their place.
Today I saw an osteopathist who said I was very very lucky and cannot beleive that nothing is fractured. He explained that I should have a number of sessions. If I dont, I will suffer in the long run.
So thats where I am now. Whilst we have amazing access to both health systems here, there is no aftercare. Noone told me what I may feel like afterwards and I tell you after a head injury its not nice.
I thought I was going mad with all these symptoms I was gettting, nausea, dizzyness, pains everywhere, my jaw hurts, ears, teeth feel really sensitive, emotions are everywhere. When I lay with my head to the right side the world spins round and around. If I stand up too quick I feel sick. Clapping, banging any sharp noises go right through me. And I havent been able to go downstairs where I had the accident. Wed been in the hospital all day and not once did they say what may happen, what I may feel.
I hope with time that memories of the accident fade and Im not woken with the nightmares of it that I have been. Im sure it will as they say Time is a Healer.
But if you know anyone thats had a head injury....just because they may look ok, can walk and talk doesnt mean they are. My symptons started between 24 and 48 hours after the initial fall and only today 10 days after the accident have I felt ok to drive, although Im only driving where necessary.
UPDATE... Well its been over 4 weeks since the accident and whilst Im alot better Im not 100%. My head still hurts and often have shooting pains through it. My neck and shoulder are still uncomfortable and cant stand lots of noise with banging and shouting...they just go right through me. I also seem to have done some damage to my pelvis area in the fall too. Ive been seeing a cranial oesteopath which has been a little weird but wonderful and that has definately helped. Having someone who can understand how you feel is sometimes all you need. I
My Final Thought
Personally, should I or my family ever been in a serious incendent like this I think I would go straight to the Costa Del Sol Hospital. Whilst the USP were good at patching me up, I left there feeling ill and not one person advised me as to what I may feel in the coming hours / days. It wasnt until I went to my Centro De Salud that she recognised my symptons and knew it was a problem in my neck.
Aftercare in Spain....there is none. My Oestepath cannot beleive that noone has asked to see me in a month or so. Its down to you and your family and finding information out on the internet.
Aftercare in Spain....there is none. My Oestepath cannot beleive that noone has asked to see me in a month or so. Its down to you and your family and finding information out on the internet.
2 comments:
Oh Jo.. Thank God you are on the road to recovery..
I have much to say about head injuries and their consequence although I am not an expert but have discovered the consequence of such..
Firstly, my Father, when he was a young chap,(29 years), managed to drive his Spitfire car into a tree on a long and windy road in the Midlands area..UK. His so-called friend, followed him and drove off..
As a result he lost his left eye, but, as Dad would no doubt agree, his injuries have borne subsequent difficulties culminating in memory loss and general intolerance in stressful situations....Added to which he seems to have an intolerance when it comes to colds and flu and other things..
I´ve thought about this lots and I think I´ve deduced that his injuries have left him disabled to cope, quite simply. Not that it´s so relevant but he´s a Farmer and owns a 1200 acre arable and beef farm and is rather an efficient type of bloke! His outbursts, however, I put down to the injuries - they never diagnosed any head injuries but I´m absolutely sure he encountered them and still has an impact. The brain is a complex place!
Additionally, I fell down a stairwell when we lived in El Campanario, (behind Diana centre.) It was Christmas Eve morning, around 7.00am and I remember falling down two floors of a marble stairway and crashing against the marble wall and seeing, literally stars and blackout, it was awful.. It was like a cartoon when you see stars revolve around the subjects head against a black background! My husband, a Rugby fanatic, decided to put the one finger up in front of my eyes, which supposedly, indicated possible concussion..
I didn´t apparently have concussion, however, I can tell you that I have not been the same since..
As my Father, I have limited tolerance, concentration and poor hearing on the side I was injured.. I also have the biggest scar above my right eye, which in honesty doesn´t bother so much. It´s taken a while to work out all of this as I was suffering headaches, aches and general intolerance of situations and people!
Head injuries are, apparently so difficult to diagnose, maybe these days it´s different, but I can honestly say that it has definitely affected my life,....
Anyway, enough of that talk..
I wish you the speediest recovery and the best for the future..
With best wishes
Alethea
its now March 2012. The Dizzyness started to come back. Suffering with allergy terribly and thought maybe it was that with ears being blocked etc.
Just been back for another X-ray on my neck and after 10 months my neck is still in the same position as it was when I fell.
I often say to my husband..can you hear that noise? he doesn't know what I'm talking about. I have ringing in my ears, headaches, shoulder pain and generally feel crap.
So I have been recommended to see a bone specialist and hopefully will get his sorted.
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