TBI versus severe head trauma

My neurosurgeon diagnosed me with a TBI (epidural hematoma, crainetomy, multiple skull fractures).  Cognitively, I was lucky and didn't sustain much damage.  I do have a right-sided weakness.

Another doctor (not a surgeon) said I didn't have a TBI but a severe head trauma.  Are these two words interchangeable.  It seems that TBI is more severe than a severe head trauma.  

Thanks for your help

[pacificagreyghost]

The lack of understanding by many in the medical community about TBI makes me crazy!  I have had to educate myself about it after an auto accident just to navigate my way through diagnosis and treatment options.  You can have a mild, moderate or severe traumatic brain injury, a determination they make based upon how long you were unconscious for.  You can have a head injury even from whiplash and do not need to have lost consciousness or you might end up in a coma.  The brain does its own spontaneous healing over the first year and many concussions heal or subside within days or weeks following an injury.  Given I was considered high functioning, the neurologists that I saw did not believe my symptoms, even intimating that I was exagerating given I appeared intelligent and well spoken.  The impact from TBI can affect any area of the brain.  Neuropsych testing can assess the areas that have been affected and that info can then be used to help with treatment.  Sounds as though you  obviously had some neurologic damage given the right side weakness.  Google traumatic brain injury and almost any of the websites can help you with identifying if you have any of the other symptoms so you know if you might need a further eval.  The words do mean the same.  Just know that most doctors never see enough patients with TBI to recognize it when a patient comes in.  Or they can see the effects of a more severe head injury, and miss the more sublte signs of a mild TBI.  TBI model hospitals are good at identifying and treating the injury with rehab.  Some things can be helped with rehab, some they teach you hw to compensate for the deficit.  There are some symptoms on the list that I would not even have thought might be TBI related like loss of smell, balance, vision changes.  Once I saw the list, I felt a huge sense of relief to finally find an answer to my strange set of symptoms.  Also check out your state Brain Injury Association website.  There is a national side at BIAUSA.  Or just google traumatic brain injury and read a bit more about it.  I consider myself lucky, though even mild TBI can play havoc with simple tasks.  I also hope that they told you that you need to avoid a second head injury which can be compounded by the previous injury.  Some of the studies are indicating that we are also more at risk for dementia and Alheizmers as we age.