My brain passed the test!

You may remember, a few months ago I had a bit of an incident at the pool after not sleeping well for a while (I wrote about it here). Well I had forgotten the ED Dr had referred me to Neurology until an appointment card arrived in the post.

I was pretty anxious about the whole deal, the ED Dr mentioned the possibility of it being a seizure and that I might have epilepsy and that was the last thing I needed, I was terrified I would lose my license or something!

Well I had a sleep deprived EEG and then yesterday I saw the Neurologist (who was actually running early would you believe!!). One of my good friends came with me which was very helpful as she had been present when I had keeled over.
He asked me questions I had trouble answering (I dont really remember that evening at all) and then did a neuro exam (which was as normal as it can be in a person with CRPS-but please would could you actually register I have PAIN and be gentle with my hurt parts?).
I am happy to say that I have a brain ;) and he said that it sounded nothing like a seizure and although my EEG basic report showed some abnormal activity he attributes that to the medication I take for the CRPS pain rather than anything else (thank goodness). The episode was most likely due to extreme fatigue and he did mention my previous head injury.

He is ordering an MRI of my brain to be on the safe side, just in case they have missed anything that could be hiding but I'm sure they haven't. He will also let me know the final results of the indepth EEG reading when it is ready. I cant say how relieved I am about the outcome of that appointment, I'm sure the MRI will be fine and then I'll be all good to go and I promise to look after myself better this year-I really want this year to be much better all round!

Brain Injury Awareness Week

So here we are right in the middle of Brain injury awareness week.
This year the focus is on concussion, something I have had my fair share of experience in-especially the long terms symptoms that sometimes linger for years.

I don't ever recommend trying this out, it really sucks and anything that involves your precious brain cant be good.

Seriously though, I never knew just how complex your brain really was until this year, I mean I had some concept I suppose but until I started studying the parts that make up the brain and the complex functions and then get told that we don't really understand much of how it works, you start to appreciate just how important it is to look after your head.

I'm making it my most important goal (over and above exams and everything) to stop falling and giving myself complex concussions. Realistically this is a bit hard just to start doing, but I'm on track to start sorting out all my balance and vestibular problems and hopefully when we get these sorted, habitual falling will be a thing of the past.

Amazing

So many times I hear "its so amazing that you are still here at uni at all, considering whats happened to you..." Why? Do people really give up that easily? I would be throwing up a chance of a lifetime and wasting so much hard work if I packed this all in without at least trying.

Others start telling me that I need to see a shrink cos 'I'm in denial about how sick I am'. Thats not true, for one thing I'm not sick-I have an injury! Ok so it may be a pretty significant injury or collection of injuries but that doesn't mean I'm sick, it just means I have a few barriers to overcome.

Sometimes I get so down when people say that they don't think I should carry on, I start to believe them. I'm so grateful to my band of friends who stick by me and remind me that I can do this, without them I might forget and do something I would regret.
Thank you so much for motivating and having faith in me, it gives me the confidence I need to carry on-because of you I WILL become a physio, some day...it may not be in the usual 4 years but it doesn't matter how long it takes because I will have done it against the odds and all because of you!

My Diary

I have this love/hate relationship with my diary. I love it because I need it and I would be totally lost without it but at the same time I hate it because I wish I didn't need it and it is a hassle writing in it all the time!

I'm not talking about a "dear diary" no, just one of those day planners that everyday people use to organise their schedule. It just happens that mine is more than just an organiser-its my memory.
Ever since my head injury, I have a non-existant memory and have to rely on written memos to remind me to go to appointments, what and where my lectures are each day and any other important appointments and also bills, library books and birthday reminders etc. It also serves as a good place to write random things like what pain I am experiencing today, what I want to talk to someone about and to remind me to do things like vaccum my room, do my washing and watch tv!

The only problem with this system is you have to actually remember to write in it! I can hear you say "how hard can that be? When I do, it is great, although you also have to remember to look in it too. But my biggest problem is actually remembering to write in it and I don't mean I don't try, I do-but its amazingly hard. I get my diary out, find a pen and then the date and then sit there and go "what was I supposed to be writing in this....?" Sometimes I have several things I spontaneously remember I need to write and while writing the first thing I have forgotton the others. I find this so frustrating and annoying and so I go through periods of not using it. Whats the point if you don't remember to write things in the first place-what use is that, it cant remind you then, thats why I hate it. But its not the diary's fault, the poor thing tries hard, I mean it has lots of space for me to write whatever I want, it never gets lost and it holds lots random bits of paper I decide to put in it. I just wish it was able to read my mind and write things in itself, then I could never hate it-how useful that would be!