Concussion Survivor Follow Up | Chaandani Khan
Show Notes:
Returning guest Chaandani Khan joins us once more, bringing an inspiring update to her post-concussion journey that began with us back in episode #69.
Have you ever felt utterly transformed by time and the trials it brings?
Chaandani Khan returns with an open heart to share the complexities of her ongoing battle with post-concussion syndrome/persistent concussion symptoms. Her story is one that echoes throughout our community, resonating with the silent struggles and the profound shifts in identity that so many of us know all too well.
Chaandani's candid conversation about "micro struggles" and her journey of recovery offers a raw look into the ebbs and flows of navigating life post-injury. This episode is about the small breakthroughs that make a big difference, as we explore the vital importance of pausing to reflect on how far we've come.
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Please note episode transcriptions may not be 100% accurate!
Bella Paige
Host
00:02
Hi everyone. I'm your host, Bella Paige, and after suffering from post-concussion syndrome for years, it was time to do something about it. So welcome to the Post-Concussion Podcast, where we dig deep into life when it doesn't go back to normal. Be sure to share the podcast and join our support network, Concussion Connect. Let's make this invisible injury become visible.
00:26
The Post-Concussion Podcast is strictly an information podcast about concussions and post-concussion syndrome. It does not provide nor substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast. The opinions expressed in this podcast are simply intended to spark discussion about concussions and post-concussion syndrome.
01:03
Welcome to episode number 128 of the Post-Concussion Podcast with myself, Bella Paige and today's repeat guest, Chaandani Khan. We have another repeat guest this week. If you want to listen to her previous episode, you have to scroll or search for episode number 669, an incredible episode on living in the gray space and micro struggles. Years ago from now, Chaandani experienced a concussion which significantly changed her life. She spent her time learning different ways to heal and today she is back to share how she's been doing. Welcome back, Chaandani, Thank you. So, to start, you have been a guest on the show before, but I kind of want to get back into just so anybody who hasn't heard your past episode. It is episode 69, while I will, of course, have given more details of that before, just on your concussion experience in general, just a small background on it of what you want to share.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
01:58
Sure, so I'm really excited to be back and talking with you again. So, again, thank you for that. A little bit about the concussion experience that I've had and that I'm still working through. I was in a car accident in 2019, and so that is coming up to about four and a half years ago, as of next month end of year, I should say and it affected me in multiple ways, and so it affected me cognitively, physically, emotionally as well as behaviorally and so different types of effects. Just to kind of bring that to life, I'd like to give a couple of examples.
02:34
Cognitively, something I really struggled with was language comprehension, as well as my focus and attention.
02:40
There were lots of other pieces there, but this is just to kind of help people understand these different types or the different ways that symptoms can show up in your life. Physically, I had extreme daily fatigue, which is something that up until very recently, I was still swimming through very murky waters up, as well, as I had heart rate variability issues that really came into play when I was trying to be physically active or even just walk up small hills in the sidewalk. Emotionally, I experienced anxiety, depression, PTSD, and at that time, those were very foreign concepts to me, as I hadn't been in a situation of that level of struggle and pain, I'd say, and emotionally I had a lot of anger and a lot of sadness. And one of the most challenging things for me which I'm sure I spoke to a bit last time at least, was the concept of loss and just losing everything that you thought you were, that you thought you were doing where you were going. One day it is and the next day it isn't.
Bella Paige
Host
03:46
So yeah, hopefully that kind of brings together some of the ways that I experienced concussion and brain injury, For sure, we definitely talked about the loss, and the loss of self I remember you talking about and identity and all these things. It's a huge part of all of it. And the anger oh no, anybody who's listening to the podcast knows I was like key number one on the anger explosiveness.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
04:09
As we awkwardly laugh about it. I think you and I did this last time. We had a little like a humor moment where you just kind of have to at some point right Eventually, yeah.
Bella Paige
Host
04:17
Eventually. Yeah, back then I probably wasn't laughing. I also really wasn't aware of it before, don't know if it was just because there was so much going on, but I remember being angry, but I didn't realize how intensely I was angry towards pretty much everyone in my life, to my parents, to pretty much anyone. I would lash out and everything, and sometimes my partner. I talk about it and I'm like I was a really angry person back then, right, and he'd be like uh-huh, and I'm like, yeah, sorry, so it's definitely. You know, there's so many aspects of it and that's a good way of explaining it. Like you know, it affected you in so many ways and from things like that you wouldn't think of, like going for a walk and things like that that a lot of people don't put together with a concussion, and they think, oh, you hit your head, but what do you mean?
05:05
you have trouble walking, like they might get that you have trouble with like a big you know going running a marathon, running a 5K or something, but they're like you're struggling walking and you're like, yeah, look.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
05:16
I am. Yeah, it's all those what I refer to as micro struggles. It's just micro struggle on micro struggle and all those layered up it's really overwhelming.
Bella Paige
Host
05:26
I had loved the micro struggles. That was one of my favorite things you mentioned last time. Yeah, I was like that is a great term for all of this. I've been using it since. I was like this is great.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
05:34
I was glad to hear that. That's. One of my goals, you know, is to actually it's interesting that my language center and abilities were hit so hard, because language has always been something really important to me and to my family and I grew up with an excellent command of the English language and grammar and structure and how to really bring to life what you want to express. And so you know at this point where I'm at, where I've taken back a lot of that ability and built back and worked really hard to build it back. It's very exciting for me to be able to use that skill set that I have to create words and concepts, much like micro struggles or one of many other in my own little lexicon that I'm creating to help not only survivors like you and I understand our experience, but to help us then explain it to others so that they can understand us or maybe they can offer us a certain amount of support.
Bella Paige
Host
06:25
Yeah, that's a huge part is communicating it to others, even just explaining it to ourselves. I remember that was a moment. I went through a lot, even to this day, with the chronic illnesses. Like sometimes I mentioned it to people and I'm like I don't know how to explain to you. I just like, yeah, I'm sick, I don't know. There's so many little things and layers. I started going to the gym recently.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
06:49
You celebrate that.
Bella Paige
Host
06:51
Thanks. People know about this on Concussion Connect, but I recently started going to the gym like a big commercial gym, which I haven't done in a long time. So I was going and my girlfriend was working out and I was like I don't even know how to explain to you that like I have pots and she's like, okay, and my other girlfriend's like I've been learning all about it on TikTok and I'm like, okay, that's good, but do you understand it? I don't know. But we were working out and she's like oh, I'm sick, and I'm like I'm working out with pots. Like you already mentioned, we're probably on the same level right now.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
07:27
Actually, yeah, and it's kind of like sorry, I have to jump in and what you did there makes so much sense because you're able to take what you're going through, make it relatable to someone else who is ill and all of a sudden, now that they're having that experience, they can understand just a little percentage of yours and I just I had to call that out because I think that's such a good way to do it.
Bella Paige
Host
07:49
It's like, do I explain how the blood flow? I'm like? I'm just going to say like, yeah, I get it Sometimes, like the terms are really helpful and like defining the chronic illness stuff versus PCS for me has definitely been a jump on how to explain it, because it's a little bit newer to me and I look even it's even less invisible than my other stuff was, I find, because I really I'm doing so much better with it, Like I look more lively, even more than I did before, and so you've given us a little bit of a background. How are you doing now? How are you doing symptom wise since we talked? I know it's been a little while, but how has it been?
Chaandani Khan
Guest
08:29
Yeah, what a great question and this is so great for me to reflect upon because, you know, I think when anyone just to start off with saying that when anyone goes through this kind of experience I think some of us are taught to really compare back. So where am I today versus one week ago, versus one year ago, you know, so on and so forth, and able to kind of gauge where we're at and make sure that we're able to still see that there is growth and that there is improvement and forward momentum? So this is a really great question Because you and I spoke, I think we determined it was about a year and a half ago, not two years. You're not no, not two years, and yeah. So I have to say that overall, it feels like I have hit further levels of healing in this timeframe and I don't want to misrepresent myself or make anyone feel that their journey is misrepresented by just boiling it down to time, but I will say that time does play a big role, which is something that took me a couple years to actually accept. So one piece is time, another piece is pursuing a few more different types of treatment.
09:32
Since you and I spoke, I actually slowed down on a lot of my treatments and therapies and such that I was doing Couple reasons One is that I just hit a massive burnout because it's exhausting. It is not a vacation, it is not time off, it is full-time work. And another is that I had just been able to see different improvements. So I just kind of wanted to test things out and see if I live I was going to say normally is an awful word, but if I live, kind of how I was before, where am I at? Things have moved forward as a product of time, as a product of further therapies, and one thing that I really want to share is that for the first time in four and a half years, I started acupuncture, and that is something that I've heard people say quote for years, and I've heard survivors of concussion, brain injuries speak of and people who are managing all sorts of other physical, emotional, mental, every kind of struggle. I guess out there that there is and I have to tell you that I am a fan the number one driver that took me into acupuncture was just, I feel like for years I have tried so many different strategies to combat this insane, overwhelming, all-consuming fatigue that I've faced. That has been something that, from the very beginning of my injury up until now, it has really controlled my life in every way possible. Even nowadays, when I plan, I plan specific drive time in and then I plan rest time into my days and I don't stack activities that I don't feel I can manage, because I need to manage the energy that I have and do it well. So acupuncture has been a game changer for me personally.
11:08
I'd also just like to have a disclaimer that I am not a medical professional.
11:11
I am not saying this is the be all, end all, but I'll say that in my specific body, in my specific experience, I think I've been going so far for around maybe 13, 14 weeks every single week and I'm finding that I'm able to push my days for longer periods of time, which I honestly I'm grinning as I say this because it's such a big level unlocked in my experience and my life and my lifestyle.
11:37
That's something that I haven't felt for so many years. I've also been able to I refer to it as stacking, because now everything in my life is so scheduled, but I'm able to stack different activities as well and continue through, sometimes without taking a break, and not a detriment to myself, but truly be able to do it, and I've even noticed that sometimes in the evening I'm able to stack different activities. You know, my experience of this has been that by that time I'm really slowing down for the day, but sometimes I'm feeling like I still have like some natural energy sort of residing within me, and that's huge. For anyone who, you know, has seen my, my, my day-to-day, in my year-to-year, my struggles up close, this is mind-blowing. I'm so excited. I'm not fully there yet for almost everything, but in this particular moment I'm referring to how I used to live with an omitted amount of energy in my life.
Bella Paige
Host
12:30
I'm I'm so happy for you. You have no idea. This is why I'm really excited for this whole series of like repeat guests. It's more for me than anyone else, because I'm like I love hearing like how everyone is doing and it's so great to see that things are improving. And you know, it's funny that you mentioned the taking a break, because I actually had episodes that came out in October. They were just like solo episodes with me and I was kind of like telling people to do this without telling them. I was like just try.
13:01
Like you know, sometimes it's just you don't really know how you're doing unless you're not in therapy and you're not doing all the things where you're pushing yourself to your limits. So sometimes you have to take a step back. And also, a mental break is really important. We don't always notice how much being a patient is being mentally draining. Even though it is just, you know, chiropractor, physical therapy, you're still being a patient. It's still a lot to think about. It kind of can cover your brain and your mind.
13:28
And I remember Strictly being like it's okay to take a break, almost just giving people permission, because sometimes you feel like you're failing when you do or you feel like you're giving up. But you're not giving up it doesn't mean you can't go back. It just means maybe you know, set it off, tell your medical professionals I'll be back in four weeks, mm-hmm, you know. And if things get worse really fast, then go back sooner. Don't wait. Always, it's always an option. But you know that timepiece is really tricky because so many people struggle with that, like for me. People always ask like what worked, what made you better? And I always have to say is I don't Don't really know all the answers, but of course time is a huge component to it. But you can't just rest, you can't just do nothing, because you know it's really hard to figure out, which is where this is so complicated. But I'm glad you love the acupuncture.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
14:22
Mm-hmm.
Bella Paige
Host
14:22
I did it with a traditional medicine individual and it was great. We had a very interesting relationship. Because I would get nervous, because they would go in my head and in my face, me too, in my forehead, in my ears.
14:37
And then he'd leave, yes, and you're like, just lay there and my partner I haven't, actually, we haven't talked about this in years but I'm like I would lay there and he texts me don't move, don't fall asleep, and I'm like you're not being helpful. But, like you know, he's just trying to like ease up my nerves about it, because I get nervous, because it is relaxing. They're like I just like what if I pass out and I roll with all these little?
Chaandani Khan
Guest
15:00
You know what I have a lot to say on the topic of needles as well. Now I just want to clarify that our point today, dear listeners, is not to dissuade you from trying it. No, it is good. It's good very much it's. Yeah, I also had the same kind of.
15:17
I'm a person who has multiple tattoos, but that type of needle is a very different experience for me. Where is something left in your skin, in your face? All over your body is different. But I just want to be, I just want to touch on that and then also say to people there are people listening who are either on the fence or perhaps like with taking that, starting an acupuncture treatment, or perhaps people who haven't heard of it before. Do not write it off. I, I can't stand even slivers like anything going into the skin, and so for me to Again, it's been about 14 weeks and I just want you to know that every time, just like bellow is saying she did you just go and you Just, you just do it for the greater good, and this will.
15:54
This will actually show, like you know, I can speak to myself here, but my level of determination to work on something like fatigue, because it was just holding my entire life down and holding me back from Everything that I possibly wanted to be doing and the freedom I wanted to have. So the fact that I would go there and still go there, to allow needles in my face, in my chest, down my legs, around my shin bones, in my feet, in my hands and on my back, so that's a testament to how much I believe in this treatment and how much I feel the difference in my own body. I should mostly say so don't be, don't be afraid of trying it. At least try it, see how it goes. I.
Bella Paige
Host
16:29
Agree, it's really not that bad. It was just like I did it when I was younger I think I was like 17, 18 and I just remember and like and I have no problem with needles, like IVs. I have tattoos, but when they're left in you it takes a minute to kind of cycle, but you don't really feel. You don't feel them Mm-hmm, it's not like you're like noticing where every single one is. It's definitely a little bit more complicated than that, but also usually the people that do it are really good at explaining, walking you through the process.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
16:57
So definitely something to consider trying also just an idea if people are wanting to try it. What I have done in those sessions that I find it's mental, it you don't really feel them, it's not like a painful experience, but mentally what I've done is I specifically take myself if I'm having a day where it's just a really hard time managing you know, needles in my face.
17:17
I take myself to a really difficult time during my concussion brain injury experience. Genuinely, I take myself there, I let myself feel it for a minute and just remember a specific struggle and I ask myself Is this moment I'm in with the needles worse? And generally it is not. So just to put that out there, this could be translated to all sorts of treatments that people are currently seeking or they're just trying to get themselves through. My only recommendation coming off of that would be just don't let yourself stay in the really hard space, just if you're able to kind of take a peek at it in means of comparing and reminding yourself that where you are in the present Isn't all that bad.
Bella Paige
Host
17:54
Yeah, no, I really love that because I. So there's this medication. Because we're on the topic of needles, when you go to the hospital they call it a migraine cocktail. I didn't really have much luck with it, but they would give me it when I go to the emerge and Forever.
18:09
When I would get it, my whole body would freak out and I would like rip the IV out of my arm and I would cry and I Would shake and like I did this like on and off and like my mom would be there and I did lots of IVs, no problem with needles. Every time I got this one I'd freak out. But we didn't ever get told until like two years ago. It took eight years of having this medication off because you know, you tell them it doesn't work, but they want to try it anyways before they give you something else, and that's just our medical system. They give it to you anyways and they would give it to me and for the first time ever I had a nurse tell me. By the way, this triggers a flight or fight response in people.
18:47
Oh, but this medication triggers it, and I was like I wish somebody told me that, yeah, for the past eight years, because it really they would have made all the difference. Because I already have a fight or flight. I have an illness that causes that, where I'm already like I already live in fight or flight every day, all day. It's just like and I have to work on that all day and usually I can keep it pretty down, but there's things that'll settle it up or freaking out. I guess, knowing that that would happen and just letting myself like breathe through it and being like you know what this passes, I know it's gonna pass, and so, and just like distracting my brain and all that, it was like a hundred times better. Of course it was definitely like you know, you felt that surge of adrenaline, but just telling myself you know what, like we know what this is happening inside me, and the same thing with panic attacks, all those types of things, like you know it'll pass, and just telling yourself that sometimes can make a world of a difference. So I do wanna take a quick break before we get into you know how your concussion is affecting you more today, what you're really up to, but we'll talk about that after the break we have so many five star reviews coming in for the post concussion cookbook on Amazon.
20:05
This cookbook was something I had been looking for. It pairs nutritional information specific to concussion recovery with tips for symptoms, and the recipes are delicious. My husband and teenager loved it too. Very grateful to have this resource. If you bought the cookbook, make sure to leave a review and if you haven't, make sure you find yours on Amazon today. I'll do the link in our episode description. Welcome back to the post concussion podcast with myself, Bella Paige and today's repeat guest, Chaandani Khan. So do you wanna kinda tell us how your concussion affects you still? I know it's kinda hard to talk about, but how does it still affect you day to day, you know? Just so I think the best thing about this is people can see progress, but also that you know progress doesn't always mean that everything goes away either. Yeah, it's still important.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
20:53
I'm so glad that you're approaching it this way because I think it is really easy to hear when someone starts to have some successes, whether they're small or large, it's really easy to kind of want to paint that with a brush and be like everything is fine. You know, and as much as you know, what you're seeing in me is the level of celebration I have for this success in my life, which I think is really important to celebrate and to be happy and to be in that moment and to really just like dive into that level of gratitude that it opens up, but also to be realistic and say you know, like I can have both. I can have so much gratitude and so much excitement for a success, but I can also be really struggling with some pieces and frustrated. And you know, I think the overall goal, at least for myself, is to continue trying to make you know the successes like a I'm holding my hands at, like a scale, make it the better side of a scale and the struggles the lesser side of it. That being said, some things that I am still working through I mean really honestly, fatigue is still a part of my life. I am finding that it is adjusting, as I was mentioning and celebrating, but that is a piece that I still do very aggressively plan my days and my weeks and my months around. So anything or everything that I either want to do for myself, like going for a walk or something like you know, agreeing to help a friend with something important to them everything is based upon my energy and me planning it. So that is still a really big piece. Also, this is interesting that we are talking about this because I'm in a space now at this point in my journey where I'm, you know, I was just in survival mode for so long and I was troubleshooting the most essential issues for me to have my day-to-day life back in a way, or back on track in some semblance of that.
22:39
So I there were a bunch of other issues that at that time were very much not the hill I was going to die on, so to say. So I'm in this Period of time now where I can start looking at those and it's actually really a good thing. The fact that I'm able to look at Very long lasting and annoying symptoms that I just were not in the survival category is positive to me. It sounds a little bit weird, maybe a little counterintuitive, but it's incredible because it shows that I have been moving forward and moving through and improving in different ways to get here. So, as an example, I'm currently waiting to see a neuro optometrist Because this is just a very weird thing, but, since my injury, any time I see the color red on screens, it's 3d to my eyes.
23:24
So we're talking on my phone screen, on a computer screen, on a large TV screen, any screen, and so that's something that, as you can see, it wasn't having a massive impact on my overall quality of life or ability to Feed myself, for example, but it is very annoying and it's not normal. So that's something that finally, I'm in a space where I'm like okay, I'm a little bit stressed, just to be very transparent, because it triggers a bit of years that I spent going to new providers and going to new doctors and troubleshooting pieces. So a little bit of that is in my mind, but I'm trying to stay focused on the fact that I get to chase this down now and I get to find out what's going on, because I'm in a better space overall.
Bella Paige
Host
24:06
Well, I think you explained that really well, and I'm sorry to hear about the red thing that's. The other thing, though, about all this is sometimes you have to do it in stages. You know, like you can't focus on everything at once. It's not that you can't take a whole body approach, because that's really important, but sometimes it's like you have so many things going on. Like for me, it was the headaches. They were my biggest thing, they were all I cared about. It was the only thing I wanted gone. Like at the time, like the fatigue Was awful, but the pain was the worst thing ever and that was what I had to deal with the most.
24:39
And you know, with the fatigue it is something that comes and goes. Like for me, I have something called chronic fatigue syndrome, so I'll do really good for a while, but then this morning I got up to let the dogs out and then I leave back down and then I try to wake up and like almost like overly consuming. I'm sure you know the feeling where, like you can't even open your eyes enough to look at a phone and Check a message and see who messaged you or get a drink of water. Like you just can't get up. And so you know I had that feeling and you know sometimes I'll fight it and I'll get up and then I'll take a nap in like an hour or two.
25:12
But today I was like you know, I don't have a lot going on this morning, I'll just stay in bed for a little longer until I can get up. And then, you know, and I had luckily had the ability to do that so I rested a little longer and then I got up, and it's just one of those things that you know, things have progressed so much, but there's always sometimes there'll be nothing. I love when people actually have like I don't think I have any symptoms. That's amazing. But you know, reality is a lot of us still do, even if they do seem a lot more minor compared to what they were before.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
25:45
Yeah, that was really really well explained, and I mean, what I just really love about the way that you show up and the way that you serve your audience is that you are also very transparent about where you're at and your struggles. Yeah, I just I really appreciate that, and I know for a fact that your listeners do as well, because you are also exemplifying a concept that I just mentioned, which is that you can be both. You can be struggling and you can be doing your best just to open your eyes and look at a text, but you can also be taking over the world and just spreading spreading the good word about incuscial brain injury and treatments and survivors, and so I just wanted to acknowledge that, that I think you do that really well.
Bella Paige
Host
26:23
Thanks. And so we've talked about your struggles and all that. So what are you up to today? You know what's going on in your life.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
26:31
Yeah, so today I find myself well, as I mentioned, kind of troubleshooting some outlier pieces. I also just want to say that those two things I shared the fatigue and the 3d red color to my eyes those are not. That is not an exhaustive list. There are still other pieces that every single day, that that I do face and that I do apply strategies to to be able to move through my day with grace or perhaps just to get to the end of my day. So I just wanted to put that out there.
26:59
I am in a space now where I'm very excited to say that I am thinking about part time work, which is for the first time in, yeah, four and a half years. So that is extremely exciting to me, and so it's kind of two things. That is one part, and the other part is I also can start helping people directly because I have been dreaming up ideas and concepts and, yeah, I'm just in a space where I can start to actually take those pieces on and start to actually just action plans that I have for myself. So I'm keeping it a little bit vague right now, but I will just say that returning to work part time with an organization that supports concussion, brain injury, is very exciting, and more details as things evolve in that direction. That's definitely what I have my eyes on and my mindset on as well as, yeah, starting starting up my own way of serving our community Very exciting.
27:54
I do not know how I'm going to do both.
27:58
I don't have a lot of answers.
27:59
You know I'll be the first one to say that this entire time, I, as well as probably a lot of people in this situation, are living under a very heavy blanket of uncertainty, and it's so for me.
28:12
When I take a look objectively and look at my entire journey thus far, I always say that it's different periods of uncertainty, there's different critical pieces, there's different level of struggle, there's different level of need, and so the one that I'm in right now is very much like okay, great, I'm in this space, I'm going to return, I'm going to start working again, I'm going to make money, I'm going to help people, but how, I don't know, and I just I feel like I'm staying so connected to my own personal why and, most importantly, to a need that is greater than myself and the rest of it, all the pieces, the how it will just fall in place. I know enough now to say that I probably will stumble and I probably will fall a bit along the way, but that's okay. I've done kind of personal development work at this point and I've worked really intentionally on the mindset that I've built and the level of grit and strength and I'm actually okay with any of that happening.
Bella Paige
Host
29:10
Yeah, and that's actually something that's really big about this. Just the other day in support group we had a new member join and they said that you know they're doing really good now, other than you know, of course they still have struggles, but what they want to do now is help people and I think that's a wonderful thing for anyone to do. And whatever way that looks, you know, for some people it means something big. Sometimes it's just something small, like we have our support group member who's been flooding, concussion connect with advice, which is wonderful, and things like that. So you know, in whatever way it looks and there will be, believe me, I get it there's been things with this that have worked out great and there's been other things where I'm like, oh, that didn't really work out, we'll do something different. That's sometimes just the way it goes.
29:55
Like the interactive symptom list is something that I talked about months ago and I don't like it. So it's not out there yet. Like it'll be out and I keep staring at it and I'm like it needs something else. I don't know what it needs. It will make it out there, but, like the last, like few months, every time I look at it I'm like I don't know what it needs yet, but you know it will get there eventually.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
30:16
So it's good You're listening to your gut and that also speaks to your dedication to provide the best possible value, because you know it's not there, so it's not worth just flinging out into the universe. It's helpful.
Bella Paige
Host
30:27
And like it. Just it's not there yet. I will figure it out what it needs. So I am so grateful that you've come back on and taken the time out of your day to share how you're doing again a year and a half later, which is just crazy to me but so wonderful at the same time. So you've shared so much today and I'm so grateful that you've come back on as a repeat guest. And to me it's crazy that it was so long ago that you were on here sometimes for something about podcasting. It just feels like yesterday, like for me, all these people that I've met, it just it feels like I've talked to everyone so recently, but it's actually been so long, and so I'm so grateful that you've come on. And so. Is there anything else you would like to add before we end today's episode?
Chaandani Khan
Guest
31:08
There is. Thank you for asking. One note actually just came to mind right now when you said that is that the last time you and I spoke was a year and a half ago, and this is just kind of a reminder to everyone listening that a lot can happen in a year and a half. A lot can happen in six months, in two weeks. So just kind of a reminder to everyone that even if you're in a space where it feels like nothing is moving forward, you're feeling lost, you don't have a path forward, you don't have answers, you're living in just a suffocating cloud of uncertainty. No, but as a product of time, things will move forward, and that's not originally what I thought I would share as our closing note, but you know what I have to go with my gut, and that struck me, and so I hope that that reminder really speaks to somebody out there who needs to hear that message, and I'm sending them a virtual hug as well.
Bella Paige
Host
32:00
Bella Paige
Host
00:02
Hi everyone. I'm your host, Bella Paige, and after suffering from post-concussion syndrome for years, it was time to do something about it. So welcome to the Post-Concussion Podcast, where we dig deep into life when it doesn't go back to normal. Be sure to share the podcast and join our support network, Concussion Connect. Let's make this invisible injury become visible.
00:26
The Post-Concussion Podcast is strictly an information podcast about concussions and post-concussion syndrome. It does not provide nor substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast. The opinions expressed in this podcast are simply intended to spark discussion about concussions and post-concussion syndrome.
01:03
Welcome to episode number 128 of the Post-Concussion Podcast with myself, Bella Paige and today's repeat guest, Chaandani Khan. We have another repeat guest this week. If you want to listen to her previous episode, you have to scroll or search for episode number 669, an incredible episode on living in the gray space and micro struggles. Years ago from now, Chaandani experienced a concussion which significantly changed her life. She spent her time learning different ways to heal and today she is back to share how she's been doing. Welcome back, Chaandani, Thank you. So, to start, you have been a guest on the show before, but I kind of want to get back into just so anybody who hasn't heard your past episode. It is episode 69, while I will, of course, have given more details of that before, just on your concussion experience in general, just a small background on it of what you want to share.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
01:58
Sure, so I'm really excited to be back and talking with you again. So, again, thank you for that. A little bit about the concussion experience that I've had and that I'm still working through. I was in a car accident in 2019, and so that is coming up to about four and a half years ago, as of next month end of year, I should say and it affected me in multiple ways, and so it affected me cognitively, physically, emotionally as well as behaviorally and so different types of effects. Just to kind of bring that to life, I'd like to give a couple of examples.
02:34
Cognitively, something I really struggled with was language comprehension, as well as my focus and attention.
02:40
There were lots of other pieces there, but this is just to kind of help people understand these different types or the different ways that symptoms can show up in your life. Physically, I had extreme daily fatigue, which is something that up until very recently, I was still swimming through very murky waters up, as well, as I had heart rate variability issues that really came into play when I was trying to be physically active or even just walk up small hills in the sidewalk. Emotionally, I experienced anxiety, depression, PTSD, and at that time, those were very foreign concepts to me, as I hadn't been in a situation of that level of struggle and pain, I'd say, and emotionally I had a lot of anger and a lot of sadness. And one of the most challenging things for me which I'm sure I spoke to a bit last time at least, was the concept of loss and just losing everything that you thought you were, that you thought you were doing where you were going. One day it is and the next day it isn't.
Bella Paige
Host
03:46
So yeah, hopefully that kind of brings together some of the ways that I experienced concussion and brain injury, For sure, we definitely talked about the loss, and the loss of self I remember you talking about and identity and all these things. It's a huge part of all of it. And the anger oh no, anybody who's listening to the podcast knows I was like key number one on the anger explosiveness.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
04:09
As we awkwardly laugh about it. I think you and I did this last time. We had a little like a humor moment where you just kind of have to at some point right Eventually, yeah.
Bella Paige
Host
04:17
Eventually. Yeah, back then I probably wasn't laughing. I also really wasn't aware of it before, don't know if it was just because there was so much going on, but I remember being angry, but I didn't realize how intensely I was angry towards pretty much everyone in my life, to my parents, to pretty much anyone. I would lash out and everything, and sometimes my partner. I talk about it and I'm like I was a really angry person back then, right, and he'd be like uh-huh, and I'm like, yeah, sorry, so it's definitely. You know, there's so many aspects of it and that's a good way of explaining it. Like you know, it affected you in so many ways and from things like that you wouldn't think of, like going for a walk and things like that that a lot of people don't put together with a concussion, and they think, oh, you hit your head, but what do you mean?
05:05
you have trouble walking, like they might get that you have trouble with like a big you know going running a marathon, running a 5K or something, but they're like you're struggling walking and you're like, yeah, look.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
05:16
I am. Yeah, it's all those what I refer to as micro struggles. It's just micro struggle on micro struggle and all those layered up it's really overwhelming.
Bella Paige
Host
05:26
I had loved the micro struggles. That was one of my favorite things you mentioned last time. Yeah, I was like that is a great term for all of this. I've been using it since. I was like this is great.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
05:34
I was glad to hear that. That's. One of my goals, you know, is to actually it's interesting that my language center and abilities were hit so hard, because language has always been something really important to me and to my family and I grew up with an excellent command of the English language and grammar and structure and how to really bring to life what you want to express. And so you know at this point where I'm at, where I've taken back a lot of that ability and built back and worked really hard to build it back. It's very exciting for me to be able to use that skill set that I have to create words and concepts, much like micro struggles or one of many other in my own little lexicon that I'm creating to help not only survivors like you and I understand our experience, but to help us then explain it to others so that they can understand us or maybe they can offer us a certain amount of support.
Bella Paige
Host
06:25
Yeah, that's a huge part is communicating it to others, even just explaining it to ourselves. I remember that was a moment. I went through a lot, even to this day, with the chronic illnesses. Like sometimes I mentioned it to people and I'm like I don't know how to explain to you. I just like, yeah, I'm sick, I don't know. There's so many little things and layers. I started going to the gym recently.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
06:49
You celebrate that.
Bella Paige
Host
06:51
Thanks. People know about this on Concussion Connect, but I recently started going to the gym like a big commercial gym, which I haven't done in a long time. So I was going and my girlfriend was working out and I was like I don't even know how to explain to you that like I have pots and she's like, okay, and my other girlfriend's like I've been learning all about it on TikTok and I'm like, okay, that's good, but do you understand it? I don't know. But we were working out and she's like oh, I'm sick, and I'm like I'm working out with pots. Like you already mentioned, we're probably on the same level right now.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
07:27
Actually, yeah, and it's kind of like sorry, I have to jump in and what you did there makes so much sense because you're able to take what you're going through, make it relatable to someone else who is ill and all of a sudden, now that they're having that experience, they can understand just a little percentage of yours and I just I had to call that out because I think that's such a good way to do it.
Bella Paige
Host
07:49
It's like, do I explain how the blood flow? I'm like? I'm just going to say like, yeah, I get it Sometimes, like the terms are really helpful and like defining the chronic illness stuff versus PCS for me has definitely been a jump on how to explain it, because it's a little bit newer to me and I look even it's even less invisible than my other stuff was, I find, because I really I'm doing so much better with it, Like I look more lively, even more than I did before, and so you've given us a little bit of a background. How are you doing now? How are you doing symptom wise since we talked? I know it's been a little while, but how has it been?
Chaandani Khan
Guest
08:29
Yeah, what a great question and this is so great for me to reflect upon because, you know, I think when anyone just to start off with saying that when anyone goes through this kind of experience I think some of us are taught to really compare back. So where am I today versus one week ago, versus one year ago, you know, so on and so forth, and able to kind of gauge where we're at and make sure that we're able to still see that there is growth and that there is improvement and forward momentum? So this is a really great question Because you and I spoke, I think we determined it was about a year and a half ago, not two years. You're not no, not two years, and yeah. So I have to say that overall, it feels like I have hit further levels of healing in this timeframe and I don't want to misrepresent myself or make anyone feel that their journey is misrepresented by just boiling it down to time, but I will say that time does play a big role, which is something that took me a couple years to actually accept. So one piece is time, another piece is pursuing a few more different types of treatment.
09:32
Since you and I spoke, I actually slowed down on a lot of my treatments and therapies and such that I was doing Couple reasons One is that I just hit a massive burnout because it's exhausting. It is not a vacation, it is not time off, it is full-time work. And another is that I had just been able to see different improvements. So I just kind of wanted to test things out and see if I live I was going to say normally is an awful word, but if I live, kind of how I was before, where am I at? Things have moved forward as a product of time, as a product of further therapies, and one thing that I really want to share is that for the first time in four and a half years, I started acupuncture, and that is something that I've heard people say quote for years, and I've heard survivors of concussion, brain injuries speak of and people who are managing all sorts of other physical, emotional, mental, every kind of struggle. I guess out there that there is and I have to tell you that I am a fan the number one driver that took me into acupuncture was just, I feel like for years I have tried so many different strategies to combat this insane, overwhelming, all-consuming fatigue that I've faced. That has been something that, from the very beginning of my injury up until now, it has really controlled my life in every way possible. Even nowadays, when I plan, I plan specific drive time in and then I plan rest time into my days and I don't stack activities that I don't feel I can manage, because I need to manage the energy that I have and do it well. So acupuncture has been a game changer for me personally.
11:08
I'd also just like to have a disclaimer that I am not a medical professional.
11:11
I am not saying this is the be all, end all, but I'll say that in my specific body, in my specific experience, I think I've been going so far for around maybe 13, 14 weeks every single week and I'm finding that I'm able to push my days for longer periods of time, which I honestly I'm grinning as I say this because it's such a big level unlocked in my experience and my life and my lifestyle.
11:37
That's something that I haven't felt for so many years. I've also been able to I refer to it as stacking, because now everything in my life is so scheduled, but I'm able to stack different activities as well and continue through, sometimes without taking a break, and not a detriment to myself, but truly be able to do it, and I've even noticed that sometimes in the evening I'm able to stack different activities. You know, my experience of this has been that by that time I'm really slowing down for the day, but sometimes I'm feeling like I still have like some natural energy sort of residing within me, and that's huge. For anyone who, you know, has seen my, my, my day-to-day, in my year-to-year, my struggles up close, this is mind-blowing. I'm so excited. I'm not fully there yet for almost everything, but in this particular moment I'm referring to how I used to live with an omitted amount of energy in my life.
Bella Paige
Host
12:30
I'm I'm so happy for you. You have no idea. This is why I'm really excited for this whole series of like repeat guests. It's more for me than anyone else, because I'm like I love hearing like how everyone is doing and it's so great to see that things are improving. And you know, it's funny that you mentioned the taking a break, because I actually had episodes that came out in October. They were just like solo episodes with me and I was kind of like telling people to do this without telling them. I was like just try.
13:01
Like you know, sometimes it's just you don't really know how you're doing unless you're not in therapy and you're not doing all the things where you're pushing yourself to your limits. So sometimes you have to take a step back. And also, a mental break is really important. We don't always notice how much being a patient is being mentally draining. Even though it is just, you know, chiropractor, physical therapy, you're still being a patient. It's still a lot to think about. It kind of can cover your brain and your mind.
13:28
And I remember Strictly being like it's okay to take a break, almost just giving people permission, because sometimes you feel like you're failing when you do or you feel like you're giving up. But you're not giving up it doesn't mean you can't go back. It just means maybe you know, set it off, tell your medical professionals I'll be back in four weeks, mm-hmm, you know. And if things get worse really fast, then go back sooner. Don't wait. Always, it's always an option. But you know that timepiece is really tricky because so many people struggle with that, like for me. People always ask like what worked, what made you better? And I always have to say is I don't Don't really know all the answers, but of course time is a huge component to it. But you can't just rest, you can't just do nothing, because you know it's really hard to figure out, which is where this is so complicated. But I'm glad you love the acupuncture.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
14:22
Mm-hmm.
Bella Paige
Host
14:22
I did it with a traditional medicine individual and it was great. We had a very interesting relationship. Because I would get nervous, because they would go in my head and in my face, me too, in my forehead, in my ears.
14:37
And then he'd leave, yes, and you're like, just lay there and my partner I haven't, actually, we haven't talked about this in years but I'm like I would lay there and he texts me don't move, don't fall asleep, and I'm like you're not being helpful. But, like you know, he's just trying to like ease up my nerves about it, because I get nervous, because it is relaxing. They're like I just like what if I pass out and I roll with all these little?
Chaandani Khan
Guest
15:00
You know what I have a lot to say on the topic of needles as well. Now I just want to clarify that our point today, dear listeners, is not to dissuade you from trying it. No, it is good. It's good very much it's. Yeah, I also had the same kind of.
15:17
I'm a person who has multiple tattoos, but that type of needle is a very different experience for me. Where is something left in your skin, in your face? All over your body is different. But I just want to be, I just want to touch on that and then also say to people there are people listening who are either on the fence or perhaps like with taking that, starting an acupuncture treatment, or perhaps people who haven't heard of it before. Do not write it off. I, I can't stand even slivers like anything going into the skin, and so for me to Again, it's been about 14 weeks and I just want you to know that every time, just like bellow is saying she did you just go and you Just, you just do it for the greater good, and this will.
15:54
This will actually show, like you know, I can speak to myself here, but my level of determination to work on something like fatigue, because it was just holding my entire life down and holding me back from Everything that I possibly wanted to be doing and the freedom I wanted to have. So the fact that I would go there and still go there, to allow needles in my face, in my chest, down my legs, around my shin bones, in my feet, in my hands and on my back, so that's a testament to how much I believe in this treatment and how much I feel the difference in my own body. I should mostly say so don't be, don't be afraid of trying it. At least try it, see how it goes. I.
Bella Paige
Host
16:29
Agree, it's really not that bad. It was just like I did it when I was younger I think I was like 17, 18 and I just remember and like and I have no problem with needles, like IVs. I have tattoos, but when they're left in you it takes a minute to kind of cycle, but you don't really feel. You don't feel them Mm-hmm, it's not like you're like noticing where every single one is. It's definitely a little bit more complicated than that, but also usually the people that do it are really good at explaining, walking you through the process.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
16:57
So definitely something to consider trying also just an idea if people are wanting to try it. What I have done in those sessions that I find it's mental, it you don't really feel them, it's not like a painful experience, but mentally what I've done is I specifically take myself if I'm having a day where it's just a really hard time managing you know, needles in my face.
17:17
I take myself to a really difficult time during my concussion brain injury experience. Genuinely, I take myself there, I let myself feel it for a minute and just remember a specific struggle and I ask myself Is this moment I'm in with the needles worse? And generally it is not. So just to put that out there, this could be translated to all sorts of treatments that people are currently seeking or they're just trying to get themselves through. My only recommendation coming off of that would be just don't let yourself stay in the really hard space, just if you're able to kind of take a peek at it in means of comparing and reminding yourself that where you are in the present Isn't all that bad.
Bella Paige
Host
17:54
Yeah, no, I really love that because I. So there's this medication. Because we're on the topic of needles, when you go to the hospital they call it a migraine cocktail. I didn't really have much luck with it, but they would give me it when I go to the emerge and Forever.
18:09
When I would get it, my whole body would freak out and I would like rip the IV out of my arm and I would cry and I Would shake and like I did this like on and off and like my mom would be there and I did lots of IVs, no problem with needles. Every time I got this one I'd freak out. But we didn't ever get told until like two years ago. It took eight years of having this medication off because you know, you tell them it doesn't work, but they want to try it anyways before they give you something else, and that's just our medical system. They give it to you anyways and they would give it to me and for the first time ever I had a nurse tell me. By the way, this triggers a flight or fight response in people.
18:47
Oh, but this medication triggers it, and I was like I wish somebody told me that, yeah, for the past eight years, because it really they would have made all the difference. Because I already have a fight or flight. I have an illness that causes that, where I'm already like I already live in fight or flight every day, all day. It's just like and I have to work on that all day and usually I can keep it pretty down, but there's things that'll settle it up or freaking out. I guess, knowing that that would happen and just letting myself like breathe through it and being like you know what this passes, I know it's gonna pass, and so, and just like distracting my brain and all that, it was like a hundred times better. Of course it was definitely like you know, you felt that surge of adrenaline, but just telling myself you know what, like we know what this is happening inside me, and the same thing with panic attacks, all those types of things, like you know it'll pass, and just telling yourself that sometimes can make a world of a difference. So I do wanna take a quick break before we get into you know how your concussion is affecting you more today, what you're really up to, but we'll talk about that after the break we have so many five star reviews coming in for the post concussion cookbook on Amazon.
20:05
This cookbook was something I had been looking for. It pairs nutritional information specific to concussion recovery with tips for symptoms, and the recipes are delicious. My husband and teenager loved it too. Very grateful to have this resource. If you bought the cookbook, make sure to leave a review and if you haven't, make sure you find yours on Amazon today. I'll do the link in our episode description. Welcome back to the post concussion podcast with myself, Bella Paige and today's repeat guest, Chaandani Khan. So do you wanna kinda tell us how your concussion affects you still? I know it's kinda hard to talk about, but how does it still affect you day to day, you know? Just so I think the best thing about this is people can see progress, but also that you know progress doesn't always mean that everything goes away either. Yeah, it's still important.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
20:53
I'm so glad that you're approaching it this way because I think it is really easy to hear when someone starts to have some successes, whether they're small or large, it's really easy to kind of want to paint that with a brush and be like everything is fine. You know, and as much as you know, what you're seeing in me is the level of celebration I have for this success in my life, which I think is really important to celebrate and to be happy and to be in that moment and to really just like dive into that level of gratitude that it opens up, but also to be realistic and say you know, like I can have both. I can have so much gratitude and so much excitement for a success, but I can also be really struggling with some pieces and frustrated. And you know, I think the overall goal, at least for myself, is to continue trying to make you know the successes like a I'm holding my hands at, like a scale, make it the better side of a scale and the struggles the lesser side of it. That being said, some things that I am still working through I mean really honestly, fatigue is still a part of my life. I am finding that it is adjusting, as I was mentioning and celebrating, but that is a piece that I still do very aggressively plan my days and my weeks and my months around. So anything or everything that I either want to do for myself, like going for a walk or something like you know, agreeing to help a friend with something important to them everything is based upon my energy and me planning it. So that is still a really big piece. Also, this is interesting that we are talking about this because I'm in a space now at this point in my journey where I'm, you know, I was just in survival mode for so long and I was troubleshooting the most essential issues for me to have my day-to-day life back in a way, or back on track in some semblance of that.
22:39
So I there were a bunch of other issues that at that time were very much not the hill I was going to die on, so to say. So I'm in this Period of time now where I can start looking at those and it's actually really a good thing. The fact that I'm able to look at Very long lasting and annoying symptoms that I just were not in the survival category is positive to me. It sounds a little bit weird, maybe a little counterintuitive, but it's incredible because it shows that I have been moving forward and moving through and improving in different ways to get here. So, as an example, I'm currently waiting to see a neuro optometrist Because this is just a very weird thing, but, since my injury, any time I see the color red on screens, it's 3d to my eyes.
23:24
So we're talking on my phone screen, on a computer screen, on a large TV screen, any screen, and so that's something that, as you can see, it wasn't having a massive impact on my overall quality of life or ability to Feed myself, for example, but it is very annoying and it's not normal. So that's something that finally, I'm in a space where I'm like okay, I'm a little bit stressed, just to be very transparent, because it triggers a bit of years that I spent going to new providers and going to new doctors and troubleshooting pieces. So a little bit of that is in my mind, but I'm trying to stay focused on the fact that I get to chase this down now and I get to find out what's going on, because I'm in a better space overall.
Bella Paige
Host
24:06
Well, I think you explained that really well, and I'm sorry to hear about the red thing that's. The other thing, though, about all this is sometimes you have to do it in stages. You know, like you can't focus on everything at once. It's not that you can't take a whole body approach, because that's really important, but sometimes it's like you have so many things going on. Like for me, it was the headaches. They were my biggest thing, they were all I cared about. It was the only thing I wanted gone. Like at the time, like the fatigue Was awful, but the pain was the worst thing ever and that was what I had to deal with the most.
24:39
And you know, with the fatigue it is something that comes and goes. Like for me, I have something called chronic fatigue syndrome, so I'll do really good for a while, but then this morning I got up to let the dogs out and then I leave back down and then I try to wake up and like almost like overly consuming. I'm sure you know the feeling where, like you can't even open your eyes enough to look at a phone and Check a message and see who messaged you or get a drink of water. Like you just can't get up. And so you know I had that feeling and you know sometimes I'll fight it and I'll get up and then I'll take a nap in like an hour or two.
25:12
But today I was like you know, I don't have a lot going on this morning, I'll just stay in bed for a little longer until I can get up. And then, you know, and I had luckily had the ability to do that so I rested a little longer and then I got up, and it's just one of those things that you know, things have progressed so much, but there's always sometimes there'll be nothing. I love when people actually have like I don't think I have any symptoms. That's amazing. But you know, reality is a lot of us still do, even if they do seem a lot more minor compared to what they were before.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
25:45
Yeah, that was really really well explained, and I mean, what I just really love about the way that you show up and the way that you serve your audience is that you are also very transparent about where you're at and your struggles. Yeah, I just I really appreciate that, and I know for a fact that your listeners do as well, because you are also exemplifying a concept that I just mentioned, which is that you can be both. You can be struggling and you can be doing your best just to open your eyes and look at a text, but you can also be taking over the world and just spreading spreading the good word about incuscial brain injury and treatments and survivors, and so I just wanted to acknowledge that, that I think you do that really well.
Bella Paige
Host
26:23
Thanks. And so we've talked about your struggles and all that. So what are you up to today? You know what's going on in your life.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
26:31
Yeah, so today I find myself well, as I mentioned, kind of troubleshooting some outlier pieces. I also just want to say that those two things I shared the fatigue and the 3d red color to my eyes those are not. That is not an exhaustive list. There are still other pieces that every single day, that that I do face and that I do apply strategies to to be able to move through my day with grace or perhaps just to get to the end of my day. So I just wanted to put that out there.
26:59
I am in a space now where I'm very excited to say that I am thinking about part time work, which is for the first time in, yeah, four and a half years. So that is extremely exciting to me, and so it's kind of two things. That is one part, and the other part is I also can start helping people directly because I have been dreaming up ideas and concepts and, yeah, I'm just in a space where I can start to actually take those pieces on and start to actually just action plans that I have for myself. So I'm keeping it a little bit vague right now, but I will just say that returning to work part time with an organization that supports concussion, brain injury, is very exciting, and more details as things evolve in that direction. That's definitely what I have my eyes on and my mindset on as well as, yeah, starting starting up my own way of serving our community Very exciting.
27:54
I do not know how I'm going to do both.
27:58
I don't have a lot of answers.
27:59
You know I'll be the first one to say that this entire time, I, as well as probably a lot of people in this situation, are living under a very heavy blanket of uncertainty, and it's so for me.
28:12
When I take a look objectively and look at my entire journey thus far, I always say that it's different periods of uncertainty, there's different critical pieces, there's different level of struggle, there's different level of need, and so the one that I'm in right now is very much like okay, great, I'm in this space, I'm going to return, I'm going to start working again, I'm going to make money, I'm going to help people, but how, I don't know, and I just I feel like I'm staying so connected to my own personal why and, most importantly, to a need that is greater than myself and the rest of it, all the pieces, the how it will just fall in place. I know enough now to say that I probably will stumble and I probably will fall a bit along the way, but that's okay. I've done kind of personal development work at this point and I've worked really intentionally on the mindset that I've built and the level of grit and strength and I'm actually okay with any of that happening.
Bella Paige
Host
29:10
Yeah, and that's actually something that's really big about this. Just the other day in support group we had a new member join and they said that you know they're doing really good now, other than you know, of course they still have struggles, but what they want to do now is help people and I think that's a wonderful thing for anyone to do. And whatever way that looks, you know, for some people it means something big. Sometimes it's just something small, like we have our support group member who's been flooding, concussion connect with advice, which is wonderful, and things like that. So you know, in whatever way it looks and there will be, believe me, I get it there's been things with this that have worked out great and there's been other things where I'm like, oh, that didn't really work out, we'll do something different. That's sometimes just the way it goes.
29:55
Like the interactive symptom list is something that I talked about months ago and I don't like it. So it's not out there yet. Like it'll be out and I keep staring at it and I'm like it needs something else. I don't know what it needs. It will make it out there, but, like the last, like few months, every time I look at it I'm like I don't know what it needs yet, but you know it will get there eventually.
Chaandani Khan
Guest
30:16
So it's good You're listening to your gut and that also speaks to your dedication to provide the best possible value, because you know it's not there, so it's not worth just flinging out into the universe. It's helpful.
Bella Paige
Host
30:27
And like it. Just it's not there yet. I will figure it out what it needs. So I am so grateful that you've come back on and taken the time out of your day to share how you're doing again a year and a half later, which is just crazy to me but so wonderful at the same time. So you've shared so much today and I'm so grateful that you've come back on as a repeat guest. And to me it's crazy that it was so long ago that you were on here sometimes for something about podcasting. It just feels like yesterday, like for me, all these people that I've met, it just it feels like I've talked to everyone so recently, but it's actually been so long, and so I'm so grateful that you've come on. And so. Is there anything else you would like to add before we end today's episode?
Chaandani Khan
Guest
31:08
There is. Thank you for asking. One note actually just came to mind right now when you said that is that the last time you and I spoke was a year and a half ago, and this is just kind of a reminder to everyone listening that a lot can happen in a year and a half. A lot can happen in six months, in two weeks. So just kind of a reminder to everyone that even if you're in a space where it feels like nothing is moving forward, you're feeling lost, you don't have a path forward, you don't have answers, you're living in just a suffocating cloud of uncertainty. No, but as a product of time, things will move forward, and that's not originally what I thought I would share as our closing note, but you know what I have to go with my gut, and that struck me, and so I hope that that reminder really speaks to somebody out there who needs to hear that message, and I'm sending them a virtual hug as well.
Bella Paige
Host
32:00
Need more than just this podcast. Be sure to check out our website postconcussioninkcom, to see how we can help you in your post concussion life. I believe life can get better because I've lived through it. Make sure you take it one day at a time.
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