"...people just didn't understand what I was going through."
Dianne
Well my first concussion was in June 26 of 2007 at work. I got hit on the left side of my head and neck and shoulder with steel rods. After I got hit I started to get a headache and a bit of blurred vision and didn't know where I was and what happened.
About three weeks later after my concussion I started to experience numbness on my left side of my face and my speech started to slur. I went to my doctor and he informed me that I received a concussion. But I was like most people I was in denial that I was hurt and I continued to work. The headaches got worse and I noticed my attention span and concentration was not the same after that. I had a hard time multi-tasking and with the speed of my brain's processing.
Then in December 22 of 2008 I received my second concussion at work. Well this one took took me out of the game. My family really started to notice my personality change, I was irritable and get upset very easily. I started to get depressed not knowing what's going on with me and I thought I was going crazy. My work fired me in January 27th of 2009. I tried to find work after that but the three jobs I got they fired me because I could not do the work. This just put me into a deeper depression because I thought I was useless.
The pain was unbelievable and people just did not understand what I was going through. Most of them thought I was just faking my injury just to get attention. I lost my balance so sometimes I stumbled and now people think I'm drinking when I go out in public. People don't realize a brain injury is a hidden injury which causes a lot of problems that no one can see and you are left alone at times to figure out what's going on. But thank God I was a fighter and I had to find out what is going on and that I'm not going crazy.
I found a great neurologist and she put me into rehab to help me with my brain injury. I lost a lot of my life in 2007. I had to change the way I lived and the way I am around people because they just don't see the pain you are in. 'Till this day I still deal with the problems from my concussion but I know I still have to continue on and not give up.
Thank God for support groups - they really help out a lot with someone with a brain injury. It's hard to make decisions on your own, trying to multitask is very hard because of the pain you're in. My concentration and attention span is not good at all. I am not good in crowds because I cannot understand what's going on in the conversation. So I had to learn to read lips in order to find out what's going on. I lost my smell and taste also with my concussions which is very hard because you really can't enjoy your food like you used to. The worst part about it is you do not get enough sleep because your brain just won't shut down or you're in pain because of your injury.
People have to understand the someone with a brain injury suffers just as much as someone with a broken arm or leg. And we struggle everyday just to get out of bed and continue the day. We are isolated because people just don't understand how brain injuries affect people and their life and the loved ones around them. It took me 10 years to win my case with WSIB but I did win. They finally realized that I had a brain injury and I wasn't faking or lying to them. This shouldn't happen to people fighting this long to get help who received the brain injury. It's a hidden injury no one can see - it is only a person that's going through it that knows exactly how it affects you and your life.