June 2, 2014, was a day that changed my 13-year-old daughter and our family’s lives forever. In the last five minutes of a soccer camp, Abbey got a direct hit to the head with a soccer ball. She had a severe concussion with whiplash. At first, we thought the headaches were from being hit in the nose and that they would go away within a few days. After a week, the headaches persisted and we were directed to get a CT scan to ensure there was no internal bleeding. The CT results were negative. After two more weeks, the headaches were continuous and would not go away. We had an MRI and again the results were negative. But the headaches persisted.
More Doctors, More Therapy…But No Improvement
Over the next six months, we went to concussion therapy twice a week, saw a neurologist, an occupational therapist and had cranial sacral therapy. We tried everything to get the headaches to go away. After seeing these doctors for six months, Abbey continued to have multiple knots in her neck and upper back from the whiplash injury, daily dizziness and nausea, and perpetual headaches.
After six months of no improvements, we were beginning to get desperate. One of my friends referred me to a holistic chiropractor that was not covered by our insurance. He told us he would work with Abbey for 4-6 weeks. If he didn’t see improvement, he would refer us to Dr. Schmoe. We didn’t see any significant improvement and began seeing Dr. Schmoe in mid-December 2014.
Enter Dr. Schmoe
Dr. Schmoe was wonderful to work with and was certain that he could “fix” Abbey. On day one he did the VNG test and gave us the report the next day. Dr. Schmoe felt it was important to do a three-day brain camp with him to get quick results. Within those three days of doing eye exercises, body movements, and other treatments, Abbey’s VNG significantly improved. The dizziness diminished and most of the knots were gone in her neck without any chiropractic neck adjustments. Abbey’s headaches had gone down from an average of 8 to a 6. Dr. Schmoe was very honest and told us up front that the headaches would be the last to go.
We continued for a couple of weeks with no significant improvements. Dr. Schmoe felt that Abbey’s perpetual headaches were metabolic and wanted us to go on RepairVite diet to break the headaches. I never wanted to be considered one of “those” people that ate “organic” and all that “healthy” food. Abbey and I liked our sweets and our frequent runs to the coffee shops for our “Fraps.” Bottom line, I didn’t want my teenage daughter to go on a diet. After a few weeks, we were more desperate as we were not seeing results and were concerned that Abbey would have headaches for the rest of her life.
A Diet Change
On January 20, 2015, (month eight) Abbey and I decided to try the RepairVite program for 20 days. Dr. Schmoe was very clear that we could not cheat on the diet or it would not have the intended effect. Within one week, Abbey started noticing a difference in her headaches and, for the first time in eight months, she had periods of no headaches. At the end of the 20 days, Abbey’s headaches were down to an average of 2.
We continued to see Dr. Schmoe through the middle of March 2015. Abbey is now playing sports full time at a level above what we had seen from her before the concussion. She has very few headaches and her dizziness and nausea is minimal. She continues on a modified nutrition program (as do I) and she knows that sugar spikes her headaches and dairy irritates her stomach. She knows how to deep breathe if she has a headache and has learned tips on how to minimize her dizziness.
We are very thankful for Dr. Schmoe and what he has done for Abbey. I would recommend him to anyone that has had a concussion. My only regret is that I wish we knew about Dr. Schmoe back in June 2014 as I feel Abbey’s concussion would have been better managed and healed much sooner. Looking back, we know that God had His hand in our journey. He gave us the perseverance and strength to never give up and have relentless determination to find the answer that we knew was out there. Dr. Schmoe was that answer and God used him to help heal Abbey.
Abbey has learned a lot from her concussion experience and handled it with more grace, poise and inner strength than most adults would have. I know that she will use all the gifts she has learned through this experience throughout the remainder of her life. Who knows, maybe this will mold her to have a career in concussion therapy and help people like Dr. Schmoe helped her! Thank you so much, Dr. Schmoe!! We are forever grateful for what you have done for Abbey!!
Melissa D.
