Actually I was referring to another post. But, sorry if anything that I wrote offended you as that was not, and is not, my intention.
@skppy00 I don’t think you mentioned how he got the concussion, but the school should be experienced in this type of thing. I’m not sure how the AP test works, but I’m sure if you reach out to the counselor they must know about possible retakes. It took my son a while to make up all the missed work, but the school should definitely work with you on all of this, especially is he has always been a strong student. Good luck!
Good luck - my daughter dealt with 3 concussions during high school, one close to finals sophomore year. We didn’t see a specialist, but our awesome pediatrician worked with us through all of them, and our school certainly had its own protocol - it was an advantage to have a local pediatrician helping with the school. Luckily for us, my daughter did not have post-concussion symptoms, but it took her 2 weeks to really recover each time. My advice is to listen to the doctor and your son. Only he knows how he is feeling and how he is feeling governs what he can engage in. We let my daughter take some finals a little late (rather than waiting until the start of school in the fall to take them).We discussed this with our doctor and decided the anxiety of waiting was going to delay her recovery even more than taking the tests. In retrospect, I wish I had pushed the school harder to get her excused - not because I think taking the finals set her recovery back at all, but because she shouldn’t have been put in that position. If your school is reasonable, I would at least ask them about the 1.1 boost for a student who planned to take the AP test but can’t for medical reasons.
@NJWrestlingmom I mentioned how he got it in post #20.
I have emailed both the Teacher and Counselor yesterday but still no response. My poor boy is going stir crazy. Not being able to distract himself with things is making him much much more anxious and last night was a really bad night. He had terrible insomnia and panic attacks all night long. This is just awful.
I am so sorry to hear about your son and his post concussive symptoms. My daughter suffered a two concussions the beginning of her junior year during BB games. The second concussion came right after she had been cleared to play again. We pulled her out of BB and brought her immediately to a neurologist specializing in concussions. A letter was written for us with accommodations for the school. We had a very involved GC , and she was put on a 504 plan. My daughter is a high achiever too who suffers from anxiety and I was very worried about how she would handle the pressure of missing so much school, getting caught up and retaking all of her tests. She had headaches and was unable to multi task , concentration was affected as well as her ability to stay focused. Once the 504 plan is established teachers must follow the guidelines suggested. We did not get responses from teachers until the guidance counselor got involved. You need to reach out to the head of guidance if you are not getting responses to your emails and get in quickly to see the neurologist so the accommodations can be written for your child.
Wow, this turned out to be a timely thread. My 17-year-old nephew was in a car accident as he left school on Thursday and suffered a concussion. I told my sister to keep a close eye on him! Kind of ironic - sis was nervous about her daughter traveling to Columbia the same day! Niece did fine.
After reading your posts, I wonder if the first hit, into his baseball helmet, didn’t effect him to the point where the minor elbow to the head 10 days later finally brought on the concussion symptoms? I am not a doctor but I read and analyze medical records in my job. I would just make certain that the concussion doctor knows about the first hit.
Good luck to you and your son.
@techmom99 …I completely agree. He also had another pitch hit him on the top of the head a week before that too. It wasn’t a hard pitch more like a lob and it bounced off the top of his helmet. He says he didn’t feel anything from the hits on the helmet but I am sure it shook his head some. We have an urgent referral from his doctor to see a specialist. He is having all different changes in emotion. Yesterday he was weepy, today he is irritable. This is so strange. A good friend of mine shared this article with me and it fits him perfectly.
http://rethinkconcussions.upmc.com/2018/02/mood-anxiety-infographic/
It might release some anxiety to let your child do a small thing. My son walked around in the backyard, he watched 5 minutes of classic cartoons, played with silly putty, and colored with crayons. If the “rest” is making it worse, you may want to consider small changes to help him get through this. A five minute visit with a friend, a stroll around the block, something to break the monotony.
Or you may need to consider anti-anxiety meds. One thing leads to another in this crazy concussion world. My son now deals with anxiety and depression, things he did not have to contend with pre-concussion.
Ask your son what he wants to do. Maybe there is a little wiggle room between complete rest and 95% rest with a couple of minutes of SOMETHING every few hours.
The concussion causes anxiety. It is a physiological symptom. Carefully supervised, as needed Ativan might be helpful, especially for sleep. It should not be taken three days in a row and often a half or even quarter of a pill would work. Addiction can be avoided but these meds can be really really helpful in certain situations. Above all make sure he gets enough sleep!!!
The suggestions about getting work (in an earlier post I wrote, about consulting a lawyer for ideas) was not for the current situation, with acute symptoms, but for the time when he is able to, say begin by going to one class. And build from there. I forgot that it is late May and he won’t be in school much longer- summer is coming!!
Your son must be in a competitive academic environment with a lot of pressure about college admissions. We were lucky to avoid that. He needs to understand that his work all year is NOT wasted, that he learned something from his AP class! Focusing on the GPA boost is no doubt a result of warped school and peer pressure on these things. He really should avoid the exam entirely. Sitting in a room and doing nothing in order to get the 1.1 GPA boost does not seem like a good solution.
Understanding that this kind of obstacle is not the end of the world is the most important long term goal. In fact, his ability to overcome this can result in far more benefit to college admission than GPA. The guidance counselor can explain things and your son can write about it himself, in a supplementary essay or the main one.
I just spent a weekend with a bunch of young men doing Tai Chi, short and long forms, saber form, fighting set, push hands, centering- all based on martial training. It builds strength and concentration and fosters mental well-being as well.
For the moment, there are many things he could do as he improves. Board games, artwork (even those adult coloring books), Quigong (find a class or teacher to come to the house), volunteering with animals (I did this: I held cats and just sat there…they could turn the lights off)…I think doing absolutely nothing is impossible emotionally and once he is past the very worst there are things he could do at a minimal but increasing level.
I would not rely on the doctor’s referral. You can find a specialist online, read reviews, and so on. You can certainly check the doctor out with primary care but you have more time than the primary care doctor to look into the best specialist. I would think a major teaching hospital would be the best bet.
I also would not rely on the GC or 504 coordinator unless you are totally happy with what they provide. An advocate or lawyer can be helpful and a consultation doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. In our state there are free advocates.
He WILL get better and function again.
ps Often schools will seem to be unresponsive when actually they just don’t know how to serve the student, are too disorganized, or some other factor other than not wanting to help…that is why we went to the lawyer…the school actually appreciated the help. And without a meeting of teachers, principal and nurse- and you- no one will have a plan or know what to do.
I am so sorry you all are dealing with this. You have received some good advice and ideas, just wanted to wish a quick recovery.
Yes, see a concussion specialist. Our son developed post-concussion syndrome his junior year. He needed to receive a lot of accommodations. His lasted 9 months until he was fully cleared. He had been a very active, competitive athlete prior to the concussion, and became almost depressed as this dragged on. His concussion specialist was concerned about this, so prescribed him exercise with p/t specialists, so he could be hooked up to monitors at the local hospital while he ran on the treadmill, so his vitals could be monitored (she wanted to monitor everything.) I am so grateful for that concussion specialist. We found out later that post-concussion syndrome is much more likely if someone gets migraines, which my son does. In the end he healed, received great recommendations, was admitted to his first choice, Tulane, but opted to go to Ithaca, as their financial aid package to him was too good to pass up. He is now working at his dream job. He has since shared that his concussion was a formative experience - he feels like he can get through any difficulty now.
"He has since shared that his concussion was a formative experience - he feels like he can get through any difficulty now. " Exactly. It is hard to see now but ultimately this kind of experience can be empowering. At least for some. It is a parenting challenge for sure but it can help to keep in mind the kind of experience MazeArtCrew describes. Your son will come to it over time. (One of my kids had a serious TBI involving neuro ICU and inpatient rehab which had a similar effect to MazeArtCrew’s son’s experience.)
Took our daughter out of competitive soccer after her second concussion. It took almost 6 months to get back to symptom-free living. Vision issues, eye pain, ice pick headaches, fatigue. Inactivity which led to depressed mood. Head pain with exercise and elevated heart rate. Math performance notably affected, even though her strongest subject. But it was temporary.
She wasn’t in high school yet. I can’t imagine the added stress with the timing of your son’s injury.
Our daughter recovered. Survived the depression that resulted from the loss of her favorite activity. Found a new sport. No more headaches. Life returned to normal!
Really hard to keep active kids down, but that would be my only advice. D’s progress always faltered when we allowed her to do too much. It slows recovery when you don’t follow protocols.
Hoping for a swift recovery for your son!
Thank you for the well wishes. I feel at a loss with this. He has missed all of last week from school and I dont think he will be able to go back tomorrow. He has anxiety, fatigue and depression. He is constantly worried about what is happening to him. He can’t shut his brain off at bed time so he cannot sleep even though he is so exhausted. This is just awful…
Sleep is essential for recovery. I would try to get some short- term anti- anxiety medication, like Ativan, for sleep. It will get better! Try to plan around the idea that he will be limited for weeks . The school needs to do that as well.
My D was able listen to audiobooks and podcasts while she was recovering. You might want to check with his doctor, but that could be an option to keep his mind off worrying and help him wind down and fall asleep.
I think when you get that referral and get into a specialist, it might help him just to hear that what he is experiencing is normal for a concussion after he is checked out again by someone he knows is an expert.
I’m also in the camp of considering this concussion a possible second injury. Don’t worry your son further, but you will may to be strict about him engaging in activities where he is at risks of another incident until he is cleared.
I know I drove my D crazy about this and had her miss out on some activities with friends. For example, I remember I said no to bowling because of the slippery floor and possibility of having her lose her balance and fall.
I even went to her friend’s house where her close friends were hanging out so the parents and kids understood no rowdiness. If that sounds crazy, it happened to be the kid who caused her concussion with his silliness.
Many times, though, repeat concussions just happen. A friend’s D got a second concussion by hitting her head against the headboard getting into bed. No one could have prevented that.
If anything like that does happen, or there is another head injury of any type, please consider taking him to the ER immediately. The serious cases I’ve head about are from those repeat injuries.
I haven’t personally known boys with repeat concussions but the girls I’ve known have all had depression in the months following the concussions. Not to scare you, but one ended up hospitalized for a couple of weeks. I only say that to emphasize how important it is to address the emotional symptoms through counseling and medication if recommended. It’s not something I would wait on if his sleep is affected.
You might even want to look into nutrition recommendations for concussion recovery. That was something I hadn’t heard about at the time. It’s not rocket science, but it couldn’t hurt to maximize nutrition while his brain is healing.
I agree with the others that suggest a concussion specialist, if for no other reason than they will be helpful in providing clear, specific guidance/instruction for his teachers to accommodate him. Teachers are eager to help and are sensitive to students who are struggling, especially when it comes to bright kids (and your S taking and AP level certainly qualifies). But teachers respond best when given clear direction. Does your son’s school schedule have rotating blocks, or are his classes generally the same time each day. If they are the same time, perhaps he can attend periods 1-2 only, then go to the nurse’s office and lay down / rest for a period, and then resume classes later.
More than one of D’s good friends suffered concussions, and D wanted to help so much, she spent the first few weeks of sophomore year summer helping her friend review materials that had been assigned as make-up work. Her friend had missed most of the classes in the spring, and was given a temporary incomplete, allowed to review the materials and write a paper/take a couple tests, during the summer. Since D wanted to help, they’d get together each morning or later in the evening to review progress, talk about the assignments, etc.
OP - as a first gen student who takes high level courses and is worried about class rank, etc - in addition to overcoming a concussion - which he will, there is no doubt - your son will be a sought after candidate at many great schools.
I am not saying any of this will be easy, but you might ask the specialist if your son may benefit from peer assistance - he probably has friends in his classes, some of whom might be willing to help him out.
Concussions can improve in some people over a period of days, but for others it may take weeks or months. It is nearly impossible to predict when he will feel better. Generally they don’t take years, but to steal a line from D’s friend’s mom, it may seem like this ordeal has added years to the parent’s life.
Best wishes for a speedy, complete recovery.
Thank you everyone…he slept in this morning and tried to go to school after lunch. He spent 5 minutes in a class and couldn’t take it. Had to come home. The commotion and noise is bothersome to him and he feels foggy headed. He has an appt with a Neuropsychologist but not until next Tuesday…that seems so far away. He is also noticing changes in his personality and its upsetting him. For instance, he’s been finding things funny that he never would have laughed at in the past and he is worried about it. I love that he is laughing but he finds it strange. He has told me has has no interest in seeing or talking with any of his peers. He’d rather avoid them all together. He has always been an introvert but he was still social and active. This is so hard…