Question:
Have you ever had a minor head injury? Concussion is what I'm looking into specifically, but any good whap on the head will do. The kind that earns you a visit to the doctor, results in nausea and an MRI, but no hospital stay. How did you get it? Were you unconscious for any period of time? How and for how long were you treated? How long was your recovery? How long out of work? How long until you actually felt better?

Answer: A friend of mine had a bad head injury when she was a young girl by falling off the uneven bars during a dismount and hitting her head on the adjustment wheel. She was knocked unconcious for, what they tell her, was a long time. The nuns at her school sent her home when she woke up, and just told her to stay home from school the next day. Not very smart of them. Years later, she started having epileptic seizures, and tests found that it was due to scaring on the brain, caused by the fall.

I don't think I made myself very clear. The *doctors* didn't need convincing. It was obvious to them. The *insurance company* were the ones demanding 'proof.' Turning green and throwing up on them didn't prove anything, they said. I could be faking it. They couldn't hear the ringing in my ears. ("OK," I wanted to say but didn't because talking hurt too much, "Now it's your turn. Let's see *you* turn green and throw up, if it's so easy!") I couldn't work full-time for another two years, it turned out, and ended up in debt anyway. But at least it was *my* life, not an endless round of court appearances, and I could keep self-pity to a minimum. (Well, most days.) I still occasionally get the urge to visit the insurance offices with a sledgehammer and demonstrate for them what an 'unproven' head injury feels like. It would be so satisfying. What do you mean, that hurts? Prove it