Finding Joy After 11 Years – A Concussion Case Study

After a concussion in 2008 Stephanie felt numb and angry all the time. Find out how working with us at Neurvana Naturopathic Medicine brought back her joy.

My name is Stephanie and I’m from Lethbridge, AB. I was to teach phys ed for 16 years and administration for a year and a half before I had my accident.

How did your accident happen?

I had a mountain biking accident in 2008. I fell about eight feet into a coulee when I was training for 24 Hours of Adrenalin out in Canmore.

After I sat up, I felt like my nose was bleeding, and was immediately dizzy. It turned out it was a severe TBI, and an undetected CSF leak for 15 months.

Who did you see after your accident?

I saw seven doctors, two neurologists, and finally was referred on to an EMT who discovered my CFS leak in five minutes of talking to her.

I didn’t have a lot of support.

I was told, you’re dizzy because you’re preggers. I was two weeks pregnant when I feel, so I didn’t get a lot of support that way from the medical community. And then after I had my child I was told something along the lines of, you have a post-concussion. It is what it is.

What parts of your life was affected by your accident?

Before my accident, I had been teaching for five years, and when I turned 30 I was asked to apply for the vice-principal role at my school of 550 kids.

I got the position and became was the youngest woman VP at the time. Because of my, TBI I was unable to resume my career as an administrator in the school.

I have yet to return to full-time work since the accident. Fatigue and dizziness and disorientation and memory issues are my biggest concerns. And with not having the energy level, I can never return to full-time work.

How did you feel emotionally afterwards?

It’s difficult. I was 32 years old and mountain biked daily. I was a marathon runner, a soccer player, a golfer, and a very successful teacher.

I had plans to move on to become a vice principal and then a principal, and my life went a completely different way than originally planned, and it was devastating. So, I’ve had a lot of depression, and anxiety.

What led you to work with Neurvana Naturopathic Medicine?

In March 2017, I was biking downstairs in my basement on a trainer. I got off my bike and immediately I felt really dizzy.

It didn’t make any sense. It felt like a concussion, there was a delay of vision, disorientation immediately, but I didn’t hit my head, so I was concerned.

It was bizarre, I went to my sports med doctor down in Lethbridge, and she said, “It is what it is. You’ve had head injuries, we don’t know why your feeling like this. we can’t explain it. “

About two weeks later my friend called me from Dallas, and he says, “You better get down here. There are amazing things down here. You need to get down here. “

So I boarded the plane with my mom, and we went down to Dallas and discovered a lot of integrative medicine pieces as to why I wasn’t recovering.

When I got back to Canada, my doctors here were not supportive. I needed to go on bioidentical hormones. They wouldn’t support it. They kind of looked at the paper and put it aside and had no interest in helping me out.

I ended up working with a naturopath who referred me on to a doctor who prescribed bioidentical hormones.

Things were really good with the hormones for probably two months, and then everything fell apart. I felt like my body just hit rock bottom. I had tons of symptoms that were worse than before. I had lots of pain, digestion issues, my memory got worse. I pulled myself off the hormones, and I got myself into Dr. Lynne Murfin.

Through working with her, she referred me on to Corey Deacon at with Neurvana.

What made you want to work with us?

First off, I didn’t see results right away from the neurofeedback, so I can’t say it was the neurofeedback, that I saw results right away, and I bought into it.

It was the fact that, in conversations with Corey and Liz, they told me this is what to expect. They said that I was going to get worse before I got better, but it will help you.

Corey and Nicole shared some personal stories with me about what had happened to them and how they were feeling now. It gave me the hope that there was going to be a change.

So I stuck with it, and it got worse before it got better, but then all of a sudden, like Nicole had promised me, when she said “by about 15 to 20 sessions you’re gonna see a difference.” I started seeing a difference. It was around session 18, 19 that my life started to change.

What major wins have you received from working with us?

The first symptom I saw a difference in was irritability and anger. I have two young children at home who are 7 and 10 years old, and they can push buttons.

I’m a teacher who works with kids all day, and I felt like my first goto emotion was always anger. I always had this underlying irritability every day, all day.

The neurofeedback took away the irritably, I started getting almost calm. I was almost, even-keeled. And, from that moment on, I started feeling moments of joy.

For the last 10 years, I either felt numb and had absolutely no feelings, or was angry and irritable. So to find that place of joy for the first time in almost 11 years was pretty exciting. That was my first aha moment with Neurvana.

Are you a happier person than when you first started working with us?

Yes! I’ve seen a big change in myself, last year during my daughter’s big birthday of turning six, I remember thinking, when is this gonna be over. Instead of revelling at the moment and enjoying it. This year, when she turned seven, I enjoyed every minute of being there, and that for me was a success.

Where would you be if you had not have worked with us?

I’d be irritable, I’d be angry, I’d be missing out on many things in life.

Knowing the science behind neurofeedback and understanding what it’s doing to my nervous system, I couldn’t get out of that fight or flight state for the last 10 years. It made me miss out on being present in my life.

What advice do you have for someone experiencing something similar to what you were?

Don’t give up.

Keep asking.

If it’s wrong and you feel it’s wrong.

Keep pushing forward.

There is help out there, and people who are willing to do anything for you and support you.

The medical system has a time and place, but with post concussion, there are other supports available, and I would encourage you to seek and find them.

What would you say to someone on the fence about working with us?

It’s Worth it. Yeah, it’s worth it.

I’m excited, for the first time in a long time, I’m excited to move forward and enjoy the rest of my life.

I know I’m not done here with my journey at Neurvana. I’ve got a few sessions to go and some work to do, and I know it’s expensive. I understand it. But it’s your health, and it’s worth it.

I would have pay double the amount to get here. I would, it’s worth the money, the time and the energy to put into Neurvana Naturopathic Medicine and neurofeedback.

I promise you I am getting the results.