Concussion symptoms

[Kathy813]

difficult child borrowed husband’s truck tonight and lost control of the truck and ran off the road into a ditch. It must not have been that hard an impact as the airbag did not deploy. She called us and when we got there a police officer was already at the scene. It was exactly one year to the day that she got a DUI. Luckily, this time she had not been drinking and said that she was looking for a CD and hit the edge of the road and then swerved off the road.

Anyway, I was more than a little mad and she knew it. In the middle of my vent, she said that she had hit her head and that things were blurry. With difficult child you never know what is true or not and when I said that I would take her to the hospital she said that she didn’t need to go.

She does not have health insurance so I’d rather not take her unless it is absolutely necessary. I have checked her eyes and the pupils are small and evenly dilated. She is walking and talking fine and has no bump on her head.

Is there anything else that I should watch for? She wants to go to bed but that is not abnormal for her. She sleeps all of the time anyway. Should I wake her periodically tonight? Check her pupils when I wake her?

Any advice would be appreciated.

by the way, husband is still out waiting for the tow truck. There are at least two flat tires and the axel doesn’t look good. Oh, and difficult child got a ticket for failing to maintain the lane.

Another Merry Christmas at the Kathy813 house.

~Kathy

 

[ThreeShadows]

Oh, my! I'm so sorry!
difficult child 2 got a concussion during a hockey game. He was confused, couldn't remember the name of the opposing team. We watched him closely for headache and nausea. He went to bed and slept for a week!
I hope she is okay. I would google concussion...

 

[Kathy813]

Thanks for your quick reply. There is absolutely no confusion. The "symptoms" only started when I was telling her what an idiot she was.

I know that probably wasn't the right thing to say but she had just told me that she lost control because she was searching for a CD and taking a drink of coke at the same time.

husband just got home and said that it turned out that she was actually on the way back from Blockbuster when she lost control which means that she had to cross a lane of traffic to end up on that side of the road. She could have hit someone head on!!

I'd like to kill her right now. I need to take some deep breaths.

~Kathy

 

[everywoman]

Jana had a concussion at about age 6. She fell and hit her head riding bikes with husband. She was confused for the first few minutes. I took her to the ER. There she got really sick and vomited a whole lot---all night long. We ended up admitted for a few days.

 

[Suz]

Kathy, it's smart of you to not take any chances. Here are some symptoms:

http://www.webmd.com/brain/tc/traumatic-brain-injury-concussion-overview

Hugs,
Suz

 

[Fran]

UGH!!!!
Doesn't stuff like that drive you nuts. Foolish chances.

 

[Kathy813]

Well, being a difficult child, she got mad that we were mad so she took a sleeping pill and went to bed. So much for checking on her.

Before she did though, she was playing Wii bowling and having no problem lining up the shots and knocking pins down. She shows none of the signs from the Internet.

I think she was just using it to try to manipulate her way out of trouble. The guy with the wrecker said that the underside of the truck is really messed up. We're probably talking thousands of dollars of damage which will make our insurance go up when husband is unemployed.

Sadly, difficult child shows no remorse. She just keeps saying it was an accident and accidents happen. Gee, how come I never drive off the road looking for CD's and drinking cokes?

~Kathy

 

[Hound dog]

If she took a sleeping pill you should throttle her each time you wake her up every 2 hrs. OMG! Youth is soooo wasted on the young!

Persistant headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness (which of course her sleeping pill is going to make harder to determine) and slurred speech, stumbling , unequal or dialated pupils, ect haul her drag her if necessary to the ER ASAP.

The last thing she needed to do was take a sleeping pill tonite. ugh!

((hugs for your worrying Mommy heart))

 

[Nomad]

I suppose in her own world, she is trying to test the waters and also in her own world...deal with it all too.

Very concerning when they take chances like this...chances that could hurt themselves and others so horribly. A plus that she wasn't drinking though. Very curious that it was one year to the day of her DUI last year.

Please watch her for symptoms...even if you are doing it on the sly. If you see anything concerning, I would take her to the hospital.

Hard to say what your best "attitude" might be. I guess one of concern. Perhaps listen to what she has to say.

The sleeping pill...might mean that she just doesn't deal well with with problems. She wants to make them 'go away' fast and easy. She doesn't have a good coping mechanism at her disposal. Does the date mean anything?

Surely, it is frustrating. As a mother of a difficult child, I "get" this big time.

(Hugs) for you mommy heart.

 

[DammitJanet]

I dont blame you for being mad. Once I find out they are ok...I go into mad mode too!

I am glad she is ok but she should be showing remorse for what she has done...sigh.