Recovering from car accident

[HARPERC]

........I still have that headache and all the post concussive issues like poor memory, lack of fine motor coordination, extreme noise sensitivity (which is a real pain when you are trying to be a decent dad for a 4 year old boy and a just now 7 year old girl), lack of concentration, etc. I also still have fuzzy vision in my left eye. I start seeing the specialists with the outpatient brain injury group tomorrow, so maybe they have some fancy tricks to help. Thanks for all the encouragement.

Time is the biggest thing, give yourself plenty of it. You're focussed on giving what you got to your family, and I'd keep that going.

I hate that inability to focus, and follow through, very frustrating.

Prayers for you and yours.

 

[catamountsierra]

I have been seeing the specialists for a while now. I got a vision exam done, which means that if I can get the approval from OWCP I should soon be getting my first ever pair of glasses. I am also scheduled to have an MRI done on Monday evening, so hopefully that can tell me why I still have lots of pain where the airbag hit my face and head. I am slowly recovering, but still not really feeling up to hunting. I was thinking about trying to get my rifle sighted in this morning, but I think I may wait until after the MRI. My daughter has one of those pop guns that you can get at Cabela's or Sportsman's; that think makes the side of my head hurt so I have to imagine the 7mm-08 would be much worse. I'm kind of depressed that I don't feel up to hunting even though my seasons are now open. I think part of it is that I'm not sure I trust myself in the field.
Anyway, since I got the eye exam and the prescription for glasses, I have been wondering what that might mean for my shooting. If I have to change the occular focus on my scopes, does that change point of impact? If it does, I might want to wait until I have my glasses (assuming OWCP or someone can pay for them) before getting my rifles sighted in.

 

[Barrelnut]

Changing the ocular focus should not change the point of impact. The ocular focus is just focusing the cross hair to your eye.

Sounds like you are in good hands with the docs and in recovery mode and those are very good things. Personally I would wait until after the MRI and the glasses. I wear glasses. Not a big deal. I was a bit amazed at what I had been missing. LOL.

Best wishes

 

[HARPERC]

I have been seeing the specialists for a while now. I got a vision exam done, which means that if I can get the approval from OWCP I should soon be getting my first ever pair of glasses. I am also scheduled to have an MRI done on Monday evening, so hopefully that can tell me why I still have lots of pain where the airbag hit my face and head. I am slowly recovering, but still not really feeling up to hunting. I was thinking about trying to get my rifle sighted in this morning, but I think I may wait until after the MRI. My daughter has one of those pop guns that you can get at Cabela's or Sportsman's; that think makes the side of my head hurt so I have to imagine the 7mm-08 would be much worse. I'm kind of depressed that I don't feel up to hunting even though my seasons are now open. I think part of it is that I'm not sure I trust myself in the field.
Anyway, since I got the eye exam and the prescription for glasses, I have been wondering what that might mean for my shooting. If I have to change the occular focus on my scopes, does that change point of impact? If it does, I might want to wait until I have my glasses (assuming OWCP or someone can pay for them) before getting my rifles sighted in.

I've kept this pulled up so I see it every day. I try to come up with something helpful every day, and haven't.

Hopefully, knowing someone is out there pulling and praying for you helps.

 

[catamountsierra]

It does help, and the encouragement from members on this forum have brightened many dim days. Thanks to you and and the others for that.

 

[HARPERC]

How are you wintering? Cold aggravating things?

 

[Doublezranch]

I've been reading your progress. I know how frustrating (PCS) post concussion syndrome can be, I've had 6 concussions myself. I've been a medical professional for 15 years. I've helped remove several brain tumors and seen some very bad head trauma.

There have been studies on concussions resulting in TBI and PCS. These studies have shown disruption of the nerve fibers in the brain due to the stretching or shearing forces of the trauma. Other subtle changes have been noted in brain functioning.

People suffering with these continued symptoms have done hot yoga (Bikram), chiropractic therapy, and cranial sacral massage therapy. Patients that have done one or all of these in conjunction have seen great improvements. I'm certainly not telling you that they will fix your continued symptoms, but they may help.

Lots of rest, deep restful sleep, and non stimulating activity are very good in order to help your brain recover from the damage. May God bless you and your family.

 

[catamountsierra]

I don't think the winter is bugging me much, but I don't usually have a lot of energy anymore. The cold doesn't seem to make a difference, and all the shoveling I have been doing seems like good exercise. I have been out rabbit hunting once with my dad and my kids, which was fun but took a lot out of me. My dad and I took a kid he knows out coyote and rabbit hunting for his first time (having him shoot his first rabbit, and I believe first game, with my 22 was a real nice feeling), but again, that was enough to completely exhaust me. I am still real careful about my footing, though I feel a bit steadier than I did. I haven't had the energy or the motivation to go out on my own yet.
I still have the incessant headache, and it is still worsened by my kids just being normal kids. I am still having memory issues, mostly with auditory encoding (if there is a distraction while someone is talking to me, I often have no clue what they said) and processing speed. Being a geologist specializing in sediment issues, I spend a lot of time analyzing data, and now it takes me a lot longer. One of the therapists gave me a bunch of card games that focus on both the memory and processing speed issues, so doing that is helping, but it is slow. They tell me that I am now in the window where I will need to work at it to continue recovering. I also still have the blurry vision, though hopefully I should have glasses in the next week to fix that; worker's comp is taking their sweet time and doesn't have a good track record of approving glasses so when my vision insurance kicked in I dropped my own money for them.
It has been just about 4 months since the accident, and they are telling me that I may still be in this for another 6 or so. Sometimes it is real hard to keep from getting depressed over it. At the same time, whenever I think about it, any other reaction I could have had when the accident happened would have left me far worse off. Also, the people on this forum have been great and have helped me through this quite a bit, so thanks to all for the good wishes and advice.

 

[Old Hickory]

I would have my doctor refer me to a good physical therapist. They would be your best option for getting to back to normal in a reasonable amount of time. They will also help you discover your current limitations. Then base the weight you can carry and gun you can shoot based on what they say. Hurry up and go! Time's a wastin...It's not gonna be your last hunt... Get well soon.

This is certainly solid advice, Barrelnut.

Am really sorry about your accident, cat!

Therapy is your best bet. I was laid up for 7 1/2 months in a wheelchair and hospital bed. What got me walking again was pool and regular therapy after lots of pool therapy. Missing out on a whole hunting season really hurt.

 

[HARPERC]

1) The apathy when I smacked my head was tough. Still lingers a bit-It helps when someone else plans something.Its real but gets better.
2) The kids must be a mixed blessing, the stimulation good, the pain not so much. Mine we're grown, and gone so I missed that part.
3) Work was the reference point that made me realize the ongoing problems. I had to ask them to keep an eye on me. Fortunately they were supportive.
4) Workers comp......never a positive experience.
5) The not knowing can be tough to ride out. Progress is slow.
.....Typed the above to say here at the end-hang tough, even out to 2 years I've seen the fog lift a little more, and feel better about things. Still including you and yours in my prayers.

 

[catamountsierra]

glad you are alive

Same here, but it seems like it was an awfully close call on that.

 

[catamountsierra]

Physically, I am probably fine to get out and start doing things, but I am still trying to recover my confidence in some ways. I still have moments where it seems there is a lag between me taking a step and it registering in my brain, or where it seems like my feet slightly miss where I meant to put them. I noticed while out with my dad that I was paying a lot more attention to where I was putting my feet than what was around me, especially compared to how I normally am when hiking. I am back to my normal flexibility and strength, but as is often the case with a concussion, I still tire faster than normal even physically. I also no longer enjoy driving, which takes some of the fun out of going out somewhere.
Like I said, the biggest things at this point seems to be the incessant headache, the blurry vision, and the mental problems with memory, processing speed, and overstimulation caused by my kids being normal kids. I still haven't had a single waking moment without pain where the airbag hit me, even on the prescription strength Aleve that they put me on. Hopefully my glasses will come in sooner rather than later (there is a slight chance they could be in tomorrow) and that should fix the blurry vision and hopefully help with the headache as well since we think some of that is due to eyestrain. Things are getting better slowly, but this whole mess has been a real pain for me (literally and figuratively) and my whole family. I have trouble pulling my weight as a parent, and have missed out on a number of things my family has had to do without me. I have trouble watching a movie on our TV, so I have skipped going with the family to movies on a couple occasions. What really sucks is that we had planned to take the kids to Universal Studios this spring and because of my injuries we are having to postpone that trip. The kids sort of understand, but not really. Seeing how this affects my whole family is just as bad as how it affects me.
I do want to thank people for the support that I have received here. It does help knowing that other people are pulling for me.

 

[Old Hickory]

# 1 big thing, You are getting better, cat. It seems healing has slowed down as for your present condition, yes? But progress is still going on. It may seem you are in a rut now but just look at the progress you have already achieved.

Depression is a common companion of serious injury recovery. It's not an example of weakness of character but is natural for anyone with such serious injuries as yours. You are much tougher than you give yourself credit for.

 

[catamountsierra]

I got my glasses this afternoon so now I can see clearly again. What is more, while I still have the headache, it decreased significantly within 15 minutes of putting them on so that is a major plus. Hopefully the lower headache will help the rest of my recovery speed up.