Don't Bang Your Head

[Ben]

I'm sure most of you are aware that Bob Saget recently died. I didn't see the cause until today. Apparently he hit his head on something, thought nothing of it, and didn't wake up the next morning.

I don't think a month goes by that I don't smack my head good and hard getting in one of my vehicles, standing up after grabbing something from under a workbench, smacking it on a kitchen cabinet door, etc. Being tall makes me more susceptible, but I generally do nothing but grab my head and cuss. You don't think about how serious even a "minor" bump on the head might be.

https://www.foxnews.com/health/bob-saget-death-highlights-dangers-head-injury

[230RN]

Actor William Holden died in a similar way.  Got drunk, fell in his house, banged head on a table on the way down, exsanguinated.

Just yesterday I again bumped my head on a set of stairs in a passageway between my apartment and the parking lot.  Same side as previous two-wheeler concussions.

Gotta watch that, especially since I'm on an anticoagulant (aspirin) regime.  Dr. wants me to go on an Rx anticoagulant. Nertz to that.  Third MD I've fought with over that point.

There's a corner of the exhaust fan over the stove I used to gouge my scalp on.  I clipped a spring loaded paper clip to that corner to give a warning there.

I started to wear a hat to avoid head bumps when I started to lose my hair, especially working on the car... now I know why we post-Neanderthals still have hair on our heads.  A few milliseconds of warning is better than no warning at all.

Daughter-in-law's mother died from bumping her head getting in a car.

Unpleasant subject area.

Terry

[MillCreek]

From the description, I wonder if Mr. Saget developed a subdural hematoma and passed away in his sleep.

[K Frame]

From the description, I wonder if Mr. Saget developed a subdural hematoma and passed away in his sleep.

That's the first thing I thought of.

If he did so, and he developed a bleed at the rear of his head, I think that's a LOT more dangerous than one to the front or the side because of the swelling's potential impingement on the brain stem.

[Nick1911]

I run into this quite a bit myself.  Feel like in the past 5 years I've gotten worse about it.  I do have a bump cap which helps when I'm doing HVAC installs.   Looks like a baseball hat, but has a plastic liner to help protect my bald head.  https://www.amazon.com/Black-Baseball-Bump-Cap-Lightweight/dp/B00AMUXWTE

[WLJ]

A reminder of just how fragile your hold on life is

[K Frame]

"Actor William Holden died in a similar way.  Got drunk, fell in his house, banged head on a table on the way down, exsanguinated."

I remember when that happened. Good lord, it was in 1981.... I had no clue it was that long ago.

Wikipedia said that he lacerated his forehead... I know head wounds bleed a lot, but how in the heck to you bleed to death from a laceration there? I wonder if he was taking blood thinners.

[ConstitutionCowboy]

From the description, I wonder if Mr. Saget developed a subdural hematoma and passed away in his sleep.

Whiplash can do the same thing. I was rear-ended back in May of 2011, had a slight headache, and thought it would just go away and it did. By July I was having confusion, blackouts, and vision problems. The wife took me to the hospital when I blacked out driving us to the grocery store. She said "That's it!" I pulled off the road, and she took me straight to the hospital. A CT scan showed that my brain had been squished to the right about 3/4 of an inch by a subdural hematoma.

I am lucky to be alive today.

Woody

[230RN]

"Actor William Holden died in a similar way.  Got drunk, fell in his house, banged head on a table on the way down, exsanguinated."

I remember when that happened. Good lord, it was in 1981.... I had no clue it was that long ago.

Wikipedia said that he lacerated his forehead... I know head wounds bleed a lot, but how in the heck to you bleed to death from a laceration there? I wonder if he was taking blood thinners.

That's why I mentioned my battle with MDs over Rx blood thinners.

After years of dealing with aspirin for arthritis, I know exactly how much I can handle, but I'm subject to nosebleeds, probably related to Colorado's air as well as the aspirin.

As I've said before, don't forget that Medicine is a Business, and Doctors tend to overdiagnose and overprescribe.

Terry, 230RN

[Boomhauer]

The quietness on the cause until now made me wonder if it was going to be embarrassing as hell like David Carradine’s death

[MillCreek]

About a year ago, I accompanied one of our neurosurgeons to court.  He was giving testimony in a second degree murder trial.  The perpetrator did a stop and rob at a convenience store and shoved the clerk on his way out.  The clerk fell, hit his head, developed a subdural hematoma, and despite emergent surgery from my neurosurgeon, died.  The clerk was on blood thinners for atrial fibrillation and it was a classic example of the 'eggshell skull' rule.

[BobR]

"Actor William Holden died in a similar way.  Got drunk, fell in his house, banged head on a table on the way down, exsanguinated."

I remember when that happened. Good lord, it was in 1981.... I had no clue it was that long ago.

Wikipedia said that he lacerated his forehead... I know head wounds bleed a lot, but how in the heck to you bleed to death from a laceration there? I wonder if he was taking blood thinners.

Yes he was. OTC type, probably high proof and from the sounds of it quite a bit over the years.

bob

[HankB]

Yes he was. OTC type, probably high proof and from the sounds of it quite a bit over the years.

bob

I'm not an MD, but there are a lot of powerful prescription drugs (as well as some common OTC drugs like Tylenol) that do not play well with alcohol - especially if you drink enough to become falling-down drunk.

[BobR]

I'm not an MD, but there are a lot of powerful prescription drugs (as well as some common OTC drugs like Tylenol) that do not play well with alcohol - especially if you drink enough to become falling-down drunk.

I'm not an MD either but I can tell you that liver impairment leads to anti-coagulation issues. If your liver is unhappy then you can have excessive bleeding. Also if the anti-coag drug you are taking is cleared by the liver (warfarin is one) then it won't be cleared as efficiently which can lead to being over anti-coagulated. Fall and bonk your head and you may just die. Seen it, saw the lawsuit, dodged that bullet because the MD was a contract doc. Even as an RN I knew if an elderly patient on an anti-coagulant falls and bonks their head you get a CT, period. I guess the doc missed that day in school even after being reminded by my staff numerous times. 

It is always a good thing to know how the drugs you are taking (even OTC) are cleared from the body. I have a very good friend that has treated her arthritis with OTC ibuprofen for years. She now has a kidney that will never work again and the other isn't very happy. Analgesic nephropathy. 

bob

[230RN]

Kidney-Triggered:
Son2 wisecracked that he wanted to keep me alive as a source of a spare kidney.  I laughed, but then checked it out.  They don't source kidneys from people over 70, advised him of such.

Maybe I should've shut up about that.  Now he has a reason to lust after my US$41.37 life savings account.

Dang. 

Terry

[Bogie]

Back when I was  young and skinny, I was into caving, along with a few other things. Hard hats kept you from hitting OSHA rocks...
 
"OSHA! That hurt!"

[Hawkmoon]

As I've said before, don't forget that Medicine is a Business, and Doctors tend to overdiagnose and overprescribe.

They also tend to exist in their own little cocoons.

I'm on a prescription blood thinner. I'm also being treated by the VA hospital for a sleep disorder. The sleep doc recently started me on a 3mg does of Melatonin, taken one tablet at a time about an hour before bedtime. Then he told me to increase it to 2 tablets per night.

I also have a skin problem -- lesions on the lower legs that open up and bleed. Usually I can stop the bleeding with a bit of pressure, but I noticed recently that that wasn't working. And then I happened to be reading about Melatonin and -- Oops -- it's contraindicated if the patient is taking prescription blood thinners. I sent the sleep doc a note mentioning that, and telling him that I was discontinuing the Melatonin. He replied that he wasn't aware of that interaction, and he thanked me for letting him know.

Why does my health record have a list of all my medications if the people who are supposed to read it don't -- or don't know what the stuff they're prescribing conflicts with?

[bedlamite]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMEz4cFMlZE

[230RN]

A month ago I finally reluctantly agreed  to take an Rx of Eliquis, which is touted as the latest and greatest and safest and bestest.

Well, I picked up the Rx of 60 pills for a bit less than $50 and  read the medication guide that came with it.  Had the same cautions as all the other ten or 12 blood thinners, and once again don't bump your head, and I find this online:

"Andexxa: The New Eliquis Antidote The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Andexxa in mid-2018 for patients who have been using Eliquis and similar drugs. Andexxa is used when the anticoagulation effects of Eliquis need to be reversed quickly because the patient's life is at risk due to uncontrolled bleeding."

Aw, jeeze.  No thanks.   Not after my 2019 ER nosebleed which had to be stitched up internally and I had to wear a drainage container for three days.

And that was before the Covid face mask thing.

Anyhow, one of the pills rolled under something so now I have 59 of them. I haven't told my Doctor yet, but the pharmacy called me to tell me they have a refilll Rx ready for me to pick up.

[HeroHog]

Stand up, everything goes grey, stumble down hallway, pass out, split open head enough to get ambulance ride and make it look like there was an axe murder in our house!



Here lately, I get VERY unsteady on my feet and am flagged as a "Fall Risk" in my records.

[230RN]

Jeeze, Speedy, that looks like they had to use a sewing machine up there.

ouchouchouchouchouchouchouchouchouchouchouchouch

Do you use a cane around the house?  (Not sure if that would have helped, just curious in general.)

Get better quiickly.

[K Frame]

""Andexxa: The New Eliquis Antidote The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Andexxa in mid-2018 for patients who have been using Eliquis and similar drugs. Andexxa is used when the anticoagulation effects of Eliquis need to be reversed quickly because the patient's life is at risk due to uncontrolled bleeding.""

Guy I worked with on the Fairfax County History Commission was taking one of the new generation blood thinners and developed a bleed they couldn't control. It ended up killing him.


Back in 2013/2014 a neighbor in my community got involved in a road rage incident in which he ended up getting out of his car and punching a guy in the head. Bad mistake. Guy was taking the new gen blood thinners, developed an IC bleed, and died.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/lee-cena-va-man-on-trial-in-deadly-road-rage-incident/124782/#:~:text=Lee%20Cena%2C%20a%20former%20education%20director%20at%20St.,a%20year%20in%20jail%20and%20a%20%242%2C500%20fine.


IIRC he was initially charged with second degree murder, but that didn't stand up.

OK, this article says that he wasn't charged with 2nd d murder, but was still charged with a felony, but that was later reduced to misdemeanors.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/virginia-man-trial-fatal-road-rage-fistfight/story?id=22662074

[230RN]

Yes he was. OTC type, probably high proof and from the sounds of it quite a bit over the years.

bob

OK, alcohol, but...

Several implications were made in here that he was in fact on Rx blood thinners.  Is there any real evidence of that?  It seems that "full" autopsy results won't be in for a couple of weeks.

The family's just saying "a bump on the head" and leaving it at that.

[K Frame]

I believe the OTC "blood thinners," aka alcohol, were in reference to William Holden, not Bob Sagget.

I saw an article yesterday that Sagget had multiple skull fractures but also tested positive for Covid, so another senseless Covid death that can be attributed directly to Donald Trump!

[230RN]

^ Funny but not funny.  Smirky, I guess.

Thanks for clarifying the Holden-Sagget confusion.