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One of the areas that I feel that to some degree my words and my science and stuff is
that I wrote, many years ago a topic call the " Footprints of Pathology". What does
that mean to you. That's why I asked you to tell us about it because I don't know. I am
clueless. Well the neurologist classic exam, where they make you touch your nose and stand
on one foot is an effort to see a footprint, is an effort to see some area, proper function
of the neurological system.And unfortunately the classic neurological exam is gets reduced
to something that's not much better than the roadside sobriety test. Even in that there
are many tests of function and some of those actually could provide us with meaningful
clues. The, but the footprints of pathology is much broader than just might be abnormal
sign for neurological exam with the footprints of pathology also include your behavior out
in the real world. Balance could be a footprint. Any thing about our function that is dramatically
changed or even suddenly changed is a footprint, I think I came up with the idea because of
that Christian Poster they have of about the footprints in the sand. Awe, yes. We can not
see the damaged neurons, we can't see the damaged neurological system without an autopsy.
What we see is behavior. What we see if the footprints that that damage has left behind.
But if the footprints are behavior, who is gonna be able to talk about irritability,
anxiety, balance issues even the neurologist isn't gonna come home with my client. And
that is the problem to some degree we have to bring those people to them . And I don't
use the term neurologist, what we, what we need is some type of brain injury professional
who will be the diagnostician. Some times the best diagnostician is a neuropsychologist.
It's not as ture as it was ten or fifteen years ago, Sometimes the best diagnostician
is the small home town family doctor who sees that person, knew that person before and sees
the dramatic changes in them. But regardless of who that diagnostician is we need to bring
to the diagnostician evidence of those footprints. We need to tell the diagnostician, like you
did with your child, we need to tell that diagnostician that memory is a problem. Confusion
is a problem. Whatever that actual footprints are at that given time of what you believe
to be that brain damage. We need to make sure that the clinician that is doing this diagnosis
has that information because if they don't have that information, if they kick the collateral
source out room when part of the exam is being done. What do you mean by collateral sources?
A collateral source is what you would call a lay witness, when we go into court and we
want to bring the friends and family, the co-workers in because they can paint a better
picture of what's really wrong. Than the neurologist sitting there up in his chair or the psychologist
sitting there up in his chair but if we are going to get that diagnosis to include the
full depths of the disability, the clinician that is doing the diagnosis has to know what
we know as lawyers. We have to be able to share with them the voices that we hear when
we go talk to them. The voices that the jury will be hearing if we bring these people in.
Those diagnosticians have got to know ow dramatically the function has changed as a result of the
injury.