The Accident
On Saturday, June 22, 2013, I got into a cab in Brooklyn with my daughter for a trip to Manhattan. There was a lot of traffic that day, but finally a lane opened up and the cab accelerated. A pedestrian appeared in the path of the cab and the driver braked hard to avoid hitting him. The cab hit the pedestrian, but at a slow enough speed to avoid significant injury. The pedestrian got up and left the scene. The cab driver stopped, but then drove away.
Meanwhile, in the backseat of the cab, I hit the partition face first. My head was turned a little to the right at the time of impact, which spared my nose from being broken. Intense pain radiated through my head and a fog of confusion, dizziness, and nausea enveloped me. My daughter kept telling the driver that I was injured, but she drove on to our destination without reporting the accident or seeking medical help for me.
The Injury
Even in the fog, I knew I had a concussion. Unfortunately, I didn't comprehend that I needed immediate medical attention. I tried to function normally, managing to return home to PA the following day by train. My headache, confusion, dizziness, and nausea were joined by swelling and bruising of my face, and difficulty speaking. I slept for more than 20 hours but didn't feel any better. I struggled to try to work from home for a few hours before giving up and heading out to see my doctor.
My doctor diagnosed me with a mild traumatic brain injury, and told me to rest completely until it was better. The x-rays showed that my facial bones and skull were only bruised, not broken. The MRI showed there was no active bleeding in my brain. My brain was bruised, and there was damage to the individual brain cells and connections between them.
I saw a neurologist who did a more in depth assessment that showed I had significant deficits in cognition, speech, vision, balance, and fine motor skills. I needed rest...lots of it...so my brain could repair itself.
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