Episode 4: Chapter 3 - Robbie Frawley - Searching for answers & things that helped along the way (PCS).

In this episode I tell my story of recovering from post concussion syndrome (PCS). It took me 7 years to fully recover, but if I knew at the start everything that I know now I believe it would have taken me only a fraction of this time. That’s why I want to share these learnings with you. I hope that they give you some hope and they help you with your own recovery.
In this chapter I talk about my search for answers and things that helped me throughout this period.

My brilliant guest interviewer on this episode is Associate Professor Tasha Stanton. Tasha is the Osteoarthritis Research Theme Lead for IIMPACT in Health at the University of South Australia and a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Fellow.

Tasha is a clinical pain neuroscientist with original training as a physiotherapist. Her research focusses on pain and she has a specific interest in pain education, osteoarthritis, low back pain, cortical body representation, somatosensation and body illusions using virtual and mediated reality. In short though, she’s one of the leading pain researchers globally, and it was ultimately through meeting Tasha and learning some lessons from her field of pain science that helped me to find the final steps back to 100%.

Full transcripts and show notes are available for each chapter on the podcast website: storiesofrecovery.buzzsprout.com

Shownotes:

• ^01:05 - My trauma rehab physician to helped me with 'how much' to push, to help me calibrate my own understanding - as it's important to work just below threshold,
• 2:20 - I learned (with great surprise) that things can change (improve) quickly, even when you are at your worst (with symptoms).
• ^03:30 - Crutches which I found helpful whilst in survival mode:
  • ^03:30 - Getting immediately up and out the door for a quick 10min walk in nature when I awoke to the alarm. 'Don't think, DO...',
  • ^06:15 - I was initially allowed to walk for 10min/day (ideally in a quiet, natural environment). Noticing what I could see, hear smell and touch while walking helped to quieten my mind and my symptoms. As with everything, I graded it up over time,
  • ^09:31 - When things became overwhelming I found it was often because I was forecasting too far out. I learned that by bringing the focus (of what I needed to do) right in close, it helped (only thinking of the next immediate task in front of me, putting everything else out of my mind),
  • ^12:25 - The trauma rehab physician often shared great words with me when I was struggling, one day she simply said: "Be aware of where you are...and keep going",
• 14:57 - Other things I tried along the way (be wise, assess the risk/reward to you):
  • ^15:40 - Take an active role in your rehab and your recovery,
  • 16:00 - Physiotherapy, osteopathy, reflexology, kinesiology, reiki, eating good brain supportive food (fatty fish like salmon and lots of fresh fruit and veg), supplements (fish oil, curcumin (from turmeric), glutathione), vestibular exercises, 'floating', an app called 'superbetter', meditation (it's worth persisting with - I like the calm app),
  • ^19:05 - Quotes helped me a lot throughout the period. A couple of favourites:
    • "No one and nothing is ever broken and can't be fixed",
    • "The only thing to fear, is fear itself" - Franklin Roosevelt,
• ^20:43 - Family and interests were really important and supportive,
• ^24:29 - Think about DIM-SIM Therapy - Tasha and I explain this in lots of detail,

^Robbie's main tips