The Daily Narrative

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Ranine concussed herself!

February 12, 2019, Tuesday 2:45pm in Raleigh NC — On my way to a class in Broughton Hall, I intelligently managed to hit my head against a door. I was talking to someone next to me when I turned my head, unaware that it was already opened, and WHACK collided with the door. For about an hour and a half I felt fine as I pressed an ice pack against my head, but afterwards as I sat in Talley Student Union with my friends I started to feel weird symptoms, so my friends began to ask me questions about my condition using various online symptom charts, like mayo clinic.

Did my mind feel like it was in a fog? Check.

Did I feel confused? Check.

Was my speech slurred? Check.

Did I feel irritated or was there a change in my personality? Check.

Did I feel pressure in my head? Check.

It became quite clear there was something wrong.

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February 14, 2019, Thursday 11:30pm in Raleigh NC — I went to the doctor and learned that I did in fact have a mild concussion. Not the greatest news, but my condition was not looking too bad. I have concentration issues and must moderate my screen usage, but otherwise I did not sustain any permanent damage.

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February 15, 2019, Friday at 8:30am in Raleigh NC — Why was I thinking about my concussion at 8:30 in the morning while preparing for class? Well, I learned some things when I was brain loopy.

One of them being I am absolutely terrified of the concept of being conscious yet not in control of my own cognitive functions. I have always been able to take control of situations if I wanted to, and to lose that control because I hit my head terrified me. I could not even control my own speech and I hated it.

It also reminded me of my upbringing. I had always viewed my mom as a little too overprotective. She let us participate in sports, but she was always entirely too cautious. I am actually the first in my immediate family to ever get a concussion, which to me does not seem odd, but many people I have told about it retold their own multiple stories of concussions, and I realized how much certain injuries could be tied in with culture. In my culture, head injuries were quite serious, but not common, as Arab mothers cautious side prevents it from happening. As soon as I was out of my mother nest, BAM, I gave myself the very injury she protected me from.