If you can get Greg to read somethings about Concussions, it may help. At the bottom of the first post in the Vitamins sticky at the top are three links. The TBI Survival Guide is great but long. The YouTube video takes about an hour. The Brainline link is the shortest read and may be enough to get him on the right page.

Yes, stress, especially from somebody incessantly talking and pressuring you will trigger a bad headache and mental confusion and for some of us, an outburst of anger or yelling.

You need to have a strong phrase or something that tells Greg, "I am struggling and this needs to stop." so you can say it, even if you are in public.

From my experience, I would not let a realtor from 2 hours away list a property. I'd want somebody with experience with the same condo project who really knows the market.

But, you need time to deal with your father's stuff. That is too much stress to do under pressure. Stay focused on your new job and go slow with your father's place. I know how tough it is to clear out parents' home. My siblings and I have had to do it last year. Lots of stress as memories get replayed. Give yourself time to finish saying good bye.

My best to you as you continue to move forward.

Thanks Mark! I really appreciate your sympathy, support and information. I wasn't able to find the links you wrote about, although I did see some interesting things as I was looking about for them. I also tried looking for the words, like "Brainline" but got tons of hits, none of which seemed to be the one you were referring to.

Laura

Here is the important part of the Vitamins post I mentioned.

There are three valuable resources for you to check out.

The TBI Survival Guide at Traumatic Brain Injury.
Print it out (84 pages)

The YouTube "You Look Great" 6 part series
[1 of 6] "You Look Great!" : Inside a TBI - YouTube

The brain line 'TBI Lost and Found'
Lost & Found: What Brain Injury Survivors Want You to Know

Share these with your family and/or friends. And, try to find a TBI support group to attend with your family. They can be a great source of support and understanding.

Home made Ice pack

My recipe for a flexible/crushable ice pack is simple. One part rubbing alcohol with three parts water in a zip lock baggies. Freeze them, three is good, so you can alternate them and always have a frozen one. Ice frequently for 15 minutes on and 30 minutes off and repeat. If you get any stiffness of head ache, get the ice pack out. The upper neck easily gets inflamed cause symptoms. This should make a difference.

Here is a link to the whole post. http://www.neurotalk.org/1106982-post101.html

Thanks, Mark!
I forwarded that on to Greg, have talked to him some about it, and am looking through it my self. I really appreciate your rounding it up for me.

I had a hard day today. I am back at work, but part time, and am struggling. I want so badly to believe that I am okey dokey and everything is fine. Sometimes I feel (almost) ok, and then things get worse. Today I had to go test a student at a middle school but he wasn't on the main campus. He was in this building that they call "a school within a school", but where was it. "Oh, over near that restaurant - in between that and the post office". I went home last night hoping I could find it on the school map. Nope. So I went in this morning, hoping they could get him over to my office. Nope. I had to find this building and test him over there. "You just go past the stop sign and turn left." Which stop sign? Huh? Finally, the secretary took me outside, we talked down the length of the building, and she showed me where you could see it if you looked carefully between two other buildings.

So I went over there and tested this kid, the first of two tests. That mostly went ok. I usually do the tests back to back and it takes 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Today we just did one of the two tests and it took two hours. When I was through my head hurt all the way from the top of my head, down my neck and back to the shoulder blade and then out to that same side. Now it is 9 hours after that was all done and I have tingling all throughout my neck and a bad headache.

I've been trying to figure out how to do this paperwork and couldn't figure out why or how I didn't know how to do it. Then I remembered that in the setting where I was working, I actually wasn't doing this paperwork for the last 6-1/2 years - the Special Education teacher was doing it. How would I ever remember it? I can't figure out what I should be on top of and what would not be expected of me in any condition I was in. I really really want to look like nothing is wrong with me, but it seems like the more desperately I want that, the more I realize it's just not true. Then I think I am maybe just faking it, even to myself, and then I remember that I have had a headache every day for over three months, after not having a headache for 6-1/2 years.

I am trying to wish myself to an immediate resolution of my PCS and I'm thinking this is not exactly working...

One of the toughest parts of PCS is learning the new ways to do things that we need to do. The old ways we did things, often without even a second thought, are gone, at least for the time being. Making lists and charts for ourselves can be a big help. We can get the work done if we slow down from our previous speed and intensity and use notes, check lists and charts.

It may sound like going back to school because the issues are so elementary and it is. We need to reteach our brains how to do the tasks. We need to stop trying to remember everything and juggle things in our head. That will overload us every time.

It is also important to get control over our environment. No or minimal background sounds and sights. Distractions that used to be tolerated can become headaches and mental crashes/freezes.

Remember that icing your head and neck can help with the tension and headaches. Ibuprofen, acetaminophen or aspirin can be a big help. I buy aspirin and ibuprofen in the Costco quantities.

Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

Thanks, Mark! I have a complicated day tomorrow, and your post made me figure out what I should do... I bought a planner and wrote in it what I am dong tomorrow. So I just looked at it and got the two bags of stuff I need - pool bag and professional kit. They are all packed up already and the bag is in the car and the kit is in front of the door. Better than worrying that I'll forget - use my datebook, get everything ready and put a note on the fridge to pack a snack.

I don't know why it's so hard to remember to use a planner/date book. Well, I guess it's that I had gotten used to using the calendar on my phone, but now I tend to make a lot of mistakes such as entering things on the wrong day...

Adenium,

I missed 10 months of work in 2014.

Last summer 2015 was a year plus after my accident. I was a total rookie at work. I have been doing my self employed job for years and I simply could not make decisions, any changes to schedule which happens everyday in my work where absolutely frightening to me. I had to ask my son and son in law many times if I was doing something correct. My daughter had to drive me around in the afternoons because by then my head hurt badly and any thinking was foggy beyond the one immediate task in front of me.


This summer, 2016, two years post, while still dealing with limits in some areas of life I was much more the capable veteran at work. I felt and mostly thought clear again and was able to deal with the daily changes and disruptions to schedules in a smooth manner. I rarely needed my daughter to drive for me.

As Mark said you will find ways to work around what ails you...be patient, clever and forbid yourself thinking you are failing because you aren't currently the same. You will be surprised at how resilient you can become.

Bud