| Robert: Traumatic brain injury (from trial to 2 years post implant) |
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Robert suffered a traumatic brain injury on the job when a boulder hit him from six stories up. In addition to extreme pain, he lost his hearing, sense of smell, memory, cognitive skills, and sleep, which were all regained during the trial and permanent implant.
"I can hear crickets, leaves rustling, I didn't know I had 8 trillion crickets in my yard! Usually when I sit on my deck it's dead silence, and now it's a jungle." Trial through 1 month post implant:2 years, 1 month after implant surgery - doing great!One week after trial started: Dr. Greenspan: What happened to you... that started this problem? Robert: I got hit by an 18-pound boulder from the 6th floor that was thrown off of a work site. It hit the left side of my work helmet, crushed my helmet, broke this bone [points to left side of face], some in my inner ear, my teeth, knocked me out, and I was left in a snow bank for six hours. When my wife came and got me, she took me to the hospital. Dr. Greenspan: Did you have any kind of bleeding in the brain at the time? Robert: Yes, I did. The right side of my brain hemorrhaged. I had blood coming out my left ear and my teeth. Dr. Greenspan: What was your life like before we did this trial a week ago? Robert: I was pretty much a vegetable. Well, not really a vegetable... I didn't have much of a life. I did yard work, always had to take breaks. Dr. Greenspan: When I did the procedure itself, how did that go? Robert: I felt nothing. I came in wanting to be knocked out. All I kept feeling was pressure. You said "can you feel that?" about 5 or 6 times, and then we were done. Robert: [reading from notes] My smell and taste have been greatly enhanced. Food tastes better now, I can smell flowers... With hearing... I can hear crickets, leaves rustling. I didn't know I had 8 trillion crickets in my yard! Usually when I sit on my deck it's dead silence, and now it's a jungle. Robert: I'm happier, I feel luckier. Dr. Greenspan: How's your sleeping? Robert: The machine puts me to sleep within 5 minutes, but I don't dream anymore. Dr. Greenspan: Do you sleep deeply now? When you wake up do you feel more restored? Robert: Yeah, I definitely feel more restored. I used to have dark rings under my eyes, because I wasn't getting a restful sleep, that's why I asked you about those sleeping pills. Now I don't even want them because I got this. Robert: My cognitive skills? My problem solving is like that [snaps fingers]. [Describes the difference in taking cognitive skills test.] One week after end of trial: Dr. Greenspan: What difference do you see now that the electrodes have been out for a week? Robert: I lost my sense of smell, my ears are ringing twice as loud (maybe the same, but seems a lot louder), my eye is back to seeing five [dragon-fly eye], my pain level is right up to 7, 8, 9, 10 again, not sleeping again, memory gone... Dr. Greenspan: So when you sit on your deck, you hear nothing again? Robert: Right. Just ringing. Dr. Greenspan: And when we do the mental exercises, 1-2-3-4, a-b-c-d... Robert: Can't do any of that. Can't even do math - simple addition and subtraction - I'm all confused. When you put it in, some things I noticed right away. By three days I started writing things down because I was noticing all this stuff. The sleep [lack of] is killing me. An hour here, two hours there. One month post implant: Dr. Greenspan: How did the surgery go? Robert: The surgery went fine. I was sore for a few days. Zero pain. Dr. Greenspan: How long after the surgery did you start to notice an improvement? Robert: Four days. Dr. Greenspan: The "dragon-fly" eye? Robert: That took 7 days. Dr. Greenspan: What about the sense of taste and smell? Robert: Three days. Now I'm getting rest, and sleeping, starting a normal life. Dr. Greenspan: What about your mental functions? Robert: [about 22 days after surgery] I realized I could do simple math in my head again. Before, I was stumped; I couldn't do that. Dr. Greenspan: That's pretty quick. That's amazing. So no more bags under the eyes, you keep getting better and better everyday... Dr. Greenspan: So what would you tell someone who's not sure about going forward with this? Robert: "Definitely get it done." It's incredible. It's not just for pain. I can remember phone numbers now [describes]. On the 21st, I noted my memory was returning. The pain in the back of my head was gone 19 days after [surgery]. Totally gone. This procedure is performed by Dr. Joshua Greenspan at our Somersworth facility. For more information, read Promising new treatment: Occipital Neuromodulation. |
