Adventures Await
When two concussions prevented Eva Van De Water from participating in the activities she loved, she turned to Shepherd Center’s Complex Concussion Clinic for help.
Eva Van De Water sustained two concussions within the last year and a half, and both times, she turned to Shepherd Center’s Complex Concussion Clinic (CCC) for treatment.
In September 2022, Eva fell during a horseback riding lesson. She left the ring saying she was fine, but a few days later, she began experiencing nausea, light sensitivity, and headaches. After a trip to the emergency room, she learned she had a concussion. She made an appointment with a specialist, but there was a two-month wait for an appointment.
She continued to experience dizziness, headaches, and extreme fatigue. An incredibly active person, Eva had to put all activities on hold as she recovered. Her symptoms also affected her job as a high school science teacher. When she heard about the Complex Concussion Clinic at Shepherd Center, she got an appointment within a week.
After an initial assessment, Eva’s care team prescribed medication, and she began working with physical, occupational, and speech therapists weekly.
She worked on eye tracking for the dizziness and did exercises for balance and strength. Learning to organize tasks minimized her fatigue.
“It was helpful for me to know I was working toward something,” she says. “I was motivated to get my life back.”
She had a goal of joining her friends on a ski trip in Colorado that February.
“The therapists worked with me on all the pieces,” she says. “And I was able to go and ski.”
Competing in a whitewater kayak slalom race as part of the Alabama Cup Races was next.
In July, when Eva was back on track, she bumped her head on a window sill. Again, at first, she seemed fine. But two weeks later, after an afternoon of jet skiing on a lake, she felt those familiar symptoms. She believes it was a combination of both incidents that landed her back at the CCC, where she was once again diagnosed with a concussion. She spent the next six weeks working with therapists and, once again, was able to return to her active lifestyle.
“Both times, the team at Shepherd was dedicated to making me better,” Eva says. “I was in a partnership with each of the therapists. I am really grateful to all of them for getting me in a good spot to return to life.”
Written by Sara Baxter
With five decades of experience, Shepherd Center provides world-class clinical care, research, and family support for people experiencing the most complex conditions, including spinal cord and brain injuries, multi-trauma, traumatic amputations, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. An elite center ranked by U.S. News as one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation, Shepherd Center is also recognized as both Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. Shepherd Center treats thousands of patients annually with unmatched expertise and unwavering compassion to help them begin again.