I look normal, but have significant challenges

I was involved in an accident, I guess. Before this all began, I have two young children and a wife. I used to be a detective for the Fargo Police Department.

I was working on one of my pickups, underneath it, removing a metal skid plate. I was removing it and got to the last bolt and it was bent and it sprung out of the frame, it was under tension and it hit me in the right temple while I was laying on my floor, so there was nowhere for my head to go. My symptoms started to come on about three days later where I was starting to lose my memory and have difficulty talking and my left eye was basically pointed at the floor while my right eye was ahead and I saw double and the left side of my face went numb. I actually thought I was having a stroke, thankfully it wasn't that. My wife drove me to the ER and I found out I had a concussion and they just kept me for a few hours, did a CAT scan and said I didn't have a brain bleed, thankfully, and sent me on my way home.  

As time went on, it was about a week later, I started having significant memory issues to the point where I couldn't remember really anything anybody had just told me, and I was having a very difficult time talking. So, I went to see my primary physician and he thought I had post-concussion syndrome and recommended I seek therapy for it and he recommended Progressive Therapy Associates. From the time that I started therapy here, I had, obviously, some significant gains in the sense that I can hold down a conversation. My memory has significantly improved. I remember when I first started here I couldn't even really hold down a sentence, so treatment helped a lot in that regard. Other people didn't really understand my challenges in the sense that I look normal, but I have significant challenges, mainly cognitive and with my memory.

I guess the biggest thing that I'd like to share that helped me is to encourage people that it's ... You may feel very depressed and like there's not much hope in the beginning, but I would just encourage you to take that step and go to therapy. I honestly felt, initially, that there was little hope, but keeping working at it, I've seen the progress and that has given me hope and I continue to feel better about that each time that I see progress and I'm sure that anybody would if they continue to work at, they'll see progress. It might take a while, but you'll get there.

We see individuals with ADHD, traumatic brain injury, and concussion as well as stroke.

When people think about speech language pathology, they typically think about speech disorders or language challenges, which speech therapists can do, but here, we've just chosen to focus more on the cognitive aspect and when I say that, I mean things to do with focus and memory, speed of processing, planning, problem solving, organization, all those daily skills that help you to really function and organize your life.

If you're someone who's struggling with attention or memory or planning for instance, for a variety of reasons, you can self-refer. You can pick up the phone and call us at 701-356-7766. You can find us on our website and submit your information and come for a free consultation or your primary care doctor can also refer you for treatment at Progressive Therapy Associates.