Ashley,

I hope that was a GOT reference . Thanks for the note. This week is actually going to be my one year anniversary of my injury... Congrats to me I guess...

I too have always wondered the role alcohol played in my initial injury and then again three months post injury when I was feeling back to normal and drank for a few weeks before symptoms returned. Working and living here isn't always easy I'll say that much.

But at a certain point the negative emotions and stress of feeling limited and held back and stuck just felt like it was doing more harm than good so I decided to get on with my life and not let myself be stuck in this mode of self pity where I was just not doing anything all day. I wanted to live my life. I also had this job that I had lined up for me after graduation in may that I didn't want to throw away the opportunity. (I got concussed after I took the job and before I started working there.)

On the surface I'm the same as anyone else. I wake up in the morning put on a suit, commute to work, work at least 8-9 hours a day, and then come home at the end of the day pretty tired and crash/relax on the weekends. I also had to pass a 6 hour Industry exam called the series 7 which i studied for several months all while having PCS. I ended up passing with an amazing score which was a triumph for me considering my PCS. The one thing that I've sacrificed with this PCS is any social life as I still can't drink alcohol so on weekends I just stay in. I can't go out with my friends on saturday nights, can't get drinks with coworkers after work, avoid parties because of the noise, and that's whats getting old for me. Thankfully I have an amazing girlfriend who has stuck by me throughout this whole ordeal and has supported/hung out with me during all the down times.

I think if I don't feel any improvement by this summer I will have been at my job for about one year and may consider quitting to take some extended time off to just try and get better once and for all but we'll see when we get there.