A few years back, I suffered Bell’s Palsy after an operation and thus got an MRI. I was told I had a ministroke. Though the Bell’s Palsy went away on it’s own, I recently went persistantly numb on one side of my body, so I got another MRI. I now live in a different area, more of a ‘country’ area, and I’m uncertain what to think now. The hospital sent a report (author unknown) to my clinic saying I had several small white leasions from an “old trauma.” Nothing “acute.” It made NO mention of my prior mini-stroke, which I find odd. (At the first hospital, I was shown the MRI and saw the line myself.)My doctor is a GP, not a radiologist or a neurologist. I’ve suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia since I had the mini-stroke — although the conditions may have been triggered by the operation. CFS/FM have many symptoms in common with MS. Should I be worried?
Brain MRI, Small White Lesions, Help?
Symptoms of Brain Damage
Brain damage can cause a disruption in the functions of your brain. Symptoms that may be caused by injury to the brain include slowed thinking processes, difficulty switching between tasks, diminished libido, disturbed sleep, emotional outbursts, irritability, depression, faulty judgment, impaired memory, difficulty concentrating, inattention and excessive sleepiness. It is sometimes difficult to sort out actual brain damage from other ailments or issues including job loss, financial loss, depression, medications, pain elsewhere and migraine headaches.
The severity and extent of neurological dysfunction caused by brain damage can be measured with the help of testing. Neuropsychologists use these tests to enable them to isolate the problem to a specific area of the brain. The frontal lobes control inhibition of inappropriate behavior, foresight, attention, interpersonal behavior, judgment, personality, mood and drive. An injury to the frontal lobe is sometimes associated with olfactory damage, and this may cause patients to have an altered or reduced sense of smell.
The effects of brain damage on the patient may be surpassed by the effect it has on their family. Brain injuries are tremendous stressors in interpersonal relationships.
As a rule, brain injury symptoms should lessen as time passes, as the brain heals. But sometimes the symptoms get worse, since the patient can’t adapt to the injury to the brain. It often happens that psychological problems arise or get worse after brain damage.
There is a wide variety of symptoms that can occur after brain injuries. The symptoms will vary depending on what part of the brain was injured. Here are some possible symptoms, and the area of brain damage that can cause them:
If there is brain damage to the frontal lobe or forehead:
Inability to express languageDifficulty in solving problemsChanges in personalityChanges in social behaviorMood changesInability to focus on tasksPersistence of one single thoughtLoss of flexibility in thinkingLoss of spontaneity in interacting with othersInability to plan a sequence of complex movementsLoss of simple movement of body parts
If there is injury to the parietal lobe, near the top and back of the head:
Difficulty with hand to eye coordinationLack of self-awareness of certain body partsDifficulty doing mathematicsDifficulty in distinguishing right from leftDifficulty drawing objectsProblems with readingInability to name an objectInability to attend to more than one object at a time
If there is damage in the occipital lobes, at the back of the head:
Difficulties in reading and writingInability to recognize an object’s movementDifficulty in recognizing drawn objectsInability to recognize wordsInaccurately seeing objectsHallucinationsDifficulties identifying colorsDefects in vision
If you notice these symptoms in someone that you care for, contact their health care professional immediately, take them to the Emergency Room, or call 911.
7mth old slips to the floor from a bed should I get him checked out for head trauma?
My niece is in inconsolable distress. She was changing her brother in the middle of the bed when she turned her head for a few seconds to get his socks. In that instant he twisted his body turned and slipped off the bed. she went to grab him but was afraid of twisting his arm and hurting him internally. The baby slid off the full size bed that is approximately 16inches in height away from the floor. He slightly bumped his head. After careful inspection he had no bumps, open skin, bleeding, redness or swelling. After being picked up he cried for a few seconds, then continued to laugh, coo and babble as he always does, his mobility never decreased even after an hour. His still has active motor skills..( follows finger, grabs, reaches, kicks, reacts to sound light, ticklish etc.) Despite all of this she is still understandably distraught, in your opinion, should her parents take her brother to the doctor? Any advice from pediatric professional/parents would be great. Thx
7mth old slips to the floor from a bed should I get him checked out for head trauma?
NY Medical Malpractice – Fetal Distress, Hypoxia & Anoxia – A Case …
Let me tell you about a brain-damaged baby case I handled that started when a woman came to my office and told me about how she was in labor with her second child. She was admitted to the labor floor and apparently hooked up to a fetal monitor to evaluate the baby’s heart rate and the mother’s contraction patterns.
She was on the labor floor for hours with infrequent visits by a nurse and a resident doctor every so often. Mom told me that despite continued complaints of labor pain, her pleas to help went ignored. Nobody checked on her for more than an hour. When a nurse finally checked in on her, she noted abnormal fetal tracings and ran for the doctor. The doctor came in, examined the patient, reviewed the fetal monitoring strips and decided she needed an emergency cesarean section. All mom knew was that there was a problem with the baby.
At the time of birth, the baby had very low Apgars- the scores that are given to the baby to try and objectively asses the baby’s well-being at the time of birth. The doctors look at whether the baby is breathing at birth, whether he’s crying, moving his arms and legs. The color of his skin is evaluated, among other important factors that make up a baby’s “Apgar scores.”
Unfortunately for this mother, her child was deprived of oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia, which is a lack of oxygen, that led to brain damage. We claimed that the baby’s distress was visible on the fetal monitor tracing that went ignored, along with mom’s complaints. The doctor who was responsible for this patient initially claimed the patient didn’t need an emergency c-section, but then later changed his testimony and claimed it really was an emergency c-section because the baby was in distress.
Anoxia is a term doctors use to mean “no oxygen.” Hypoxia is a term doctors use to mean “lack of oxygen.”Either condition is extremely bad for the baby since our brains require oxygen to survive. If the baby’s brain is deprived of oxygen of a period of time, the baby can experience permanent and irreversible brain damage.
In our case, I was able to successfully resolve the case in favor of the mother and child. Obtaining appropriate compensation as a result of the failure to recognize fetal distress during delivery allowed mom to be able to support her disabled and brain-damaged child for the remainder of her life.
NY Medical Malpractice – Fetal Distress, Hypoxia & Anoxia – A Case …
Posted in Brain Injury Treatments
Tagged anoxia, emergency cesarean section, lack of oxygen
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