[Windcity]

My 22 year old son hit the gym floor beginning of April while playing recreational volleyball. He saw stars, was dizzy and lightheaded, but this went away shortly after. He then was symptom free for 3 days. Then he got a headache, but we contributed that to stress from university, When the headaches did not go away after a week, he saw a physician. He was told he had a concussion and was advised to try to get out of writing the finals. If this was not possible, be sure to take lots of breaks between studying. He need to write the exams...he took a few days off from studying and then started studying for his finals. May 1 he flew out for his summer job. By the end of May his symptoms had gotten worse and he ended up in emergency. They told him to take 2 weeks off and then go back to modified work. He did, but after having gone back for several days and unable to perform his duties, he quit due to his concussion symptoms. He flew back home at the end of June. At that time he had multiple symptoms, but was still able to have a conversation, go for a short walk a few times a day and play simple card games. A few weeks later he started physio for his jaw and neck, apparently he got whiplash when he hit the floor. He saw a neurologist who told him that it would just take time. By mid-August my son was worse. He was severely nauseous, dizzy, eyes not focusing, insomnia, intense nightmares, stress, anxiety, difficulty thinking and remembering things, overall feeling of despair, etc. The drive to and from physio was getting harder on him, even though I tried to avoid all potholes, etc. At this time he saw he saw a different physio therapist to have his vestibular system checked out. The crystals in his ear seemed to be still in place.
Since Sept 20, my son has been doing nothing. We stopped physio since the drive was so hard on him and his symptoms seemed to only be getting worse. Now he basically is in a dark room all day in a quiet house with only a 5min walk and a few 10-15min conversations.
There is so much controversial info out there. We are unsure as to start visual therapy and push through or to continue rest. My son is afraid that he may have permanent symptoms if he does anything and yet doing nothing has only decreased his symptoms very slightly. It has now been 6 1/2 months since the accident and there seems to be no end in sight. He was told he will be out of school for a year, which is a concern in itself...how much will he have forgotten of his studies by then and will he have permanent cognitive difficulty.
I am hoping that someone has gone through something similar, not completely resting until 5 months after getting the concussion and come out of it completely healthy. I hope to find some guidance as to how to proceed and as to what time frame we may be looking at. Also, how did the parents and siblings cope.

[Jomar]

Have you tried upper cervical chiropractic treatment?
Hitting the way he did it very well could have misaligned his c1 c2 vertebra.
more info
www.upcspine.com
Sign / Symptom Checklist
http://www.upcspine.com/self.htm

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...78597519,d.cGU

various videos about it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N5lU1oJF6Y

[Mark in Idaho]

Windcity,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

I agree with Jo*Mar. Your son needs his upper neck checked out by a specialist. A physio is usually going to be too aggressive, especially with a focus on Range of Motion. NUCCA.org, atlasorthogonal.com are good places to check. In the mean time, he needs to be very disciplined with his head and neck posture, especially when resting or sleeping. He needs to keep a straight neck posture. When resting or asleep, he can be causing stress to the joints and that results in inflammation that makes his symptoms worse.

When riding in the car, he needs to sit with his shoulder blades off the seat back. This lessens the impact forces to his head and neck. A slightly hunched shoulder posture will make it much easier to absorb the bumps. I lived with this problem for close to a decade. My upper neck healed very slowly.

btw, It will help if you put a double paragraph space every 5 lines or so. many of us struggle to follow from line to line and long paragraphs make it really tough. I struggled but was able to read through your post once. Tried to reread it before posting but my brain was already visually fatigued.

My best to you both.

[willgardner]

There is hope. Your son very well could recover 100%. This is a battle within. You have to be strong and optimistic. When your son comes out of it, he would have grown, matured, and learned important life lessons that he would not have otherwise gained from his studies. When life hands us a lemon, we make the best lemonade this world has ever tasted.

[Windcity]

Thank you for this, Jo*mar. I have read some of your links and you may be on to something here. I will definitely look into this further.

[packersrule]

I would say that most of us have a story close to what your son has. I feel that I got better medical advice then your son but I end up in the same condition. The doctors can help some with meds but his brain needs time to heal.

I ended up going to Mayo Clinic brain rehabilitation unit as an out patent. This help create a plan for my road to recovery. I am making progress but it slow and very hard each day.

I think you need to understand that it's might take a year to recover. His current path has delayed his recovery greatly. I would recommend, if you can afford that cost, that you find a medical center that deals with this.

Your son needs a plan and seeing individual doctors will not create that plan. I know each day I speed at least a few minutes thinking why am I not better. I then move on because I have a road-map.

I think this is the most I have written since the car accident. Good luck - I am sorry about your son. He really needs you right now.

[poetrymom]

Hi there

Your son is now in a club he never wanted to join, PCS, but there is hope. I do take exception to the idea that his current path has greatly delayed healing. Healing can still happen and since even the dox don't know just how to heal, put no sad feeling into the past. Just go forward with the future.

How great your son has you to help him. We all need a network. My hubby is huge help for me, and I am really better from all that I had.

My point is this. Don't horrify yourself too much with all of this. No 2 healings are the same. You son will just have to learn what he can and can't handle and take it really easy and brain rest. I hope he gets the care he needs.

All for now

poetrymom

[Mark in Idaho]

Windcity,

As much as packersrule was successful getting a good plan at Mayo, his experience is rare. Not many neuro rehab facilities know how to care for concussions. They may be able to offer speech, physical and occupational therapy but the therapists often are more able to help more serious injuries get to a recovery level that is similar to where concussed patients start.

Hopefully, you can find help that works. If you local neuro rehab can help, good for you. Just don't go broke expecting miracles. Take it slow.

[Windcity]

Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

Windcity,

As much as packersrule was successful getting a good plan at Mayo, his experience is rare. Not many neuro rehab facilities know how to care for concussions. They may be able to offer speech, physical and occupational therapy but the therapists often are more able to help more serious injuries get to a recovery level that is similar to where concussed patients start.

Hopefully, you can find help that works. If you local neuro rehab can help, good for you. Just don't go broke expecting miracles. Take it slow.

Hi everyone,

Sorry it has been so long to reply to any posts. It has been quite the rollercoaster ride. I am happy to be able to tell you that my son is doing much better.

He has started vestibular therapy again in July. He has seen a psychologist regularly since March, who has had extensive training in concussion and anxiety. This has helped tremendously. We have learned how much of an impact the nervous system has on the recovery; that the body has gone into fight or flight mode and it is not mind over matter.

My son had to take time each day for specific relaxation exercises, folding a few facecloths, then taking a break, going outside for 30sec, having a visit for 5min,etc. Babysteps. He kept a chart to see improvement. After supper it was basically downtime and talking with me about the ups and downs. Time for encouragement to keep plugging away.

Falling asleep still takes a long time, but he has been able to cope with that much better with the help of his psychologist.

We bought him a voice recorder for relaxation exercises. We recorded quite a few different once without background music. Huge help.

He has good days and days that are dark. We are very hopeful that he can go back to university in Januari, starting with one class. Noise and all the movements around him is still a big factor to work on before then. He has also recently started to drive again for 10 min or so.

I am surprised at how long the recovery is taking. When things looked very bleak 6 months in I tried my best to encourage my son and to not tell him how long it might take. I tried to tell him only positive recovery stories so he would keep on pushing forward.

18 months is a long time, but the light at he end of the tunnel keeps getting brighter.

[Bud]

Wind city,

What a great mom and you are so important to his recovery. From an injured persons standpoint you will never know how much your support has helped him.

I am 18 months in and still have things to get better too, I never expected this when I was hit.

Keep up the good work...all of you.

Bud