Concussion Chronicle: Off the Disabled List

Today I am officially closing out the Concussion Chronicle, ending my "rehab" schedule, officially taking myself off the disabled list, and summarizing my thoughts on the experience.

I have been feeling much better over the last 10 days and have been completely symptom free now for 72 hours. I drove seven hours yesterday without any ill effects. My thinking is clear, and in fact I am now getting back the "better than normal" sharpness I had in the weeks before the injury. My emotions are back in gear: the mood swings are under control and my responses to stimuli are (what passes for) normal.

I'm going to need it: the concussion cost me six weeks of extremely important work time. But it also gave me a renewed sense of perspective on several issues.

***The relationship between mind and brain. During the worst of it, I knew my brain was malfunctioning but seemed powerless to do much about it, buffeted by physical and emotional forces that I could not control. That said, there was also some part of me, some kernel of awareness, that was observing the whole process objectively, even as it was forced to have the experience and could not control what was happening. Lots of food for thought here.

***As I've mentioned in past posts on the issue, the whole thing showed me exactly how serious even a "mild" concussion can be.

***I have a renewed sense of how lucky I really am. My injury healed eventually. Many people have brain injuries that never heal. I will never take my brain and my overall health for granted again.

Moving forward, on a physical basis I have a lot of work to do. I couldn't exercise at all during the worst of it, and I've gained 15 pounds as a result. I was already significantly overweight so I have to get back on a stricter diet regimen and get more exercise.

Work-wise I am busily catching up with my baseball reading and research. I couldn't absorb any information for a month so there is a lot to do. I was back on a normal writing schedule in the days before the holiday and handled that well so I anticipate no further problems.

Thanks again for your support and your patience!