returning from a traumatic brain injury

[Koronin]

Take care of yourself and get well. Glad you're well enough to post.

[shootingstar]

Funny I and my two riding buddies all had traumatic brain injuries. Mine was the least of the 3 (we all had car v. bike accidents). My one friend is now on life long anti-seizure medication. My other has some physical limitations. All 3of us have the same quirky, weird injury in that when we type, words get messed up. Not typos, just weird word order for instance I might type for "I need to stop by the store and pick up milk" "I guy need to want by the store and see up milk". The words are all spelled correctly but make no sense in terms of context. I don't speak that way; I just type that way.

I have to re-read emails and letters a number of times to catch all the weird mistakes. It's tough because words aren't spelled wrong so spell checker doesn't help. Grammar checker will catch it sometimes.

When we send emails back and forth, and the weird words are there, we understand and figure out what the other was trying to say but sometimes my emails come back with the note "please interpret Pamspeak"...

A head injury is scary. It helps to go through cognitive redevelopment and do mind games and puzzles. And with time, things get better although this little quirk for me is permanent. It is actually getting worse as I get older. That's frightening!

Sounds scary. Hope no other crash happens again.

[Pip]

I didn't have a crash - I had brain surgery (an endoscopic third ventriculostomy if you want to Google it), but I ended up with some kind of brain injury as a result. The doctors never managed to work out why, but I developed both horizontal and vertical diplopia (double vision), and vestibular problems. I started running again after about four monhts, even though I was still having post-surgery problems. After six months I tried a couple of spin classes. After that I went out with a friend for a short bike ride, and a couple of months after that I felt confident enough to start pack riding again. Today I still have the vision issues - treated with prisms, and I still have a sensation of being rocked, but I live a pretty much completely normal life. I do still get tired more easily and being tired makes my symptoms worse. I work full time and I run, cycle, etc.

Of course it depends on the injury, but my surgeons told me the most recovery comes in the first six months, and it was around the six month point that I started feeling more normal. They also said it can take up to two years to improve as much as you're going to.

If I have any advice it's to be your own advocate. Know your body, find out as much as you can about your injury and don't be afraid to seek the help you need!

[smilingcat]

not remembering your accident is fairly common. Not remembering any thing of the day even things prior to the accident is normal too.

One thing I hated was not being able to go to sleep after some of my milder concussions. Doctors wanted to "talk" to you every hour or two... Make sure you didn't slur and your cognitive skills were intact... Make sure you weren't becoming agitated nor combatitive.

Unfortunately, too many of us have had major concussion or two. So you are not alone. Lots of good anecdotal comments of what happened afterward. Recovery back to normalcy, tiring easy for few month to a year, symptoms gets worse when tired etc. are all normal course of recovery. Be patient and love yourself.

The important thing is you survived, able to write about it, and your way to recovery. Worry about the bike later.

I wish you speedy and complete recovery. Yes I too have suffered several major crashes with concussion and broken clavicle (collar bone both sides).

Take it easy rest and sleep.

Sweet dreams,

Smilingcat

[lo123]

Only one nurse had any personal experience recovering from a severe head injury. I'm looking for stories from other cyclists regarding how long it took them before they were back on the bike.

I'm so sorry to hear about your wreck.

I wrecked on October 12, 2010 on an evening group ride. The last thing I remember was seeing a set of fountains at a particular park. Everything is pretty hazy for the next 7 days--I only remember flashes. Anyway, I fractured my skull (and got a lovely laceration, now scar, on my right temple) and had a subarachnoid hemhorrage (bleed on the brain). I spent 3 days in the ICU in an induced coma.

After effects: The first week home I was just a bum. I had massive headaches and vertigo. I was drugged up on pain pills and slept most of the time. I went back to work part time after 2.5 weeks. It took me 1 month before I could drive. It was probably mid-December before the daily headaches reduced to a few a week. I had some concentration and memory issues, but nothing severe.

I've been in a research study for TBI at the local research hospital. They've said that for the severity of the crash and damage that I'm very lucky how quickly I've recovered. I'll chalk it up to being a hardheaded *****.

I went for my first ride on New Years Day. It was only a short loop around the high school campus by my house, but it gave me the confidence that I could do it. (I did spend a good amount of time on the trainer before then).

Since then, I've done 8 rides of increasing length/intensity. One of which my hubby organized as a welcome back group ride with all my friends (many of whom were present at my wreck). The cycling community has been great. Many folks were there in the hospital checking in on my husband and me, and coming to check on me after I got home.

It's been a long road, but I do feel like I'm finally recovered. I have sworn off night rides. I don't remember the wreck, but I know that railroad tracks were involved. I don't see all that well at night anyway, and it's just not worth the risk anymore. I'm replacing my winter night rides with spin class and running.

I hope you recover well. Just be patient with yourself.

[loopybunny]

I'm trying to be more independent because my mom is leaving tomorrow so I tried making myself nachos for a snack. I couldn't remember how to open the bag of chips. Then I got dizzy and disoriented and spilled cheese on the floor.

I'm also quite sick of having a constant headache and being sensitive to sounds. I'm hopeful this will go away soon.

My main concern right now is that my vision in the left eye is not what it used to be. I'll talk to my doctor tomorrow.

[marni]

I was sick dizzy and cruising on pain meds because of broken ribs for about six weeks, then I weaned off the pain meds because the ribs were starting to heal up. Dizziness had reduced down to just if I stood up suddenly or when I lay down in bed at night. I started in with easy stationary and recumbent biking at 8 weeks and eased into cardio rate and some intensity over the next three weeks. Took my first road bike ride at 12 weeks, with someone riding along with me just in case. Did a short and very easy 25. The dizziness at night continued for another couple of weeks and gradually eased off and was totally gone by about 4 1/2 months. Only thing I really notice now is that I seem to have lost a bit more short term memory, so write copious steps by step lists to compensate, but then I am also going through the menopause process yet again because of breast cancer chemo therapy issues, and menopause the first time did a real trip on my brain. I am resigned to being ditzy and totally absent minded and not dizzy. I should also point out that the whole episode was probably more severe because it was the second head hit/helmet/ accident in two months.

[shootingstar]

I really hope loopy that you get better.

Same for you marni

[redrhodie]

I'm trying to be more independent because my mom is leaving tomorrow so I tried making myself nachos for a snack. I couldn't remember how to open the bag of chips. Then I got dizzy and disoriented and spilled cheese on the floor.

I'm also quite sick of having a constant headache and being sensitive to sounds. I'm hopeful this will go away soon.

My main concern right now is that my vision in the left eye is not what it used to be. I'll talk to my doctor tomorrow.

Do you have anyone else to help? Or, can you go home with your mom to recover with her care a little longer? It sounds like you still could use some help. I know you want to get back to normal as soon as possible, but maybe that will happen faster if you get more rest.

[lo123]

My main concern right now is that my vision in the left eye is not what it used to be. I'll talk to my doctor tomorrow.

I forgot to mention that I ended up needing to get new glasses. I was advised my the neurosurgeon to wait a few months to let it stabilize. They also said it was likely that I had some nerve issues because of where I hit being so close to the optic nerve.

Turned out that I lost the ability to compensate for my astigmatism.

Hang in there.

[loopybunny]

Do you have anyone else to help? Or, can you go home with your mom to recover with her care a little longer? It sounds like you still could use some help. I know you want to get back to normal as soon as possible, but maybe that will happen faster if you get more rest.

I have some coworkers that are willing to come over if needed.

Had my staples removed today. What an ordeal. First of all, I had to wait for an hour and 15 minutes before they called me in. The first woman didn't know what to do then brought in an RN. They both left to get the doctor. By the time he walked in, it was 10 min before I was supposed to have a phone appointment with him.

He did some quick vision tests and determined that I need to be referred to a neurologist. Apparently when one suffers a severe concussion with a brain hemorrhage, this doesn't warrant an automatic referral to one. Although, they had no problem spending the money to transfer me from San Francisco to Modesto by ambulance. My doctor seems to be completely unaware of the extent of my injuries. The nurse even said that she could find no record of me having any sort of sutures or why. Nice.

[loopybunny]

I forgot to mention that I ended up needing to get new glasses. I was advised my the neurosurgeon to wait a few months to let it stabilize. They also said it was likely that I had some nerve issues because of where I hit being so close to the optic nerve.

Turned out that I lost the ability to compensate for my astigmatism.

Hang in there.

That's good to know. My Oakley glasses were undamaged, but I had Rx Transitions lenses in them that disappeared. Obviously I need new ones. I'm not due for a new pair until July though.

[lo123]

Because glasses are so expensive, maybe you could use an online service like http://www.zennioptical.com/ ?

I haven't tried them myself, but I'm going to order some RX sunglasses from them. I have a hard time wearing the astigmatism contact lenses, and I need my sun protection! anyway, I've read good things about that particular site. Even if you still have to pay for the exam out of pocket, at least the glasses won't set you back quite so much.

[Crankin]

You haven't seen a neurologist ?
Get yourself there pronto.

[crazycanuck]

Just a story for you & I understand she was released from hospital today.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hall...ad-to-recovery