Concussion - recovery and studying

[Underbudget]

Poor DD19 got concussed following a sporting injury a few weeks ago and is really struggling to get back to her studies due to ongoing fatigue. Uni is being quite supportive but she's missed a tonne of lectures and they are concerned she won't catch up. She has no pain or headaches any more, but she does a day or two and is then wiped out for a couple of days. Just looking to link with anyone who might have supported a young adult through this type of injury. They are talking of her deferring for a year, as the more she misses, the more there is to do. Really sad for her and I don't know what to suggest. I worry she's pushing herself more than her body can take but I know she's desperate to carry on.

Bump 😊

It's still very early if it was a nasty concussion to expect her to be fully recovered. Can she take a few weeks off totally? Has she been given pointers (no screens, lots of rest, keep hydrated etc.)?

She needs to be careful as you can develop Post Concussion Syndrome which lasts for a while. I would be trying to get her to take a few weeks off totally and see how she feels.

I had a bad concussion and got PCS and it was horrible

(I went back to work and couldn't remember my colleague's names!)

Thanks @FlyMeToPluto the problem is she picks up again, gets going again and thinks that's it she's over it. She's even talking of taking up the same sport again next week (it's a high risk one, I am growing to hate it!). I just want her to manage a couple of weeks of lectures before she even considers that. The difficulty is she's an adult! If she takes any more time off now, she will very likely be advised to leave her course. I think she's played down the seriousness of her concussion to her sports trainer and I'm very tempted to intervene directly to them, but I know that will be very damaging to our relationship. Hating this parenting stage, more than any other right now!

Both DH and I have had concussion. He was fine after a month. Mine was a worse concussion and it took 3 months to feel ok. He was completely knocked out whereas I received a head injury and didn’t have symptoms till the next day and was very dizzy and vomiting.

There is no way she should be playing contact sports if not fully recovered.

oh it is difficult when they are that age isn't it!

I suspect if her sports trainer knew how she was really feeling, he/she would not be allowing her to continue for some time.

Did they give her anything on concussion (was she checked out at the hospital)?

Headway are very good and have some great factsheets on there. What course is she on that missing a few weeks is so critical to her outcome? It sounds quite intense!

www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/types-of-brain-injury/mild-head-injury-and-concussion/

Thanks all. It's been several weeks already and she's not helped herself by just not turning up and not calling in when she's taken to bed. She's also lied to me about things which I only discovered through the uni, so she's not doing herself any favours there. I've changed some details so as not to out her but I do share their concerns that she's going to have so much to catch up on if she misses much more, she'll be under extra pressure for longer to get back up to speed.

She had a CAT scan and her headache just wouldn't shift for days and days and days, also had weak legs and pains, vomiting and some nausea remains.

I'm not 100% convinced either that her sports club are really aware of what happened, as she said it seemed minor at the time and she downplayed it, but her symptoms were slow onset. They know she had a scan though, and I'm a bit annoyed they haven't contacted me or her since to see how she's doing tbh.

I'm thinking of insisting she is symptom free, and has done a full week of lectures, before she returns to sport and that I'll contact them myself if there's any more talk of her going back too soon. Thankfully she's still living here so I can keep tabs on her! Does this sound reasonable way of dealing with it?

One of my dc had concussion following an injury and it took 5 months to recover.

How old was your dc if you don't mind me asking @endofthelinefinally? And what kind of support did they get through education or work?

My husband is in his second year post a severe concussion and is still experiencing difficulties. He has to wear blackout glasses out the house and even indoors on bright days. He needs 15 min screen breaks every hour and has double vision, white noise and floaters. She is really still in the early days of recovering. We are going to the eye hospital again this afternoon. Has she been discharged?

Gosh that sounds awful @Doggymummar I'm really sorry to hear that. DD is lucky really, it only seems to be fatigue and some nausea still remaining. She wasn't kept in so has been at home the whole time.

14. No support at all.

Gosh that's awful

Did they miss lots of school @endofthelinefinally? DD is progressing through the intervention stages for lack of attendance. Can't bear the thought of her becoming NEET because of this.

Yes DS had a concussion that lasted about 3 months - although he appeared 'fine' after a couple of weeks he couldn't read for longer than 30 mins without causing terrible headaches and needing to rest. GP was visited 5 times and they (along with A&E) refused any kind of scans despite being unconscious and fitting at the time of the incident!

Anyway, it was a very slow recovery and as he was mid studies (luckily the school were the only ones to be fantastic) we found gradually increasing the amount of working time and literally going for a lie down after worked.

Best wishes to the OPs DD, it's a horrible thing to happen and unfortunately not taken seriously enough

Gosh just found this and am following. My ds (9) got a concussion from a football tackle about 6 weeks ago and is still suffering (headaches mostly). He was checked out by the GP at the time and I have spoken to her twice since but they don’t seem to be helpful at all.
really depressing that it can take months to heal. He has good days and bad days and is still playing sport on good days.

Wow I can't believe your ds didn't get a scan @flotsomandjetsome!
Dd can sleep for hours during the day after studying and still sleep at night through to the next afternoon.
Headway looks a very good resource so thanks to pp upthread for that and I have to agree, concussion is very down the list in people's awareness (mine included before this, I must say).

Yes, months was missed. But it was the school's fault the injury happened so they just pretended it wasn't happening.

Phased return to regular life, studying and then sports. No point in rushing and setting herself back. DC with 3+ concussions; was encouraged to gradually increase activity eg school to the point symptoms worsened/returned and then rest. Was done in a gradual and stepwise fashion, going back a step when symptoms worsened eg head hurt more. Reintroduction of sports was slower and more cautious. It is frustrating and hard; please encourage DD to be patient and that slow is fast. No point in pushing too hard and relapsing. She might need outlets to help cope with the sudden change in her circumstances.

Not sure where you live, but where I am most sport associations have concussion protocols which include reintroduction to the sport in a phased approach.

There are many available online resources. Here’s advice from the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/heads-up/hcp/clinical-guidance/index.html

Zero medical knowledge but I'm a uni lecturer and if she's being encouraged to defer I would strongly recommend she takes that chance.

They can fall behind so quickly, and it's not just a case of catching up on this semester, she'll be on the back foot all this year and go into next year with lower marks than she's capable of - if she manages to progress at all.

We see so many students get themselves into this hole for one reason or another and it's really really hard to dig their way out.

She's much better off (in my opinion) to defer now, focus on her recovery and then come back fighting fit next September.

(Real/proper) concussion is really debilitating.

It can take 12-18months on average for full recovery.

People have ended up needing inpatient mental health support due to it.

If uni will let her defer and for no extra costs I would seriously consider it.

I understand not wanting to defer this early on and pay a years tuition and then pay again to repeat. However she may also have to if she can't get the results this year.

She could always use the year to work on the amount of time she can standby and use that as an advantage to do advanced reading on her study subject to "get ahead" for want of a better phrase.

Thank you. I really appreciate all the considered advice. This was meant to be a fresh start for her for lots of reasons and it's gutting as she was off to a great start before this. We will work with the uni to work out the best options. I too think if they are mentioning deferring already, that's quite positive in itself.

This is what I was expecting but I think DD has downplayed things. I've made it clear that she needs to follow advice, have resumed normal activities for a week or two before even considering a return, or I will have to speak to them. There has been no mention of any kind of investigation or report about what happened, the fact she says no-one saw what happened has unnerved me about this club.