Nancy,
This I will say from our perspective: the recovery will come. Most likely not nearly as soon as we'd like to think. It is such a crappy roller coaster ride. I would gladly have taken the "brain freeze" headaches from my daughter. They would last all day some days. If you remember the headaches you'd get when you drank a slurpee too fast. Holy smokes they hurt! The disorientation, the "dumb-dumb" that comes with losing cognitive abilities, the change in personality that frustrated the injured.

We were so lucky in that my daughter's soccer teams were so supportive. Obviously, she has not been able to play since the injury last fall (and may not until this fall, or beyond). That kept her out of the state qualifiers and her entire club season and Olympic Development camp. BUT, her teammates welcomed her back onto the sidelines when she could finally attend. She was issued a uniform, travelled with the teams when she felt well enough to do it.

My daughter just went through her second cognitive/memory test. It is being used as the baseline because she wasn't impact tested before her injury. The one right after they diagnosed her was a disaster. She scored in the lowest 1% of all tested. The one she took last Monday, she "aced" it! Her memory, attitude, cognitive, balance, all are so much improved. But this is after SIX MONTHS of rehab. Now she goes in for surgery on her septum and sinuses and should be as close to "normal" as she can be. If the operation goes well, the docs are really ready to clear her to move to the next level, which would mean more school and eventually the opportunity to play again, which we NEVER thought would happen.

Point here is: look for support wherever you can get it. Your son's friends, a school counselor, his buddies, his coach. That stuff went a long way with my daughter. Even though she could not attend school, she would have lunch with her teammates and friends at the school cafeteria when she felt up to it. And it's amazing how much cooperation you'll get from the school if you "invite" them to a 504 meeting. Your neuropsychologist can probably help you arrange for that.

Donna, your guidance has helped us greatly. I was so angry when I came here because the emergency room doctors did not listen to my daughter when she told them of her injury. They told us she was cleared to play the next day! Her doctors now say that was potentially more injurious than the first hit. But reading your posts gave us much to go with and led us down the roads (plural) to recovery. I wish you the best as well.

I'm probably just going to be an observer on this site for now. No one needs to hear me go on any more about my kid's "miracle" recovery. But for everyone who suffers with this crap, keep the faith, don't take NO for an answer and NEVER give up.