Kirkepiscatoid

When I heard the recent story about Natasha Richardson's death and Doxy had mentioned a little about it in my comments on my previous post, I noticed that a lot of people have commented on how such an apparently innocuous fall led to such tragedy.

I have to confess I never pay much attention to celebrity gossip, but in this case my ears perked up...because I had my own weird head injury experience about a month ago, and some real life experience with my friend SC.

About three years ago now, my friend SC agreed to be one of the volunteer stooges for a dunking tank. When someone finally dunked him, and he dropped off the bench into the water, the bench came down and hit him in the head. Not hard at all. Didn't even split his scalp. He kind of went "Ow" and went on his merry way.

Then a few days later, I saw him at the Friday night consignment sale. He was complaining about "sinusitis." It was a weird time of year to have sinusitus. He had also told me about the dunk tank. I looked at his head, and he had a TINY bruise. I said, "You know, maybe I'm being paranoid, but let me look at your pupils." I checked his pupils and they were fine. He had a headache, but he insisted it was his sinuses, from inhaling some of the water in the tank. I said, "Ok, that could be the case, but promise me if you have a bad headache, like the worst one you ever had, or blurry vision, or balance trouble, you'll go to the ER." He called me a worrier and a paranoid.

That Sunday he was found down in his house because a friend who usually goes to Mass with him came by. He was taken to the local ER, who immedately turfed him to the medical center at MU, who immedately had him flown to Barnes. He had a massive subdural hematoma. Luckily, he lived.

So let's just say I'm paranoid about head injuries.

Fast forward to about a month ago. I got clobbered with a door in the left temple by walking into it as it opened and I did not see it open as I had my head turned. Again, it was just "Ow." I seemed fine for several hours, but I felt myself getting "duller." My brain is this incredibly zippy, constantly moving organ. I have tons of thoughts going in it all the time at multiple levels. By evening, I was feeling really slow. It was like 1/10 of the thoughts were in there. I dd not have much of a headache, but I felt like I had to blink all the time. I just felt like I was getting slower and slower. I had trouble reading my computer screen. I started wondering what was happening. I thought about SC. But I also thought maybe I was just being a little paranoid.

So I called a friend of mine and asked him what had to seem like a very strange question. I go, "Ok, I just want you to talk to me and ask me questions, and you let me know if I'm answering them strangely." So we talked a while and after about five minutes, he goes, "You're answering appropriately, but you are answering VERY slowly and deliberately, like you're trying to put something is wrong past me. What happened?"

I told him about my recent bump on the head and the fact I have had two concussions in the past. I said, "I am embarrassed to say this, but I am considering going to the ER. I have not been a patient in an ER for twelve years. This is embarrassing."

He said, "I'll take you." We argued a little about that, I said there was no reason to drive out in the country, and I'd drive myself in. I lost.

I remember feeing very very dull riding in, but mostly embarrassed. I was pretty sure they would find nothing wrong. As it turns out, I was right, but it was also a good idea to be sure I was fine. As it turns out, with my history of two concussions, it just doesn't take much to "ring my bell" anymore. Ignoring it could have caused me to ignore something worse.

Even then, I was surprised that it took me the better part of three days to get rid of my "dullness." I started to wonder if somehow I'd done permanent damage. I didn't panic, but I was considering panicking. But then on the morning of the fourth day, it was like I woke up and I could feel all the thoughts zipping around again. Not quite as fast as "normal" but more like cars who needed the cobwebs blown out of them by a good fast run on the highway. It was an enjoyable day, feeling it all "come back to normal" over the course of the day.

So I am not surprised that the Natasha Richardson tragedy was over such a small spill. My own recent mild head injury experience reminded me, "It just doesn't take much."