It's been a while since I've been on here, but I felt compelled to come on here again. I think it's important for everyone to remember that most of the people who recover, do not post very often, or at all on here.

My last brain injury was possibly my third concussion, and hopefully my last. I had the whole gambit, headaches, nausea, insomnia, ringing in my ears, anxiety, sadness, etc. At the nine month stage after my injury, I was down to about half the symptom levels I had been before, but it was still discouraging. Then I was told by my neurologist that at 17, I was going to live with headaches every day for the rest of my life. She also thought she should add that I should maybe get some help with my "emotions", since I started crying in the doctor's office after she told me this.

Then, one day someone else my mother knew, had a son who went to a different specialist, one I'd never heard about before. Since then, I've had major improvements in balance, cognitive skills, little to no headaches ever, less sensitivity to sound and light, etc. All the things that kept me from succeeding were no longer an issue for me. I still get tight muscles in my neck frequently, and when I'm really tired I can forget things more easily.

Anyways, I wanted to post this as sort of a letter to the other people out there who are like me, thinking that there is a time limit on recovery, and that doctors are always right. Despite the statistics about recovery time, never limit yourself like that, and keep trying to get better, regardless of how long you've been living with it. I hope somebody out there can use this story as encouragement, I know I needed a story like this more than once throughout my journey.

All the best

So grateful for your post. I really really needed to hear your words. Best of luck, God bless.

Was he out of school the whole time? If not, how did he manage school homework etc while recovering?

Hi. Have you had a full recovery, and if so how long did it take and what did you do. My son is suffering with almost the exact things you have been through-- 6 minor concussions--then the last one was a doozey. It's been 42 days. Thanks for all of your help.

Hello,
I just wanted to share my son's story quickly to maybe give some hope to someone else going through a similar situation. My son was in a skateboarding accident and hit his head. He was wearing a helmet, which got dented, but he seemed OK at first. He got up slowly and shook of the cobwebs, so to speak, and said he thought he was alright. Then about 20 minutes later he got sick to his stomach and threw up. At that point we took him to the E.R. and had a CT scan done. They said the scan showed no fractures or bleeding and after and hour sent us home. My son had a headache and felt tired but seemed good besides that. The next morning is when our world caved in. When he woke up he had a very bad headache and started to get some memory loss. He couldn't remember who the President was or some family vacations, over the next 24 hrs his memory really shut down. He couldn't remember the name of his school, close friends or even his relatives. He forgot almost all the movies he had ever seen. He couldn't even remember certain foods and would ask if he liked that food before eating it. We took him to three different specialists in our area and each had a different opinion but none could really give us any answers. Maybe five days after the accident while in the bath tub he started saying garbled words and his eyes rolled up in his head and I thought he was going to pass out. My wife called the ER to tell them we were bringing him in but after I helped him out of the tub and gave him some orange juice he seemed to regain his senses and appeared stable again.
Every day was an emotional rollercoaster for us as parents with ups and downs in his condition. My son basically spent the next two months in bed with the lights out and free from all noises. He would get up for a few hours each day and eat and talk but then his head would start hurting and he would have to lay down again. The weird thing was is that he could not remember friends, family, vacations, but could still remember how to do his algebra and other subjects. We were giving him plenty of water and some supplements such as magnesium and fish oil. He had a non-stop headache every day that would vary on intensity depending on how active he was.
Warm baths seemed to relax him and calm his head the most. After two months of this he returned to school under the advice of his doctor but was not allowed to take tests or quizzes. For the first week he had to have a student lead him to his class rooms and and all his friends had to reintroduce themselves to him. It was awful for us as parents to watch, we felt so bad for him. Through it all he kept a positive attitude and wanted to keep attending school and move forward. Often his headaches would get too bad and we'd have to pick him up after an hour or two of school. Well school ended but because his grades were so good prior to the accident and he had taken all the state examines the school allowed him to move on and not repeat 7th grade. My wife and I were having doubts that his memory would ever return fully and that his headaches would ever cease. Well, about the third week of June he woke up one morning and his headache was gone, the first time in almost 5 months. Within maybe two or three days his complete memory came back, I would say maybe better than before. He could remember small details from when he was 4 yrs old. I would say he slept more during the summer months than he had before the concussion, but other than that, he seemed back to his old self. He started 8th grade this past fall and took all GHP classes and has a 3.8 GPA. I know what my son had with the memory loss is rare, but for those who are going through the headaches, nausea, mood swings, and sensitivity to light and noise, I can relate. I also know that all head injuries are different and that each person heals differently but there is hope. We went through this awful ordeal for 5 months thinking it may be years and the he would need tutoring just to get by, but with rest, a good diet and supplements (I believe the fish oil really helped) he recovered 100%. Just stay positive, make sure your child gets plenty of sleep and most heal completely, given time. The brain is an amazing organ. We did a lot of research and talked to many doctors so if anyone would like to email me feel free.
Take Care,
John A.

John,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I am glad to hear your son recovered so well. You, your wife and son MUST accept the fact that your son's brain is still injured and always will be. This means he needs to be very cautious with activities than can cause another concussion. He also may struggle with stress or even have bouts of depression.

Please, keep an eye on him. As he goes through the hormonal changes of the next few years, his brain will be seriously challenged.

My best to you all.

It was the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2010 that I sustained my TBI. Seems a good time to reflect on the reasons to give thanks this holiday season.

There are five weeks for which I have no memory, including Thanksgiving that year (retrograde amnesia) through Christmas/New year’s (post traumatic amnesia). I can celebrate my recovery progress over the following months; periodic assessments from my clinical neuropsychologist:

12/30/2010
“Patient’s speech was fluent, but paraphasic with notable word finding difficulties. He misreported his age as 40. He was unable to follow a 3-step command but was able to follow some 2-step commands. He registered 3 of 3 words, but could not recall any with distraction, or identify any when provided with multiple choice cues. The patient produced some confused speech and numerous paraphasic errors. He reports difficulties with memory and decision making. He does display an aphasic disturbance as well as some confusion and difficulties with attention and memory.”

1/24/2011
“On evaluation, this bright motivated gentleman has many preserved skills; however he does show significant difficulties with visuospatial learning and recall, as well as mental flexibility and multitasking. He displays weaknesses in aspects of executive system functioning (retrieval of learned information, mental flexibility, abstract reasoning, problem solving, and verbal fluency).”

4/26/2011
“On examination, the patient demonstrated intact cognition in all domains assessed including learning and memory, attention, processing speed, language skills and executive functions. He has shown an excellent recovery from his severe injury only five months ago. From a cognitive standpoint there are no concerns with respect to the patient returning to work full time or returning to driving”

I will always remain grateful to all who enabled my recovery and encouraged and empowered me to return to a normal life.

A public thanks to: Scott Petersen MD, trauma surgery; Steve Chang MD, neurosurgery; Michael Sochacki MD, orthopedic surgery; Christine Kwasnica MD and Suzanne Kelley NP, neurorehabilitation. Happy Thanksgiving, I am grateful to you all.

I remain grateful to all family and friends who visited me during and after the hospital stay, and for all your prayers and well wishes.

Most of all, love and gratitude to Karen, my wife and caregiver. You were (and are) a rock of love and support.

I appreciate the encouragement on this page as I am trying to hang in there. My currently trying to deal with my anxiety and depression as I wonder when this will end. Does anyone have any natural remedies that may help? or advice about that kind of medication? I am nervous to mess with it and want to heal naturally, but my emotions have been getting the best of me lately

thank you

Hi kacee. I have had, and often still do have periods of anxiety and depression.

I have seen improvement in these emotional challenges by practicing mindfulness meditation, and also I find yoga practice to be very beneficial.

I don't take any medication or herbal supplements other than vitamins, which include a multi, B complex, D, thiamin. Check the vitamins and supplement link.

Kacee,

Natural therapies for anxiety include acupuncture, massage, supplements, talk therapy, reiki, very light yoga, meditation, etc. There are many more to list!

Talking with a therapist during my TBI helped a lot, it gave me a chance to get out the mucky feelings I had every week as well as any anxious feelings I had. I also felt much better the next morning after the appointment. My brain felt like the weight was lifted a bit.

I also did get massages from time to time on my neck and back to release the inflammation. I was also diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia, so I had physical therapy and massage to deal. In the beginning when it was really bad, I had nerve blocks and muscle relaxer shots for the neck, which relieved some of my pain.

When you have PCS, the small victories always are the best ones.

Hope this helps,

Elisa (Consider)