You're Not Typical: A PCS journey through neurodiversity

I didn't think I'd ever be able to listen to music again. Through my whole life, music was always a part of everything I did. I listened to music all the time. I played musical instruments and I sang in choirs. I also had a verse for many situations I ran into in life, to the amusement of my partner. I listened to music in the car, in the house, on the go. Everywhere. And I sang, all the time. When I hit my head, the music died. I couldn't stand the noise, the multitude of different sounds coming at me all at once, the shear volume of it. Certain instruments and voices became worse than others. Anything with a strong bass line, or drums, for example was really painful. Brass instruments like trumpets and trombones hurt too. It has to do with the way they are played. In order to make the sounds, the musician has to force air through with an almighty blow, so the sound comes out sharp and loud. For the past four and a half years, I have lived without music. The soundtrack of ...

 Did you know there are different types of migraines? I didn't. I didn't even understand what a migraine was. I thought it was just a really bad headache. I actually didn't even understand how bad a headache could get until my accident. I thought they were just those aches I got sometimes that went away with a regular painkiller.  I started with tension-type headaches after my injury and I still get them all the time. But the migraines are a different story. I don't actually know what type of migraine I get. I won't know until I see a specialist and that takes time. But I've been doing my research. A migraine is very different from any other headache. It is a body experience. Most migraines happen in the head, but there are even migraines that happen in the abdomen. These are more common in children. Ever met a child who complains of chronic stomachache? It might be abdominal migraine. Like I said though, mostly they happen in the head. But there are symptoms th...

The summer Olympics are happening right now. In the women's European football quarterfinals march between Colombia and Spain, the Colombian goal keeper, Katherine Tapia, got a bad hit to the head. The match had to stop for three minutes while the medical team assessed her for injuries to her face, bones and brain. In the end, they cleared her to keep playing. I was certain she had suffered a concussion. It was not the first time I watched a collision in a match and thought the player should have left the field. While sports are at the cutting edge of medical knowledge and techniques for all kinds of injuries, the reason for this is because of the extremes athletes will go to, and are pushed to. Do you know the difference between American football and rugby? Safety gear. And still the athletes playing American football end up with countless injuries, including brain injuries. I understand we need sports. I understand we can't and shouldn't be bubble-wrapped when we play. But...