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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS)-My Story

I wasn't sure if I wanted to write this post or not, but I figure that there are people out there that are dealing with this same condition and would like to know how other people is dealing or has dealt with it.
Let's start from the beginning, I think I may have mention in a previous post but I was on a car accident on Memorial Day (5/26), we were driving in the highway and traffic started to slow down and the car behind us didn't pay attention and rear ended us.  I was the passenger, my husband was driving and I had my son and dad in the back seat.  We had gone fishing for the day, it was our first fishing trip and we were pretty happy, however we left pretty early as it was raining.
During the impact I lost consciousness for I don't know when and to tell you the truth it still bothers me a lot that I can't remember much of it.  When I woke up I checked on everybody else in the car, they were all fine thank God.  I started to panic and started crying, my eye was hurting me, my left calf was hurting me too.  Someone called 911 and when the ambulance came they took me to the nearest ER.  Once there they did a CT Scan and some X-rays, they did glue stitches right under my eyebrow on my left eye.  I did complain of nausea, headache and sensitivity to the light, I thought it was a migraine headache as it feel pretty much the same.
When I got home my eye was closing shut, I couldn't eat, my headache was just crazy painful.  I didn't sleep well that night and ever since.  I had to go to a nearest clinic 2 days after as my stitches were infected, was started on antibiotics for 1 week.  My headaches got worse and worse as the days went by, 9 days after the accident I saw my PCP and she diagnosed me with a concussion I had all the symptoms in the book but the vomiting.  She started me on some medications, but after 3 days the headaches just got worse so I went back to see her, I was put out of work and was started on a specific concussion headache medication prescribed my a neurologist, which I saw a week later and was diagnosed a PCS (Post Concussion Syndrome).  I have been out of work for about 8 weeks now, not only that I also couldn't drive or use any electronics at all.
I just saw my neurologist this week and given the ok to drive and work for a couple hours a day as tolerated, I was also told to start cutting my medication which I just started this morning and it's not really working to tell you the truth, will see how I do it for a couple more days.  I have started to use my phone, iPad and my computer for a couple hours a day and I do need to take a lot of breaks but I am hoping it will get better as the days go by.
Are you wondering what PCS is, below is the medical explanation:

Post-concussion syndrome, also known as postconcussive syndrome or PCS, is a set of symptoms that may continue for weeks, months, or occasionally a year or more after a concussion – a mild form of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The rates of PCS vary, but most studies report that about 15% of individuals with a history of a single mild TBI develop persistent symptoms associated with the injury. A diagnosis may be made when symptoms resulting from concussion last for more than three months after the injury. Loss of consciousness is not required for a diagnosis of concussion or post-concussion syndrome.
The condition is associated with a wide range of symptoms: physical, such as headache; cognitive, such as difficulty concentrating; and emotional and behavioral, such as irritability. Many of the symptoms associated with PCS are common or may be exacerbated by other disorders, so there is considerable risk of misdiagnosis. Headaches that occur after a concussion may feel like Migraine headaches or tension-type headaches. Most headaches are tension-type headaches, which may be associated with a neck injury that occurred at the same time of the head injury.

It hasn't been easy, some days I feel pretty good, other days I am moody, depressed and in pain and those are not easy days.  But I was told that eventually I am going to be 100%, I am looking forward to that day that's for sure.

Now that I am allowed to use electronics I am ready to dive into my blog 100% and one thing that I have promised myself is to blog everyday in August.  I have so many posts on the way already, it will cover anything from beauty, fashion to books. 

Stay tune because August 1st is TOMORROW...happy girl right here.

XOXO,
Nelia

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