When an impact to your brain changes your behavior, sometimes you are the last to know. If you feel depressed, angry, agitated, or just not yourself, ask your friends and family if they have noticed anything different about you since the wreck. After a wreck, it is so important to make sure you let the doctor and your lawyer know if you or your loved one seem to be acting different. Traumatic brain injuries can be overlooked, as the person who is hurt rarely can detect subtle changes in their own attitude. To themselves they may be acting normally.
Case Study #1: A Minor TBI almost caused Major Marital Problems
One case that comes to mind is a case involving a tractor-trailer wreck where the husband kept speaking in a very agitated and angry manner to his wife when we met for the first time. She kept telling me, “He never spoke to me like this before the wreck”. When he heard these words, it only upset him more. He snapped at her again. She cried. I was immediately concerned about a possible traumatic brain injury and told the wife my concern. After he calmed down, I began asking him about the wreck and that is when he realized that he was missing some memories of the accident. He remembered hitting his head and remembered being in the ditch but not the time in between. He made a confused look, then teared up. Although “NO LOC” (which means no loss of consciousness) was reported by the EMTs in his records, I began to wonder if he even knew he had lost consciousness. He went to his primary care physician, was in fact diagnosed with a concussion, and over time he improved. Knowing this behavior change was not something he could control helped his wife tremendously and their marriage. When we met at the end of the case he seemed like the lovely man his wife had described.
Brain injuries and concussions, especially when there is loss of consciousness can cause noticeable behavior changes and can even cause the onset of severe depression in the brain injured client. Watch for these changes in your family members and let the doctor know.
Case Study #2: The Obvious Brain Injury
Some brain injuries are obvious. One of the sweetest clients we have had was a lady who could not speak after falling from a high place. In the beginning I would politely nod, pretending that I knew what she was trying to tell me. Her daughter would “translate” since she had begun to understand some of her words. By the end of our representation she still had a severe speech impediment, but it had improved so greatly that I could understand every word she said, even on the phone. She has one of the sweetest smiles and attitudes of any person you will meet. She even got her old job back. Her life will never be the same, but she is making the best of it.
Case Study #3- The Test You Can’t Fail
Imagine having a severe brain injury, undergoing a full day neuropsychological evaluation, and then finding out that the doctor thought you tried hard but he thought you probably just weren’t that smart to start with. WHAT?! This happened to my client. When she did not score well on the test, instead of concluding she had a brain injury, the doctor used a lot of fancy words to say he doubted she was very smart to begin with. This jerk had not met her before her brain injury, did not have her grades from school, had interviewed none of her friends or family, and had nothing to base this on other than what she looked like and how she dressed. We obtained her school records from a long time back to show that she was an excellent math student in school and also did well in English before her brain injury severely limited her ability to communicate. I was madder than a nest of hornets. Doctors were supposed to be scientific – not biased and prejudiced?! This injustice fueled my passion to achieve a big recovery for my client.
While the brain is by far the most important part of the human body, it is also unfortunately one of the parts that is most sensitive to sustaining permanent harm from external trauma. Even a minor brain injury might have lasting repercussions, and more serious harm can lead to permanent and debilitating losses of sensory, cognitive, and motor function.
Seeking financial recovery from someone whose negligence leads to a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be essential to preserving someone’s quality of life, as any experienced catastrophic injury attorney could affirm. If you sustained a brain injury of any kind due to another person’s misconduct, retaining a Macon traumatic brain injury lawyer could be the first and most important step you take towards obtaining the monetary damages you deserve.
What Makes Traumatic Brain Injuries So Severe?
Even with the benefit of modern medical science and technology, there is still a lot that medical professionals do not understand about how exactly how the brain functions and what effects that injuries to different areas of the brains can have. Between this and the fact that the brain cannot always heal itself after severe trauma the way that other body parts can, traumatic brain damage often results in complications that persist long after a single accident. Severe TBIs are often characterized by:
- Prolonged loss of consciousness
- Difficulties with coordination and concentration
- Uneven pupils
- Fluid drainage from the ears or nose
- Numbness in the extremities
Any of these may indicate that substantial and possibly permanent damage has occurred due to an external impact. Unfortunately, these symptoms might not appear for hours or even days after an accident. This makes treating TBIs and minimizing the long-term damage exceptionally challenging for even experienced medical professionals.
Because of this, it is always crucial for anyone who sustains a blow to the head during an accident to immediately seek medical attention so they can get a professional diagnosis of any serious injuries. A Macon traumatic brain injury attorney could then help factor those medical expenses, as well as other damages like lost income, lost earning capacity, physical and psychological pain, and lost quality of life, into a settlement demand or lawsuit.
Macon Personal Injury Lawyers at Childers & McCain, LLC Advocate for Victims of Traumatic Brian Injuries
Recovering comprehensively for the short-term and long-term impacts of a TBI can be challenging even under the most favorable circumstances. If there is any question about who is to blame for your injuries, or whether you yourself bear some responsibility for it, you might have slim odds of achieving a positive case resolution if you try to pursue that claim by yourself.
Seeking help from a Macon traumatic brain injury lawyer at Childers & McCain, LLC should be a priority for anyone trying to obtain compensation for an injury of this nature. Schedule your initial consultation today by calling us at 478-254-2007 or contacting us online.
