Each year in the U.S., over a million people go to their doctor to treat a head injury. Car, work, and even home accidents can cause severe brain trauma.
Over 100,000 people per year will be diagnosed with a brain injury, which can affect them for a short time or possibly for the rest of their natural lives. As brain injury lawyers, we know that the care you will need could go on for years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. During a car, work, or even home accident, your brain could be subjected to extremely violent physical forces. These forces may cause bruising, bleeding, tearing, or even swelling of the brain itself.
Even a mild TBI (traumatic brain injury), can have the following symptoms:
- Headache, nausea, and vomiting
- Fatigue and/or drowsiness
- Problems with speech
- Loss of consciousness for a few seconds, a few minutes, or more
- No loss of consciousness but feeling dazed, confused, or disoriented
- Unusual difficulty sleeping or sleeping more than usual
Signs and symptoms may appear at once, within 24 hours, or they may emerge days or weeks after the injury occurred. If you’ve suffered any head trauma, or even if symptoms don’t immediately appear (no matter how mild), you should be evaluated in the ER, and your doctor should be notified immediately.
Depending on the cause and details of the accident, you may be entitled to damages that could help immensely in getting immediate treatment. Only by getting the proper, immediate, and ongoing (if required) medical care, can you know how severe your TBI may be and the duration and extent of your future medical care.
You immediately see that right from the start, the tests, ER visits, doctor visits, and treatments can mount up amazingly fast. You may miss work or not be able to continue work for a while. Your health comes first, and if you are diagnosed with a TBI, seeking the help of an Orange County personal injury attorney may be vital for you and your family’s financial and emotional future.
If I Do Require Permanent Care for My TBI, What Might It Cost?
Once you are initially treated, tested, and medically evaluated, your doctors can give you a professional prognosis on your condition. Only then will you be able to know how long you will need treatment, and—if any symptoms that appear—how long until they’ll improve.
The truth is that the initial hospital and doctor bills may be only the beginning of your costs. If your medical team determines that your symptoms may be reversible, or worse—permanent, your overall future life could be altered. You may need professional rehabilitation, disability, and permanent care for the rest of your life. Your home may have to be physically altered for you to preform your normal tasks. Of course, your income can also be negatively affected.
This new reality, due to your brain injury, goes beyond your finances. It creates stress, feelings of loss, and can permanently skew the feelings and relationships in your life and family. These types of changes have no price tag but still, unfortunately, must be considered.
So, these intangible costs cannot be determined, but you see that the medical and recovery expenses can easily reach beyond what you can bear.
If another party, your workplace, product defect, etc. caused or contributed to your injury, then you should consult with a Santa Ana or Orange County personal injury attorney about your case. You very well might be entitled to recover damages, including those for actual medical and recovery expenses, future expenses, and even non-tangible expenses, like pain and suffering.
Your personal injury attorney, with his or her extensive legal experience, will be able to evaluate your specific case and, with the help of your medical team, come up with an accurate cost to maintain a fulfilling and rewarding life for you and your family.
How Will I Know if I Have Permanent Brain Damage, and What Should I Do?
Any type of brain injury (TBI), even if you consider it to be mild, can result in a short or long-term disability or mental impairment.
Below are some examples of general symptoms of a possibly severe brain injury (TBI):
- Persistent headaches
- Extreme mental fatigue
- Extreme physical fatigue
- Paralysis
- Weakness
- Tremors
- Seizures
- Sensitivity to light
If a TBI (such as a concussion) is misdiagnosed or left untreated for any reason, it may certainly lead to serious conditions later, such as depression and the inability to lead a normal life. Even if you let a seemingly mild concussion go untreated, it can lead to serious long-term health effects that range from physical difficulties to emotional and mental issues.
One of the more common symptoms that people suffer from is depression. Mood changes and irritability often occur, and the patient can become frustrated in him or herself, especially during the period after the brain injury and during the recovery process.
Even one or two of these TBI symptoms can have the ability to change your moods, create irrational reactions, or even an inability to focus on your work. Your family may notice that you don’t act the same towards them or are moody or sad.
More severe symptoms include a loss of vision or hearing, as well as stuttering or having a loss of speech.
No one purposely leaves a traumatic brain injury untreated. Unfortunately, medically, it is usually difficult to diagnose symptoms shortly after the accident and even harder to provide an accurate future prognosis.
