Overcoming TBI Symptoms: My Fight To Heal

I’ve had concussions before, I assumed this would be like the others. A week or two of mild headaches and then on with my life. I was wrong. Twenty-four hours after my fall, the headaches began to intensify until my brain felt ready to burst through my skull!

I asked my husband to take me to the ER. I was diagnosed with a severe concussion and told to go home and follow normal concussion protocol.

According to the @MayoClinic., this usually means to rest your brain and don’t exert yourself physically, don’t engage in activities that worsen symptoms like video games or watching TV, increase activity gradually over the next few days.

Over the next three weeks I slowly sauntered around my house for upwards of eighteen hours a day. I was extremely photosensitive and unsteady on my feet. If I lay down the pain would increase to an excruciating level.

"There is no denying that living with a traumatic brain injury brings many challenges - especially ones that can’t be seen.

I truly felt my life was over."

Worsening Symptoms Created Havoc

Five weeks after my fall things took a turn for the worse. The whiplash I sustained began causing severe migraines that would strike with the force of a lightning bolt ripping across my skull. The attacks would last for three to four days and  I wouldn't sleep for upwards of seventy-two hours. My neck seized up to the point where the soft tissue could be confused with bone. My eyes locked in a downwards position, so I could no longer look at anything other than the floor in front of me.

I had developed severe depression and crippling anxiety. I no longer left the house unless medically necessary, and I had virtually no contact with anyone outside of my immediate family. Brain injuries are all very different. There is no denying that living with a traumatic brain injury brings many challenges - especially ones that can’t be seen. I truly felt my life was over.

All of this would eventually culminate in another trip to the ER. There I was given medication to halt my anxiety attacks. Eventually, I was diagnosed with occipital neuralgia, post-concussion syndrome, and post-trauma vision syndrome.

"Suddenly, I felt hope for the first time ...

that one day I might get my life back."

The Path To TBI Recovery Isn't A Straight Line

Neurological and vision physical therapy was both a blessing and a curse. I had started on my long road to recovery, but the migraines and nerve pain continued to persist the harder we worked. I started to have bouts of vertigo in the night. I would move my head in my sleep and jolt awake as the room spun around me.

Four months after my injury, I was able to be seen at the University of Pittsburg Concussion Clinic, where I was prescribed medication that would end up being pivotal to my recovery. I was told that it would take a few weeks to see a noticeable improvement, and that things might get worse before they got better.

And they did get worse. The first eight days on medication were some of the darkest of my life. I remember very little, other than reaching levels of physical pain I had never before experienced.

Finally Finding Hope

Then, on day eleven, something happened that I will never forget. I was feeling well enough to take myself for a short walk in the woods. It was a beautiful summer day, the first one I had been able to experience that year.

Suddenly, I felt hope for the first time since my fall. Hope that one day I might get my life back. There in the woods, I sobbed openly.

In total, I spent 11 months in physical therapy. Two-and-a-half years later, I continue to do my exercises daily. Cognitively, I have made a full recovery. My vision is what it was before I fell.

I would love to say that I am fully healed, but my occipital neuralgia remains. Although I did not have any structural damage in my neck I have extensive soft tissue injuries.

When I overexert myself, I deal with nerve flareups on the left side of my neck, ear and skull. These flareups have become less regular so I have hope that maybe one day they will be no more.

Looking Forward to Life Again

I have come to terms with the reality of my pain and I choose not to let it dictate my life. Last summer I gave birth to my first child, a boy we named Reid! He is the light of my life, and a blessing we were not sure would come.

I know I am one of the lucky ones; brain injuries are particularly devastating. For those who survive, they will have a recovery that is completely their own.

I heard about Unmask the Invisible in my local media. I approached the board since I wanted to get involved and help shed light on the recovery process. There are no easy answers, no quick fixes. Time does not equate to freedom from challenges.

"A brain injury is already an isolating experience ...

the path forward should not be."

Recovery from a TBI is a trial and error process of finding something that hopefully works for you. There is so much we do not know about brain injuries and recovery, but if there is one thing I have learned it is the importance of having strong advocates in your corner.

For me, that was my husband and parents. They pushed me to see the best specialists and sat with me through every appointment. Without them I would not be where I am today.

I recently became a Board Advisory for Unmask the Invisible. Our mission is to help TBI survivors as they navigate their recovery. A brain injury is already an isolating experience; we believe the path forward should not be.

If you are a brain injury survivor and would like to share your story, please reach out to us. We want to hear from you!