We struggle so much and we all need that occasional good word; that boost of confidence that comes when someone acknowledges you. Many times during the first two to three years after my brain injury I found myself stuck; unable to move. I was paralyzed. The world seemed to be angry with me, punishing me for something I didn't do. I was always butting my head up against ... 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
Where Have All My Friends Gone?
There you are, on a mountaintop, alone, listening to the wind blow through the scrub brush and the mountain grasses, and all you can think is, "Where did my friends go?" You've never felt so alone. That's what it's like when you've experienced a Brain Injury. Friends disappear, just when you want to share stuff with them, or you need them. You're left listening to the ... Read On
“Stuff” I Have Forgotten Since My TBI
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 ... Read On
Honoring 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