Tough Girl in Fall River, MA

Another Tough Girl makes headlines:

Read about Michelle Pelton here
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After Brain Injury Awareness Month in May, it seems as if their focus on sports concussions is receiving more and more feedback this April. Not to mention, the last few articles I've posted and read about have moved from the VERY west coast and slowly over to my home state.

The Fall River, MA Herald does their part highlighting a story of a high school girl who suffered her fair share of concussions through sports. The great thing is her devotion to sports after not being able to play anymore. She's truly a gift as an advocate to the concussion world. She is a perfect example of someone who has been dealt a difficult hand but has been passionate about educating others while recovering.

Great job, Michelle! Thanks for sharing your story!!

High School Tough Boys

An article from Cumberland County, PA introduces another Tough Boy:

Read about Kyle Chester Here

Read about Corey Bischof Here

football dude taken from graphicsfactory.com
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The Story of Kyle Chester
I stumbled on another article highlighting concussions today. In Pennsylvania, Kyle Chester was one of those tough boy kids who just wanted to play football. The article describes exactly what I mean by "Tough Boy," quoting Kyle:

“Most kids say, ‘I’m fine,’ and want to play to impress dad, coaches or a girlfriend,” he said, calling it an adrenaline rush. “That’s all I wanted to do was play.”

As unfortunate as Kyle's situation has become I congratulate him for standing up in the face of concussions! Thanks for getting your story out there!!


The Loss of Corey Bischof
An additional story from Cumberland County, PA creating awareness of how personality changes, thought to have occurred from concussions, can be devastating to families. Depression resulting in a teen suicide.


ImPACT testing
Article mentions the testing that has been adopted at the Cumberland Valley High (and I've read of other states that have adopted this same testing for high school sports).

As part of this initiative, each athlete in grades seven through 12 undergoes a neuropsychological assessment through the program. The test provides an objective measurement of attention span, working memory, sustained attention, reaction time, response variability, visual and verbal memory, selective and non-verbal program solving to establish a baseline assessment.

Baseline retests are given in ninth and 11th grades.

If a sports-related concussion should occur during the season, the athlete is retested with ImPACT. Those results are compared to the baseline, which assists the medical staff in making return-to-play decisions.

It's saddening to learn of a loss at such a young age. Grateful, however, that Corey's story is being shared during such a vulnerable time to learn about concussions. I send my blessings to his family.

My Two Cents today
If I find any other examples, I'll post them along! I think I read somewhere that NJ Brain Injury Association agreed to pay for half of the tests in their high schools - but I forget where I saw it... But how valuable could this be? Imagine how different our communities might be if we invested in better brain protection early on like this?

However, brain injuries have been happening for years to all sorts of people. And the great thing, is that you can recover. It just takes some time. And it's frustrating. It's painful. It is very hard to leave the "old you" and recognize the new directions that you need to move in. It is very hard to assume a new path, accept the losses, and become one of the many people in this world who has shaped their life much differently than where they originally thought they could go.

But you do keep going, somehow. It is possible. Recovery is difficult but possible.

The Intelligence of Our Future resides in the Brains of Our Kids

I know I have a reader from WA stop in once in a while... Well, here's a great article adding to the awareness of concussions in sports straight from Issaquah, WA.

The seriousness of concussions are becoming known in sports... and not just any sports - the ones you see the next generation playing!! Think Little League baseball and Pop Warner football. As exciting as these sports can be for the little guys going out and giving it their all, this quote from the article pretty much sums it up for me:

The trouble is, students aren’t as careful as they need to be, said Cheryl Reed, head athletic trainer and sports medicine instructor at Skyline High School. Trainers and coaches have to be vigilant because some students won’t admit they’ve suffered a concussion, she said.

“They want to keep playing, so they don’t tell anyone that they’ve got a headache,” she said. “They just don’t have the maturity to say, ‘Hey, is this really worth brain damage?’”

Just a little awareness for your thoughts :)

I'm completely exhausted today..........

Iraq Veterans and Migraines from TBI

I don't know how legit ScienceDaily.com really is. I find some of the small articles here more enjoyable and thought-provoking than actually credible information. There's a lot of advertising around and Ads by Google... But then again, I haven't looked into the whether the information is coming from something legit either, and it very well could be??

But here is some food for thought on how imporant the Veterans from Iraq will be in developing an urgency to learn about mild traumatic brain injuries.

Enjoy the exerpt from ScienceDaily


Even though some of my posts aren't very influential these days... I'm trying to get in the habit of blogging what I find right away. The more I let build up... the more anxious I get... the more of a failure I feel like... and I know it's just all in my head. Bare with me!

Boston Children's Hospital Brain Injury Program

Play Ball Tough Boy!!
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It's Red Sox Opening Day!!!!!!!!!!!
So hence the Fenway Park photo that I took last April 9, 2008 - a few games into the season last year. However, I had no clue it was one of the first games because I didn't know anything that was going on, in any situation, at any time...

I even caught a foul ball, too... but I was soooooooooo out of it! And every time I would stand up to cheer... I would lose my eye sight or almost pass out. Ugh! The music was too loud, there were too many people around, the lights were bright... my favorite place to be was now becoming a place I'd have to avoid for a little while...

Needless to say, I'm ready for the new Season!!!!!! I really really hope to be able to catch some more games than I was able to last year. And I really hope that I can enjoy them and 'be there' instead of zoning out, getting a migraine, or just forgetting where I am or what's going on.


Anyway - while watching the opening day ceremony, I've been getting more and more excited!! And then the game is ready to start!!!! They go to quick commercials before starting up....

The first commercial: Children's Hospital talking about their Brain Injury Program

I didn't know they had one??? Well, I'm sure they did... but holy smokes!! Way to advertise on NESN!! And if you click the link I provided, you can see the little commercial they made with the Bruin's Patrice Bergeron!

Just another reminder to kids, don't be a Tough Boy... protect your brain. It's the only one you've got. Wear a helmet! And spread the word!!

This is the link to the actual Children's Hospital Brain Injury Program page - the above one is the link on NESN w/the commercial.

YAY!!! GO. RED. SOX!!!! WOOO HOOO!!!

Some of the Toughest Boys Play Hockey

Check this article out, Tough Boy:

National Hockey League players and Concussions
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I have saved a ton of little articles that I have always 'meant to post,' but never 'got to.' I'm just posting this because I found it (back in OCTOBER!! eek!) interesting and it relates to my Tough Boy Initiative - and provides a perfect example of what researchers are just learning about the impact of concussions on those who sustain MANY of them... what better place to start than Professional Hockey??

Wow... what a run on sentence... :(

Bruins Final Score 11.13.08

My First Live Bruins Game!

I went to my first Bruins game in November. I 'zoned out' a little bit throughout the game... but over all I really enjoyed it. I was initially afraid that I would cringe every time they body slammed each other into the walls. I felt like I would constantly be concerned about concussions and constantly urked (spelling??) to think of what could possibly be happening to their brain each time.

I have to admit that I actually really enjoyed that part. When I work and save enough money - I want season tickets. I can see why its not an initial concern while cheering for your local (awesome awesome awesome) team. As much as I felt guilty for enjoying that part, I can see how the sport could have less fan involvement (?? not sure if that's what I mean or how to say it...) if the contact didn't exist while fighting for the puck.

This is a good article that was written October 21, 2008 (very recent!) on summarizing data pulled from a long study involving hockey players and how they've been impacted by concussions - without realizing it. An example of what was found quoted from the article:

Thirty percent of NHL players diagnosed with concussions have normal physical readings but abnormal neuropsychological testing scores.

I want the data from other sports... NFL, MLB, NBA... bring it on!! I know they're all tough boys and do very well sucking up the pain and dizziness to get back on the ice... but I need more data to assess how to change it! After all, that's my initiative. To protect, serve, advocate, and educate to and for all the tough boy's out there in the world!

Go. Bruins. Yay!

Depression and Healing

Just Checkin on you Tough Boy:

Are you being good to yourself??
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Yeah - it's 3 am EST. I'm trying to find an article that I can use for my online Psychology discussion... which was due at 2 am :( Thankfully, I think if I have it in by 4 or 5 am... it'll still be considered 'on time?' Maybe... maybe not.

In my search, I came across this little article that had me asking some questions again (completely ADHDing away from what I'm supposed to be doing...).

It's a little heavy on the pharmacy talk - but in layman, Dr. Hedaya is stating some parallel studies that related the incidence/severity of a patient's depression to the condition of whatever inflammatory or infection-like problems that had.

I definitely agree that healing won't occur when your body (or brain!) is in a protective, please-don't-hurt-me-again mode. As for validity of the studies Dr. Hedaya is referring to, I'm a little skeptical but haven't seen them!

I wouldn't go treating everyone with Advil or Motrin to heal anything... but being good to your body will help your body repair. Go for a walk, call a close friend, have a laugh, watch a good movie, smile. Remove that stress!

I know, I know... its easier said than done! (and if it needs to be said - I wouldn't recommend anyone going to ask their doctor for a tumor necrosis factor inhibiting drug mainly for initial treatment of their depression... but if you've got other stuff goin on that warrants it, by all means...).