Of course there have been many things - all kinds of things - I have forgotten at some point since my TBI, but I'm not talking here about everyday things. I don't mean it the same way that we TBI survivors have become used to: those memory problems that plague us daily and won't go away. Forgetting in our daily lives is something we are all familiar with. We forget things that have been said to us, stuff we have done, or things we have to do. That kind of forgetting is caused by our ... Read On
TBI Humor: Serious Funny Business
My life after my TBI has been shaped by humor, to the point that my cognitive therapist thought I was making too many jokes and she tried to teach me how not to be funny. I felt as though she was trying to take away an essential part of me... TBI Humor Is... We are all familiar with Brain Injury humor. BI humor is that self-deprecating ... Read On
Neuroplasticity and TBI: Like PB and J
Peanut butter and jelly seem to have been born together; they're inseparable. Like ham and cheese. Or oreo cookies and milk. Believe it or not, brain injury also has a partner in crime; that one thing that is synonymous with brain injury. This item goes hand-in-hand with brain injury, but unlike the others I just mentioned, it is not a thing; ... Read On
More Posts
Easing that TBI Tension
Ever have those TBI moments when your body just seems to seize up? When you've forgotten why you were doing what you were doing and are unable to function? When you freeze? That's TBI tension. TBI tension is stifling: it envelops us, like being wrapped up in clingy plastic wrap, like yesterday's leftovers in the refrigerator, unable to even take a breathe. TBI tension is real, even though we are unable to see it. In fact, most of the time we only become aware of it when, all of a ... Read On
Finding Your Inner Strength after TBI
Several months after my TBI, when the shock of waking up after a month in a coma had started to dissolve into the realization that things were going to be really different, I began the slow task of sorting my life out. There were so many issues; I was unable to process conversations quickly, I felt stiff and unemotional, and I was too accepting of the things happening around me. Others thought I was passive and disinterested, but it was simply my inability to respond that made me seem that ... Read On
The Courageousness of the TBI Survivor
Some kinds of courage are obvious: someone runs into a fire and saves a life, or somebody dives into a river and pulls a drowning person out of the water. These are awe inspiring examples of people rescuing others while putting their own lives at risk, and are textbook acts of courageousness. You've got to really look to see a type of less-obvious courage, the no-choice courage: the kind exhibited by those who face challenges in their life and get up every morning, day in and day out, ... Read On
Finding Happiness after TBI
Each of us is searching for our own brand of happiness; for those things that make us feel good. Happiness keeps us all going, it keeps us juiced. We need it. Sometimes, though, events complicate our search for happiness, and, for many people, happiness can be difficult if not impossible to find. For those of us who have experienced a brain injury, especially those who are early in the process, any hope of finding happiness typically takes a backseat to "just getting through the day in one ... Read On