Prayers and best wishes to both Mrs Charles and yourself. I'm glad that you knew there was a problem and pushed for action.

One of my wife's cousins was on a safe ladder changing a bulb in the front of the business in Winfield Kansas just recently when some kid on a bike did not see the ladder, and ran right into the ladder, and the cousin hit the ground and hit his head so hard he was in a coma and died a few days later.

No doubt the kid feels bad about his direct inattention killed a man.

We recently paid to have professionals paint our house. Ain't no way I am climbing up a ladder to to paint. We paid some younger men to do it with no hesitation.

Yikes! Scary stuff.

40 years ago today, I took the future Mrs. Coats on our first date (a cheap steak and saw Das Boot). While I know we are 'over the hump' in years together, I am renewed to make every day count from here on out.

You and your wife are lucky to have each other. Wishing her a quick and complete recovery.

The one aspect has to do with the ER. Considering the potential seriousness, wouldn’t a visit to the ER have accelerated the diagnosis?

All the best to you and your better half moving forward, Charles!

Scary to think what might have happened without the matrix of your medical profession but it seems like it's going to work out, and from the headline I was in anticipation of a far different outcome.

Whew!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you!

What a horrible experience. Good for you for being such a determined advocate. She is alive now because of your actions. Bless you both.

They went to the ER, and the issue was missed or misdiagnosed.

Life is precious. And fragile.

Many years ago, a 26 year-old friend complained to his wife about a headache. Then he laid down on the couch and died.

Thank you for sharing this cautionary story. It is helpful. Very glad your wife is expected to recover fully.

All the best to you and your wife. I hope her recovery goes well! You have been an incredible advocate.

Years ago my Mother in Law passed from a brain bleed. She had survived a brain aneurism, including surgery, only to die in her sleep at home a few weeks after being released. She had taken out the garbage and gone back to rest complaining a bit of being fatigued. Her husband thought she was just weak from her previous experience.

To this day I don't think he was properly briefed on what to look for at home that might be a cause for concern. She was an incredibly healthy woman in her early 70's.

You know what guys?
This thread may be the answer as to why my friend of 60+ yrs is having a hard time. He fell off a ladder a couple months ago, doing something with his car if I recall. Lately he's been super depressed, fatigued to the point of sleeping most of the day, dizzy, and having problems feeling things in his hands. He's had a couple of back surgeries for disc problems but things went down hill when he fell if I remember the timeline correctly. I've asked him if he's had a MRI of his brain.

Wow, way to stay focused on the situation and keep working through the issues until it was pinpointed. It’s a hard lesson and I’m glad you shared it as it could happen to anyone of us at anytime.

Glad she’s on the road to recovery.

Thank you all for the kind words and prayers.

I've just returned from the surgical intensive care unit, and I'm pleased to report that my wife is recovering well. Her neurological parameters have improved dramatically now that the pressure has been removed from the brain. She is walking and talking, even smiles from time to time. The most positive sign at this time is that her major concern is that she cannot wash her hair for at least a week (we've been looking at hats on line ((thank God)).

Thx Baz for the warning. She does have a drain which was quite active but is now not producing- her post op CT showed the subdural completely drained- the drain is scheduled to be removed tomorrow or maybe the next day. That said, the risk of recurrence of a chronic subdural is quite high- 20%, so she will be watched very, very carefully.

The delay in diagnosis was the back pain. It was severe (she rated it a 10 on a scale of 1 - 10) so that was the initial focus of everyone, including myself. In retrospect, the subdural changed her posture subtly and enough to trigger back spasms. Then we thought the muscle relaxants exacerbated the neuro sx. Had the presentation been my wife fell off a ladder 3 months ago and now has some walking and weakness issues, the diagnosis would have been easy.

Would it have made a difference if we had gone to the ER right after the fall? Maybe, but probably not. With a history of not sure being she hit her head and no loss of consciousness, a scan
probably would not have been done. And then she had absolutely no symptoms for 3 months.

Tabs is right. Medicine in the country has dramatically changed in the last decade. It has gone from a system based on a foundation of a thorough history and physical exam, to a strictly problem oriented approach based mostly on laboratory and imaging data. Back pain- MRI of the back (no physical done)- normal- muscle relaxants, see you later. The emphasis on diagnosis now is mostly on volume (quantity and not necessarily quality). Treatment options, on the other hand, is where we shine. Cardiac stents, treatments for cancer (esp melanoma), dental implants, implants after cataract surgery, hips and knees allow us to live longer and age logarithmically better than our parents and grandparents. When we get it right, we usually can fix it.

Thx again for all of your concern,

Charles

Thanks for the comprehensive and informative update, Charles. So far so good!

Your wife will remain in my prayers.

Please keep up the good work and let her know we are wishing her all the best!

What a relief you & the doctors finally figured out the problem. It was also a scarry situation. Good for you for hanging in there and pushing for a solution. Hopefully the two of you get to enjoy each other for a long time.

Wow, that was a close one. As we get older, falls are one of the biggest dangers. My dad had a significant fall a short time before he died and my grandfather did as well back in 1964. Balance exercises are a great idea and I'm going to start doing more now that I'm in my 60s.

Thanks for sharing your story, Charles, your wife will be in my thoughts as well.

The cautionary tale is for those over 55 years old.

Why? Because as you age, your brain will shrink, increasing the likelihood that you will have a subdural hematoma if you hit your head. Babies have plenty of fatty tissue surrounding the brain, cushioning it against the inside of the skull. But older people lack this cushion, and their brains "rattle" around more, tearing the blood vessels and causing a clot to form.

This is exactly what happened to my dad when he fell out of bed and hit his head on the nightstand. The CT scan showed that his brain was reduced in volume by over 25%. Pushed to the side in other words. He was having trouble walking and talking. I rushed him to the hospital, and they operated on him within an hour. The doctor had me go into the ER to speak with Dad before they put him under. I guess he wanted me to say a few last words in case Dad didn't make it.

So I go "hey Doc while you're in there can you turn his hearin up a bit? He can't hear his phone ring, and it drives everyone nuts?. It's a Japanese thing. We all had a little chuckle about that.

Thank God you were on it and got her the care she needed to resolve this. I pray she fully recovers and in the future hires someone to climb the ladder.

I broke down and installed gutter guards on my home because my wife told me no more climbing the ladder to clean them.

Best wishes to you and your wife.
My cardiologist warned me last week about the dangers of ladders and how many people he saw a month when he was working emergency. I also have lost a freind to falling off of a ladder plus another who fractured his back.
I am sure you know what a brain anurism is, my wife had 3 surgeries to repair 6 of them, with the larges being 9mm. Wraps, coils, clips........ Was not a fun year, but the outcome was good and she is still going strong after 12 years. We just don't leave her in the sun for a long time.

Charles, I thought of you and your wife yesterday when I had to put a bicycle up overhead in my garage. I totally rethought my use of ladders and raising the bike. It took longer to set up but made the job easier and safer.
Thank you for the update.
Tell your wife a lot of guys are cheering her on.

Best
Les