New Year's Eve

My head injury occurred on October 25. Typically, concussions take between 4-6 weeks to clear up. A small percentage linger on for longer, sometimes indefinitely. At Christmas, my concussion was not better. I was tired of feeling ill.

My parents treated my wife and I to a big band concert at the Majestic Theater in downtown Gettysburg. The music was decent. I felt like dancing. My wife and I braved the dance floor at the beginning of the second set. Within seconds, my mouth fell dry. We continued to dance. At the end of the song, I could barely breath. We sat down. I could barely contain the cough of a dry throat that water could not quench. My head hurt. My heart beat thumped at the top of my neck, where spine meets skull. I barely heard another note of music for the rest of the evening. That evening I had a revelation. My concussion was also a neck injury. When in New Zealand, I would wake up, my neck on fire. Back in the states, I couldn't move my neck without pain while driving. A neck injury was the only thing that made sense.

I went back to my doctor. He said that I most likely had a neck injury. I should move and strengthen my neck to fix a neck injury. I started to do yoga at home. I also went to see a new doctor, an Osteopath. After ten minutes, my new doctor confirmed that I had two strained vertebrae. Our conversation wandered. We talked about my long-term issues - food intolerance, abdominal pains, fatigue, and everything else that I had been going through. He suggested acupuncture. I wasn't sold. But I did begin to think about alternative means to health.