epicnirp,

Its good to hear from you. Its been a very rough month, but like you said its hard to see the progress when you are there daily.

We always ate fairly healthy before, but its more serious these days. We also have been following the vitamin regimen laid out on the stickies, drinking plenty of water, reading a little bit each day, and she does a personal project for about an hour each day. She doesn't seem to want to get away from her business and she is really pacing herself well, so these personal projects are business related. She and I also pray together daily and I also use this as an opportunity to assess her without her knowing. I notice improvements in her word usage and memory over the days. She sometimes doesn't think about things being hot or a knife being sharp, which is always scary for me to think about when I am not home or trying to sleep.

Like your girlfriend mine is also anemic and I am starting to suspect a mild case of sleep apnea also.

In terms of medication she takes one advil 3 times a day (at 730am, 330pm, and 1130pm), she also takes a benadryl at 1130pm. Her headaches are still there and she rates them at a 2-3 out of 10. She uses icepacks about 4 to 5 times a day for her neck and also her head. Her neck is still sore to touch after all this time. She goes to sleep the same time each night and that is around the time I leave for work. For the last 5 days, she is able to stay home by herself while I am at work.

Just as you stated, all the symptoms are still there, but not as bad as the first week. She can become emotional easily so I also do my best to not stress her out. It can become difficult because I have a stressful job and I work nights and sleep has been an issue for me. Luckily she is still the same extremely caring and sweet girl that I first knew. Its difficult to watch the "dopey or childlike behavior" that she also presents with at times. Her long and short term memory is still effected and I haven't noticed any improvements in the longterm memory since the concussion. She has pieces of information and events missing in her long term memory. We have been in a relationship for 2 years now and its tough to see her not be able to remember some of the trips that we took together. This is one of the toughest part about this whole situation for me. Short term memory is improving, but very slowly. Her speech has improved, but her voice is still different from before.

I also have dimmers on all the lights at home, so that works out nicely. We also have blackout drapes in the bedroom windows when she really needs total darkness. Also I bought a motion sensor night light to help her navigate the bedroom at night.

In terms of getting further medical help...that has been an issue due to her not having health insurance. Honestly, I am really believing that time and staying away or limiting things that aggravate symptoms is the best thing to do. I do have an appointment for a clinic doctor on December 2nd, and I am expecting it to be a waste of time. Hopefully we get a referral to someone that knows about PCS from that appointment.

Please continue to share your experience and I will do my best to do the same. Stay strong, things will work out.