A BUMP ON THE HEAD
Be aware that what I am
going to say is 100% fact and it is very gruesome.
I need to tell you all of the gory details so you
can truly understand what a miracle it is that I am alive
today. On Sunday 11/3/96, I
bumped my head on the door frame of my car while exiting
from the vehicle. It stung for
a few moments, I rubbed the area a little and I
thought nothing else about it. On
Wednesday of that same week I started to get headaches, and
a huge lump called a Hematoma (blood clot), caused by a Subgaleal
Hemorrhage, formed on the back of my head between my
scalp and my skull on the Occipital
bone, so I starting taking Advil to try and relieve
the pain. I called my primary
care doctor and was told that it would be very painful for
at least a month until the blood in the clot reabsorbed back
into my system. On 11/23/96 I
called my doctor again, because by this time the pain was
getting worse instead of better like he said it would. I was referred to an after hours
doctor who confirmed that I had a blood clot and then sent
me home. On 12/9/96 I saw my
doctor again and by this time the blood clot had grown to a
size of 6x2-1/2” and could be seen from across the room. He then ordered a CT scan to check
for a skull fracture, and ironically the blood clot didn't
show up on the scan because the contrast medium wasn't
ordered, and no skull fracture was found.
For
the next month I went to
the emergency room twice,
was given pain killers,
and sent home both times
with no answers.
I had x-rays, saw
a neurologist who
diagnosed me with Occipital
Neuralgia, went to a
pain clinic where they
wanted to stick needles in
my head and give me THREE
Occipital nerve
blocks and
FIVE Stellate
Ganglion blocks, saw
a neurosurgeon, and
visited my primary care
doctor several times with
no relief in sight.
I was given many
different pain killers:
Fiorinal, Daypro,
Amitriptyline, Tylenol 3
with Codeine, Ambien,
Demerol, Clonazepam,
Darvoset and finally
Roxicet – none of which
helped to lessen the
horrendous pain at all and
I got allergic reactions
to many of them.
I was also taking
a regimen of 3 extra
strength or 1 prescription
Advil and alternating it
with 2 extra strength
Tylenol every 2 hours for
over a month and even this
didn’t help me.
I also tried
alternative medicine:
Feverfew caplets which are
normally taken for
migraines which I have
never had, Arnica topical
gel, and a topical herbal
mixture of St. John’s Wort
oil, Arnica oil and Aloe
Vera gel which had the
consistency of salad
dressing.
I would plaster
this greasy mixture onto
my head every day, which
made my long hair a
nightmare to look at and
it had a nasty smell.