Since I was 3 years old I have been playing soccer. It wasn't until I was 9 that I found a true love for Goalkeeping. However, that love has come with a cost. Since I was 10 years old I have received 6 concussions, 1 torn MCL, and 8 broken noses. It wasn't until recently that these injuries have started to affect my everyday life, specifically my concussions.

My two most recent concussions (April and June 2010) have taken a rather large toll on me. I was a Freshman at a Division 1 Program. During my inaugural Fall season, I was red-shirted and didn't get a chance to get on the field until the following season in the Spring. The Spring season is an exhibition season where most of the regulars play the first 25 minutes, and the recruits and Freshman play the rest. Lucky for me, the starting GK and the backup were both injured and for the double header up at Yale in April 2010 I was going to be starting both games.

However it seemed my luck ran out rather quickly when an unanchored goal was blown down on top of my head just as I was warming up before our first game. A moment after it had happened I felt perfectly fine, no blood, no loss of consciousness, no memory loss. Our trainer did a check on me, said I was fine and played the games. During the games however, I found it hard to communicate with my teammates. I was misplace words, constantly stutter, and call out incorrect orders. For example instead of telling my fullbacks to "push up", I would yell incoherent orders that barely resembled what I was actually thinking. Another thing I noticed was that my hands were subtly shaking throughout each game. At first I thought it was nerves, but it continued all the way until I was in my bed back at my dorm later that night.

Over the next few weeks there weren't any improvements. Classes that were easy now became rather challenging. I would constantly forget things, where I was, what day it was, why I was in my room, when my paper was due. When I went to my neurologist she just told me I might have PCS and just sent me on my way.

That's when the rage came. All the way until August, I would just grow severely angry over the simplest things. However, by September most of my sypmtoms had subsided and we actually found a neurologist and a neurosurgeon who actually knew what they were treating and now it seems like I'm back on the right track.

However, recently I have found that I have a major sensitivity to sound and light. Things that were formerly quiet are now too loud, things that were normally lit are not like automobile brights. I haven't had any TBI's since June 2010 and have quarantined myself from all contact sports.

Does anyone have an idea why I am suddenly seeing these symptoms to light and sound after it seemed that I was actually getting better.