Extremely Off Topic But Always Relevant #LoveYourBrain
Over the years I have had quite a few head injuries although I am lucky enough to not have had a Traumatic brain injury(TBI) yet and hope I never will. Smacking my head on most surfaces known to man in one way or another. Ice, Snow, Asphalt, Sand, Water, etc. When I was 11, I bent down to pick up something in our shed and my brother knocked a pry bar off the wall which then hit me in the back of the head. Concussion #1. Over the next 10 years I had a bunch of minor incidents, playing soccer and having someone knock their teeth out on the back of my head, skateboarding, wakeboarding, rock climbing and finally snowboarding. Snowboarding, if you haven't met me before, snowboarding is my life. I eat sleep ride and then repeat it all over again. I have bruised and cracked ribs, destroyed my shoulders and elbow, crushed my knuckles, and put my knee through my face. I Hit a tree going around 40mph which somehow I managed to walk away from with only an insanely bruised leg and extreme deep bone bruising that lasted over 6 months. Those all scare me less than the 3 broken/cracked helmets, the knee into my jaw and my favorite of the bunch, smashing my face and un-helmeted head on a sheet of ice doing a trick I had done a thousand times. I got "snaked" on the run into the jump causing me to scratch some of my speed and then proceeded to hit it anyways. I don't remember any of that day and the proceeding 24hours. I caught my toe edge on the landing and then smashed my face on ice never having a chance to brave for impact. My girlfriend at the time forced me to stay awake but I never went to the doctors. The next two both happened when I was wearing a helmet, on one I caught my heel edge on the landing of a jump getting whiplashed backwards and splitting my helmet open. The next happened in a halfpipe in Canada where I decked out smashed my face off my knee and then proceeded to fall backwards down to the bottom of the pipe (20'). I almost bit through my tongue, chipped multiple teeth and thought I had broken my jaw. I remember coming to, being yelled at in french with no idea where I was or how I got there. The dr. in good old canada said to just "take it easy" take a day of and relax. What a bunch of shit. If only I had know then what I know now... Since that last one I have been feeling different. Irritable, my sleep schedule has been a disaster, mood swings, loss of concentration at times, and my ability to balance was completely thrown off. I also noticed a slight decrease in my vision, things would be blurry at times and bright lights would give me screaming headaches. Sometimes I find myself stumbling with pronunciation and can't seem to say what I want. Interacting with people and speaking about my feelings was/is impossible. I can't seem to ever be able to express my thoughts and feelings unless I write them down. There are times where I just can't say what I want and saying things completely different than I intend. I also find myself acting in ways that make absolutely no sense to me. Finally the most major change was how apathetic I had become, which in turn coupled with the other issues has pushed some very important people out of my life. I never put two and two together until a few weeks ago when I really started reading into TBI's and I watched Kevin Pearce's HBO documentary Crash Reel. Even though I have never had a major TBI, everything builds up over time and the more hits your brain takes the more susceptible you become. It can also take years to "recover" from a head injury. Bright lights, loud sounds, stress, other impacts to name a few all play a factor on how your body will recover. The infographic below was spot on, I almost feel relieved that this has all been caused by something and its not just me. So if you do hit your head please go get it checked! You only have one brain and it can't be replaced.
4 Comments
Marco - whooooow - what a bio on how to abuse your body! I understand you so well! The least we think of is that there would be some permanent damage if untreated. On a very, very small scale that happened to me when I tore off my meniscus summersaulting with a snowboard. I refused to go to the doctor until 4 months later my wife put a gun on my head and forced me to got. Surgery was the nex day.
It´s OK to be a tough guy but within limitations. It´s like with flying - we say "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots!"
Get well soon!
Thank you for sharing. Brain injuries are finally getting the respect they deserve. Know there are some outstanding doctors and organizations to support you and the people that care about you. If you are having trouble finding them, let me know. My best friend's sister used to work for one of them so I could find out for you. Best of luck and thanks for the reminder!
Marco - Concussions are totally additive, I have had 8 or so (can't remember all of them) but I also had major seizures for two and a half years (almost 900, every single day almost, sometimes multiple a day), The worst part for me was a set of concussions happen when I was supposed to be recovering from one (I walked backward off a building at night on an exercise when I was in the marine corps) I hit a double up on my wakeboard, lost myself in the air doing a raley and came down from a good 18 feet or so unconscious after hitting the water. These do add up, you may not have had a single TBI but a couple concussions can equal one. Getting checked out after is important, avoiding the reinjury is just as important.
Just read this Marco. Thanks for sharing. Pretty serious stuff obviously, going to check out the links now.
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