Concussion is another word for traumatic brain injury. They are used interchangeably when the injury is mild and are more common than we realize. Many contact sports, biking, skate boarding, skiing, falls, running, etc..., can cause head injuries. Sometimes they go undetected because we think our headache is no big deal and we say to ourselves that we will “just work through it.” Often the residual effects last our lifetime if one does not access the proper resources and follow certain guidelines to return back to a normal state of health.
My nephew was an aerial skier at a prestigious ski resort, he was sixteen years old and an excellent skier. On one Christmas Eve afternoon a few years ago, he took a jump and over-shot it and he knew he had made a mistake. Because of his excellent physical ability and quick thinking, he managed to twist himself around in the air as to not land directly on his head, he landed on his side and his head hit the ground. At first, he could not feel his legs, but by the time the medic ski team arrived, he could move his toes. He was transported to a local children’s trauma center in and out of consciousness.
After one day at the hospital, my nephew was released home to his parents. His parents were clueless as to how to take care of him and his recovery was not a good one. He rested during the Christmas break and then was expected to return to school in the New Year. He was allowed to drive a car, watch TV, do his homework and still continue sports. I am not sure if they did not get any instructions from the hospital at discharge, or they just did not want to be bothered. I lean towards the ladder decision.
He had vision problems, severe headaches and no memory of the first six months after the injury; and to think that he was driving, how frightening! He started to take Ibuprofen and Tylenol in extreme doses, then he began looking for other drugs that would relieve the headaches and “make him feel normal” as he described. His straight A grade-point average was slipping fast and his fun-loving personality had changed. He worked at a local grocery store and someone there told him he knew just what to take for his headaches. Percocet! My nephew was hooked. When he no longer could get the Percocet, he began experimenting with other drugs such as Kratom which he ended up taking in huge quantities. This was very expensive and trying to keep that habit going meant finding a way to get more money to buy it.
He continued to play football as the quarterback, which his mother supported him in, and he had several more concussions. When one doctor would not allow him to play anymore, his mother would take him to a new doctor and get the necessary note to say he could still play football. At the end of his junior year in high school, after multiple head injuries, his father finally stepped in and told him he could no longer play football. My nephew was sad and hurt; not only because of not being able to play football, but the unresolved head injuries, associated headaches and inability to focus and maintain a “normal” day made him very angry. He was not the same nephew I knew, in fact, I seldom saw in him the same loving, kind boy that he used to be, he had definitely changed and no one seemed to be doing anything for him.
At age seventeen his father changed the locks on the door to their home and my nephew found himself alone and abandoned. He slept the first night on the lawn of the school grounds and the following day he contacted me for assistance as to what to do. That call has led to six years of a roller coaster ride, one I do not want to relive ever again, but I now understand head injuries and why people do what they do after getting one.
Denial is a big part of this process and eventually, you have to come to terms with your limitations and start down a healthy pathway.
