soccer,

I am glad I don't live in South Dakota. I had too many close calls before I stopped driving. I drove onto a sidewalk near my home. I have become aware that I am headed toward the ditch or opposite lane or some other place my cart should not be headed. Finally, my wife was following and saw a few of my scary moves and pulled me over. My daughter drove my wife's car and my wife drove my truck. That was May 27, 2001. Shortly thereafter, I confessed my close calls to my wife and ended most of my driving.

Now, I only drive on my best days and only on the slower country roads without traffic congestion. I have an old beat up truck that I drive. I doubt I drive 300 miles a year. When I tried driving into Boise, I could easily get confused by the congestion. I even tried a brain rehab therapist to see if I could get back on the road.

In 2003, an elderly man in Santa Monica drove through a crowd of people and killed 10 people. He may have been 86 years old but his dementia caused driving problems that are very similar to PCS with zone out tendencies.

Here in Idaho we had a head on collision a few weeks ago where it appears the driver had some sort of seizure. She crossed the highway median into oncoming traffic and destroyed a whole family except for an infant. Fortunately, she did not survive to live with the devastation she caused the other family.

I cringe when I think of the speeds that car pass each other. We have 65 mph country roads with just a single dotted line between oncoming traffic.

Hopefully, where you live in South Dakota is not congested.

So.... Please be very careful with your driving. Get some answers to your condition.

With your history of five concussions, your brain is in very weak condition. All of the research shows that even those who claim to not be in denial usually grossly minimize the impact of their symptoms. It is a symptom of the injury.

If you were a soldier who had returned from Iraq, the Army would be assessing you carefully because they know how much denial is a part of PCS. As a young woman, you likely fill your void with the interaction on this forum. That way you can have two worlds. On-line, you have a real brain injury. In your home and school life, you just have some minor issues.

If you are struggling at all now, college will blow you away. The change of study intensity and loss of support structure will position you to fall on your face. I've done it. I've seen others do it. There is a group in California that focuses on getting help so PCS subjects can make it through college.

Be sure to have good health insurance and don't let it lapse. I became uninsureable when I moved to a new state. I had to keep my old health insurance and travel 650 miles for routine health care (Idaho to California). I was very fortunate that my policy was not canceled for living out of California.

Hockey, Dmom, Snowylynn and others like me all know the risks you are subjecting yourself too. We want you to have a better rest of your life that we have.