Our Joliet medical malpractice blog often discusses the types of injuries and health complications patients may experience when doctors and hospitals fail to provide proper treatment to patients who are involved in accidents that result in severe brain injuries.
Brain injuries must be properly diagnosed and monitored by doctors because brain injuries have the potential to cause long-term impairments and health problems when these injuries are not diagnosed and treated immediately. Victims of brain injuries may never be able to return to work or care for their young children. And victims of brain injuries may need to spend months relearning simple tasks like speaking and walking.
Brain injuries can be catastrophic, but when brain injury patients are treated by the right doctors, patients may be able to experience a brighter future. One student at the University of Illinois has a very bright future ahead of him despite suffering a severe brain injury several years ago. The student is on track to become a physician scientist, but this might not have been possible without the help of a neurosurgeon.
The University of Illinois student suffered a severe brain injury in 2008 after a bad landing on the ski slopes. His skull cracked open after hitting his head on a rock, and he went into a coma. A neurosurgeon was able to operate on the patient within 45 minutes, and after the surgery, the patient was closely monitored to watch for swelling of the brain and other complications.
The neurosurgeon made no immediate promises about the patient’s condition since brain injuries affect patients differently. However, after the surgery and after being closely monitored for several weeks, it became clear that the patient was recovering very well from the injury.
The man is now 22 years old and going to school to become a physician scientist. He is also getting married this summer. The outcome of the student’s ski accident could have been devastating due to his injuries, but complications from his injuries were significantly minimized because he was able to receive the medical treatment he needed after the ski accident.
Source: Daily Herald, “Budding Hoffman Estates scientist overcomes brain injury,” Kimberly Pohl, April 4, 2013
