The Untold Truth: The Full in Depth Story of Former Professional and Collegiate Hockey Player Spencer Jean's Concussion History as Told in His Own Words

By Spencer Jean

Spencer Jean bares his soul throughout his autobiography, explaining the never-before-told details of the suffering concussions have inflicted upon his life. He explains his first and last concussions, and everything in between. The events that take place throughout the book are explicit and have never before been heard by anyone. He explains how he hid his concussions from his coaches, teammates, parents and even doctors. He shares the consequences and life changes that concussions have imposed on his life. Some of the material may be hard to hear. He spares no details throughout the book. He explains how he took all of the negatives he suffered and turned them into a corporation that helps others prevent what he went throughand what will ultimately be his demise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496901668

Spencer Jean

Spencer Jean, a former professional and collegiate hockey player, suffered multiple concussions throughout his playing career. He has suffered, and will continuously suffer, the consequences from the amount of brain injuries he sustained and hid from his peers. He now is the co-founder and medical director of the Concussion Education and Prevention Agency, Inc. He is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist and a Medical Doctoral Candidate. He has dedicated his life to helping prevent other athletes from the severe consequences of concussions.

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© 2014 Spencer Jean, CBIS. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/27/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-0168-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-0167-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-0166-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014906037

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Foreword by Karen Jean

Foreword by Troy Sajatovich, M.P.T

Foreword by Jordano Papa

1.   What Will You See?

2.   Where It All Began

3.   What’s It Like to Feel Normal?

4.   The Ankle’s a Long Way from the Heart

5.   T-Baby’s Car Accident

6.   My Grandfather’s Influence

7.   Concussions Happen Outside of the Rink

8.   Hiding a Standout Concussion

9.   Off to Florida Gulf Coast University

10.   My Career-Ending Concussion

11.   Back to Canada

12.   Back to University

13.   Coaching Junior Hockey

14.   Coming Out From Behind Closed Eyes

15.   Call the Windsor Star

16.   What Kept Me Sane

17.   Someone I’ll Never Forget

18.   Meltdown

19.   Helping My Oldest Friend

20.   My Grandmother

21.   Where I Am Now

22.   What Will My Future Hold?

I dedicate this book to my parents, Paul and Karen; my grandparents, Larry and Earline Eastham; my sister, Madison Jean; the rest of my family; everyone who believed in me; everyone that helped me along my journey; the Concussion Education and Prevention Agency, Inc.; and brain injury research.

Foreword by Karen Jean

My first memory of Spencer’s concussions was when he played hockey in Wheatley. Spencer would complain of headaches or dizziness, but it wasn’t a consistent complaint; it tended to come and go. Knowing he had a deviated septum and a family history of chronic sinus problems, we all tended to brush it off. This included doctors as well; I took Spencer to see the family doctor quite often, asking for prescriptions for sinus medication. No one at that time even thought to ask about head injuries.

My first experience with the word concussion was when Spencer took an elbow to the head in one game. He finished the game but complained he had a bad headache and was dizzy. I took him to the hospital, where he proceeded to have a CAT scan. A neurologist then told us that there was no bleeding in his brain and that he should take a week off hockey. This became a pattern.

It was around this time that I noticed more mood swings with Spencer. However, he was a growing teenager, and so I felt it was hormonal. Now that I can reflect on past events, I do remember that it was around this time that my honour roll student’s grades started slipping a bit. We attributed the slipping grades to being 17 and focused on hockey.

My biggest concussion scare came during a playoff game in Wheatley. I didn’t see the hit, but Spencer took a check to the head. I did notice that he went into the dressing room with the trainer. Thinking his injury had something to do with his shoulder, I was quite surprised when I was asked by the trainer to come and talk to Spencer in the dressing room. The trainer felt Spencer was fine, and Spencer said over and over that he was fine, but the trainer wanted me confirm it! I found my son sitting on bench with ice on the back of his neck, he eyes completely glazed over. He asked for a chocolate bar and tried to convince me he was fine. The mentality of I will do anything to keep playing was in full swing for my son. I remember he was quite upset that the trainer got his mom to assess him; he was quite stubborn in stating he was fine. It was my opinion that he wasn’t, and I was quite happy the trainer sat him. That night we took Spencer to the hospital for another CAT scan, and the results were the same: stay off the ice for one to two weeks.

This was when I really started to notice his memory issues. We continually had to remind Spencer about everything! He was completely caught up in the hockey world, and unfortunately there was a lot brushed off because of that. I was frustrated at times with Spencer regarding his study habits. It was at this time Spencer worked for a pest control company, and he needed to write two exams to become certified. Spencer could answer all questions verbally but failed the exams. Looking back, I wish I would have seen the disconnect and realized that his short-term memory was already starting to fail.

Spencer used words such as foggy, lightheaded and dizzy to describe how he felt. My son has always been a little obsessive; as a young child he always received the student of the month award for being most prepared. Spencer was prepared for a tsunami in Windsor, Ontario, which would never happen. We continued to bring Spencer to the doctors regarding the fuzzy feeling, and they told us over and over that it was still his sinuses. I knew his personality and felt that it was my job to get him to refocus on positive thoughts, such as taking medication and quit dwelling on the side effects of sinusitis. During this whole time Spencer’s mood swings and forgetfulness continued.

Friday night, November 4, 2011, was my worst night ever! At 10:00 PM I got a phone call from my son. I’m okay, Mom. They’re just taking me to the hospital as a precaution! Spencer then hands his cell phone over to a paramedic, who tells me that they are taking my son to a hospital in Coral Springs, Florida, because he might have suffered heat stroke. Spencer tells me that he will call me as soon as he can from the hospital with an update. The phone goes dead, and I truly felt like my life stopped. My son, my baby, was in a hospital in another country, a four-hour flight away.

This was where our nightmare truly began. Spencer had numerous tests done in Florida; they not only did a CAT scan, but they also did heart monitors, an MRI and blood work. The conclusion was concussion symptoms enhanced due to heat stroke.

Spencer was discharged from the hospital with absolutely no guidance on where to go from there! The instructions he received were that he was not given a release to go back and play hockey. He was told that he must make an appointment with a neurologist immediately, within a week’s time frame.

Thank goodness for the Internet! I was able to find a neurologist in Fort Myers, Florida, who could get Spencer in right away. My husband flew down so that Spencer wasn’t alone through this. Unfortunately the neurologist he went to was terrible. The doctor basically told Spencer that one more hit, and Spencer could become a vegetable! No guidance of any kind for any next steps at all.

While my husband was in Florida, I was able to find a concussion clinic in Orlando. This place was fantastic. I called the contact name from the website, and the director of operations called me back the same day. I explained our situation, and he immediately told me that he would be glad to help Spencer.

Spencer was given specific instructions when he came home from Florida: no action movies, no video games, no reading, no working out and no school. We would simply be setting him up to fail in school. He shouldn’t raise his heart rate and should try to sleep as normally as he could. My son went from someone who was busy every minute of every day to someone who was not allowed to do everything and anything he loved.

I will never forget being at a conference and receiving a call from Spencer, who was crying uncontrollably and asking to come home to Windsor. He couldn’t stand being in Florida alone for another minute. My heart broke that day, and it still hurts when I think about it.

Spencer came home a different person. His mood swings were out of control, and I couldn’t look at him or talk to him without him snapping at me. Our whole house was walking on eggshells, never knowing what was going to set him off. Spencer’s sister took the brunt of his mood swings; he continued to yell at her for nothing and everything.

My total frustration with the Canadian medical system kicked into full swing after Spencer came home from Florida. I had to do all the research myself regarding help for concussions. There were no specialists in Windsor—not that I would have trusted them, because he’d seen neurologists here already who did nothing for him in the past. I found a place in Vancouver who wouldn’t talk to me over the phone, so my last resort was the Fowler Kennedy Clinic and Parkwood Hospital in London, Ontario. If it wasn’t for us pushing the concussion issue with the Fowler Clinic and driving up the 401 weekly, I don’t know where Spencer would be today.

Spencer’s struggles should not have happened! The medical history was there, and the information on concussions was there. Not one medical professional took it upon themselves to do anything about it! Not that I wish concussions on anyone, but it wasn’t until Sidney Crosby was injured that things started to change.

Foreword