Ongoing Concerns for Traumatic Brain Injury & the Role of Your Tampa Auto Accident Lawyer

Traumatic brain injury is an invisible condition that can affect every area of your life, from your relationships to your job to getting dressed in the morning. Very few people truly understand the ongoing concerns of traumatic brain injury patients other than the patients themselves, their loved ones, their health care providers, and the personal injury lawyers seeking justice for their injuries. To give you a brief understanding of what these patients endure, read the following scenario to put yourself in the shoes of a person who suffered from traumatic brain injury after a Tampa auto accident.

Barely a month ago, you were in an auto accident on Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa, Florida. A driver behind you rear-ended your car and caused a minor amount of damage. You and the other driver called the police, filed a report, exchanged information, and went about your day. You immediately drove to work, and then after work, you went out with friends.

The next morning, however, you woke up with the worst headache you have ever felt in your life. You tried to go to work but nothing your boss or coworkers said to you made sense. You struggled to type on your keyboard and make phone calls. As days and weeks passed, you couldn't remember how to do simple things like fix a sandwich, write a check, or change your clothes. Each day you felt more fatigued and soon, you barely had enough energy to get out of bed. Your doctor diagnosed your injury as a mild traumatic brain injury, but you have already found out the hard way that a brain injury is anything but mild.

Your friends and family soon realize you need further medical treatment and therapy. You try to explain your symptoms to a doctor, but your brain has trouble processing the words you need to say. In many ways your brain is not even aware of your disabilities, so describing them to a doctor is impossible. Your doctor orders every brain scan known to medical science, yet all tests come back normal. How can this be? The likely cause is that your Tampa auto accident jostled your head from side-to-side and front-to-back, tearing and twisting axons, the nerve fibers that carry messages between brain cells. This microscopic damage is invisible to modern technology, yet the symptoms are real and may last years or even a lifetime.

You wonder when, or if, you will be able to return to work. Your loved ones are doing the best they can to take care of you, but there's a constant worry that you may hurt yourself by walking into traffic or forgetting to turn off the stove. You need to file claims with your insurance company, but your brain does not have the ability to sort through the simplest tasks. This is the point in which a Tampa auto accident lawyer can be of vital importance.

Some experts have called traumatic brain injury a “silent epidemic” because a person can look perfectly fine on the outside and yet be significantly disabled. A lawyer is sometimes the only person who understands this type of injury because lawyers speak to traumatic brain injury clients every day.

By hiring an auto accident lawyer who has experience in traumatic brain injuries, you will have an advocate who can help you deal with insurance companies as well as give you the chance to receive appropriate medical care and rehabilitation. Your lawyer can also fight for your right to lost wages and lost ability to work.

Traumatic brain injury can result in many changes including physical changes, thinking changes, and personality changes. Some of the many ongoing concerns for these patients are loss of memory, inability to process thoughts, lack of muscle coordination, and depression. If you are in the greater Tampa Bay area and you need a Tampa auto accident lawyer to help you sort through the devastation of a traumatic brain injury accident claim, please contact Dale Appell, P.A. for a free consultation. Our law firm has only one goal: to help the injured receive the compensation they need and deserve, whether you are here in Tampa or in the surrounding areas of Brandon, Carrollwood, St Petersburg, Lutz, Sarasota, Thonotosassa, Pinellas, Safety Harbor, Apollo Beach, and Clearwater.