Hey folks,

So I've mostly been doing better. I'm able to complete school work again, and thanks to a new glasses prescription, I can read without issue. I've been slowly reintroducing things into my life, and taking it very very easy.

Then I flew cross-country today, and I'm terrified that I'm going to relapse.

I had headaches today for the first time in a few weeks! I'm starting to get dizzy again, too, and that hasn't happened in over a month.

First the whole process was long and terrible (woke up at 4am, arrived at 9pm), but now I realized I made a terrible mistake coming here in the first place. I am stuck in a very stressful position, staying with my mother. She lives in a loud apartment surrounded by yappy dogs. My father (her divorced husband) is also coming up to see me and I know the house will break out in fighting as it always does.

I've been here for four hours and I want to take an overnight flight back. I just want to get back to my old routine, but I can't hurt my mother's feelings. I am an only child (bear in mind that I am an adult now) and she got a christmas tree, made up the house, etc etc just for me.

Do you think I should leave from the stress? I made so much progress and now I"m afraid of ruining it.

Rugger,

Take as much time away from the apartment as possible. And, tell her in no-uncertain terms that if arguing gets started, you are heading out the door. Print out and show her the web page http://www.brainline.org/content/201...u-to-know.html

She needs to know it is beyond your ability to tolerate. You may do better staying in a local motel and visiting as your brain allows then going back to the motel to get quiet rest.

Yes, you are her only child. She needs to accept how fragile her only child is right now. Don't let her guilt you into making a mess out of the progress you have made.

hi!

That is nice you made the effort. I would make sure you drink tons of water. It is easy to get dehydrated during traveling. Tons! This could be part of your headache problem.

I would also tell your fam about the need to rest. Just be clear and I hope they will understand.

Just be on "high alert" for overdoing it. At any bad feeling go into a room and shut the door. If it becomes too much then you may have to leave or get another place to stay as Mark said.

First you need to recover from your flight stress before worrying about the visiting time stress. Even if you do fly back you wold need to have a big break before attempting all that traveling again. Hope you can figure it out.

p.s. i visited a friend with two yappy dogs and I couldn't handle it. I totally understand how bad they are for a headache

It is hard to find a quite place when you are travelling.At airports, if I have any extra time I go to the chapel, not because I am particularly religious, just that it is quite. When things get crazy at my house I go to the library or a church. I find cross country flight often take me a couple of days to recover from. If you can afford it now would be a good time for a massage or acupuncture or go to a rec center and swim or take a yoga class (if you can tolerate the music). Headphones may be helpful with yappy dogs. I imagine your "relapse" will be temporary, so don't worry about the future. One day at a time.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

I also accidentally ate gluten in the airport, so I've been extremely nauseated and unable to keep anything down. I am much more emotional than I ever have been throughout the injury.

I have found some direct flights to Portland that I can take. I think I might take one on Friday. Thinking it through, I don't know if I can handle the stress of family right now. I will have my mom fly over when she gets a break from work and we can have a quiet visit on my terms. I'm just feeling my progress slipping away and it's making me anxious. I woke up to a panic attack this morning.

That's rough. I just wanted to say no matter what you chose that you're a very loving person to have given it a shot, and that your self-care is equally important. Good luck on the flight.

By all means, "Take care of yourself, first and foremost", Darlin' !

Without doing so, you have 'nothing' ... for either yourself or to give/spare/share with your family.

Take good care of you!

Quick Update with a few questions. Thanks for the support, everyone! I was in denial about having PCS for a long time, but I'm glad to know that others have gone through this as well. Mark always says that it's a "rollercoaster", and while I'm hoping for a full-ish recovery soon (I know I can never go back to full-contact sports), I still know that I have to take it slow.

Anyway, three days post-flight and I'm still getting headaches. I think this can partially be attributed to the fact that I have not been eating well due to gluten intolerance reaction I had in Atlanta. Honestly I've not had much to eat in the past three days. I've noticed an increase in noise sensitivity as well, but that may just be the fact that the crowded South is much louder than the suburban Northwest.

Do y'all think this is just a minor relapse, exacerbated by the gluten reaction?

After a long conversation with my mom, I'm flying back on the 25th (hoping the airports will be quietest then!) with my father in tow. He will be staying in a motel room in Portland and we'll do some mild touristy stuff. I'm hoping that won't be so bad, as I was doing fine in Portland.

I decided that if planes make me worse, I'd rather get my next cross country flight over with as soon as possible so I can get back to my normal routine before I have to make up all of my missed school work from last semester (~60-70 pages of writing by January 28th. No, I haven't started ).

Rugger,

I have a suggestion. When I need to write an intense document, I take advantage of the easy editing capabilities of word processors. I don't get stuck on format and completeness. I just get as much information down as possible. Then, I slowly start condensing the information into a format worth reading. I even hook up a second monitor so I can have two documents open at the same time so I can easily cut and past between the documents. This is easy to do with a laptop.

If I need to compile information, it put it on one monitor with the working document on the other. I even use a second computer to do research online then emailed the found information to the other computer. So, I had a research computer, a compiling information display, and a working document display.

By not having to flip between windows, it is much easier on my risk of over-stimulation. Plus there is no need to try to remember which window has which information. Sure made a big difference for me.

Hope it helps you.

My best to you.

Rugger,

This topic is one that I often wonderI had took a blow to head in 2011 I did not know why I was so different after this day because emergency room and Doctors for 7months said just keep going to chiro I had soft tissue injury!

In spring 2012 I had finished a degree in college (with a lot of STRUGGLE).I had rewarded myself with a vacation to exotic island from northern USA.I was OUT of CONTROL in behavior on vacation!Drank often!When I flew back North from SouthEast I was Sick Sick!!!

*When getting home I slept for 2 days and was thinking it was jet lag then after a week I was still sick sick!I thought I had malaria or something!This made me realize I had to figure out what was going on with me. I had time off from school and I had to get answers on what was wrong with me!This point my speech was very bad and told chiro I am done.I went to Physical therapist till I could get into neurologist*

~A year after accident and different tests I found out I had PCS & balance is off~

Since finding out my diagnoses and putting this puzzle together of the last year I have wondered if that plane trip made the PCS come out?I am glade it did so I could finally get answers....but I often wonder if I can fly distance like that again after I progress in my therapies.

~Best wishes~