Blake Jones
Concussions/Brain Injuries: 8
Cause: Car Accident, Sports, Slip/Fall, Other
Blake’s Story
I started getting concussions almost every year since I was in the 8th grade. They were all seemingly quite minor, I didn’t even lose consciousness. Yet my symptoms would persist with months, requiring physical therapy for all but the first. I went from a student who could read 5 books in a week to someone who couldn’t read at all without immense pain.
My mental health spiraled out of control, and I felt like I was drowning in high school. I was so exhausted from the concussions and the multiple antidepressants to fight the emotional distress that all I did was sleep. I could barely function. Then I received another concussion early in college and among other symptoms, I would have nonstop debilitating migraines for months at a time. I couldn’t even drive because I was in so much pain. I ended up having to go part time at college.
No neurologist in Hawai‘i seemed to know what to do with Post Concussion Syndrome. I started to think that I was exaggerating all my problems, and that I didn’t have it that bad. I even had people around me degrade me for not being a real adult because I couldn’t hold a job or go full time at school or think that I was just being dramatic.
Then I found Cognitive FX. I did a week of treatment, and when they first showed me my fMRI results that showed actual evidence of my PCS, I started crying because I felt so validated. I made tremendous progress and my PCS almost went entirely away.
Then I got a concussion at the gym a few months later by hitting my head with a dumbbell. A few days later, I was rushed to the ER with a stroke protocol because I suddenly became completely paralyzed and couldn’t speak. It turns out that all the concussions built up and caused me to develop a condition called Functional Neurological Disorder along with Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures.
My symptoms would range from partial blindness, loss of speech, stuttering and slurred speech, amnesia, significant decreased cognition, different kinds of seizures, extremely severe muscle cramps and tics (even my back and face would cramp all at the same time), paralysis, and muscle weakness.
All at once my life was completely uprooted. I couldn’t live by myself, couldn’t drive, and was mostly wheelchair bound. My entire day was stuck either in seizures lasting hours or terrified I would get a seizure at any moment. I even got two more concussions that year from falling during seizures. I’ve moved all over the country and met with so many doctors to try to treat the condition. But most believe that this disorder comes from PTSD, and so those styles of therapy haven’t had a lasting effect.
I’ve tried almost everything but now I am evaluating having to move forward with a seemingly permanent and debilitating neurological disorder because of my concussions. I am slowly accepting that the life I’ve planned for myself might not work, including possibly withdrawing from college.
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Concussion Connect has provided me a space to learn more about what is going on inside my brain and body, find the words to express how I am feeling, not feel so alone, and learn about and use different resources! It provides a sense of being understood that has been missing since my accident, even brings a sense of understanding myself. - CC Member
