[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2021\/02\/amelias-story\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2021\/02\/amelias-story\/","headline":"Amelia’s Story: Traveling from Australia to Pittsburgh for Concussion Treatment","name":"Amelia’s Story: Traveling from Australia to Pittsburgh for Concussion Treatment","description":"When a concussion made life miserable, Amelia traveled to Pittsburgh from Australia. The UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program was key to her recovery.","datePublished":"2021-02-26","dateModified":"2022-05-17","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/sports-medicine-regions","name":"Sports Medicine","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/sports-medicine-regions","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/sports-medicine\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/iStock-1033632866.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/iStock-1033632866.jpg","height":325,"width":754},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2021\/02\/amelias-story\/","about":["Concussion","Health Topics A-Z","Sports Medicine"],"wordCount":849,"articleBody":"It was during a predawn April 2019 workout in Australia when Amelia’s life suddenly changed. The 36-year-old accidentally hit her head with a 10-kilo (22-pound) medicine ball. \u201cMy whole face shook,” says Amelia.She went on to work at her government job even though she felt strange. \u201cI kept telling my workmates my head really hurt,” she says. \u201cBut it’s the Australian way to just say, ‘Get on with it. You’ll be all right.'”The next day, she had trouble talking on the phone and in meetings. Three days after her accident, Amelia says she was a \u201cmess.” The normally busy wife and mother, who juggled a full-time job and a side business running a women’s fitness studio, could no longer function.Concussion Symptoms\u201cI felt fatigued and confused. I couldn’t have a simple conversation,” she says. \u201cI was there physically, but not mentally.”Over the next several months, Amelia’s condition remained the same as she went from doctor to doctor seeking help. She couldn’t watch TV or read; cooking in the kitchen was \u201ca nightmare.” She recalls being reduced to tears while making a smoothie.Doctors initially advised her to rest, exercise in a dark room on a stationary bike, and to stop when her heart rate became elevated. As her symptoms persisted, one doctor accused her of making it all up. Even her family doubted her.\u201cNo one believed me \u2014 not my husband, not my mother, not even the doctors,” says Amelia. \u201cI was crying all the time and no one understood why. They thought I was crazy. I became so despondent that I started to believe that, too.”Concussion TreatmentHope finally came in a podcast shared by her husband. It was an interview with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who talked about his concussion and the treatment he received at the UPMC Sport Medicine Concussion Program in Pittsburgh.\u201cEverything he said, I was going through. He was in a car crash and I hit my head with a medicine ball, but we had the same symptoms,” says Amelia. \u201cI decided right then that I had to go to Pittsburgh.”Amelia still had to convince her family \u2014 and overcome her fear of flying. \u201cMy father finally said, ‘I believe you,'” she says.In October 2019 \u2014 six months after her accident \u2014 Amelia was on her way to America, accompanied by her father.At UPMC, Amelia met with the team, including program director Michael \u201cMicky” Collins, PhD.  \u201cWithin 10 minutes of seeing him, I knew I was going to be OK,” she says. \u201cI went back to my hotel room and cried. I was so relieved.”Concussion RecoveryDuring her 10-day stay in Pittsburgh, Amelia met with four different specialists, including Dr. Collins and Vestibular Rehabilitation Program Coordinator Anne Mucha, PT, DPT, MS, NCS. She learned she had two different types of concussion presentations\u2014 vestibular and anxiety \u2014 which share similar pathways in the brain.\u201cThe best part about being in Pittsburgh is no one blinks when you tell them about your weird symptoms. They’ve heard it a thousand times before,” says Amelia. \u201cThey make you feel that this is normal and you’re going to get better.”She was prescribed targeted physical therapy for both her vestibular and exertion deficits, designed by the rehabilitation experts at UPMC. In addition, the team recommended an \u201cexposure and recovery” strategy \u2014 the opposite of the approach she was following in Australia. Everything she had avoided was now on her \u201cto do” list. She returned home with a plan that included going back to work, reading, watching TV, shopping, and cooking.\u201cAt first, going back into the kitchen was horrible. There’s so much turning, twisting, and bending involved when you cook. The motion was killing me,” says Amelia. \u201cIt sounds counterintuitive because you’re willfully making yourself sick. But it works.\u201cThey pushed me hard. They said you’re going to hate it. You’re going to be sick, but you’re going to do it and you’ll be OK,” adds Amelia. \u201cI never had doubts because I listened to Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and I trusted the team at UPMC.”Throughout her recovery, Amelia received regular support from the UPMC concussion team via email and telemedicine. At their urging, she began taking anxiety medicine. When her recovery plateaued, they encouraged her to add dance therapy. She started taking twice weekly Salsa and Latin dance classes.Amelia began feeling better within three months of her return, but it took a year to fully recover \u2014 a process she describes as \u201cslowly expanding my bandwidth.” She added other activities, including playing the piano, watercolor painting, and gardening \u2014 which she says turned out to be \u201cprofoundly therapeutic.” She’s thrilled to be able to work, cook, clean, and especially, to run around with her 6-year-old daughter at the playground.\u201cIt was worth every penny going to UPMC in Pittsburgh,” says Amelia. \u201cI got my life back and you can’t put a value on that.”Visit our website to learn more or call us at 412-432-3681 for an appointment."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2021","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2021\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"02","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2021\/\/02\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Amelia’s Story: Traveling from Australia to Pittsburgh for Concussion Treatment","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2021\/02\/amelias-story\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]