Good Day Cut Short By Accident, Concussion

[Lulu]

Hey folks-

I had such a GREAT day yesterday--I was so happy to be feeling pretty A-OK (for me)& to be out with my husband & our wonderful dog, visiting his fun daughter (a 2 hr drive I managed perfectly--woo hoo!) and WALKING at our favorite park on the Maumee River in NW OH, near where we all used to live. it was gorgeous weather and we saw deer, heron, friendly people and our dog swam in the river. It was a riot!!!!

UNTIL, on our way to an open field to play frisbee (easy game for me to play with the dog, i throw, he brings back ) we encountered some boys playing softball. one of them missed his catch, and our dog got it! it was really cute, cuz the dog loves kids and playing ball. we got the ball back to the kids and turned around, resuming the walk to our destination....Hoodoo's (yep, that's our dog's name)leash was wrapped around the fingers of my right hand and the handle in my left. he's not all that big (70#) but his breed (mostly rottweiler and australian sheperd) make him STRONG & FAST. so i was "driving" him w/2 hands

that was the last i remember until i woke on the ground, bruised, bleeding and seeing blurry. i've been told one of the boys threw the ball to the dog after we weren't looking....and the dog just went after it like a shot from a cannon. i was knocked off balance to the ground and then dragged for at least 10 feet. my injuries include: concussion, sprained ankle, sprained knee, torn skin on right hand (3 fingers-palm side is missing top layer of skin), a strange strangulation-like wound around those fingers, extensive bruising and abrasions of left forearm and other body areas, and whiplash. the dog and boys are OK. ha ha

i feel pretty beat up & a little defeated today. it's hard to type with 1.4 hands and get around w/one working leg & difficlut to get comfy & i feel more POTSY than usual. (memory worse than ever, headache, dizzy--no surprises there, just frustrating) i'm glad this came when i was out of school, because i'd never be able to function. but i'm sad, cuz i was looking forward to, i dunno, actually enjoying my vacation!?! any ideas on concussion recovery time for POTSers or dysautonomics? (is that a word even? if not you can join me again in the revolution of made-up words )

thanks for any ideas or suggestions...prob'ly won't post for a bit...this has taken me abt an hour. (i got knocked back to the second grade! ) peace, y'all, lulu

[sally]

Hi Lulu

Sorry to you were injured.

Sounds like quite a day! Concussions can be quite serious, most people however heal up nicely with not too much difficulty from what I've been told. But, a certain percentage remain having difficulties that effect memory, emotions, decision making, changes in personality, outlook, headaches, fatigue, vertigo etc.

Our daughter was in a bad accident about 1 year ago now and still has deficets and complications from her head injury/concussion. It has changed the way she was and the way she deals with things. She falls in the small percentage of people who have problems long term and will probably have these difficulties permanetly. We are dealing with that now with a neurologist.

No one informed us of the lasting and problems a concussion can cause to a person. All we were told is she would get better in 3 months, then it was 6 months then it was 1 year now informed it is lasting. She has problems with short term memory, emotions, headaches often, vertigo, insight changes, and all the above symptoms as well. This person had an acute superior memory compared to the average person and now has trouble with short term memory, word searching, switches up letters in words, etc. She has to work harder than she's had to in the past prior to the accident for studying etc. It has been a difficult blow to her aspirations in college at a crucial year.

I wish you the best and hopefully your concussion will be short lived, I tell you these things, not to scare you but to inform you what we are now learning about and were not informed of. Any questions if you experience problems with it, just holler and i will try to answer as best as I can.

good luck and feel better.

[BEE]

LULU you poor thing..Ohio weather has been wonderful I am in the northeast area. All I can say is take it easy as mcuh as possible dear and make sure you stay hydrated...

BEE

[Ernie]

Hi,

It usually takes me 2-3 more time than normal people to recover from injuries.

[MightyMouse]

I'm like Ernie--it takes me at least twice as long to get over an illness and injury. Sadly I know what a concussion is like too--had a doozy of one last year in a POTSy moment, I dropped in my own livingroom and cracked my head on a marble-topped coffee table. It took me at least a month for that area of my head to stop hurting when I washed my hair. I'm telling you this not to scare you, just for you to know that if it takes a bit longer than you were expecting to feel like "your normal" self, it is probably just this crazy disorder.

Feel better! Rest and ice...or heat, which ever makes you feel better. Nina

[jdqm]

Usually once the swelling goes down you will feel better. Some problems could be longer lasting depending on if there was damage to any brain cells.

I was diagnosed with NCS after 2 falls and 2 concussions in less than a month. When I went to the ER with the second one, I was kept in the cardiac unit for a few days because they finally listened to me about the fainting.

It was about 4 years ago, and I still notice some lasting effects, switching letters, or words in a sentence. Sometimes it is laughable, but not being able to do some things without having to really think about it is annoying.

[Dizzy Dame]

Lulu,

I'm sorry to hear about your doggie accident Hopefully you'll recover soon!

Hugs,

Lauren

[mom4cem]

Sorry to hear about the end to your good day. I hope you feel better soon.

[Lulu]

thanks for the support, y'all. i've slept a lot today and just move slowly & with some ouchiness. i'm glad to know about the recovery stuff, i'm terrified that the one thing that still mostly works (my brain, and that is up to some debate ) will be affected>> school, etc. this is my panic side.

sally i am sorry to hear about your daughter & i hope the neurologist helps she is lucky to have caring parents, you all hang in there!

i'm also sorry to hear of MM's & jdqm's concussions from fainting...i've been lucky so far in having a "head's up" with my faints, i guess we all have to be careful with ourselves with the fainting and added recovery times...

does everyone have extended recovery times from stuff in general??? [i generally do, hope this time's shorter ]

take care everybody, thank you. peace & light, lulu

[bttrflyamby1981]

POOR LULU! (((HUGS)))

I'm sorry you were hurt! I hope it doesn't take too long to heal!

I have noticed that I take longer to heal then I used to. I had a c-section with my children, and my last one took the longest to heal. I now wonder if this is why?

Take care!

Amber