Acute Subdural Hematoma - Recovery

[ccrook]

My mother suffered an acute subdural hematoma after falling down the stairs, hitting her head.  She had surgery to drain the blood within a 2 hour window.

Her recovery was outstanding at first, and was sent home a week later.  She seemed to be pretty close to 100% mentally - able to carry on inteligent conversations with no problems.

All of a sudden a couple days after she had been taken home, she began to be unable to "spit out" what she was trying to say.  This startled us, and we took her to the ER.  By the time a doctor got to her, she seemed pretty close to normal again.  She remained in the hospital for 3 more days and had an CT, MRI, and EEG.  Doctors did not see any issues in any of the tests and suggested that the speech issue was caused by small siezures.

She has now been out of the hospital again for two days, and her speeach has gotten much worse.  When she does speak, it does not really make sense.  Her writing also has similar results.

Any ideas of what might be going on here?  Is it a good sign that she seemed to be close to 100% for a few days?  Is this something that is temporary?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Dcochran53]

I don't know if u are still reading answers to this post, but the exact same thing happened to my mom, except they didn't do a surgical procedure.Literally, we were discharged, she seemed normal, then it came back. Any advice, or how ur mom's case resolved?

[brain2005]

RE: Subdural Hematoma .....

Dear Writer, It sounds to me like your mother is suffering from Aphasia. This is a common result of traumatic brain injury ("TBI") and stroke. Subdural Hematoma is clearly within the realm of TBI.

I am a survivor of massive hemorrhagic stroke in 2005. There is considerable cross-over in the symptomology between TBI and Stroke.

There are two main types of Aphasia: Receptive and Expressive. Receptive Aphasia is indicated by garbled in-coming messages (verbal, written, vision, tactile) that the victim receives.

Expressive Aphasia affects speech, writing, etc. This is perhaps more well-known, obvious, alarming and dramatic.

Based on what you have written, it looks like your mother is experiencing both types.

NOTE: I am not a medical doctor. However, my doctors prescribe several meds for this condition, and some relief has been realized. I expect that these conditions are permanent, and I have learned to live with them. Unfortunately, those around me - family, friends, associates, etc. - are mostly un-empathetic to this condition.

AGAIN>>> I am not a doctor, and cannot and will not provide medical advice. However, I strongly suggest that your mother be evaluated for meds and obtain a neuro-psyche evaluation. These tests run about 6 hours, are normally given in 3-hour increments, and will at least tell you / your mother the precise extent of brain injury, deficit, strengths remaining, etc.

I hope you find this helpful.

WALTER H. STEINLAUF, Exec. Dir.
The Stroke Survivors Advocacy Network
http://strokesurvivorsandcaregivers.ning.com/
8701 Woodman Way, No. 136
Sacramento, California 95826-2023
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