Posted: April 22, 2009

One of the first things you notice about Wauwatosa West senior Allison Gonzales is her wonderful smile. Considering what she has gone through the past three years, you would not think she had much to smile about.

Gonzales, a member of the National Honor Society and a promising soccer, basketball and softball player, had her world turned upside down Oct. 15, 2006.

And she has not been the same since.

During a club soccer match in Madison, Gonzales, a goalkeeper, was kicked in the face while making a save.

She was rushed to a local hospital emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a concussion and sent home. Five days later, after her regular doctor ordered another X-ray, it was discovered she had broken her orbital bone and had surgery six days after that to repair the fracture.

"The surgery went great and she was all healed up, but she still wasn't coming around (from the concussion)," Allison's mother, Peggy, said. "She would wake up with headaches and go to bed with headaches. On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the worst, it's about a two or three. But when she goes to school, it's much worse."

Since the injury Allison has suffered from post-concussion syndrome, a set of symptoms that a person may experience for weeks, months or occasionally years after a concussion. These symptoms include headaches, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, blackouts, loss of concentration and memory, and noise and light sensitivity.

Seeking help

For three years, Peggy Gonzales has searched out medical experts, not only locally, but throughout the country, trying to find a solution to Allison's problem.

Allison has seen neurologists, neuropsychologists, physical therapists and concussion specialists. She has tried alternative medicine like vitamin therapy and acupuncture. She has taken prescription medication - and stopped several meds because they fatigued her so much she could not function.

Peggy also reached out to former Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Corey Koskie, who was forced into retirement because of post-concussion syndrome, and Stan Conte, who has dealt with concussions as head trainer of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

They both could relate to what Allison was going through and arranged for Dr. Mickey Collins, a specialist in Pittsburgh, to call Peggy. Collins eventually recommended Dr. Mark Hallett, who met with Allison in Appleton in March of 2007.

Hallett, who is involved with the ImPACT Concussion Program, tested Allison and prescribed no television, no video games and no non-academic reading for three months. She eventually passed the ImPACT test, but still was not feeling better.

Playing days over

One morning in January of 2008, Allison woke up and her headaches were gone. It stayed that way for a week. She was cleared to play basketball, but a week later, the headaches returned.

"She was a good basketball player, a gym rat," Wauwatosa West coach Mike Pietrowiak said. "She was a good shooter. From an offensive point of view, she understood the game. She would come to open gym, play 3-on-3 tournaments and she played some summer basketball. It would have been great to have her."

Allison's soccer career was also over before it started, but she did manage to play a little softball as a junior and tennis last fall.

"She had a lot of potential," Wauwatosa West soccer coach Mike Parulski said. "She was an athletic kid. She was fearless, caught the ball well and had good hand-eye coordination. She is still a very nice kid, one you would have liked to have in your program."

When Dr. Hallett could not do anything more for Allison, he referred the Gonzales family to a local doctor last April. Two months later, Allison went to a neurologist, who put her on medications. When the meds did not work, he told her to massage her head, drink a lot of water and come back in four months.

She tried to play in the summer basketball program, but only lasted a few games. Then in July, she was with two friends who were injured when hit by a drunken driver.

While Allison escaped physical harm, the accident traumatized her and she started having blackouts, cried a lot and was diagnosed as clinically depressed. When she did not improve, she was diagnosed in October with post-traumatic distress syndrome and depression from the accident.

Whenever Allison has to focus, the headaches get worse - studying and reading are very difficult for her - but because of her outgoing personality, she tries to hide the pain she is feeling.

Trying to move on

She was forced to cut down on her workload - she is taking only three classes - but her teachers have agreed to let her make up her other courses online. She is scheduled to graduate in June with her class.

"I'm getting Bs now," she said. "I never got Bs before. I was usually a straight-A student."

Unfortunately, while her classmates head off to college, Allison will stay at home and take a couple of classes at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and hope her situation improves.

She currently is seeing a neurologist, a physical therapist, a therapist and a psychiatrist.

"I haven't lost my optimism; it's still there," Peggy said, "and I believe this will be gone."

 

Tom "Sky" Skibosh can be reached at (262) 446-6620. Read Sky's blog at

www.WauwatosaNOW.com.

BY THE NUMBERS

64,000

high school athletes in the U.S. suffer a concussion while playing sports each year

1

in five high school football players suffer concussions

300,000

annual estimate of sports-related concussions in the U.S.

19

percent estimate of the likelihood of an athlete in a contact sport experiencing a concussion

 

- Information provided by ImPACT Concussion Testing and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Concussion Program