Some responses:

I wouldn't say that he is receiving 'medical treatment'. Only got the diagnosis of PCS 3wks ago (from a good neuro-surgeon), as this condition seems to be totally alien to neurologists & GPs here. (We are in the national capital, but it's obviously not a big enough city.)

It's difficult to know which of his symptoms are linked to the PCS, but we have had some of these checked out and no one seems to be able to find other causes. I am also aware that the timing of some of these symptoms is important. Symptoms include:

- light-headedness; band-like headaches; back pain; shoulder pain; chest pain; neck pain; rapid heart rate on mild exertion & sometimes when at rest;

- sensitivity to light & noise; sensitivity to watching movement; head/ temple ‘tingles’; ‘brain pain’ from movement such as nodding head;

- fatigue; insomnia & sleep disturbance; vivid, disturbed dreams; inability to visually focus on things close up (increases light-headedness);

- inability to read from bright white paper & electronic screens (increases headaches and light-headedness); head discomfort travelling in lifts (elevators); inability to regulate body temperature properly;

- poor cognitive function (scattered, foggy thinking; inability to focus); inability to process new information/complex thoughts; urinary frequency and urgency (esp. when headaches & lightheadedness are bad); occasional pulsatile tinnitus.

The only 'treatment' he is receiving consists of instructions to minimise electronic screen use (doesn't appear to be successful) and taking a low dose of fluoxetine for anxiety. He takes acetaminophen for headache (trying to reduce amount of ibuprofen) and occasionally Stemetil (prochlorperazine) to see if it helps reduce lightheadedness (doesn't usually make a lot of difference).

The neuro-surgeon wants him to have a neuro-psych assessment but we are getting indications that the insurer (worker's comp case) will not agree to pay for this. My son comes across as too lucid and articulate.

Although he has confined his driving to very local trips, my son has told me that he has experienced periods of 'bad lightheadedness' when driving, especially in the evening and/or when he is feeling anxious. Stopping at intersections makes him headachey/lightheaded.

I believe that the rules here about 'fitness to drive' are that the treating GP has an obligation to report any patient about whom there is a medical concern in relation to driving ability. But if the patient doesn't say anything, how would the GP know?

Because driving = independence, it is virtually impossible to persuade someone not to drive. He is counting on a graduated return to work (a short drive away) and -- most worrying -- has agreed to house-sit for friends (a bit further away) for 6 wks. Why? Here is a telling comment about priorities: "Because I want my friends to know that they can count on me."

All of this is why it is so important for someone in authority, whom the person will trust and believe, to explain what PCS means in terms of what allowances need to be made for the condition and what will help and hurt the brain in the healing process.

P.S. Even knowing that I am a professional health policy researcher/analyst, and that there are no PCS specialists in our city, my son attributes my PCS research to OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)! Gee, in that case, there must be a lot of parents out there with OCD...