Recovery from a concussion is a journey filled with many ups and downs. Throughout my own experience, there were certain questions that I often tried to avoid. Here are seven of them and why they were so difficult to answer:

❓️Why aren't you healed yet? You seemed fine yesterday. I wish I knew this answer, otherwise it wouldn't take this long. Recovery isn't linear and good days can be followed by bad ones.

❓️Why do you need to go lie down? Because I'm exhausted, because everything is loud. Every little thing I do, no matter how trivial, completely takes it out of me.

❓️What kind of work are you doing? I couldn’t work, but sometimes I just didn’t want to explain this over and over to a “stranger” or to someone who wasn’t close to me.

❓️Why are you canceling again? I had to cancel so many activities, and people didn’t understand why. They had no idea that when you’re having a bad day, it’s not a matter of focusing on something "fun". It’s the same as you say to someone with a broken leg; come on, just walk on it, focus on something different, and you will forget about it.

❓️Don’t you think it’s just because you’re getting older? When someone says this, it makes me feel so misunderstood. Yes, we are getting older, but this has nothing to do with that.

❓️Do you want to come over and just watch some television to relax? It seems like everyone around me doesn't get it that watching television isn’t something relaxing for me.

❓️What do you need to get rid of your concussion symptoms? I wish I knew what would help me. People try to help, and I appreciate that a lot. But I felt so lost, tried so many things, and almost nothing seemed to help me. When people asked me this question, I felt stuck.

Navigating these questions during my recovery was tough. It’s important for those around us to understand that recovery from a concussion is not a straightforward path. If you’re on this journey, remember to be kind to yourself and patient with those who might not fully understand. We’re all learning as we go.

You’ve got this.

Warm regards,

Dr Gary