#Concussion

This is the story of my long (and thankfully full) recovery from a concussion, including the practitioners and resources that have been essential in my treatment over the past six years. There are so many concussion myths that continue to be shared, even by doctors. If you or anyone you love has experienced a concussion, I hope my journey and the experts I met along the way will be helpful.

The Injury

I had just carved a perfect turn, rocketed through the wake on the return, and was feeling the endorphin rush of what I was sure was my best ride ever. I’d only been wakeboarding for a few years, but it was a nice segue from years and years of snowboarding. Feeling truly in command of my board, my body, and the water, I remember thinking to myself, I’ve finally got this. I smiled at my son and one of his buddies in the boat, adjusted my grip on the rope handle, and positioned myself for another shot across the wake, knowing I was totally on my game. The tension on the rope, the push from my knees and quads to create the torque, and then BLACKNESS.

As I groggily lifted my head from the water, just in time to take a deep gasping breath, my brain seemed to be going through a reboot and a system check. OK, I’m breathing. OK, I can open my eyes. OK, I see the water. OK, I can feel my body. OK, my central nervous system is working, and it is sending off alerts.

It was as if I’d been watching a movie, mid-scene, and someone turned off the TV. I was having the ride of my life on my wakeboard, my buddy Mitchell driving the boat, our boys Cooper and O.T. spotting and hanging in the boat, and then, whack, instant blackout.

I managed to get my arm up in some sort of “I’m OK,” which I think probably conveyed “I’m alive” more than I’m OK.

As my mind tried to piece together what happened, they brought the boat around, and I could see from the look on the boys’ faces that their question was more than just, “Are you OK?” Later on, my son Cooper told me, “Dad, I wasn’t sure if you would ever walk again. That looked really bad.”

While I have no memory of it, I realize I must have caught a front-side edge in the water, effectively stopping the board, while my body, aside from my feet, which were locked into the board, continued to try to move forward at rapid speed. By the time my brain figured out to let go of the rope, I was accelerating like a physics formula with my upper body and head arcing directly down towards the water’s surface. Yeah, I know, I also think of water as soft. But when you hit it at a high rate of speed, it feels more like concrete.

Fast forward through a week of dizziness, headaches, and general mental slowness. When I returned to work and tried to really think, analyze, and focus, I knew I had a serious problem. I knew I had taken a blow to the head, but every day I had just presumed I’ll feel better tomorrow. My presumption was wrong. I had a concussion. A concussion is a real thing, and no amount of my immortality complex or alleged grit was going to send the concussion away.

So, my concussion journey began. That was six years ago.

When I first wrote this blog in 2019, I was four months post-concussion and thought I was close to full recovery. Writing about it was therapeutic. But wow, was I wrong about so many things. Even some of the “experts” I was seeing at the time were misinformed. I have now fully recovered, and this is the complete story. What a journey…

My Symptoms

Headaches, headaches, headaches. Three times, for the three types. I had (and had for 4+ years) headaches on the forehead, around the eyes, nose, and ears. I had the top of the head and all-over headache. I had the back of the head and top of the neck headache. For about 10 weeks, I had some version of one or more of these headaches 24 hours a day. They decreased in intensity over time, but it wasn’t until week 11 that I had my first headache-free hour. It was glorious.

Stamina. Very little of it. I’ve always been someone with a long battery. Getting tired or any form of worn out just wasn't ever part of me. The lack of stamina was in two forms: my ability to think for any long stretch of time was severely diminished, and my mind would just feel tired. This also seemed to create an overall weariness. I need a nap was the major feeling.

Words. I had trouble finding them. I would stop mid-sentence as my brain searched the hard drive, sometimes taking a few seconds to find the word and sometimes just not finding the word and instead switching to a description of the word so Suzi or the kids could help me fill in the blank. There was a day, about eighteen months after the concussion, sitting in the living room with one of my kids, and I had to ask what our home address was; I just couldn’t remember it.  It scared me, and it definitely scared my son.

Thinking. Slow processing, the inability to synthesize information, and a general inability to focus, think, conclude, or decide.

Balance. I had decreased ability to stand on one leg and do other types of physical balancing.

I was very lucky that I did not have nausea, dizziness, or any sort of vertigo as an ongoing symptom. I know that many people do, and those can be some of the most difficult symptoms.

What I Have Learned

• Truth: Every concussion is unique, so there is no one-size-fits-all prescription.

  
  

• Truth: See a specialist in concussions and traumatic brain injury, who is immersed in the contemporary research (and ideally participating in it.) Many general practitioners don’t have the newest, best info, and sadly, even many specialists in concussion are not up to date on the latest research findings.  It can be hard to know who is useful and who isn’t until you’ve invested way too much time and money.  I have shared links to my full team below, as well as some additional resources.

  
  

• Truth: Understand it may be more than a concussion. It is commonly two things: concussion and whiplash, a brain injury and a neck injury. Presuming CAT scan and X-ray rules out anything bleeding or broken, we’re talking about an injury to the brain and a soft tissue injury in the neck, and potentially to the shoulders and back.

  
  

• Myth-busting: Do nothing, stay in a dark room. This is outdated and wrong guidance. Activity is generally the right medical advice.

  
  

• Myth-busting: Just rest, and it will get better on its own. While I suppose this can be true, I’m saying “wrong”; take your advice from a true expert, not the lore and legends of concussion treatment.

This site is an excellent resource about symptoms and initial basic care.

The Experts I Saw & Helpful Care I Received

Lemme shout this from this roof – if you get a concussion, get in touch with the true experts. I wish I had found them in 2019 rather than 2024…but regardless, I’m grateful, because now it’s 2025, and I’m truly fully recovered.  

Inova Concussion Program: The quarterback of my recovery was Dr. Melissa Womble and her amazing comprehensive concussion team. They oversaw my treatment, even helping guide the care I had from various other practitioners.

Traumatic Brain Injury Specialist: This could be a neuropsychologist, neurologist, or physiatrist with a specialty in traumatic brain injury and concussions. Not every neurologist is a concussion specialist. Let me say that again – not every neurologist is a concussion specialist. I would also say, don’t put your concussion care into the hands of a primary care doctor.

Physical Therapist: Dry needling, manual manipulating, and exercises focused on the vestibular system, whiplash, and muscle-tightness through the head and neck. I worked with District Physio. These PTs are really good, and they helped me a lot. Ultimately, the PTs who helped with my full recovery were integrated with the Inova Concussion Team and had remarkable nuance figuring out what my vestibular and ocular systems needed.

Neuro-Optometrist: Treating headaches related to vision and learning eye exercises to improve my fusion ability. Dr. Keith Smithson was amazing for me.

Cranio-Sacral Therapy & Massage: Treating headaches and stress from the impact; for me, any approach to the soft tissue work that makes a patient feel better, even in the short-run, is worth having in the mix.

Chiropractic: I did have some helpful treatments from chiropractors, especially relating to the whiplash aftermath. My favorites were:  Bodnar Chiropractic and Cedar Lane Chiropractic.

Botox: I also had some headache relief in years two and three from Botox injections into the muscles in the head and neck.

Mental Healthcare: I really gotta emphasize the mental health aspect of concussion – finding a therapist to help with the potential depression, anxiety, or PTSD is really valuable. Just as every concussion is personal to the patient, the mental health aspects are also unique to you. I’d recommend getting in therapy even if you haven’t had a concussion, but with a concussion, I think it’s a must. There’s no downside, and you can stop any time; but always better to start proactively than to struggle and have a deeper hole to climb out of. I definitely have my faves when it comes to therapists, but rather than list them, I’ll say try to find a practitioner who is integrated with the concussion specialist – when they work as a team, the patient gets the best outcomes. Certainly, Inova Mental Health Services is an amazing resource.

Note: I’m not providing the links or information on any of the doctors that I saw in the first few years, because while I made progress, I now understand enough to know those docs didn’t have the comprehensive solutions and contemporary science I needed...)

My Recovery Protocol

For me, the initial recovery protocol was to eliminate social activities, preserve what brain power I did have for work and family, and severely restrict my work schedule. I spent lots of time listening to podcasts and audiobooks, rather than reading, because reading sent the headaches sky-high. I slept a lot more than usual, including a regular nap. I religiously took my supplements, followed the dietary guidelines, and as of week five, started exercising daily. My complete list follows.

Supplements: There are definitely supplements that science supports; I’m cautious to give any advice about supplements, so I’m going to limit it to just one:  Migranol.  I will provide the reminder that supplements are unregulated; and ideally anything you take, be sure it has a third-party certification about what’s truly in it, or ask the company for evidence of their own testing.

Diet & Nutrition: No caffeine, no alcohol. Yup, none. I think the no alcohol is easy advice for everyone. I can imagine caffeine might be useful for some people, for me, I 100% eliminated it.

Exercise: Research shows that maintaining 25 minutes at 80% of your max heart rate helps speed recovery time. However, this is only true if this level of exertion does not trigger or worsen the concussion symptoms. There is a process to follow to build up to this level that should be directed by a health professional. I started exercising regularly again at 5 weeks, but at that point, I didn’t have the care and detailed guidance of Dr. Womble, so I over did it, and set myself back. I also had no understanding of the damage to my vestibular system, so until year 4, I was continuing to make things worse while I tried to make things better.

Sleep: Nap as much as desired during the day, but ideally keep naps to 30 minutes or less, so that you can still sleep at night. During my first 6 weeks, my naps were a lot longer, but it did make for some nights of difficult sleep. A true block of 8 to 10 hours of sleep at night is vital. This is when the real healing is happening. My sleep was a MESS for about 18 months, and it took me until year three to be substantially improved. Then, in year 4, with Dr. Womble and Dr. Wertz’s guidance, and Dr. Andy Galpin, I was finally able to solve my sleep problems.

Limited reading: Whether on screens or paper, I had to cut my reading way back. My headaches were severely compounded by reading or any focused use of my eyes. This was quite depressing for me, as reading is one of my hobbies. I joined Audible, and audiobooks and podcasts became my best friends. By the end of year one, I could read without making my headaches worse, although my headaches stayed present daily for four years.

Doing nothing is doing something: Accept that for the brain to heal, it needs to be resting. Not reading, not working, not thinking. Brain relaxation is a serious part of the recovery protocol. However, simply “doing nothing” is clearly the wrong advice when it’s the only advice.

Guided meditation: Twice a week, I worked with a private yoga teacher who led a 10-20 minute guided meditation; she was amazing and really helpful to me. I also periodically tried to do my own meditation. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. I wish I had found recordings of guided meditations I liked to do on my own.

And yes, I understand the hurdle of the cost of all this, the support and resources required to seek treatment and allow myself the necessary time to heal. But I needed my brain back, so that I could earn a living and be the parent, spouse, and person I want to be. The investment of money and time was a must for me, and I realize I’m incredibly fortunate.

By the end of year three, my brain power was back to normal, my memory was mostly normal, and I just had the headaches. I tried a bunch more things, saw more docs, but nothing worked. In year four, I was ready to give up and just accept I’d have these headaches for the rest of my life. But then, I heard Dr. Micky Collins interviewed on Dr. Peter Attia’s podcast – I was blown away by what I heard. I called the Medical Center at Pitt, and I was ready to drive up there and beg them to see me to help with my headaches – and I was told there was a doctor in the DC area that had studied and trained at Pitt in Dr. Collins’ program. I reached out to Dr. Womble’s Program at Inova and begged them to see me.  At first, they said they didn’t have a spot for me, and my initial injury was too long ago – but, after more begging, they saw me. Thank goodness, as Dr. Womble was the true key to unlock the final solutions. Her integrated approach of physical and mental, using a team of doctors who all communicate together in real time during the patient’s visit, was absolutely amazing. She and her teammates built a program for me, and that program was a winner.  Just imagine if I had of found them at month one instead of month 48.

Perspective & Awareness

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is serious. Similar to mental health, the struggle isn’t visible like a cast on a leg with crutches or an arm in a sling. But make no mistake about it, it is debilitating. And just as real. Health is health, whether bone or brain, physical or mental. As hard as this experience has been for me, there is a silver lining. I will be forever more empathetic to those around me… as a friend, parent, business partner, and employer.

In our company, I will support anyone that deals with a brain injury. Now I understand that people with TBI may need the flexibility to work less or do a different type of work for a while. They may need help with financial resources or seeking treatment options. Their recovery will likely be shortened if they have the support and time to get better. And I’m adamant about helping people get to the real experts, for the right care.

Gratitude

Recovering from the concussion was not a solo affair. Not only did it take a team of specialists, I am fortunate to have an amazing group of people who supported my recovery. My thank you list, in no specific order:

Andrea, for sharing your knowledge and story with me, so that my journey could be less difficult than yours. Your optimism and realism were always in the perfect dose. Moc, I’d felt for you during your concussion journey, and now I know I’m able to feel with you… thanks for ensuring I took it seriously, and thanks for knocking me down to earth when you knew I wasn’t going to take it seriously enough. You were very right. Jackie, your words of encouragement and humor were a valuable part of my recovery prescription. Thanks for continuing to check in on me and care. The MofGP, your well wishes and visits made me feel missed and appreciated. Thanks for keeping my chair at the table. Suzi, being the spouse must really suck during this kind of episode, but you never seemed frustrated or annoyed no matter how useless I was or how much I complained, and you always stayed optimistic. Coop, Oli, Finn, I love that you guys were extra nice to me, quiet when needed, and accepted my limitations. Mike V., as a friend and biz partner, I can imagine it was disconcerting to have me on some version of the limited-use/disabled list, but your permanent, relentless support, and never a whiff of frustration was incredibly kind and helped me focus on getting better rather than extra-stressing about work. Daisy & Gina, for the work/home support combo, doing everything from organizing meds to meditation, and everything in between. Dr. Womble, for being my final salvation, when I was ready to give up and just accept I’d never be 100% again, you got me there. My whole team at work who stepped up big time in my absence and showed how well the show goes on without me.

Updated June 2, 2025; originally written Dec 11, 2019