Tatum Sommer
Concussions/Brain Injuries: 2
Cause: Sports
Tatum’s Story
When I was in high school, I was a cheerleader. One day during practice, I threw someone up in the air, and she came down with her elbows out and head directly into my left eye. I didn’t understand the severity of the injury, so I didn’t tell anyone, and I continued to cheer.
About a week later, I was hurt again in the left eye by someone’s chin; this time, I knew something was wrong and immediately went to the nurse, who gave me an ice pack and dismissed me.
It wasn’t later that I discovered I had two concussions layered on each other. I was instructed to sit in a dark room which took a toll on my mental health. I was told in a couple of months, the symptoms would go away, but they never did.
About four months later, I was diagnosed with post-concussion disorder but wasn’t given anything to treat it after two years, with constant migraines and dizziness. I sought further help from a neurologist who prescribed me a shot for my migraines, which has done a pretty good job managing them.
But we still couldn’t figure out how to tone down the dizziness. I tried vestibular therapy, which exacerbated my symptoms, and they recommended that I do a vertigo maneuver as I suspected I had vertigo. This was my first time hearing of this treatment, and I was desperate for anything to work.
Sadly, the maneuver spun things out of control, my dizziness increased, and my migraines returned. I was back to square one. This is when I found glasses specifically made for people with light sensitivity, which helped a lot. It took me a year to gain the courage to do another maneuver to correct what happened the first time. After about five maneuvers, I was finally feeling good. I am now in a place where I feel like my symptoms have toned down to a livable amount.
My advice is never to stop looking for solutions, even when you want to give up.
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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
