Now that's a TBI...

There is definitely something to say about working at a Level 1 trauma center, typically never a dull moment. For those who don't know, I work in a neuropsychology department at a local hospital. I conduct evaluations on individuals with traumatic brain injury (aka TBI) to determine the extent of cognitive dysfunction as a result of brain trauma. TBIs typically occur in several ways: motor vehicle accidents (aka MVAs or "The guy came out of nowhere officer, and I only had one glass of wine"), falling from high places (chairs, ladders, patios, horses...you know, the usual), strokes, getting blown-up, beaten, or bonked.

What is most fascinating to me is the clinical or behavioral presentation of some of these folks. Some have severe memory deficits while others experience personality changes. It all varies depending on where and how hard they got dinged. For example, I saw one nice lady a couple of days ago with a stroke who was pretty paranoid; I had to turn up the charm (not hard for a pro like me to do) in order to complete testing before she got wary and decided her lawyer needed to be there. Another gentleman I saw that same day got beaten by a baseball bat because he delivered pizza in the wrong neighborhood ("I said I ordered anchovies!"). He was experiencing what we call "protracted response latencies", or "slower than grandma, and she's dead." He had a hard time coming up with the right words to say and his ability to think quickly was gone.

I am continually amazed by the complexity and beauty of this gelatinous organ (if you will) of ours; even subtle injury can cause major difficulties. In some serious cases I've seen amazing recovery, it's almost like a miracle. So, what are some of the most interesting cases I've seen you say? Well, there was this one guy who blew himself up making a bad batch of meth in his lab, that was interesting. Then there was the drunk teenager hanging out of a car's sunroof, you can probably guess what happened next. Oh, and the guy getting zapped by 10,000 volts, and the lady playing Lone Ranger and falling off her horse. I can't forget the dude who overinflated a tractor tire that tore open his face when it exploded (that's one way to get worker's comp). And the list goes on and on... Not that head injury is anything to laugh at, but I find it fascinating at the myriad of ways we can conk our noggin.

For the rest of my life I think I'll drive a Volvo and force a helmet regiment on my children...even swimming and probably on dates.