I see what you mean with the Glascow coma scale. I
was rated between a 3 and 4 on the Glascow coma scale,
where 3 is the worst rating. Also in my case the
length of time in a coma, doesn't quantify severity
either. I was in my coma for 5 months. I've never
met anyone else whose been in one as long. 1 -1/2
months has been the longest I've come across with
anyone else.

My TBI was in 2001 and I've been involved in a number
of volunteer activities since 2004, including;
- I'm a brain injury support group leader.
- I author a column (A New Life) in the
Connecticut Brain Injury Association newsletter (the
Signal).
- I'm on my town's Aging and Disability
Commission.
- Twice I've been a panelist on a Brain Injury
Association of Connecticut training workshop.

In my case, despite what looked like a severe TBI,
I've been able to do a lot. I do have a few physical
injuries however as I'm wheelchair bound and
essentually one handed as my left elbow doesn't work
anymore.

I guess I ended up with more physical permanent
affects than mental. For example, I don't suffer
anxiety being around big groups of people, or have
vision or hearing impacts. I know brain injuries vary
widely, depending on what area of the brain is
affected.

Mike

--- hudjr <hudjr@...> wrote:

> --- In Traumatic_Brain_Injury@yahoogroups.com,
> "Annie"
> <anniewc169@...> wrote:
>
> > Is there a way of finding out how "severe" a TBI
> is/was?? Mine was
> > in 1998 and I have no idea how bad it was. I do
> know they told me
> > I'd have limitations in some things.
>
> Hud answers Annie's Q re: DETERMINING SEVERITY OF A
> TBI...
>
> Hello there, one and all!
>
> This is my first post to this Listserve. I have
> done an enormous
> amount of research with respect to TBI, concussion,
> post-concussive
> syndromes, confusional states, seizures, late onset
> neurological
> sequelae... and especially AMNESIAS!
>
> From my perusal of updated medical journals, I have
> put together the
> following: there are several different forms of
> 'amnesia' which TBI
> suferrers commonly experience. Unfortunately, I've
> noticed how
> researchers and doctors use the terminology
> inconsistently: often
> using things interchangeably when they are not
> synonymous terms; etc.
>
> But in brief: Medical people used-to rely upon the
> so-
> called "Glasgow Coma Scale" and a related system for
> assigning a
> concussion a severity grade. The concussion scale
> looked at whether
> or not the victim lost consciousness and if so: 1)
> for how long; 2)
> how deeply unconcious; 3) how 'clear' you are once
> regaining
> consciousness; etc.
>
> Despite that doctors still use the Glasgow Coma
> Scale(s), there has
> been a seachange whereby contemporary researchers
> have found that the
> Glasgow Coma Scale[s] are not VALID...[they don't
> measure what they
> are trying to measure]. They used to think that TBI
> severity could
> be estimated on the basis of how long or severe the
> initial loss of
> consciousness. It turns out to be of very poor
> accuracy.
>
> I'll cut to the chase: The single most
> prognostic/predictive
> indicator of TBI severity has been rather
> surprisingly found to
> be ...THE LENGTH OF INITIAL AMNESIA PERIOD: i.e.,
> after the
> concussion, how many hours (if any) passed until you
> recalled that
> you had had a concussion sometime earlier...
>
> I've noticed for research purposes they define MILD
> TBI as having an
> initial amnesia period of 24 hours or less. Put
> another way, if the
> initial amnesia period was >24 hours, one would be
> disqualified from
> participating in a study of 'Mild TBI'.
>
> One researcher mentioned if it is >30 days, then it
> is almost surely
> in the 'severe' category, not likely to be
> 'moderate'.
>
> *So... how long was [any] initial amnesia period for
> you? Or did you
> even have any awareness of such a process?
>
> For me, it was in the range of 7-10 days before I
> shouted,'OH-MY-
> GAWD... I hit my head like a week ago and totally
> forgot about it
> until now'!
>
> The 'Initial Amnesia Period' (hereafter, "IAP") is
> now considered the
> single most important variable to consider in trying
> to predict
> severity/prognosis. I'm sure this area is full of
> controversy b/c of
> the long reliance on the Glasgow Coma Scale/etc.
>
> If anyone is knowledgeable about the Glasgow
> 'instruments', I'd enjoy
> being better informed.
>
> best,
>
> --
> Hud. 8>D
>
----------------------------------------------------------
>
> <SNIP>
> > <sabisue@> wrote:
> >
> > Response to someone whose doctor said everyone got
> over it within a
> > year.
> >
> > Virtually nobody I have ever spoken with "got over
> it" (the tbi)
> > within a year. That idea is simply ridiculous (as
> you know and
> > the "doctor" didn't, or didn't want to.)<SNIP>
>
>



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