Member
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Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 378
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Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 378
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Mark, based on my experience with PCS thus far, I agree with your prescription for healing/recovery. That is the path I've been attempting to follow (although at times I tend to overdo the visual/mental stimulation through reading, TV and internet...my Achilles heel).
I should have been a bit more specific. The first specialist I saw (who is quite renowned in Canada) predicted a "full recovery." However, he observed that after each concussion, subsequent concussions tend to be more severe and/or longer-lasting. Therefore, he was not predicting full recovery in the sense that the brain is as good as it was pre-concussion. He seemed to be saying that my symptoms would ultimately recede and I would be fully functional again. But he would not predict how long this would take (sensibly, in my view). He was also very clear that subsequent concussions could present additional and possibly greater risks, even many years later. He noted that the research in this area is still evolving.
The second specialist predicted that eventually, I would no longer suffer from concussion symptoms (first and foremost, headache and tinnitus). He did not use the words, "full recovery" (although I did, in my question to him). Again, he seemed to be suggesting something more like, "fully functional with no remaining symptoms." Hence the caution about avoiding future head impacts. As for a timeline, he was not saying that I would be fully functional or recovered in 1-3 months; rather, he was saying that based on my progress to date, it should be "safe" for me to start a graduated return to work plan in approximately a month. The plan would be to proceed cautiously and incrementally over the course of two months, so that three months from now (assuming that this goes acceptably well), I would be back to working full-time.
These prognoses were based on my health history, physical exams (including several balance and memory tests), a head MRI, ImPACT test results, and my reporting of symptoms during appointments spaced out over the course of four months.
However well I "recover", I know that I will forever be at risk of further damage from another concussion (or subconcussive impact), but I am encouraged by my gradual progress and by the opinions of these docs, if only because they both seemed sensible, informed and experienced in dealing with concussions.
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