Hi, my name's Taylor.
I was 7, and I fell down some stairs. I was jumping off them with my friends pretending we could fly. I actually hit my head in the corner of
the wall that was at the end of the stairs and dented the wall with my head, and then I've gotten a few, like, in rehearsals growing up.
I danced, and I was kind of clumsy. I'd fall, and hit my head. I've fallen off a horse before. And my most severe one was my last one in college. I was in rehearsal and was supposed to... You know, I was working with a choreographer. She was choreographing a piece on me and some other people that involved dancing with a church pew. And she wanted me to dive backwards underneath the church pew somehow, but she didn't know exactly how yet. And so, I was just trying things out, and kind of launched myself backwards and smashed my head into the church pew.
Before I found this place, I didn't realize how much it affected me. It's affected me with, like, socially, finding words and being around people.
It's been really hard dealing with lots of, stimulation was hard, my memory was not great, my balance wasn't great, so, you know, dance kind of fell by the wayside. I taught for a while, but then I'm not teaching anymore. And I don't dance anymore. I don't go take class. I don't have energy to do things. I haven't been motivated. Got really depressed for a while, and I thought it was all just situational stuff or stuff from my personality.
I got migraines all the time and they kind of run in my family, so I thought it was something from that, like, hereditary. I didn't think it could be from having a concussion.
But after finding this place and realizing that those are symptoms of concussions, it was interesting to see that, like, it didn't have to stay that way.
I could get better, and things could change. Actually, it was the middle of the week. I felt kind of crappy that morning, and I got sick that morning.
I got dizzy, but then by the afternoon, which is normally when I kind of hit my wall, and I'm ready to go home, and not interact with anyone, not think about anything. I had all this energy, and I, like, didn't know what to do with myself, and I found myself going home, and saying to my partner, "You know, like, what do we do? We should go do something tonight." And I never ever want to do anything, especially after, like, a day of work or being somewhere all day. I always come home, and I'm just, like, want to lay in bed and do nothing. And so, it was interesting to feel like I could get things done, and, like, be productive, and not feel like I was killing myself trying to get through the day, and get through things that needed to be done. Like, something as simple as doing the dishes has always been so hard for me to get up and actually get it done, and I felt like I could get up and do it, and be fine. There would be, like, no problems. I wouldn't be tired. I wouldn't have a headache because I stood up, or had to have the light on to see what I was doing.
And for example, like, this morning, I didn't wear sunglasses driving, and it was really bright out, and normally I'm always in sunglasses, and I have
to find the darkest shades. And it was nice to not have to have them. It was pretty cool. I would say it's worth it. I would say, "Even if you think they might not be able to help or you might be the exception, to get past that because I felt that way." I was worried that I was going to get my scan, and it was going to come back normal, and it wasn't, and that was really validating for me. And also, to just, you know, put yourself out there, and let people know how you're feeling because I think a lot of us with concussion symptoms and, you know, PCS, we tend to not talk about it because you aren't always told that it's a thing. Like, sometimes people will tell you that, you know, you don't look terrible, so you must be fine. And it's hard, it gets hard to keep telling people how hard of a time you're having when you feel like you're not getting any validation. And it was really nice to come through, and be validated all week long, and have all the support and other people that are going through it with you.
So, if you are considering it at all, I would say, "Go for it because it's worth it."e fly.
