Hello, my name is Mimi.

On December 14, 2010 I was accidentally hit in the head with a misaimed ball thrown by an eighth grader playing dodge ball. It was only a "nerf ball," but it slammed my head into the brick wall behind me. I was not playing but just waiting off to the side, there only to accompany a special needs student to and from PE. It took me a while to really understand that I wasn't well. I was accompanying another student on a walk around the school when I suddenly became very dizzy and my head started aching. I visited the nurse's office and iced my head. I returned to class to be with the kids during their snack time. I started feeling very dizzy, nauseous, and my headache returned more intense. I returned to the nurse's office, and barely made it because of the dizziness. I proceeded to begin vomiting. I was sent to the ER with a worker's comp claim. I was diagnosed with a mild concussion and a hairline fracture in the base of my skull.

Well, after 10 days I had not improved at all, and got my first diagnosis of PCS, and was referred to a neurologist. The earliest appointment was more than a month away and I was instructed not to return to work. I also had to switch physicians to one who accepted worker's comp. When I finally got into the neurologist, I had barely improved at all, perhaps slept a little less, only 16 hrs instead of 20 a day. The neurologist confirmed the PCS diagnosis and prescribed gabapentin (Neurontin). The neurologist would not give any instructions for return to work, saying I needed to go to a general physician. I went to a nearby clinic which accepted Worker's comp immediately. The Doctor I saw was experienced with head trauma and was very supportive. He said I could return to work part time with many accommodations, and was to return in two weeks.

The school system (for which I work) tried to find a position to accommodate my limitations, but could not, so I remained on worker's comp, until the next Dr. visit

When I returned for a follow up, I had a different physician who was *not* experienced with head trauma, was rude and abrupt, demanding and rapid fired questions at me. He tried to send me back to work full time with no accommodations, and seemed to think I was faking because it was lasting too long for it to be a concussion. After getting approval from my case manager, I mad an appointment with the first Dr. I'd seen at that clinic. Again he was supportive, and simply removed me from work until another follow up in 4 weeks.

A few weeks later I got the flu and ran a high fever. Afterward the fever would not go down, I started having an additional headache on top of the one I already constantly had, and I began having uncontrollable head and eye movements. Then one night I fell over and began shaking. I also would start shivering uncontrollably repeatedly throughout the day. It looked like convulsions to those around me. Upon calling the neurologist, I was immediately scheduled for an EEG. Lack of sleep was necessary for the EEG, so I didn't take my gapapentin the night or morning before. Partway through the day, the eye movements had nearly stopped and the extra headache was largely alleviated.

At the neurologist appointment, the EEG was normal, but I told him about the symptoms going down while I wasn't on gabapentin. He decided to wean me off of that and try amytriptalene (sp?) instead, as well as a antidepressant because i was severely depressed and having suicidal ideation. The next day was my follow up with the clinic. I made sure that I was scheduled to see the doctor with head trauma experience. He continued t be supportive. Although I was still having reactions to the gabapentin, he did see improvement in the neurological symptoms. He still ordered no return to work and encouraged me to engage in hobbies like writing, puzzles, reading (not to exhaustion), and arts and crafts. It had now been three months since the initial accident.

At 6 moths after the initial injury, I switched neurologists, because mine was so difficult to get into see. Although very nice, his only solutions were different medications, and my recovery was going very slowly. The new neurologist took me off the neurological medication, left me on the antidepressant, added naproxen for the constant headaches and to treat any inflammation, and prescribed physical therapy. The clinic referred me to a pain specialist.

At this point The worker's comp company sent private investigators to follow me and record me. I was sent a copy of the recording. The time stamps showed that I never went out. They got the one day that I went out for a few hours to meet with a casting director who wanted to cast my son in a short film. All they got was me talking. In fact i didn't even drive, but my mom did. Time stamps showed that for the next three days I didn't go out.

Three months later, I was sent for a cognitive evaluation. The psychologist who conducted the evaluation found deficits in short term memory and attention. He also believed that I was overly focused on the pain because I would rub my head or try ways of alleviating my discomfort while working on tasks. I kinda thought I'd be interested in seeing his way of coping with a constant 7 month headache. He also said I was allowing myself to become too stressed out and depressed. At that point I was pretty stressed out and depressed, not only from my continuing injury, but because I hadn't been home for 2 weeks because my whole town had been evacuated while it was being threatened by a nearby wildfire.

At this point, the pain specialist was still recommending that I be kept away from work. Since it was the middle of summer, it wasn't really an issue anyway. Worker's comp was growing increasingly difficult to deal with because they did not want to be paying me any more. They were putting pressure on the Pain doctor to return me to work, and they were being uncooperative about paying for my medications.

In any case, I felt ready to return to work. I still had a constant headache, and focus and memory problems, but was far more functional. I was sent back in a secretarial position with no contact with kids for a few months. Then I finally was sent back full time, and was taken off all medications.

I *can* function at work. I still have constant pressure in my head, and frequent more intense headaches. I was glad when summer break came. The neurotoxins in the preservative used in animal dissections caused major problems for me, and kept me away from work for a few days when they made me sick. In the middle of the year I got pneumonia. I have found my immune system is very poor since the accident. During the pneumonia, I did find that my headache was greatly reduced while I was on the steroids for my lungs. This leads me to believe there is probably inflammation somewhere. I am still very sensitive to light, and usually have to wear sunglasses. Noise bothers me as well. I am far less patient than I used to be. When I get tired, I droop to the left and tend to run into walls on the left. I have come to accept that I may never get all better, that this is my new normal. Sometimes it's depressing.

A few days ago... something terrible happened. I fell and hit my head again. It happened when I was leaning over in a folding chair trying to read a paper in someone else's hands at trivia night at my friends house. The chair slipped out from under me (I don't know how, really) and i fell, slamming the back of my head on the seat on the way down. I have symptoms of a very mild concussion even now (on top of the remaining PCS symptoms). I have *no* money to go to the doctor at this point. And I do know from all this... they won't do much for me anyway. I am pretty experienced on that front.

Anyway, I am so frustrated. I found this place while looking up what happens if you get a new concussion on top of PCS. Not any real good answers anywhere. BUT I am glad to have found a community of people who actually have an idea of what I have been going through.

Sorry this was so long.