Here I am, at age sixty-four, about to enter a new phase of my life: forty-five years after my month-long coma, I've reached that age when I can retire. That idea sounds great, so I tell people I am going to retire in a year. Their usual response is, "Well, what are you retiring from?" "I am going to retire from being disabled." Do I really believe that? No, no I ... Read On
This TBI Survivor Doesn’t Care How You Talk to Me
At some point during this 43 year "trip" I've spent living with a brain injury, I got fed up: too much of my mental energy was being spent getting frustrated and angry because of things other people said to me. That was the moment I decided that I should not allow my mental health or my well being be dependent on the words of others. I saw that no matter how much I tried to ... Read On
Let’s Honor the Courage of the TBI Survivor
Some acts are obviously courageous: a person runs into a burning building and saves a life, or a bystander dives into a lake to save a drowning person. These are dramatic examples of courage and bravery, when people make spur of the moment decisions and put their own lives at risk in order to save others. There is, however, another, harder to see type of courage, and to ... Read On
Finding the Will to Keep Fighting after Brain Injury
We love those uplifting, feel good stories about survivors who have battled adversity to create a life following brain injury; who have proven doctors and doubters wrong by raising themselves from the ashes. These stories are good for the human spirit and good for the soul; handing us doses of confidence and inspiration by focusing on the best of our human qualities; ... Read On
Lost My Car & Nearly Fell Into the “Brain Injury Trap”
I get a laugh when I mention to somebody that I lost my car in the parking lot and they respond with, "Oh yeah, I do that all the time." I know they are just trying to be cute and funny or to find a way to make a connection with me, but what these people don't understand is that there is nothing cute or funny about a brain injured individual having to deal with constantly ... Read On