Hi, my name's Madison Smith. I got my first concussion from a soccer injury, and then I got my second one from a hit and run accident on a freeway which was pretty traumatic. Um, I went and saw about five different doctors trying to figure out how to manage my new anxiety and my new stress. I was so confident and so secure in who I was before my injuries, and I wouldn't get agitated, and I was totally relaxed in any situation I was put in. But after them, my personality had changed and constant headaches which would cause anxiety, and that faith that I had in myself kinda started to disappear over time. That happened about five years ago, and over the past five years, I've been taking endless types of medication to try and help subdue the pain and injections of cortisone and steroids to try and give support to my neck.
Every doctor I saw told me that, that is how my life was gonna be. Being so young and just starting life, hearing that kind of ruins a lot for you. My dad, who is my hero,
endlessly looked for some type of solution for me, and he found this little place in Provo called Cognitive.
And my first day was really scary, and I was nervous because the possibility that I could be getting better was exciting but horrifying because what if it didn't work
for me, and what if it worked for everyone else but not me? And today is my last day. [laughs] And it worked for me, and it was a process, and it's hard, and
you getta push yourself, and you getta see a whole new way to process things, and a whole new way to think of things and a whole new perspective on your health.
And it's something that, it's truly been one of my biggest blessings this year, even though it just started 'cuz it's January. [laughs] But it will one of my biggest blessings for the rest of my life as well because I'm able to function, and I'm able to have hope that I can go back to school, and I can do the things I love, and I can be the person I know I was before my accidents. And no amount of money and no amount of work can ever, can ever take that. And I feel truly blessed to be able to know these people, and to be able to be given the tools and the plan to have my life back.
And that's my Cognitive story. [laughs]
