A Ray of Hope...

If you’ve read my previous blogs for the Concussion Legacy Foundation or Boston Children’s Hospital, you know how rough concussion and PCS can be. I was out of school for the 2015-2016 academic year with some tough symptoms. Now, having had a great junior year and first quarter of senior year and looking forward to college, I can assure you that you can get so much better. It may not happen overnight, but looking back at my medical leave year and the blogs I wrote then, things have changed so much.

In March, I went on a two-week school service trip to Rwanda. I felt so much better symptom-wise, and I wanted to challenge myself. It was extremely hot and sunny, and we had long days with intense physical service work. Two years ago, I don’t think I would have been able to go on the trip and handle everything, but this year I had the most amazing time there and didn’t miss a thing. I took a 10 mile hike at midday where we were swarmed by kids from the local villages who walked with us and whom we taught the ABCs, I took long bus rides, and I had the stamina to form amazing friendships with students I met at the boarding school we visited, Agahozo Shalom Youth Village, and with my peers with whom I travelled. Having taken that trip made me feel very confident that the worst of my symptoms were gone and reassured me that my road to recovery was near complete -- I want to tell you that yours is, or will be, too.

Here on Headstrong and through the Concussion Legacy Foundation, I want to keep telling you my stories, the good and the bad. I think it’s important to keep in mind where you’ve been and how far you’ve come in your recovery, wherever you are, but I also don’t want you to feel that PCS is going to be forever.

Now, I feel that the worst is far behind me, and that I am able to successfully manage a few residual symptoms. I am capable of anything academically and professionally; I’ve handled myself at a tough private school, and I undertook an intense internship this summer. It’s important to remember that thoughtful changes can make a world of difference: harnessing little memory tricks, opting for dinners with friends rather than parties with loud music, remembering your sunglasses. At this point, other than contact sports, there isn’t really anything that I cannot do.

So if you feel that you’re in for the long haul, the load gets a little lighter each week, and at some point, you’ll barely notice the burden.