Sports to start with.

I remember one of my first posts to you was about, "If you were a loved one of mine, with a head injury, I can't let you make those important decisions because of you being injured in the head." You're a minor too. You shouldn't be handling this by yourself, your way. You could be jeopardizing your chances for a good recovery. Head injury patients need SPECIAL attention, SPECIAL observation, SPECIAL testing by qualified doctors.

If you get treatment for obvious reasons you may be able to participate in the sports field in some capacity, and yes maybe at a later time. Did you ever think about coaching? It could be a career choice. You do love it so.

Hey, did you see the UK football player hit FL quarterback, TBow. He had a bad concussion. He got medical treatment. he's still playing. I still think he's having prblems from that bad lick. I'm not a doc, but I think it hurt him worse than he's letting them know. Nobody wants to see an athlete get hurt. It happens in sports. it happens a loooooot. You're injured.

Plan B or C could be to enrich your life with music. Maybe an interest in an instrument will give you some enjoyment, for life. It's safe, challenging, a new direction to experience, maybe. You like music, right? I wish I had cultivated my love for the piano. I have good finger dexterity and an ear for music. I even have a beautiful piano my sister gave me. I do pick at it and can play several favorites at times, if I practice. I love to listen to a recital, someone passionately playing, or quiet moments with instrumentals in the background that I've not had in years. all my shortcomings... all within my control. I think I'll get back at that.

There are other ways to pay for college besides sports scholarships. I'm proud of you for being motivated toward college. That's great. Different types of colleges nowadays.

Maybe you need to talk with a guidance counselor at your school. Could be time you started inquiring about the reality of your choices, what's it's like to get through it, to the end. One often changes their mind in midstream too. Think about what you think you can handle. Never to young to inquire. Food of thought. I changed my major from nursing and went to technical, more business type courses. Just happened like that.

Please go talk to your parents. Write it out if you need to. It will be okay.

yea i helped with coaching at the beginning of the year before i could play yet but i dont think that would really work you know it just made it worse acutally because it just made me want to play that much more. i cant stand sitting on the sidelines even just watching games at home on tv makes me want to go play.

i play piano some too. i used to play more but since high school i dont have lessons anymore because you guessed it sports took up too much time. i still play a little every once in a while fix you that song acutally. i can play some other songs but tend to get bored with it too fast. i think it would be cool to learn how to play guitar but i just cant stay focused on those kind of things long enough to really get anywhere with it. its definitely a challenge but not the kind that keeps my attention like sports do.

before i found out i could play this season i thought about volunteering at the local animal shelter. ive wanted to do it for a few years but you have to be 16. i turned 16 last may but never got around to it. i plan on doing it this summer and am really excited for it. i love animals.

i also thought about just quitting and getting a job instead but i knew if i did i would regret not playing for the rest of the season so i just figured hey im going to work the rest of my life once i get out of school i might as well just wait longer. thats the other thing i wouldnt know where to get one. i dont want to just stand at cash register all day you know? oh well i have a while to decide i guess.

noticed something today at practice. finally realized what i was feeling. i wasnt necassarily in a fog or disoriented i know what those feel like it was more just like my processing speed was slower. it was during a pretty strenuous drill like getting up and down the court scrimmaging type and thats when it was the worst.

why would strenuous work just bring this on all of a sudden because otherwise i seem to be at a pretty normal processing speed? why this bothers me so much is that because of it i play uncharactiristicly out of control you could say. i make stupid mistakes i normally wouldnt like throwing a pass that i know i wouldnt make unless i was in that state of mind. i dont want to have the coaches think that is my usual play because its not very good. i feel bad because when i make those stupid plays i just hurt my teammates and i can tell the other varsity girls get mad about it.

i dont really know what to do because i want to tell them whats happening so they know i dont really mean to be doing that but at the same time i just want to play through it and hope it gets better so its not like im making excuses. why would this come on all of a sudden anyone know?

soccer,

That is the nature of a brain injury. There is no possible way of predicting when one of these times is going to pop up. I call them "brain farts" or when I all of a sudden get confused, it is "spaghetti brains." Often, I will realize the screw up right after I do it. Ohter times, my wife will pull me aside.

My worst problem is getting my right and left hands to stay coordinated. I can use each hand individually with out a problem. If I need to use both hands at the same time, I can be doing fine until all of a sudden, it is like they have become connected to different brains.

I have tasks I do to try to exercise my brain at doing two handed tasks. Typing is one. I can be doing great then all of a sudden, my right hand is typing faster that my left hand. 'And' becomes 'nad' I will capitalize the second letter when the first was supposed to be capitalized.

These are all common symptoms of the brain losing its timing or processing out of sync. Sometimes, it will appear that my environment has sped up and I am stuck on slow motion.

soccer, this is just your brain telling you that it is struggling. There is nothing you can do to change this or prevent it from happening. The best way to handle it is to learn to recognize it and take a break from the action. The sooner you stop and take a break, the sooner you can get back to normal. The longer you fight it, the greater your chance of it getting worse. Then you will need a more serious break or may put yourself or others at risk.

I was building a garage at my cabin in the mountains. My wife would watch me from the window. She commented how she would see me just looking at the project and she would wonder what I was designing. In the past, I would get stuck in deep though designing a fix to something. She thought this was the case. I corrected her misconception. Now, it usually means I am stuck trying to get my brain back on track. I have lost my place in my task and am trying to figure out what I was doing.

I had these struggles in 5th and 6th grade. My teachers thought I was daydreaming. I know it was getting caught in a brain fog.

By helping others understand this, they hopefully learn that I am not ignoring them. A friend commented to my wife asking, " Does Mark sometimes 'go inside himself'?" He was referring to those looks where I was not connecting to my surroundings. She knew how to respond. She told him that this was when my brain was struggling to make sense of what was going on.

I am more prone to this if the environment gets real busy or chaotic. I will easily zone out if too many people are talking or there is too much activity.

I really think this is what is happening in your brain. It is just overloaded and needs to slow down to sort things out.

This can be a dangerous situation if it happens when you are driving. It happened to me when a driving therapist was trying to help me with driving. I was driving through a busy intersection. There were pedestrians, bicycles, and numerous cars. By the time I got across the intersection, it was all I could do to pull to the curb and stop. My brain was spinning.

This is life with a brain injury. There are plenty of skills that can be learned to overcome some of these events or to avoid them. First, one needs to accept that they are real events and not just imagined.

Three years ago, I cut off a finger with a power saw when I got overwhelmed with too much stimuli. Fortunately, it was just my pinky on my left hand. It is not as important as an index finger or thumb.

You need to have a good sit down talk with your coach. She needs to be watching out for you. You can decide on some secret words or signals to communicate without having to reveal everything to your team mates.

Do you have an athletic trainer at school? If so, she would be a good start for this discussion. Does your school use the ImPACT system for concussions? If so, it means your school has at least a basic understanding of the risks of concussion in sports.

Trying to push through it will not solve your struggles. You need to make some changes. These changes are what was referred to as Plan B and Plan C.

I hope you understand what we are saying.

what changes should i be making? i know you will tell me to stop playing sports but im not going to listen to this so any other advice that could just help whtile this is happening? my school doesnt do the impact test but the doctor i got to for these problems makes me take it. i do sometimes talk to my coach about stuff when i dont realize im letting her know about my situation. the trainer is good and she realized when i was having problems last week. i had no idea what i was doing on the court. luckily she recognized this and pulled me out. there are only a few weeks left in the season though and i want to finish so do you have any ideas how i could just get through this?

Sorry, Soccer, but I don't think anyone here is going to give you advice on how to ignore your TBI and continue participating in activity that is currently very dangerous for you. Personally, I'd feel like I was driving an alcoholic to a bar or giving a loaded gun to a seriously depressed person.

I know from bitter experience that a TBI isn't something that can be toughed out or ignored. Seeking the medical attention you need isn't weak; it's smart and courageous. Besides, most of us come to discover that we weren't hiding our injury half as well as we thought they were.

Take Care

I agree with hockey and Mark. Nobody is going to tell you how to "get through" this because 1) there is no secret way to mask your symptoms and keep functioning at an acceptable level; and 2) even if there were a way it would be dangerous and irresponsible.

I thought about you this past weekend when I saw TWO basketball players go for balls and hit their heads on the ground. They immediately went into fetal position and clutched their heads. To be very honest with you it made me cringe and I felt like throwing up.

Your basketball season may be almost over, but you know that there will be spring ball, summer open gyms, camps, etc., that you will want to participate in, not to mention city league and other sports you participate in. The sooner you have a real, honest conversation and evaluation with a skilled neurologist and/or a neuro psychologist the sooner you can start building on your future.

We are not doctors. Until you are honest with a skilled professional you truly do not know what, if any, limitations you will have and what treatment options will work for you. What we all know for a fact is that right now you could be putting yourself in very serious danger.

Think of it this way....a little over a year ago my teenage son jumped off a balcony and cracked his heel bone. (You don't even want to hear the explanation he offered for this decision ) The other day he told me that even after appropriate medical treatment and a year's time to heal, he can still feel it when he jumps barefoot or stomps his foot. My highly educated advice to him was "stop doing that." If it hurts, quit doing it because you are only making it worse.

Now think about this...if he can still feel a lowly heel injury after a year, what makes any of us think that the most sensitive and complicated organ in our body, our brain, will heal quickly and with no lingering triggers or sensitivities?

Kuddos to the team here, soccer14. We're all in agreement. U NEED 2 B EVALUATED!!!!!

You're a minor. What are you telling your parents? You're OK? What?

They should notice things about you, pre-concussion and post-concussion. Maybe your condition IS VERY MILD and needs only slight attention/modification/medication. But without knowing that, you're just risking further disability FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. You think things are bad now... This is not a disability friendly world, by no sssssttttrrrreeeeeeeettttccchhhh of the imagination. It's expensive too.

Are you keeping up with your grades?

I really have been worried about you during your absence from NT. I would check on your Avitar to see if you were posting somewhere else. So I'm following you around because I do care about you and I am very concerned! If you got appropriate medical attention, I wouldn't have this fear/anxiety of the unknown. Knowledge is empowering. If you know what it is, you can deal with it. Come clean with your symptoms and go get checked out. Do it for me... for us... That's what you need 2 do. It will be OK...

How bad are your symptoms?

What other problems are you having?

Reasoning is one problem you have. You're not being fair to yourself and your family and team. A qualified doctor could help you. The doctor has treated a lot worse injuries and brought them back to go on with their life.

I understand and respect your love to play ball. How good are you? Take as long as you want. We'll read it. I'd love to hear about how you won the game for the team!!!! or whatever...

At your age, your body is going through a lot of changes very fast. Youth is sooooo blissful. Carefree and happy days for most teenagers. I want that for you.

One other thing. How long do you plan on playing ball? Till what age?

Many many great replies in this thread.

If you are still having any kind of symptoms then STOP.

watch this video...
ESPN's Outside the Lines, High School Concussions
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3094263

I concur with the others. By continuing to play, your are putting your entire future at risk. It's not worth it.

My daughter desperately wants to get back to riding her horse. I have to be the bad guy and tell her "no". Her long term health is far more important than all the training/horse shows she is missing out on. She may not get it now, but it's my job as a parent to make that decision.

Please as honest with your parents and let them know what is going on, so they can help you make some of these decisions.