I have a friend who is reluctant to see a doctor.?
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Up until recently, she was left-handed. Then all of a sudden, over the course of a few days, she was unable to write with this hand anymore, and has since almost completely switched to her write hand. It is as if her dominant hand completely switched from left to right. Also she has lost her drawing ability. ?
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She suffered a head injury a while ago, where she tripped and hit her head on a fence and was knocked completely unconscious. Could these somehow be related, or is there something else going on? ?
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I suggested she see a doctor, but she is very hesitant, because she has had gross mis-diagnosises in the past. (Cancer when it actually wasn’t). I need to try and figure out if I should push her to go in or not.

Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

Yes she should definitely see the doctor. One possible cause for such symptoms after a head injury like that is chronic subdural hematoma, which means that there is a constant slow bleed inside her skull, pressing on the brain on the right side and causing left-sided weakness/clumsiness and problems in spatial orientation. It sounds like she may even have anosognosia, which means that she is not fully aware of her symptoms, and thus is reluctant to see the doctor. This happens sometimes, especially with right sided brain injuries. Patients may insist there is nothing wrong with their left side, but at the same time it is obvious to the observer that there is weakness on the left side. A head CT or MRI is advisable, seeing as she had a head injury and not a negligible one at that - losing one’s consciousness due to head injury is always a serious consideration. Of course I cannot say whether she has a subdural hematoma, but it’s something to be considered. Subdural hematoma can be easily treated by a relatively minor procedure.

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