My bruised brain

I got my first concussion at age 2. I remember it being my birthday and I wanted a bed but I was too young to know that my first bed and bedroom suite were to be delivered later that week. I got mad at mom for putting me in my crib that day, so I decided to climb out but I failed. I fell head-first onto a hard floor. I remember a sharp pain and nothing else until almost a year later at age 3.

My second concussion was when I was about 22 years old when my friends’ car hit me in the head. I was getting in and he accidentally put the car in reverse then in park really fast and it caused a jerking motion of the car. The metal part above the door smacked me in the head knocking me down. I went to the hospital and got diagnosed with the concussion.

My third concussion was in 2009 when I was hiking and jumping across a creek. I did not see the sideways hanging tree trunk and my head smacked it in a high speed jump. I hit it cartoon style and if I was a cartoon, there would have been stars and birds swarming around my head.

My fourth concussion was in October 2010 when a little 4-year-old boy accidentally slammed a solid wooden door on my head near my eye.

With four concussions, I have experienced mild brain damage that is likely permanent. This has affected my short term memory but not the long term memory. It is extremely difficult to learn anything new. New jobs are very hard and I am often let go in the trial period for “not getting it” fast enough.

When I meet new people, I often do not remember their names until I become rather good friends with them. This causes some people to think I don't like them and that is so far from the truth. I already had a learning curve all my life but it's only worse from the head trauma.

My head injuries have also affected my motor skills, which make me clumsy. Sometimes I slur when I talk or say a word wrong. That, too, is from all the concussions. I also have tinnitus that started sometime within the last 2 years. No one has figured out why it happens when my ears look normal on an MRI.

I used to see only half moon out of my right eye and the rest of it was blind. I had to close the right eye to even walk and see straight. My vision got better within 1.5 years of chiropractic care. Before that, I had to wear glasses, but I no longer do. My thumb used to go paralyzed for no obvious reason and that stopped too. Both of these were cured with chiropractic.

I am thankful though, that I can see well and speak well with only the occasional slur from the brain damage. Otherwise, I am almost normal. 

-Shana