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Junior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 20
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 20
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I wanted to thank you for this post. My experience, too, has been definitely one of hope and healing, though I've given up thinking about how I was before my brain injury. I just "celebrated" my 1-year anniversary. Looking back on my year of recovery, it was one of growth—I was able to remodel my apartment, and my relationship with my girlfriend was deepened.
June and July were absolutely horrible. Things now are no longer horrible, though I do have to watch myself, and if I get too tired or stressed, my PCS symptoms get worse.
My medium-term and working memory have mainly recovered, though I still have what I call "glitches" in my immediate short-term memory; yesterday, for example, I have a memory of my work supervisor talking about leaving for the day, but I don't actually remember him leaving for the day. I also seem to have a slight learning disability—it takes a little bit longer for me to understand how things relate to each other as I'm learning them. Right now, I'm trying to learn the rules of a new game with three rulebooks, and it's taking longer than it would have before. But, even in the past year, I've learned new things.
The positives outweigh the negatives: I can read fairly quickly with fairly high levels of comprehension (I only was able to read 7 books all of last year; this year, I've already read 5), my writing ability seems to be back, and, through it all, I've been able to keep a job that requires a great deal of high-level thinking and information synthesis.
So, though I might not be fully healed, I am very thankful.
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What happened: in February of this past year, I suffered a fall. Though I did not hit my head, I came within three or four inches of hitting the ground, and the whiplash/ coup countercoup has caused lingering concussion symptoms.
I have had five or six prior head injuries, most of which completely healed within a few weeks, though one took about three months.
When I get my most depressed, I remember that I could have killed myself, which would have been far worse than anything I have gone through. June and July of 2013 were the absolute worst.
I have managed to keep my job in a field that demands a lot from my brain, though I do get cognitively tired very easily, and have some problems with reading comprehension and short-term memory, though some days I feel close to my pre-injury self.
The headaches of the Summer are gone (mainly) and I drink a lot of water and rest more than before.
I am on a supplement regimen, and that has helped; probably the medical intervention that helped the most were seven chiropractic manipulations of my neck in June and July.
I am fearful that I will be slightly brain damaged the rest of my life, but I am determined to enjoy the same things I enjoyed before, and I, even on days that I despair, know that the odds are with me.
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