Frank J. Buchman

Cowboy • Horseman • Writer

Bumps On The Head Can Be Serious To Health

Concussions often   result from a person being knocked out.

One doctor told us a concussion is a change in mental status caused by trauma and is accompanied by confusion, loss of memory and sometimes loss of consciousness. Mr. Webster’s definition claims it’s an “injury to the brain due to jarring from a blow” or “shock caused by the impact of collision.” We’ve had several concussions.


First one we know of was after we fell off a Charolais bull called Charlie at the Eskridge Rodeo. Evidently, we landed on our head, had to be carried out and came to stretched
out on the hood of a car behind the chutes with our parents looking down at us.

The spill can’t be remembered, but we do recall crawling down on the bull and some of the ride before we crashed. Other than any unknown damage which may have occurred, we were fine afterwards, and drove back to college with a story to tell.

Next incident was more serious. We don’t remember any details from it, except what we were told and read. In a collision with another car, we evidently went through the   windshield, knocking us out. When we became conscious a couple of days later, our dad was standing over us and filled us in on what happened.

A car came into our lane and hit us head-on, destroying both vehicles, with the other driver killed. We saw a picture of our wrecked two-day-old pickup, and pieces from the shattered windshield were still visible in the ditch 30 years later.

We survived, so God must have had a plan for us, although we’re still uncertain exactly what it is. The doctor didn’t think there was permanent damage from the concussion, but he advised that we should be careful about hitting our head, which is not always possible.

Several times over the past three and a half decades we’ve fallen off, landed on our head, became dazed and saw stars before getting up. Most of the details we can  recall.

Last fall, we mounted a young horse, and he whirled in the air and out from under us,
kicking us near the temple as we hit the ground. We can remember that, but we were unconscious afterward, waking up in the car seat, heading to the hospital for medical care. Needless to say, we were quite confused for a while from that concussion, too.

Many concussed individuals report trouble sleeping, are irritable and have poor concentration. Studies show that those who’ve had three concussions have tripled the risk of clinical depression, and people with one or two concussions are also more
likely to have depression, no matter the age. Maybe all of our head bumps are our excuse.

Still, we must not forget concussions are a form of brain injury that should not be taken lightly, and the after-effects of post-concussive syndrome can linger. One friend evaluated: “Reckon you must be pretty hard-headed to have survived so well from the whacks you’ve taken on the noggin.” He concluded: “Guess no one can accuse you of being soft in the head.”

Essential in such times to remember Exodus 23:25: “You must serve only the Lord your God. If you do, I will protect you from illness.”Satisfaction comes in Matthew 4:23: “Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee and healed every kind of disease and illness.” The best news is in Mark 3:15: “I have the power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.”

+++ALLELUIA+++

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