The Mobius Trip

Phew. Anybody seen my tent?





SO, SO good to hear from you.

Yeh----the last time I saw it--------it flew off the back of your bike after getting slung around the rear wheel about 20 times and spent about 2 minutes on your exhaust pipe before it ejected
Looked like you lost your lunch too.

LDF,
Glad to hear you're feeling better, but you're also at a critical time in your recovery. You want to get back to "normal" features of daily life, but don't push it: think marathon, not sprint from this point forward. Nearly everyone who has had a serious concussion has pushed too hard when they are almost healed and it sets them back significantly. Take the time now to heal completely. Sounds like the treatment for hyperacusis is to gradually reintroduce noisy settings rather than to go completely quiet.
Take care!

Very glad to hear you are recovering. You guys had me checking my subscribed threads every 4 hours for the last few months for an update. Glad to hear it is a positive one. You know one of the best treatments is graded exposure to distracting environments, like talking to Dr Rock on your Sena while piloting a DR over some forest service roads...
Brad

Francine, I can't tell you how great it is to hear from you and to hear in your own words how you are recovering.

It has been on my mind this past week to call and see how you are doing, but I didn't want to disturb you or impose upon you in any way.

Take care and heal up dear lady and we will see you out on the trail again....

Many have asked when my accident happened and when did we return to New York? I think the expectation is or was that we would have immediately returned home to NYC following the accident four days into our vacation.

I'm here to tell you the BEST therapy after my type of injury was achieved through exactly what we did. Being away from home where obligations and distractions would have automatically taken over has now become clear as the worst place I could have been.



Stepping outside my routine and immersing ourselves in an environment of solitude and peacefulness, and no committments is EXACTLY what I needed immediate post concussion to avoid the onset of symptoms.

It is my return to New York that actually set me off. My ER papers instructed me to see my PMD (private medical doctor) a week post injury. I had informed my employer of my injury and set up an appointment with my physician to determine my ability to return.

This plan was initiated in my mind more so to evaluate my left knee injury than assessing the sequalae of my head injury. David returned to work and I jumped on the subway like I was getting ready to head to an uptown theater and take in a movie....oh what a movie it was.

I was so overtaken by the loud IPODS, peoples type-A personalities coming through with determination to take on the world that I actually threw on my sunglasses to avoid others from noticing the tears filling up in my eyes.

What am I doing here?

Little did I know my next challenge was soon to be met when I was overtaken with the simple task of crossing the street in pursuit of my physician's office. I quietly sat in his office til I was called into the exam room where I immediately lost it when he asked me what happened on our holiday. He prescribed one week off from work with a reevaluation to follow to determine returning to work in a weeks time.

Needless to say, during my reevaluation, my PMD encouraged me to see a Concussion specialist at NYU. My decision to agree to see the specialist consult occurred once I recognized that I was having word finding difficulties during some of my conversations.
I also acknowledged that I was indeed experiencing dizziness, although intermittent, and feeling like I was in a continual fog. Upon hearing the details of my accident as well as my symptoms, the concussion specialist removed me from work until July.


It's interesting to me now, how I intuitively avoided certain stimuli from the get go like reading small print articles or spending any time at all "googling".

These are all brain teasers that I was no where near ready to take on. Yes, imagine that computer screen we now all glue ourselves to truly does require a certain level of brain filtering which can be EXHAUSTING. Even when writing this post I have learned through my therapist that "cognitive rests" are absolutely necessary to avoid worsening of symptoms. If I push it too far or for too long I can actually feel my brain tiring similar to doing 3 sets of 15 reps with 5 pound weights of my biceps.

It's great to read your posts. Like everyone else, I had fears. Peace, and keep on keepin' on.

John

I'm glad you're where you are now and are were with that group when this happened...

Glued to your story Francine--we've only met twice at your place, but have been warmed by your hospitality during a tough time. I love your attitude toward this--and toward us from your close friends to minor acquaintences.

Thanks for sharing this--we are all pulling for you. We've a fair amount of TBIs across the service--and we're still learning the consquences--one in my unit of note isn't a Soldier, but her 5 year old son....it's a rough road full of discovery.

Hope you feel the love and respect those here have for you--have a great day.

B.

I have never heard of the severity of what a concussion can do to you. I thought it was just a good bell ringing and take a few days to get back on your feet and let the bubble in your level come back to center. This has truly been an education for me. Glad to hear you are coming back around.

Francine-
I think your writing is not just beneficial to your recovery but to all of us that follow along as well. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us.

+1

Thanks Francine!!
Scott

Francine,
On an educational note: thanks for sharing with us the details and treatment process so we may learn.
On a personal note: know that we are sending our heartfelt healing thoughts.

Yes this has all been traumatic for all of us.

But on a lighter note I can't help but laugh when I think of this.
I hope everyone thinks this is funny.,
It's only after some time has passed---that you can look at bad things and laugh about it.

So follow this:
Were at the Casino after Francines crash.
We've planted Francine on a chair in front of a slot machine-- she's sitting backwards in the chair.
She's all beat up---has a big black eye---a swollen lip and cheek---and it's all turning more blue by the minute. I don't even remember where Dave got the clothes to put on her ?????
She has no shoes on as they are still on her beat up bike--------somewhere.
And she looks---well--------sad---lost----and just pitiful.
And were keeping an eye on her.

But the crowd of people walking by have no idea of what's happened with her or us.
And everybody that walks by is giving us guys the stink eye as they figure we've rolled poor ole Francine out back in the Alley.
It's a wonder Security wasn't called. I bet every camera in there was pointing at us.
There were some weird people in there---but now ---looking back---I think we were the weirdest.

They were already watching me-------I spent 2 days in that casino and never spent one penny.

BigDog

Francine and Doc,
Wow! That is some scary stuff!
I am surmising that the tent getting ingested by the rear wheel of Blueberry was the cause of the crash.
I got my bell rung on the TAT in Nevada when I crashed in some ruts. Later, I stiff legged a dab to keep from falling in a rut in Oregon just before the beach and bounced my already bruised brain off of the bottom of my skull. French fries tasted sour, and I felt generally bad for almost a month. When I talked to Doc on the phone from the beach I was really out of it. I probably should have waited to write my ride report since I was not in the best of moods. It took a couple of months before I felt normal, and I did not even get on a motorcycle for many months due to the vulnerability of re-injuring myself. Hang in there, it takes some time, but you will feel better.
Hope you feel better soon,
Doug

That sure was a WILD evening at the casino!!!!........

Scott

I vaguely remember the scene and can only imagine the eye brow raising it evoked.

Ive had quite a few laughs throughout my recovery brought on primarily by my word finding difficulties. My speech therapist actually gave me a "blue notebook" to jot down the words I was struggling to recall.

I actually started recording the phrases I came up with which provided many spontaneous laughs and smiles between David and myself...

"the police are like the "gazpacho" around here" and "I just stabbed my self with my finger". Laughter has tremendously lessened my anxiety surrounding my symptoms and deficits.

That said, I have also experienced ALOT of easy frustration and short tempered outbursts that David has had to live through and put up with.

So where was Mike Tyson and more importantly what did you guys do with his tiger?

I bet her pockets were stuffed with casino chips!