How'd that happen???

I was unsure what to talk about today. Let's put it this way. I had a complete meltdown that I lost the entire blog. It was gone. My wonderful husband to the rescue and fixed it all up after my panic attack (a frequent symptom of Post Concussion).

I am still trying to figure out what to write about first. I really want to get the message about Post Concussion out there. Some information is coming to light with rules for High School students showing signs of concussion. There are two prominent NHL (Hockey) players who are currently dealing with the syndrome. One has even tried the hyper-baric chamber and was not successful. And last football season, many players were getting concussions. Which my mom didn't understand cause they would come back and play a week later and I was still dealing months later. "Mom they had helmets on and I did not!" Plus I hit my head right on the soft spot. Ouch! Then she kinda understood, she still really doesn't get it.

When I went to PennMedicine the told me that it is coming to light in the medical society that it does not take a major blow to the head for a person to receive a mild concussion and continue to suffer from Post Concussion for years. Well here we are over a later and although things improved here and there, I am still not right. Here are some symptoms of Post Concussion Syndrome:

• Headaches
• Light Sensitive/Noise Sensitive
• Dizzinesss
• Numbness
• Decreased Coordination or Balance
• Confusion
• Slurred Speech
• Fatigue/Sleepiness
• Mood changes/Irritability
• Shorter Attention Span
• Memory Loss

Do I have all of these symptoms? Yes at different times though. I try to stay in my house where I know my triggers and try to keep them minimal. That occasional outing to a store or a walk at the mall or anything out of my normal routine usually turn ugly and may refine me to my cave for a day or more. There is no schedule of when they are going to show up. Just happens.

The above picture is exactly how I felt when I mashed my head on the solid wood door. I literally saw stars. Everything went blank for a second and then I tried to reason with myself that it just didn't happen. Don't scream and wake up my son. Go downstairs and fold the laundry. And so I did and started to cry and then my husband came downstairs and asked what was wrong and I told him and he says "I heard it" and he was 2 rooms away. So we iced it up and got some kind of pain med and went to bed.

Got up for work the next day really tired. Drove in, ate my breakfast and felt horrible. I decided to take a half day off and go home and rest and that will fix everything. A woman that I work with had years of knowledge from work with neuro docs. She told me I was squinting and walking funny and I finally told her I hit my head and I am going to go home and rest. So she comes back to my desk and does the follow my finger from left to right and up and down. Well I didn't make it through. So she went and got my boss and they insisted I go to the ER for a CAT scan. When the ER nurse said I had a mild concussion and sent me on my way with no restrictions, I though "OK back to work tomorrow!" Cool! About 3 weeks later I am in an MRI and getting some weird meds.

There are days when I am like, wow I feel kinda good and maybe I am on my out of this thing. Then I walk down a hallway or shut off a light too fast and it all comes back. Crazy. People do not get it. I look fine, talk fine sometimes, there is no visible sign of my condition. Other people I have met through Facebook call it the Invisible Handicap. I actually had some tell me I intentionally did this to myself so I would not have to work. WOW. If only they knew.

Well signing off for tonight, getting tired and losing attention span, have to keep going back and reading over and over.