Hi Kaitlyn,

I'm sorry for your injury; we all know what you're going through.

I'm also sorry that you've learned early on one of the common lessons of PCS: most neurologists are arrogant jerks who know/care shockingly little about concussion. I'd advise you to shop around if possible.

Your post made many points, let me address a few.

Firstly, I don't think it's true that you didn't have any concussion signs. Ironically, thinking you're fine after a concussion is fairly common. A lot of people don't realize anything's amiss for days afterward. For starters, you're often too out of it to know - lack of insight is a big concussion symptom. Secondly, the brain continues to swell after the impact so, accordingly, your mendition can continue to deteriorate.

Secondly, if your neuro isn't concerned that you sustained multiple impacts in different areas, he should be. You are exhibiting symptoms that might indicate injury to several lobes (for example, behavior=frontal lobe, vision= occipital, etc...). When an injury extends to all area of the brain, it's termed diffuse.

The one thing your neuro was right about is the uselessness of conventional scans. They simply aren't sensative enough to see damage and tears in the millions of tiny axons that cover your brain. People with obvious cognitive deficits will often have "clean" MRIs. The best way to find out what's really happening in your brain is to have a neuro-psychological exam. The neuro-psych is also an excellent tool for targetting cognitive therapy and for gaining you access to any services you may require. If your symptoms persist, I highly recommend you have one done by a qualified clinician.

Like you, my TBI causes me to suffer depression, anxiety, panic attacks, etc... Worst of all are the outbursts of temper. These are all signs of damage to your frontal lobe. I would advice you to find a psychologist experienced with brain injury patients to help with the depression, anger management techniques and general coping skills that might reduce your frustration level.

I would, however, caution you to be careful about talking about any mental health issues in your family history. Many doctors are all too happy to dismiss PCS as "psychological" - don't encourage them. Your "emotional" problems didn't manifest until right after your injury. I think you can be pretty sure that's your battered frontal lobe.

I guess you've learned the hard way that it's very important for you to rest. You may have to consider pulling out of school at the moment. I know that sounds devastating. However, a semester or two is nothing in the grand scheme of things if it helps you make a faster, fuller recovery.

On the recovery front, don't panic if you aren't feeling fabulous by April. Brain injury can be very idiocyncratic - it's ridiculous for your neuro to give you a recovery date.

On the plus side for you, you're young, you're responding to meds and your writing shows a wit and flexibility that requires use of your higher cognitive function.

As you and your Mom have discovered, PCS patients often have to advocate for themselves to get care. On that score, I would urge you to learn as much about head injury as you can. Some excellent sources for further reading include: the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA)www.biausa.org; www.tbiguide.com and our own TBI forum here on NT http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum92.html If that's too much reading, there are a number of excellent Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) videos on You Tube. (Who knew it wasn’t just idiots surfing on cars?)

Cheers