Welcome KarinaM.

Wow, He is surely having a difficult time. It would help to understand how he was injured so we can separate different issues with his injury. It appears to have been a violent injury.

First, It sure sounds like a concussion. With concussions, especially those that do not recover spontaneously in the first 6 weeks, there is no legitimate way anybody can suggest how long his recovery will take.

The local neuro who wants organic evidence is dead wrong. Don't waste your time asking him for help. Unfortunately, this neuro is not uncommon.

It sounds like he has suffered injury to his upper neck and brain stem. The injury and inflammation can cause the bodily symptoms. Reducing that upper neck inflammation will be very important. A PT/physiotherapist with good skills at subtle upper neck injuries will be helpful.

Until he finds a knowledgeable doctor, you both can gain a lot of understanding from this forum. In the Vitamins sticky at the top, there is a good post full of information and links to outside information. The Brain Injury Survival Guide is very good. There is a link to the updated vitamin info at post #101, too.

An important concept for him right now is simple but very difficult to carry out. He needs to accept his current condition as the new him. He needs to look at any improvements as valuable gains worth his appreciation/celebration, even if those improvements do not last. Looking at every improvement as "Yes, I improved but I am not back to normal. When will I get back to normal ?" is counter to good healing. Stress is the biggest limit to recovery.

I don't mean to discount his condition. Many of us truly understand the misery he is going through. We also know that fighting against his symptoms is counter to recovery. Recovery from a serious concussion takes time and discipline.

A neuro-psych assessment will be very helpful at understanding his injury. I hope he is planning on spending a few nights in Sidney to rest up from the long bus ride. A neuro-psych assessment can be exhausting.

More later. I'm hitting my limit.

My best to you both.

Hi Karina,
Welcome to NeuroTalk.

There is a Professor Ian Cameron that I've read a lot about.
http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/people...an.cameron.php

http://www.rehab.med.usyd.edu.au/
Rehabilitation Studies Unit, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney

I thought the Brain and Mind Institute would have more info but they didn't have much about TBI/PCS at all from what I could find.

Maybe even phoning them for some advice could give you some direction in finding knowledgeable doctors in Canberra or Sydney.


Melbourne has more... mostly sports related.

Many thanks for your comments, which I have just read out to my son, who also says 'thank you -- much appreciated.' It's been reassuring for him to know that there are others who have experienced what he is going through.

Will try to put more spacing in the text -- didn't realise that it would come out the way it did!

Awesome -- will follow up on these suggestions.

Reply to Mark:

My son's injury: a heavy box (can't remember the exact weight) of flat-pack furniture fell onto his head from a shelf about 1m above; about 10 min. later he hit the same spot on a metal beam.

Injury symptoms (physical and mental, as noted in earlier post) experienced about 70hrs after & have been on-going & sometimes worsening.

No real 'treatment' as such -- really need to get someone to understand that he needs a team of people to develop & implement a care/recovery plan. Good local neuropsychiatrist has just confirmed that there are no neuro-psychiatrists in Canberra with expertise in treating people with TBI & that he agrees that it's best to have the initial assessment done in Sydney and then get follow-up care from someone local.

Am trying to explain to my son that any neuropsych assessment in Sydney will be very tiring and he won't want to make the trip up & back in one day -- but he (always argumentative & not one to easily accept others' advice) is concerned that sleeping in a strange hotel room wouldn't be good, either. (Driving is a possible option, but long-distance coach is probably more comfortable & we could both sleep!)

I am currently focused on monitoring him for signs of increased intracranial pressure following a secondary bump on the head 6 days ago. :-(

I hope you are really looking for Neuro Psychologist.(Ph.D.) Neuro Psychiatrists (M.D.)are vastly different. They can be helpful if there is a serious need to be medicated.

Check with the neuro psych to confirm how long the testing will last. It can be an all day affair.

I would not worry about Second Impact Syndrome at this point. His first two bumps could be almost considered as one event. The recent bump would have manifest severe symptoms within 24 hours or so. He would develop an intense head ache and have other severe symptoms if SIS was an issue.

My best to you both.