no. 79 - The Kids and Concussions Episode (Part 1)

Experts say nearly 45 million kids play sports in the U.S. and of those, 3 to 5 million experience some form of brain injury like a concussion each year. In this two-part podcast series, one mom shares her son's story following a traumatic brain injury suffered during a basketball game. In Part 2, I interview the nation's leading expert on targeted nutritional therapy for concussion protection and recovery.

In this first episode, I'm joined by Amy Savage Fisher who details her son Malone's story. In the show we discuss:

• How Malone was injured during a high school basketball game
• Their experience in the emergency room, which including a clear CT-scan and being initially told everything was fine and to go home
• Amy's intuition that something wasn't right and how a second evaluation revealed Malone didn't know who anybody was, including his mother and his coaches
• How returning to school revealed such immediate issues as not knowing where his locker was and not knowing who his teachers were
• The long recovery process that included re-learning basics including counting, ABCs, etc.
• How depression and anger are a very real and scary part of the concussion recovery experience

Following Amy's detailed recount of Malone's experience, we discuss some of the more practical statistics parents need to be aware of when it comes to a child's actual chance to become a college and/or professional level athlete. Amy offers her perspective from her experience of seeing parents and coaches push too hard, too quickly to get kids who have suffered a concussion to return to the court and field.

I end the episode here and briefly preview the next episode in the series -- The Kids and Concussions Episode (Part 2). As always, thanks for tuning in to this and every episode. ~Regan