Inquiring Minds want to know: What were your injuries?

I always wonder if they want a full answer. Sometimes it seems too much to talk about so I just say “polytrauma”.  Sometimes this is sufficient. If not, it will lead to more questions that are almost always more specific.

Believe it or not I finally have most of this list memorized now after 3 years.  However, I still always leave something out when talking to someone and trying to determine what to tell what specialist or what is important to mention or what wasn’t….this was not only overwhelming but impossible.

My family had kept track of injuries as they were discovered and this is their list in addition to mine once we started combining them and matching them with Medical reports we had.  These are the injuries from the 2014 wreck in chronological order of discovery.  The list is great because I just add to it as things are discovered and then just provide the list to my providers when I see them.    It also saves time during the visits from those ultra short times which are never long enough for a polytrauma patient.

Yes I know it is my personal medical information I am putting out here, yet my bravery (or stupidity perhaps) to so openly share all this has helped me learn valuable information from others to get properly treated and helped me acquire a higher index of awareness about my body and the care that is or is not given to it.

If you see something here that pertains to something you have questions about maybe I can answer the questions and help in some small way.  All in all, recovery and rehabilitation is a work in progress.  Not something all diagnosed in an Emergency Room or Ambulance.  Things are always unknown or missed there.

• Traumatic Brain Injury (approx. one week of amnesia before wreck and 5-6 days after wreck with a few isolated memories in between);
• Chronic headaches
• head laceration on forehead from just above R brow into hairline approx. 3 inches
• moderate right extracranial soft tissue swelling extending to the right periorbital  region, paranasal sinus disease with air-fluid levels throughout multiple paranasal sinuses, fluid levels in maxillary area

• Whiplash
• Multiple teeth fractured, partially missing, or damaged which required numerous oral surgeries to correct through 2014 and 2015
• R scapular neck fracture with glenohumeral subluxation
• R shattered scapula (comminuted, displaced , and angulated) – [4 surgeries including  ORIF and bone grafting]
• R 2-11 displaced rib fractures with Flail Chest (ORIF Surgery 5-10 plated); 11th rib still nonunion fracture
• R pulmonary contusions, pneumothorax, hemothorax
• R lung node (secondary to lung trauma)
• T5-10 transverse process nondisplaced fractures, anterior wedging of T6
• hairline fracture to right pelvis
• R radial styloid fracture
• R thigh lacerations status post closure
• Multiple soft tissue injuries, seatbelt marks, and scrapes over body
• Endocrine Issues (labs all over the place) Amenorrhea 6 months /Irregularity;
• Hypothyroidism exacerbated; Hyperparathyroidism developed; Anemia
• Dizziness, Imbalance, and Headaches; Photophobia, and loud sounds exacerbate symptoms
• PTSD and Depression (after wreck)
• small 12 mm lesion at the superior pole of the left kidney has imaging features compatible with a small proteinaceous cyst
• Diagnosed with Idiopathic Hypersomnia and Insomnia (after 3 sleep studies over 3 months)
• Stable borderline cardiomegaly
• Neurogenic Bladder diagnosed with Urodynamic Study
• R Ovarian Cyst (developed to 3cm and then resolved by itself)
• MRI of Brain revealed – Chiari 1 Malformation (9mm below foramen)
• MRI of Spine revealed –C3-C4 with central disc protrusion and minor dural sac effacement; C4-C5 some bulging on the disc with mild dural sac effacement, C6-C7 herniated disc with mild to moderate stenosis (focal herniation of the disc posteriorly with generalized bulging, dural sac effacement, and asymmetrical cord flattening on the left); A 15mm hemangioma at T4; T6 wedging/fracture (this remains fractured in 2016 and unhealed); T5-T6, T6-T7,T8-T9 on multiple levels there was disc dessication, loss of disc  height, and minimal annular bulge; L4-L5, L5-S1 is a minimal annular bulge, and a Schmorl’s node involving the inferior endplate of L4
• Suprascapular Nerve Palsy
• Stable 15 cm well-circumscribed nodule posterior inferior of the right thyroid gland,  differential includes parathyroid adenoma
• Stable subcentimeter thyroid gland nodule and colloid cyst.
• Stable noncalcified 5 mm right middle lobe nodule that has been stable for over 2 years
• Acromion Fracture (secondary to reconstructive surgery with bone graft and plating to repair)
• Anemia persists
• Restrictive Ventilatory Defect (2 liters O2 added with CPAP at night)
• Posttraumatic Headache
• Primary Hypothyroidism with Reverse T3 Syndrome, Secondary Hyperparathyroidism and bowel absorptive problem
• Mild to Moderate Hearing Loss Left Ear
• Post Trauma Vision Sydrome (PTVS) and Vision Midline Shift Syndrome
• Hearing Loss L ear (hearing aid recommended by ENT)