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My Life After My Accident
I spend my day reading and doing the crossword puzzles in the daily paper, I need my wife or another person
to hold onto for support, as I have a balance problem, since my accident people that do not know me think that
I am drunk, my friends avoid me now as they dont know what to say to me, exept for Friday when I go to Headway (a
charity for people who have had brain injuries) based in Rookwood hospital in Cardiff my week is very boring. I think
I am lucky compared to some as my accident was a closed head injury. However this has resulted in me having cluster type
headaches, and flash back headaches which I can only describe as the pain I felt at the time I was Injured. I also
suffer a mild hangover headache 24/7 but I have gotten used to that now ,I also have a problem of tinnitus where i get noises
in my head similar to the buzzing when you stand very close to an electricity pylon, my problems still persist and I
see various doctors for clinical depression, post traumatic stress syndrome, physiotherapy and the pain clinic.
I try to carry on with my life but it is hard. and I know it must be harder for my family especially my
wife who is now my carer.
People with head injuries can suffer with the following problems -headaches, word finding, anger and
depression, getting your brain overloaded, Headaches, I personally have three different types the first is annoying
as its similar to a hangover headache, which I am now used to, the second is cluster headaches which come and go,
some times lasting 10 - 14 days and are very exhausting, but the worse is what I call hits and are supposed to be flash
backs of the accident , they are where i get the same pain as i did when i hit the steel locker with my head, this is
very very painful, this can last for a second or continue over and over for as much as 6 - 7 minutes which may not seem much
but it leaves me exhausted afterwards. I also suffer a balance problem,which is just that I am not able to walk in a straight
line its like being drunk, or walk unaided. The problem of overloading of the senses has been hard for me to handle as
its like everyone is talking to you at once and your brain is trying to listen to them all at the same time, its not just
when i am out shopping its in any crowded place, I feel as though I am eves dropping, as I can hear parts of different conversations
and I cant filter out one conversation from the next. Word finding is another that is difficult , I am told its called "anomia"
which means "cant name". Head injured people may talk normally; speech flows evenly and its easy to understand. But they,ll
have this very odd problem-- they,ll know the word they want to say but just cant come up with it. A variation of this is
that you say the wrong word. Instead of saying "pass me the spoon" you may say "pass me the noon" or they may say a completely
different word but they wont even recognise that they have said the wrong word until its pointed out to them.Head injury patients
suffering anger and depression will have these feelings multiplied 2 or 3 times the normal levels. Anger following a head
injury tend to have a quick on a quick off . Basically they can be in a good mood until some small thing sets them off, but
this anger doesnt last, they are angry for a few moments and then someone changes the topic of conversation, and they
quickly stop being angry, in another variation of anger problems, some little thing sets them off and then the whole day is
ruined. they will also become very emotional over the slightest thing which may seem out of character for this person. sometimes
the anger can be seen before it erupts, look for tightening in the jaw, or it may be clenching of the hands, it may be sweating
or heavy breathing . Depression is a problem that most head injured people have to cope with on a daily basis,and in my case
a very big problem. The main problem with my type of injury "closed head injury" is that it cant be seen with a CT scan or
an MRI which both produce pictures of the brain and are very good at seeing blood and tumours in the brain, but they are not
good at seeing tears (which are very small) these tears or shears are caused by the shifting or rotation of the brain inside
the skull, and is sometimes called "Axonal shear" which is a microscopic tear along the Myelin sheath surrounding the nerve
fibre, and is often followed by microswelling and the formation of scar tissue. The process of scarring can take weeks ,months
or even years to complete. As the axon scars over, fewer and fewer impulses can be carried through the tough scar tissue,
and the axon may begin to die and lose connectivity function over time. this accounts for a number of symptoms which
could worsen with time. (Myelin is a fatty substance that coats and protects the axons.A myelin sheath insulates these individual
axons and is crucial to the speed and accuracy of its electrochemical impulse. If the myelin sheath is structurally damaged,
then its electrophysiological properties are disrupted, and the impulses will become abnormal and uncoordinated down the length
of the axon. Consequently the information being conveyed by these nerve fibres will be scrambled or cut off.)
please feel free to contact me, my E mail address is me@philliphurley.co.uk
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| my first competition senior Mr. Rhondda |
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| practising posing at my gym |
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| my first senior Mr. Wales |
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| me at newport senior Mr. Wales |
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| my last contest senior Mr Wales at tenby |
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