The Brain of an 18 Year Old

Yesterday I was getting ready for a party - actually a fundraiser that I was hosting, but at someone else's house. I made the mistake of FIRST getting ready, THEN loading up the car. Lemme tell ya, not a great idea. So, I'm wearing the 4-1/2 inch shoes - wedge, not skinny heels, but still. I loaded up my arms with platters that I was going to take over for our "wine & cheese potluck," so we would have a place to place the cheese & crackers. I tripped stepping out of my house, fell forward, platters shattered in my arms, and I realized that my head had just smacked right into the concrete in my carport. F***. If my head is split open, how am I going to take care of this party? I wobbled to the bathroom - no lacerations - a miracle. Not on my face and not on my arms from the broken ceramic. Somehow I managed to sweep up and get to the event. In flats.

If I say so myself, I was fabulous. Friendly, normal, interactive. But I had a headache and felt a little off balance. At the end of the event, when most people had left, I had a crying spell over some confusion about the dishwasher. I finally had to come clean. I'd had a closed head injury. (Emotional lability can be one symptom of a concussion.)

My friends were great- shocked at me but helpful. Luckily, many people I know are doctors. Friend wrote me an order for a non-con head CT. Got a ride home. Another friend stayed the night and checked up on me intermittently. Dude, that is a good friend, to set an alarm for 2 am to check to see if I was still alive.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I chose not to go to the E.R. But only because I knew what would happen. They would ask me some questions to check my mental status. I pulled off hostessing that party, I would say my mental status was adequate. They would ask me if I was vomiting -- I wasn't. They would see if I was dizzy -- I felt a tiny bit off balance, but no true vertigo. They would ask about the headache. It was about a 3/10. Not "worst headache of my life" territory. And they would order a scan.

So this morning I called my boss, got a sick day. Called the Radiology place, got an appointment. Called my office, got the scan ordered in our EMR. Called my old referrals clerk, got the prior auth. All before 9 a.m.

To shorten this long story, I got that head CT and the radiologist was nice enough to call me back to look at the scan with him. No subdural hematoma. He said I had nice sulci - a beautiful brain. Said I had the brain of an 18 year old. From a radiologist, that's a compliment.

I went home, had lunch, and slept all day. Broken platter parts still in the carport. I'll clean that up tomorrow. Head still hurts, but not too bad. Not feeling as woozy. But I have unattractive abrasions on my forehead and nose.

All in all, I think I got lucky.