15 Minutes a Day

Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

In December 2009 I suffered a concussion when I lost consciousness due to a sudden drop in my blood sugar. When I passed out, I fell to the floor in a Super Walmart and had a grand mal seizure. Many people were horrified to hear about the seizure and seemed to blow off the concussion. For me the seizure was not a problem. It happened and then ended. I had suffered grand mal seizures as a child, teenager and young adult but had not had one in more than 15 years. For me, the trauma was the concussion.

A concussion is a bruise on the brain. The medical community calls this type of injury a “mild traumatic brain injury.” The term “mild traumatic” seems oxymoronic to me. We see football players suffer these injuries and return to the game within a few weeks. After my incident, I don’t know how they do it. I was off work for 3.5 weeks and am still (7 months later) suffering from headaches and dizzy spells – this is called Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS). If I concentrate, I can still feel the bruise on my brain and still have a tender spot on the back of my head. My research says it takes 6-12 months to recover from a concussion.

I want to share some of the lessons I have learned from this experience. These are lessons not only for those who suffer a concussion, but also for those who know someone that has suffered a concussion. What I’m about to write is NOT an indictment of anyone in my life. This experience was new for everyone I know and EVERYONE was supportive and sympathetic and I appreciate everything that was done to help me get through this.

Lesson #1: Take everything slowly and get LOTS of rest

When a person suffers a concussion, chances are it’s going to HURT for weeks. PCS comes with tension-type headaches that DO NOT STOP for days. I begged by neurologist for medication to make the pain stop. At first I was given migraine meds and advised to take a herbal supplement called Butterbur. I was taking the migraine medication daily and it helped…some. However, I was going through a “16 day supply” in four days and my insurance would not pay for refills so quickly. My neurologist was also worried when I complained to him because, apparently, taking too much headache medication can CAUSE HEADACHES. (Huh?)

I was given a “headache preventative” medication that was also used to lower high blood pressure. This was a concern as well because my blood pressure tends to run on the low end of normal already. [sigh] The medication I was given was a gift however. Within a week my headaches eased and I was able to function for days at a time without pain.

The lesson here is to take things slowly. Don’t expect to jump back into your life at the same activity level you had prior to the injury. Trying will only prolong your recovery. Take time off. Sleep a lot. Communicate with your physicians. Do your research on PCS. Contact me through this site or on Twitter. I’m not a medical expert, but I will offer any support I can during your recovery.

Lesson #2: Ask for help with common chores

I work full-time, go to school full-time, and have  a husband and two dogs. My big household chores include yard work and taking care of the dogs. After my concussion, doing regular chores like mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, or walking the dogs were exertions that caused headaches that would last for days.

Unfortunately, these are also chores that my husband is not able to do for me. Rather  than ask for help, I just let them slide. The dogs understood (I think). My husband understood. I’d get to the yard work and back to walking the dogs when I felt better. However, we had a LOT of rain in the spring (i.e. LOTS of grass and weed growth). That was followed by some very hot summer days which dried out the tall grass and weeds. Next thing I knew, we were taking our yellow lab to the vet to have a foxtail removed from her nose. [sigh] I buckled down and did battle with the backyard. It’s not the lovely park-like setting I have envisioned, but it’s safer for the dogs now.

Three weeks later I am still doing battle with the headaches that resulted from my battle with the backyard. It’s like the effort drained reserves I was only just beginning to rebuild. I don’t like feeling this way. I can’t wait for this recovery year to be over and done with!!!

Lesson #3: After a concussion, thinking can cause headaches!

Most of what I do for both work and school is cerebral. In hindsight I think I went back to work too quickly. I could have easily taken another month or two off of work too recover and probably would have been better off for it. Keeping up with school was hard enough but because I go to school online, it was manageable. When I threw work on top of it, it was too much and I had to take 1-2 sick days a week because of headaches. My weekends were spent sleeping off headaches too. That’s no way to live.

Conclusion

Don’t be in a rush to get back to work. Give your brain time to heal. Work will continue on without you. I know that may be a bit demoralizing if you’re anxious to get back to work, but they need you back in “fighting form,” not only physically, but mentally too! If you don’t feel that you can give your best most of the time because of headaches or dizzy spells, then you are better off (for you and for your colleagues at work) staying at home and concentrating on healing up.

I know each of these lessons seems related to the others, but they really are different. The brain is the least understood organ in the human body and, as such, there is no quick cure to make it work better faster than Nature will allow.

I’ve been battling my own brain my whole life – I had Epilepsy as a child – and have only managed to fight it to a draw.  It lets me live my life (most of the time) but once in awhile it rears up and reminds me who is boss. When that happens I can only take it easy and recover. That’s the best advice I can give to you. Well…that and contact me if you want someone to commiserate with.

Have you or someone you know suffered a concussion? If yes, what advice would you give to a new concussion sufferer? What worked for you and what set you back? Please share below…

Image Credit: This image was found on Life, Liberty, and the Persuit using Google Images.

Shasta is the Yellow Lab...

In the last month-and-a-half my husband and I have had to deal with one figurative blow after another. It started with my incident on December 9th, continued with 3-4 weeks of a head cold while I was on short-term disability, and has come to another two points in the last week.

First our oldest dog, Shasta (4 years old), became very lethargic and was not her happy, active self.  Thursday we took her in to the veterinarian for the second time and had x-rays taken. They indicated that she had a blockage between her stomach and small intestine. She required surgery. Let me tell you, surgery for a dog is expensive!!! We had to drain our savings account and make a withdrawal from my husband’s 401k to pay that bill and meet some other challenges as well. There was no other way we could cover everything. Thankfully, Shasta is home and doing well now.

On top of this, Mark’s truck has stopped working. We don’t know why it’s not working because there is no check engine light which means the truck won’t give us a code to tell us what’s wrong. Mark is taking it to a mechanic tomorrow and we have some funds set aside to handle that crisis, but we’re not certain yet if it’s going to be enough.

The lesson we will take from this past month is to plan for contingencies quite a bit better. We were lucky to have some funds in reserve, but I think we need to become more serious about saving for both crises and for things like vacations. There are lots of places that Mark and I would like to travel to, but we have no active plan for saving for those trips.

The frustration we are feeling right now would probably be less if we were saving more – a retirement fund (which we both already have) along with a separate contingency fund account (which we sort of have) and another vacation fund account (which we don’t have at all). Now we just have to figure out how to get ALL that set up and how to afford it along with our other obligations. Time for some long-term thinking… Do you have any suggestions?

Image Credit: The “Budget Pie” image was retrieved on January 25, 2010 from Village Park using Google Images.

Growing up I was taught to be independent and self-sufficient. I was also a chronic klutz who was always nursing a skinned knee or elbow, turned ankle, bruises just about anywhere, and the occasional broken bone or set of stitches. This taught me to get back up and keep trying. “Getting back on the horse” was not merely a metaphor in my family.

I have family members who live on farms and I loved to ride horses whenever I could. This means I occasionally got bucked or fell of the horse… literally. On top of everything, I also had a seizure disorder and never knew when grand mal seizures would strike. In spite of all this – in fact largely because of it – I was never fragile. Today my husband calls me a “force of nature” and has rarely seen anything able to sideline me. I don’t like being dependent on anyone and I don’t like not being able to trust that my body will act the way it’s supposed to!

I don’t normally use this space to bitch and whine, but today is going to be an exception…

I have seen two physicians (neurologist and an endocrinologist) and a physician assistant in my PCP’s office twice since December 9th. I now have to monitor my blood sugar level, take anti-seizure medication (which I haven’t had to do in 15 years), and get nutritional counseling. All of this has happened because I had gastric bypass surgery two years ago. Ever since that surgery my blood sugar goes wonky from time to time. When it went wonky on December 9th I passed out, concussed myself, and had a grand mal seizure.

Since my incident on December 9th I’m not allowed to drive (understandable and right, but still irritating!). I get brain splitting, exhausting headaches that are nearly as bad as migraines. I have dizzy spells almost daily that range from minor spinnies to nearly knocking me over and everything in between. The meds they gave me for the dizzy spells (Miclizine) works very well except for the fact that I turn into a total space cadet, cannot focus more than five minutes ahead, and just want to go to sleep. I decided today that I will NOT continue to use the Miclizine Rx. I’d rather have the dizzy spells!!!

I guess I’m just feeling frustrated today. I had the gastric bypass surgery to avoid the pitfalls of obesity. Namely Diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and the side-affects of those healthcare issues. Instead, I have to deal with their exact opposites! Low blood sugar (opposed to high with Diabetes), lower blood pressure (it used to be 120/80 pretty regularly & was considered normal – now it averages 100/60 & is considered a bit on the low side). Also, instead of high cholesterol I’m having issues with nutritional deficiencies.

I did TONS of research prior to having my surgery. Heck, I did TONS of research before I’d ever even contacted my surgeon. The process to get a surgery date required that I went through medical testing, psychological evaluation, and that I lose 30lbs to show my commitment. I knew there were possible side effects and issues, but nobody – not my support group, surgeon, or any of my research – said anything about re-exciting my seizure disorder which I thought I had “grown out of” as my neurologists always predicted I would.

Nobody ever said that low blood sugar could be a problem. The worst side effects I heard about were vomiting and diarrhea and becoming a picky eater. I didn’t have those issues. I still don’t. The worst I’ve experienced before now was a bad reaction to spaghetti – which I love. However, I don’t love it enough to want to try eating it and feeling like I have to throw it up, so I avoid it.

Would I do the surgery again? I don’t know at this point. Yes, I like being thinner and feeling like I can climb mountains (which I’ve done since surgery). However, I’m feeling a bit low right now and having rare second thoughts. I trust (most of) my physicians and will work with them to overcome this. My surgeon and I are going to have a serious discussion about the warnings he gives patients in the future. I would just warn anyone considering weight loss surgery (WLS) to know all of the possible side effects and be sure you are willing to deal with them. WLS isn’t a magic bullet. I knew this going in and I still know this. Has it made my life better? Yes! Has it caused unforeseen side effects? Yes! Was it worth what I went through to have it and recover from it? Today, I’m not sure. Tomorrow I might have a different opinion.

Your thoughts or advice?

Image Credits:

Angel image was retrieved on January 12, 2010 from Soda Head using Google Images.

Stress Reduction Kit was retrieved on January 12, 2010 from A Round World Through Square Glasses: Pessimistic Views From An Optimistic Person using Google Images.

Today started out tough and stayed that way. I woke up feeling dizzy and continued having frequent dizzy spells throughout the morning. By 10:00 a.m. I was starting to worry that something was wrong so I called and made an appointment with a Physician’s Assistant in my PCP’s office.

My PA wasn’t certain that the dizziness was caused as an after effect of the concussion, but she couldn’t rule it out either. The brain is a tricky organ that is not always easily decipherable. To deal with the dizzy spells she prescribed meclizine. We’ll see how it works.

On the bright side, my cold seems to be clearing up. My husband’s cold seems to be on the mend as well. I’m trying to look on the bright side of things. It can be hard some days, but I keep trying. Mark is wonderful and makes sure I’m not overdoing it. I’ve also been getting lots of calls from friends and family who are checking up on me. I’m going to get to spend some time with family over the 24th-26th. That will be fun. I haven’t seen some of my family in more than a year.

Image Credit: This photo was retrieved on December 22, 2009 from the Health section of Mail Online using Google Images.

The after-effects of my “accident” 1.5 weeks ago (I’m not sure what else to call it) are starting to ease. I have a bruise that’s about 2″ in diameter on the back of my head, but it’s no longer a lump. It still hurts, but it’s starting to itch which means it’s healing. My energy levels are also starting to rise. I went for a walk yesterday and a longer walk today. I needed a nap after each walk, but they’re getting shorter and less frequent as well.

The dizzy spells are what I find the most disconcerting. They happen rather suddenly and last for varying lengths of time – from a few seconds to nearly a minute – and have varying levels of severity. My neurologist says it may take anywhere from six weeks to a year before I start feeling completely normal again. I’m determined that it take less time rather than more!

More good news! My cold is starting to ease up as well. Bad news… Mark has gotten my cold. I’m hoping that because he’s been obsessive about taking Vitamin C forever, he won’t get hit as hard by this cold as I was.  Sorry Honey!

Image Credit: The image used in this post was retrieved on December 20, 2009 from http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/JapanProj/FLClipart/Medical.html using Google Images.