I've written that I sustained a diffuse TBI in my accident. I'm doing my best to stay away from medical terminology on this blog. No, I definitely do not present myself as anyone who has received any sort of serious medical training. I'll try and explain what I mean in plain English. A diffuse brain injury is one that affects more than one area of the brain. And a focal brain injury is one that is confined to only one area. If you want to get right in to the terms, try the Wikipedia article here.
I understand that diffuse brain injuries are quite common TBIs. That's because they can happen when the head suddenly accelerates or decelerates - something that happens when you fall, get run in to or, like me, you find out how your head gets on when you ram it in to the side of a van at 40 kmh (about 25 mph)! ;-) The brain injury happens because the brain bounces around inside the skull. That's really not good because a) the brain is very soft and b) the skull is very hard!
Yet it's often more than one area that runs in to the skull and damages itself. The brain can bounce off one side and run in to the other, for instance. The end result is that it can be very hard to know what parts of the brain are injured.
A focal brain injury, by comparison, might happen if something penetrates one part of the skull. A foreign object, for instance, might try and see what the inside of the skull looks like. If that's the case, it can be more obvious which part of the brain is injured.
So that's what I mean when I say I had a diffuse brain injury.
Cheers,
Mike
Saturday, 24 November 2007
A Diffuse TBI
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4 comments:
I am so happy to find your blog. My boyfriend fell on July 4, 2008 and suffered the same type of injury and there are so many unknowns. And I realize even though I read your story there will still be unknowns it gives me more hope towards Bill attaining an active lifestyle again.
I need support and advice. My father has suffered form a head injury for the last 25yrs. It seems to be affecting him differently now. He opperates between extremes where he goes from being really happy and considerate to angry and only able to see his own point of view. I need some advice as to how to reason with a TBI patient this far along. Even if you could refer me to someone. Thanks.
Melonie,
Unfortunately, I have no medical expertise and the case you describe sounds very different to my own. So I am unable to help.
Might I suggest that you start looking for medical specialists to discuss your father's case with. You could try hospitals or brain injury associations to track the right people down.
Best of luck with your search and finding a solution to your father's issues.
Cheers,
Mike
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