[Smayotte]

Hey all! I am a mom of a 17 year girl that sustained a concussion in oct 2014 during volleyball practice. She did not lose consciousness but was knocked down and could only see black. I was called to the school to pick her up and the athletic trainer let me know she had a concussion. I work in the medical field and man was I about to be educated in concussions. Well we are now about 4 months out and life has changed for her and I both. She is unable to tend school anymore. She is a honor student with a high gpa and college credits as a junior in high school. So we are now doing what the school calls homebound. She is now only taking 2 classes and it can be a struggle with these.
I had no idea what happens after a concussion or could happen. I had no idea about PCS, or symptoms. I have been schooled in concussions. Well I am always looking for anything new to try or something that will help us.
We have, what we label "bad days" quite a bit and are taking a few medications as well as physical therapy. We see a neurologist regularly.
I am tired. I worry whenever I am not with her, I try to make sure someone is with her all the time. I have taken away her driving privileges. I am watching her like a hawk for any changes or symptoms. I can't imagine how difficult this has to be for her. She barely leaves home or sees any friends. We do things in small increments of time (because symptoms return). I get scared that this is not going to end. I am frustrated with friends and family not understanding or saying Im making a big deal out of this. They don't live with her, they have to care for her. People have no idea what it is like for her to do the smallest things that we all take for granite.
Im lost as to what I am looking for. Maybe just support, ideas. This is the first place I have been to that I have found anybody else dealing with this. Im just not sure where to go from here.

[msnyder]

Hi! My daughter had a traumatic brain injury in volleyball too! I am here if you want to talk! Hers was Oct 2. She is doing better but we went thru everything you mentioned! Plus she has a cranial nerve eye injury. Her eyes aren't seeing correctly yet. She may need eye muscle surgery. We did home
bound. Then tutoring and half days at school.

Now some full days at school. When she can keep up with it all. She does pt twice a week. She sees vision Dr and neuro dr and a psychologist. We had neuro psych testing tues. School is ok with the tutor. She is tired often. I let her rest as needed. She takes sleep meds and vitamins. Her personality is coming back. She can be mean now. But I understand it is frustrating. Her friends kind of left her too.

But it is a lesson she had to learn. She is making new friends now. She was a great pitcher. She hasn't been able to pick up a ball since Oct. I don't know how long this will go on. She may be out this season. We had a lot of private lessons and travel teams leading up to this season. Now she will have to sit out I think!

[Mark in Idaho]

Smayotte,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear of your daughter's injury.

I have a few answers/suggestions for you.

First, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Xso...ature=youtu.be and watch the You Look Great video series. Then, any time a friend or family doubts the seriousness of her condition, suggest they watch the 6 part series. It takes about an hour.

Second, please do not try to force her to get her studies done. Keeping up with classwork is not even an issue compared with helping her recover. If she is accomplished as her record shows, she will accomplish much more when she is doing better than she will struggling along now. If anything, she needs to discover and learn how to learn in her current state. She may need a whole new set of learning and study skills.

It may help to find a physical therapist or chiropractor who understands subtle upper neck injuries. Generic chiros and PT's are not always much help. www.NUCCA.org and www.atlasorthogonal.com have info about upper cervical chiros.

You might google 'inflammatory foods' and see if her diet can be modified. A strict low fat diet can be counter to healing. Her brain needs good meat protein for the amino acids. There is a sticky thread at the top about vitamins. Check out post #101 in Nov, 2014. It has updated info. Omega 3 fish oil with high DHA/EPA content is a good starting point.

Fortunately, you caught me on a good day. I usually struggle to read paragraphs that are longer than 5 or 6 lines without a blank line space. Visual tracking is a common problem for people with PCS.

If you have a way, try to observe her sleeping. For many of us, bad days follow a rough night trying to sleep. Brain healing only occurs during REM sleep. Taking naps during the day can be helpful. Early on, I needed a nap after breakfast and trying to read a bit of the morning paper. Some of us also need to eat before bed to give our brains energy to us during sleep. I need a complex carb and/or some protein.

Please feel free to ask anything. There is likely somebody here who has some experience with every aspect of PCS.

My best to you both.

[Concussed Scientist]

Hi Smayotte,
I am sorry that your daughter finds herself in such a difficult position.
I can only emphasize that such an injury should be taken extremely seriously as it could change her life. Trying to heal is far more important than how many classes she is taking or her GPA. Those things don't matter by comparison, nothing does. So just do your best over the next year to get the best healing that you can because most of the healing that is going to happen is going to happen in the first year. Give it the best chance possible by concentrating on that to the exclusion of everything else that you might have thought was important before. Healing is what is going to give her the best chance in the long run. All the best to you both. CS

[FunGames20]

I suffered a mTBI around the same age as your daughter, I am now two years older but still suffer from some lingering symptoms. All I can say is try to be there for her, I had no support and it made everything a lot worse. One of the large mistakes that I made as a teen suffering PCS was living in a bubble. I quickly began to suffer from anxiety and severe depression. I would recommend helping her try to find a balance between continuing normal activities, and providing a conductive healing environment for her brain.

Also you really need not worry about her GPA. I am a very high achieving student, and I was forced to take a full year off. I have had to repeat courses and take courses with younger students. I have now been accepted into many prestigious colleges/universities. She will be OK.

Regarding schoolwork I recommend trying to get extra time on tests and assignments, my teachers were very sympathetic and good about this. I had to take an extremely heavy courseload while suffering PCS, make sure she takes lot of breaks in between her work or she will tire out.

[hopefulmom]

Smayotte,
I also have a daughter that was on a good path and then the concussion....

Mark in Idaho has some great advise and has written some stickies for newbies.

I, too, drove my daughter around for a long time before she could drive again.

If you could expand on her symptoms, it might be easier for people to help. Also the county/state might also be useful because then people could at least advise on helpful doctors in your area. We live in the Bay Area in California.

My best,