Greetings,
How glad I am to have found your forum! I found it on Friday and so wanted to post however I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to, which lead to a screaming melt down at myself (no one was home), pounding headache resulting in 3 hours of sleep. After I rested I returned and I found the contact button and asked for help. Thank you, CheMer.

Now it is Sunday. It took me till today to recuperate. So frustrating!!!!

My story - March 1st I slipped going into the tub (mind you, freshly clean tub) and fell backwards hitting the base of my skull on the toilet. This is my 5th concussion. My first, when I was around 12, landed me in the hospital - bike helmets weren't invented yet!

Needless to say, I too have many of the symptoms. I was not able to return to work. I am music teacher and band director. The thought of stepping in front of classroom of kindergartens, let alone a beginner band rehearsal seems sooo out of reach. It is breaking my heart. Teaching music is my passion and I feel so scared I will not be able to continue. Just writing this gives me a headache and my emotions are so torn apart.

I have seen a neurologist and have an appointment Aug 1st to determine if I will go back to work. As it stands now, I can't imagine it with the headaches, my inability to make quick decisions, my stuttering trying to find words, and if I perceive any negativity, I can't cope. Oh yes one more, I need to create lesson plans. And right now for me to get anything done, I have to write it down and refer to it through out the day. No to do list and nothing gets done.

I am not driving because of the anxiety, the oncoming traffic, my eyes have a hard time focusing and my commute is an hour to work.

I have been told to hang in there, be patient but I need to know, is there anything I can do to increase my abilities so I can return to teaching. I have the summer off and plenty of time.

I look forward to hearing from you.

My heart goes out to you. I understand your concerns. My thoughts, rest, rest, rest! That is a must. Write down anything that you are feeling and convey that to your neurologist. One thing I learned with my Mild TBI is that if I didn't tell the doctors what was going on they could not read my mind. I keep a pad of paper and pen next to me so that I can jote everything down then I 'try' to type it so they can read. You didn't mention your age or gender. I'm now 58 years old, fell in 2005. I tried to go back to work 1 month after fall and continued to 'try' to work until 10-2009. I finally gave up and resigned....after ending up in the hospital with severe anxiety and high blood pressure due to the pressure to trying to be the person I was before the accident.

I have found this is a wonderful site to understand what has happened, good hints on how to handle it and a wonderful place to vent. We 'get it' and understand.

Hopefully you will heal and continue on. There is no way to tell if the injury is permanent or if/when it will heal. But from what I understand most people do heal.

Keep a positive outlook, keep your white lite around you and rest!

Melek

Thank you for your kindness and words of encouragement. I have not been keeping a journal because up to this point I have not been doing any writing. Sending my first post took a while to write, finding the words to express myself. Your suggestion is very helpful.
My husband has been very supportive and reminds of my small improvements and always knows if I have a headache just by looking at me. By the way, I am 55yrs old (that explains the no bike helmet in my youth) and I'm a lady (Mrs.Grady, the music lady).
I also am an avid hiker. Need to stay in shape to teach those little ones.
I started hiking again after 3 months but I'm much slower and cautious(checking my footing) and I definitely have to wear sunglasses when I am outside.
My kids came home from college and it was quite adjustment. I look normal but I can't process quickly. All the questions about who gets the car, work schedules, dinner, any kind of arguing would go right through me and set me off. They now know not to get me involved in any of that stuff. They sometimes slip or I over respond. It's so complicated at times. That's why I worry about teaching and if I can't deal with my own grown children, how will I respond to a classroom filled with singing, dancing, and instrument playing.
Right now I can't but I will rest and continue to rest! Thank you
Any teachers out there who have PCS?

GradyLady,

Sorry to hear of your struggles.

Lets leave the future alone and deal with now. Go to www.tbiguide.com, download the TBI Survival Guide, print it out and have your family read it. Fabulous resource.

It sounds like you have started figuring out your triggers. With a journal, you should be able to get dialed in on all of your head ache and other triggers. Prevention of symptoms is the key. The longer you can go without triggering symptoms, the more chance you have at healing.

Wow, your story sounds like mine. I had a bike accident in 1965 at 10 years old. Since then, 4 moderate concussions and many, 10 or so, very mild concussions. Now, at 55, I have been on Social Security Disability for 4 years. My life changing concussions was very mild in Jan 2001.

Back to your struggles. Get a white board for your refrigerator. Have your family write down stuff for you there. Then, you can read it and respond when you are up to it. As you are learning, choose your battles. And, with your grown kids, remember this axiom. " A failure to plan on their part does not create an emergency on your part." Been there, done that. Three grown children.

Do you have a blood pressure monitor? They are only $20 to $40 at places like Walgreens, etc. Work at keeping you BP at a normal level. It will likely help with the head aches. Have you had your neck checked out by an upper cervical chiropractor? Check out www.nucca.org or google 'upper cervical chiropractic.' Neck injuries are often overlooked after a concussion.

Post more of your struggles and we will try to help.

My best to you.

hi Grady

omega 3 and good supplements can only help keep hydrated to prescribed levels, we don.t feel like eating with a constant HA but above all don,t do things that make you worse , this term PCS is a misnomer! you have hurt your brain healing is very slow, like mark says deal with the now, this part of an old poem Desiderata" -- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s sums it up for me--


Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

if you have the summer to recover thats a + concentrate onthe small victory's , medicine can help only some symptoms

like others have said whip lash type injurys are often overlooked

keep us posted. this is a wonderful support forum welcome, we are, so glad you were able to post, it would take me all day when I joined 2 years ago to type a post ,it still frustrates me, but the good thing, is you can do things at your pace .

hope to see your around the boards

I'm so sorry to hear of your trouble!
I have been suffering with PCS for a year and a half.
From all that I have read is try to slowly increase activity and slowly push yourself with mental activities. Since you have trouble writing, try to write a little each day, make sure you use music too. The biggest thing is keep challenging yourself every day to do a little more a little better.
Other than that, I have found no better answers and I am so sorry. I don't think I would even wish PCS on my enemies let alone people who are just trying to live life.
Good Luck!

Hello all, this is Grady Lady's daughter. Mom got a bit carried away reading all of the threads and your wonderful replies. Unfortunately all of the stimulation and extra reading knocked her down for the count. She just wanted me to let you all know that she'll be back soon. This is absolutely wonderful for her and I thank you all so much for your kindness and support. Good luck to all of you.
Peace and Thanks!

His survival guide link no longer works.

I just tried it and it works fine.

www.tbiguide.com

Hey Mark, I tried the web page also and could not get the download. The 1st page was there and then when you go to download book, click, it sends you to another page and it is there when you click on the link to http://briefcase.yahoo.com/debglen that yahoo sends you to " Sorry, the page you requested was not found".

Do you have the book? If so, is it possible for you to scan and email if needed?