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By Cheryl Powell
Beacon Journal medical writer
Published on Saturday, Sep 01, 2007
When Kara Murphy worried about losing a college scholarship and the ability to play the sport she loves, her concerns were quite literally all in her head.
Six months ago, the star senior guard/forward on the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School girls basketball team smashed her skull against the court after attempting a layup during a game against rival Archbishop Hoban in the Division II district semifinal.
Before she could get up, a Hoban defender inadvertently landed on her, driving her head back into the hardwood floor.
Players from both teams joined hands and recited the Lord's Prayer as Murphy remained on the ground,
unable to get up.
The 18-year-old from Hartville battled pounding headaches, numbness on both sides of her body and nagging balance problems as a result of the concussion to her brain and the spinal cord in her neck.
Doctors couldn't tell whether she'd make a complete recovery, let alone play basketball again.
But after months of therapy, accompanied by hard work and prayers, Murphy is launching her collegiate career at the University of Akron this fall.
She's pursuing a degree in either early childhood development or occupational therapy while fulfilling her scholarship to play basketball for the Zips.
Murphy also is sharing her experience in a video on the Akron Children's Hospital Web site to raise awareness about the symptoms, risks and long-term effects associated with concussions.
''I wanted to help people who suffered from concussions, because it's frustrating, just not knowing,'' she said. ''For a while there, I didn't know if I would play again or get my memory back stuff like that.''
Murphy still can't remember anything that happened during that game on Feb. 28 or in the crucial hours that followed at Children's Hospital.
''My earliest memory was probably waking up in the hospital the next day,'' she said. ''My head hurt so bad for two months. I had a constant headache. I couldn't feel the right side of my body. My hands and feet were numb.''
Her parents, Pam and Mark, initially weren't overly concerned when they saw their tough, 5-foot-10 youngest daughter fall during the game.
All four of their children play sports, and he played in the National Football League for a dozen years.
''It was so slow-motion,'' her mother said. '' . . . We thought she'd be fine.''
But seconds turned to minutes, and their daughter still didn't get up.
Dr. Joseph Congeni, director of the Sports Medicine Center at Children's, was at the game, serving as team doctor for Hoban.
''Her mental status was in and out, '' he said. ''Her consciousness was in and out.''
An ambulance rushed Murphy to Children's, where an MRI and computer topography (CT) scan ruled out spinal damage or bleeding in her brain that would have required surgery.
But it's a common misconception that a patient is fine just because an MRI or CT scan turns out normal after a blow to the head, Congeni said.
Think of a concussion as a ''brain bruise,'' Congeni said. Even though the injury isn't visible, it's real.
''Was the brain injured at all? Absolutely,'' he said.
Murphy spent the next five days at Children's, where she received intravenous steroids to reduce the swelling.
Five days later, she went home in a wheelchair, unable to walk without assistance because of dizziness and shakiness.
''I needed help doing everything,'' she said.
For a week after her injury, Murphy couldn't sleep. The next week, she couldn't stay awake.
Pounding headaches struck daily for the first two months.
She needed rest lots of rest.
No computer. No music. No driving. Little or no television.
Rushing back to normal activity too soon after a concussion ''actually increases the excitability of the brain and slows down the healing of the brain,'' Congeni said.
Most patients are vastly improved in two weeks, Congeni said. But about 5 percent of concussion sufferers have lingering effects for six months or longer.
''There's so much pressure to get these kids back on the court or on the field,'' Murphy's mother said. ''You have to be smart. You have to be able to listen to the doctor. You have to have your brain.
''For us, it was easy. We said, 'You guys are in charge. . . . We want Kara. We don't care if she can play basketball. We want her to walk and talk and be like she was.'''
Murphy continued physical therapy and other treatment in the Head Injury Management Program at Children's but stayed home from school for the first three weeks. Doctors then let her ease herself back into the classroom, attending school for half days every other day.
The athletic trainer at St. Vincent-St. Mary followed a multistep program prescribed by Children's to slowly let Murphy increase her physical activity until she was cleared to play basketball again in June.
Though the headaches and other physical problems are behind her, Murphy still struggles with memory and concentration.
Her father knows firsthand the challenges she has faced.
For a dozen seasons, mind-numbing pain and temporary vision loss were just part of the game for Mark Murphy.
The former defensive back for the Green Bay Packers he played from 1980 to 1992 suffered an average of two concussions per season.
''I think the NFL is a little more proactive now,'' he said. ''Back then it was: ' . . . Get back into the game.'''
As an assistant dean and assistant football coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary, he now errs on the side of caution when a player might have a concussion.
''For me, it's always been the safety of the kid is the bottom line,'' he said.
Still, he said, he never expected his youngest daughter to share his past misery while playing girls basketball.
''She's been a warrior,'' he said. ''She's always been a hard worker, very driven, always trying to improve things she can improve on. But I think this was hard on her, because you can't control it.''
Unfortunately, Congeni said, concussions are more common than people think.
''We see significant numbers now in sports like boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball,'' he said. ''Concussions definitely are at risk in the non-helmeted sports.''
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
When Kara Murphy worried about losing a college scholarship and the ability to play the sport she loves, her concerns were quite literally all in her head.
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