A few weeks ago I got a concussion. I didn’t know I had a concussion when I had my accident. My symptoms actually got worse over a few days, so much so, that I ended up in the ER in the early morning hours several days after my accident because the pain was keeping me from sleeping and I couldn’t even see straight.

My injury was an accident I caused myself. This year has been my year of accidents and injuries. I think it’s time for it all to stop at this point. They say things come in threes so with the food poisoning (which turned out to be E-Coli), my staph infection, and now this concussion I have met the quota of three. No more for this year is my plan. This one could have been avoided if I hadn’t been rushing so much and had been paying attention a little more. I hit my head on the corner of my SUV Hatch. I had pulled into the garage to unload the groceries and was picking up some bags. I was chatting with my Mom who was there visiting. The kids opened the door from the garage and started rushing outside. I didn’t want them to get out, so I quickly grabbed the bags and stood up abruptly while moving forward to block them from getting out. Unfortunatly, the hatch was right there and my head hit it really hard on the right front corner of my skull. It was a loud thud when I hit the hatch with my skull, I do remember that. There was no give on the hatch as it pressed up against the garage door.

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Everything thing went black and I fell to the ground. I am glad I didn’t hurt myself falling down. I stayed on the ground for a minute or two trying to recover. I am glad my Mom was there to help me. She had me go and rest for the remainder of the day and put ice on it. I thought that would be sufficient and I wouldn’t have any other problems. I saw stars for a few hours, but that went away by the next morning.

It was actually 2 days later that I woke up very early because my head hurt so bad that I was literally groaning in pain so much that my groans of pain woke up Justin. I was dizzy and disoriented. He offered to call an ambulance. Instead, I suggested we just get the kids and go to the ER together and so we did.

They were great at the ER. I went the Baylor ER and they got me in right away. About a half hour after arriving they had me back getting a CT scan.  They wanted to check for bleeding on the brain and even more seriously, a blood clot. Approximately 5% of concussions result in clots, which can be very devastating, including leading to death. My CT scan was clear- Thank God!!

I had to take all of last week off. By off, I mean cancel all my activities so I could rest my brain. My doctor told me not to drive (no problem since I couldn’t see straight) and to have very little stimuli around me to allow my brain to heal. I slept for the most part. Justin was so good about taking care of the kids and taking them to and from preschool as well. I kept the TV off and only checked Facebook between naps. I needed some entertainment as rest can be extremely boring. I don’t sit still very well, I like to be out and about and active. I am glad to be back to normal life this week. I still have headaches and some other symptoms. However, none are debilitating at this point. I am still not at 100% activity level by any means, but I will get there slowly but surely.

Concussions are no joke. Your brain is delicate and needs time and rest to heal. If you don’t allow your brain to heal you can be left with long term problems as the result of a head injury. I wasn’t up on symptoms of a concussion. Had I been, I probably would have gone to the ER that first night. The Mayo Clinic has the symptoms of a concussion listed on ther Website. I thought I would share it here, so you know what to look for the next time you or a love ones injures their head.

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You can read more about concussions on the Mayo Clinic Website: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/concussion/basics/symptoms/con-20019272

Thank you everyone for the prayers. I know they really helped and God has helped me heal. It could have been so much worse. I am thankful for no blood clots and that I am once again functional to do normal activities again. Praise Jesus for healing!