11/12
Post Concussion Day #51. Popped-in to work for 3-4 unofficial hours. Hauled boxes of books around until the little old woman inside my brain took her cane to the side of my head: WHADAYA DOIN HERE, EH?!?
11/13
Post concussion Day #52. Stamina and abstract organization (i.e. getting someplace on time with what I need, dressed, breakfasted and prepared) seem to be the next hurdles.
11/16
Post Concussion Day #55... good God, it's day #55. Was at work last night as our book fair brought in $6000 over three hours. Woke up tired this AM, but not wiped-out. Progress!
11/17
Post Concussion Day #58. Spaghetti supper with a crowd at friends’ home tonight. Sound hasn’t bothered me for awhile now, but it did tonight. On the way home, stoplights were spears through my eyeballs.
11/18
Post Concussion Day #57. I tend to push my bed times because I somehow think I’m going to cheat the day and gain a couple more hours if I stay up late. Today, the whirlies were back but I'm choosing to look at it logically and rationally with a calm mind and peaceful @#!$! thoughts laced with bunnies and kitties and vampire bats and a few rabid dogs because THIS IS #@!$*^! IRRITATING!
11/19
Post concussion Day #58. Feeling better today. Good thing I'm not prone to irritation or anything. Three unofficial hours at work last eve. Headache today.
11/20
Post Concussion Day #59. You HAVE TO do yoga! along with a long-winded explanation of how great it is for whatever ails me is just not what I need to hear when I mention to you that stamina and abstract organization are my next hurdles. My dealing with memory struggles and fatigue is not your “just like the time I ____” unless your blank is filled-in with the words HAD A CONCUSSION.
11/21
Post Concussion Day #60. I'm feeling similar to that of being three days beyond the ralphing part of the stomach flu...OK, but not 100%. Tight neck and shoulder muscles cause headaches. A heating bean and contoured pillow are my best friends. Wide awake at 4:30 AM for two days in a row. WTF?!?
11/23
Post Concussion Day #62. Up until midnight making Spring Break plans. Whoopie!
11/25
Post Concussion Day #64. Wiped out. I’m going on two nights of not-enough sleep. Sleep patterns have been bizzarre: nights of 10 hours, then a night of five.
11/26-30
Post Concussion Days #65-69. This is the first entire week that I've felt back to normal at home...been running errands like a madwoman, digging through thrift store piles, started an old-bicycle project.
12/2
Post Concussion Day #70. Curt letter from HR on Friday afternoon has kept me awake for the past two nights...finally able to sleep after figuring-out it resulted from the neurologist filling-out out the Return to Work form incorrectly and HR communicating it to me in their imbicilic manner. This is not what I need right now.
12/3-6
Post Concussion Day #71-74. Three half-days at work this week...headaches after 4 hours. Not migranes. Man, little goobers take a lot of eyes and ears...and I DO this for a living?!?
12/7
Post Concussion Day #75. My first whole Surly Furious since September!
12/11
Post Concussion Day #...let's see, it happened 9/23, so today is...today is number ...I found a winter beater bike on CraigsList...working half-days...overhauled the front hub...Day#78???...damn, the pet hair around this place...IT'S COLD OUT....
Is there such a thing as Adult-Onset ADD?
12/12
Post-Concussion Day #80. Today's watershed moment: I got to a meeting almost on time with almost everything I was supposed to have along! Back to work half-days.
12/17-21
Post Concussion Days #85-90. Back to work for about 6 hours daily. Finally seeing progress dealing with complex thought processes and interruptions. Fewer headaches. Still some sensitivity to loud sounds. Feeling around 85-90% of normal...whatever that is!
- OB
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Friday, December 07, 2012
Recuperating 2
10/24
Post Concussion Day #32. Cleaning up around the house takes just too much walking back and forth. Yardwork = getting up and down. Makes me dizzy!
10/25
Post Concussion Day #33. Went in to work for a couple of hours, unofficially (if HR asks, I was home watching the grass turn brown), to deal with some organizational tasks. I still can’t filter auditorally or visually – everything has the same significance and it takes a ton of concentration to focus. Many coworkers glad to see me – heartwarming. Left with a headache and tight neck and shoulder muscles.
10/26
Post Concussion Day #34. Spent the day sleeping and reading USADA documents...maybe the need for a nap wasn’t due to the concussion....
10/27
Post Concussion Day #35. Breakfast at Barbette. Lots of yardwork. Exhausted.
10/28
Post Concussion Day #36. Mark says I can consider going back to work as soon as I consider making a sandwich to be “making a sandwich” and not “multitasking”. Sticking to a sequence is surprisingly challenging! My Experiences with (hopefully) Temporary ADD
10/29
Post Concussion Day #37. Spent the afternoon finally able to start through my desk piles for the first time in 5+ weeks: misc. stickie notes, financial stuff, papers, bills, filing, clutter....
10/30
Post Concussion Day #38. Coffee with a friend with a short ride afterward. Riding straight ahead on a bicycle = fine. Changing directions while walking around a school library = queazy. No balance issues. I feel at home on the bike.
10/31
Post Concussion Day #39. Sunny day! Felt pretty darned OK. Answered work email. Writing anything takes me twice as long as usual. I haven't been writing writing yet...I miss it, but I can't really stomach it right now.
11/1
Post Concussion Day #40. TODAY, impatience set in. Tues. and Wed. I felt relatively OK except for some fatigue. Still spent the majority of each day on my arse. Today I woke up with the whirlies and they stuck around for the day. Criminy. Yes, everything is moving forward...bla, bla, bla....
11/2
Post Concussion Day #41. Biked downtown to meet Mark for lunch. Meeting coworkers and lots of skyway walking was exhausting. I definitely felt “flat.”
11/3
Post Concussion Day #42. Sitaround Saturday. Met up with friends for supper -- I'm not an extrovert, but I sure enjoy getting out and being around people.
11/4
Post-Concussion Day #43. Posted four sets of cycling shoes on CraigsList and needed a nap...there’s all the pictures, the taking, the uploading, the descriptions.... A dull headache seems to be the pattern after a few hours of concentration.
11/5
Post Concussion Day #44. Friends who have gone through similar say this is when it gets tough: feeling better enough to have some relatively normal days, but not consistently enough to depend on feeling well every day. It’s easy to do too much and then I pay for it.
11/7
Post Concussion Day #46. I’m finding that I'm better able to concentrate without exhaustion, multitask (multitasking is two things, like cooking while doing laundry), work through a list, filter out a lot of extraneous visual and auditory stimuli, drive freeways without fatigue. I’ve felt “relatively OK” for three days! “Relatively OK" = fatigue and maybe a slight headache, but not feeling wiped out. Progress!
11/8
Post Concussion Day #47. All my past experiences (illness, injuries) tell me how healing "should" progress, but Progression doesn't seem interested in my preconceived assumptions. Writing, wording, organizing, filtering noise, multitasking...all are still tiring, but not exhausting anymore. I met up with WD for his bicycle commute home through Lowry Hill. It felt great to be out, but really? Hills??
11/9
Post Concussion Day #48. Woke up tired and headachy with my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth...which, you know, isn't so far-off given I'm clawing out of a pit with regards to my fitness level.
11/10
Non-Epilogue...seven weeks. You know how you feel coming off the stomach flu? Feeling better, attitude better, but still fatigued and droopy? That's about where I'm at. I'm getting used to a new ebb and flow. It seems that each week adds a day that I wake up feeling relatively OK--three so far this week--but I'll then deal with whirlies and fatigue for a few days. I haven't been too impatient yet...tough to be ancy when I'm feeling queazy.
-The Old better by fits and starts Bag
Post Concussion Day #32. Cleaning up around the house takes just too much walking back and forth. Yardwork = getting up and down. Makes me dizzy!
10/25
Post Concussion Day #33. Went in to work for a couple of hours, unofficially (if HR asks, I was home watching the grass turn brown), to deal with some organizational tasks. I still can’t filter auditorally or visually – everything has the same significance and it takes a ton of concentration to focus. Many coworkers glad to see me – heartwarming. Left with a headache and tight neck and shoulder muscles.
10/26
Post Concussion Day #34. Spent the day sleeping and reading USADA documents...maybe the need for a nap wasn’t due to the concussion....
10/27
Post Concussion Day #35. Breakfast at Barbette. Lots of yardwork. Exhausted.
10/28
Post Concussion Day #36. Mark says I can consider going back to work as soon as I consider making a sandwich to be “making a sandwich” and not “multitasking”. Sticking to a sequence is surprisingly challenging! My Experiences with (hopefully) Temporary ADD
10/29
Post Concussion Day #37. Spent the afternoon finally able to start through my desk piles for the first time in 5+ weeks: misc. stickie notes, financial stuff, papers, bills, filing, clutter....
10/30
Post Concussion Day #38. Coffee with a friend with a short ride afterward. Riding straight ahead on a bicycle = fine. Changing directions while walking around a school library = queazy. No balance issues. I feel at home on the bike.
10/31
Post Concussion Day #39. Sunny day! Felt pretty darned OK. Answered work email. Writing anything takes me twice as long as usual. I haven't been writing writing yet...I miss it, but I can't really stomach it right now.
11/1
Post Concussion Day #40. TODAY, impatience set in. Tues. and Wed. I felt relatively OK except for some fatigue. Still spent the majority of each day on my arse. Today I woke up with the whirlies and they stuck around for the day. Criminy. Yes, everything is moving forward...bla, bla, bla....
11/2
Post Concussion Day #41. Biked downtown to meet Mark for lunch. Meeting coworkers and lots of skyway walking was exhausting. I definitely felt “flat.”
11/3
Post Concussion Day #42. Sitaround Saturday. Met up with friends for supper -- I'm not an extrovert, but I sure enjoy getting out and being around people.
11/4
Post-Concussion Day #43. Posted four sets of cycling shoes on CraigsList and needed a nap...there’s all the pictures, the taking, the uploading, the descriptions.... A dull headache seems to be the pattern after a few hours of concentration.
11/5
Post Concussion Day #44. Friends who have gone through similar say this is when it gets tough: feeling better enough to have some relatively normal days, but not consistently enough to depend on feeling well every day. It’s easy to do too much and then I pay for it.
11/7
Post Concussion Day #46. I’m finding that I'm better able to concentrate without exhaustion, multitask (multitasking is two things, like cooking while doing laundry), work through a list, filter out a lot of extraneous visual and auditory stimuli, drive freeways without fatigue. I’ve felt “relatively OK” for three days! “Relatively OK" = fatigue and maybe a slight headache, but not feeling wiped out. Progress!
11/8
Post Concussion Day #47. All my past experiences (illness, injuries) tell me how healing "should" progress, but Progression doesn't seem interested in my preconceived assumptions. Writing, wording, organizing, filtering noise, multitasking...all are still tiring, but not exhausting anymore. I met up with WD for his bicycle commute home through Lowry Hill. It felt great to be out, but really? Hills??
11/9
Post Concussion Day #48. Woke up tired and headachy with my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth...which, you know, isn't so far-off given I'm clawing out of a pit with regards to my fitness level.
11/10
Non-Epilogue...seven weeks. You know how you feel coming off the stomach flu? Feeling better, attitude better, but still fatigued and droopy? That's about where I'm at. I'm getting used to a new ebb and flow. It seems that each week adds a day that I wake up feeling relatively OK--three so far this week--but I'll then deal with whirlies and fatigue for a few days. I haven't been too impatient yet...tough to be ancy when I'm feeling queazy.
-The Old better by fits and starts Bag
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