Paige Decker, "When the Wind Blows Hard and the Sky is Black - Ducks Fly Together"
Paige Decker is a former women's hockey player at Yale University. Her career was cut short because of her decision to play with a concussion and hide her symptoms from the team's medical personnel. Paige recently stared a blog called "The Invisible Injury" where she documents her recovery from post-concussion syndrome.
In addition to talking about the ups and downs of PCS, Paige often highlights some treatments she's had in an attempt to alleviate her symptoms. Some treatments have helped and others have actually made her worse. She warns other athletes to to be cautious in choosing doctors and hopes others can learn from her mistakes. Recently, Paige has visited the Sports Neurology Clinic at the University of Michigan and has seen promising results. Click on the link to read her post about how the Neurosport Docs at "The Big House" have helped her.
Being that Paige is the first hockey athlete on the Heads 'N Tales Podcast, I figured I would use a line from one of my favorite movies growing up in the title. If you grew up in the 90's like I did, you probably saw the movie "The Mighty Ducks." The head coach, Gordon Bombay, gives his team a motivational speech and refers to the "Flying-V" formation that ducks migrate in. Scientist say this formation helps the birds conserve energy by reducing wind resistance. The birds take turns in the front, falling back when they get tired. The other benefit of "the V" is that it is easy to keep tabs on all the birds in the group so no one is left behind. I feel that this formation is also symbolic of what Paige is doing with The Invisible Injury blog and what I am doing with this podcast. We are both trying to help conserve the emotional and physical energy of our followers by sharing how we overcame obstacles. Another reason why this formation is fitting is because we are both a part of a community that can be dark and stormy, but we aim to make sure no one feels alone in their journey.
DUCKS FLY TOGETHER!
