Two Peas for Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving is going to be at my sister's house. When they've had parties there in the past, my brother-in-law has been very accommodating where he went around and changed out his icky CFL bulbs for the better incandescent lights.

This year won't be any different, but I can't say that I'm very excited around the reasoning for it either. My sister,Pam, has been living in my shoes for the past month and a half after experiencing a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). She has been very photo and phonophobic, very dizzy, can't get the right words out and has been experiencing one-sided headaches sometime throughout everyday along with having much neck pain.

Pam can never do anything the easy or normal way; I guess that runs in the family. Her big troubles started after she was in a car accident and was actually hit by the same drunk lady twice. Her brain was jolted around pretty good from the accident which definitely started these issues for her.

She actually continued onto work after the accident, but she didn't last on the floor very long. The other nurses took one look at her and immediately sent her down to the ER. Pam has been out of work ever since.

Pam is getting more concerned about work. She needed to stop there the other day to drop off some papers and as soon as she stepped off of the elevator, she was hit by those devilish fluorescent lights. She felt them like spears going through her head and when she spent a little time with her boss, they had to turn the lights out. Pam is a labor and deliver nurse just like Jessica at Painfully Speaking was. After much deliberation, Jessica recently resigned from being an L&D nurse; a job she truly loved just like Pam does.

I've been trying to give Pam a little information at a time about MTBI. Nancy Bonk at MyMigraineConnection has written a few good pieces about it including New Imaging Identifies Mild Traumatic Brain Injury or Teen Sports Concussions Can Cause Serious Damage which says:

"A concussion or traumatic brain injury (TBI) takes places when the brain encounters significant movement to the head or a penetrating injury with or without the loss of consciousness. This "jarring" or penetrating motion can occur when the skull is struck, bumped or hit during a fall, motor vehicle accident or sports injury. During this action, the brain hits the opposite side of the skull from where the hit occurs - forcing the brain in the opposite direction - where it is accelerating. Then the brain bounces back or decelerates. This is called an acceleration-deceleration injury."

Just before the accident, Pam started learning more about Migraines as she suspects her 8 year old son has Migraines. Although we have always talked about Migraines, either mine or someone else she knew, since her accident, she is asking different questions and understanding a lot more then before. She has had a few Migraines in the past, but never the same symptoms she is experiencing or with the same intensity as now.

Pam's doctor wants her to see a neurologist now. She was given several neurologists names by different people and she asked me to research some of them for her. I'm glad she did as I have a lot of experience with this and was able to weed out some of the sleep specialists that were on her list and other neurologists they just didn't seem like they would be someone I would want her going to see. We settled on one that we are both comfortable with and she'll actually go to see him the week after Thanksgiving.

I will be going to her house the day before Thanksgiving to help her prepare the house for about 35 people this year. It should be fun and a great site to see the two of us cleaning and arranging everything in the dark - just the way we want it! We'll be like two peas in a dark pod for Thanksgiving.

I hope you all have a Happy, healthy and pain free Thanksgiving so you can enjoy your day.

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