When you have a brain injury many things change. Life is different in a way you can't explain and other people don't understand. Those other people who don't understand, in an attempt to help us, are always suggesting ways we should approach our injury or live our lives. The trouble is, what they are suggesting is based on their reality, which is the same reality we used to ... Read On
“So That’s Why I Do That!!”
How many of us, TBI survivors, do things or say things only to wonder, minutes later, "Why did I do that?" We go through our day-to-day lives, doing the best we can as we try to "normalize", and we often find ourselves doing these things we think are normal when they aren't at all. It becomes routine to do things without understanding why or thinking anything about them; ... Read On
You Are Not Broken
Once we begin to understand that something serious has happened to us, the first things we always want to know is, "When will I be all better?" Our natural reaction is to want to be fixed and have our lives magically to return to what we once were and what we once knew. And we want to do it fast. Fixing Things We are a society of fixers. When your car is on the ... Read On
Living with a Brain Injury and Feeling Disconnected
The best way I can explain to someone what it is like to be living with a brain injury and feel so disconnected from life, is for me to relate something that happens to me a few times a year. My Story For most of the 41 years since my TBI, I have woken up most every night, spending a certain amount of time, sometimes hours, just lying in bed. Years ago, the time lying in ... 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; it is a concept. Let me ... Read On