Hi Mark,

Thank you for all your suggestions. We will have to look into the styrofoam helmet you are mentioning - where would they sell those? We have tried the bike helmet but it is not comfortable for him to wear all day long with the back strap.

We have taken a very serious approach with his rest after his second fall 10 days after his concussion (that is when the second layer of symptoms developed and we realized he was in a more fragile place). For the most part he stays at home (he says that riding in a car shakes his brain and anywhere we would go would have more stimulation than home, so we are staying at home).

He rotates between resting in his bed in his room (dark/quiet environment) and playing with soft toys (stuffed animals, silly putty, hand puppets) while laying on his pillow and then getting up to play low stimulation activities like painting, legos, playdoh etc. We try to let him play by himself as much possible so he has less interaction but when he wants the company we will play with him or let his sister play with him.

We have noticed that increased stimulation (when a friend comes over to visit him or the few times he has tried to return to school for only 1 1/2 hours) causes his symptoms to surface more strongly that day or the next day. So we are being very conservative.

One of the reasons we have not pursued the CT scan or MRI is because it seems like his symptoms of PCS worsen when he is too stimulated but improve when he is more restful - which makes us think that there is not a more dangerous concern. Not sure if that is accurate or not. We are waiting to see a pediatric neurologist and our children's hospital for getting their opinion.

Any thoughts are appreciated.
Joshie's parents