Strength

 

The Tide Takes Over

 Quick word from me: 

I have just started some INTENSE new therapies that work my brain hard. Using multiple different methods (Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber, Theta Bed, rTranscranial Magnetic Stimulation, passive neurofeedback, among others that I am not fully aware of yet) the current neuropathways are being disrupted in my brain to reform "proper" ones. If that doesn't make any sense, that's okay. It essentially means that I'm undergoing a lot of different systems to make my brain work better. 

It is almost 11:00 PM. I am going to do this every freaking day for the next 2 months. I have barely functioned today. I have not been capable of doing anything but rest since I got home today. But in light of Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness month, I felt like I really wanted to post something, but I knew that this would be it. I asked my blessed mother to help me. So, she has written a few posts to help me out over the next 3 weeks. So, this is her input for today.

There are days like today, when Shannon has done way more than she can tolerate well. Those

days become very overwhelming and depressing for her because she can’t accept that she can’t

do everything that she always plans. Today is one of those days. She has taken this daily blog

writing for Brain Injury Awareness Month very seriously and she desperately wanted to post

every day. So to relieve some stress for her, I told her that I would post for her. She sets her

mind to something and she becomes so deeply committed to following through that she can

make her life miserable. If you want words of wisdom from her, I recommend that you read

other blog posts that she has made. One of the favorite of mine is the one about helping

someone with depression.

Just a tidbit about why all brain injuries are so different is because of the location of the injury.

Each part of our brain affects different aspects for who we are, what we are, what we do, what

we say, etc. If you want to know what part of the brain is responsible for what, Shannon could

tell you!! For Shannon, her accident involved her frontal lobe. According to neuroskills.com

“The frontal lobes are involved in motor function, problem solving, spontaneity, memory,

language, initiation, judgement, impulse control, and social and sexual behavior.”

New Version of Self

 My mom said that I don't need to post such long, informative posts as I have been. So, I will still post some informative posts, but for today, I am only going to post a picture/quote....

Until You Realize Your Brain Is Broken

       As I alluded to in my last post, I only know what an extremely severe traumatic brain injury feels like. Therefore, the information I share may not be applicable to all head traumas. However, the information I share in this post might sound controversial. It took a long time for my parents to believe that I truly did not understand what was happening rather than being contrary.

            For a long while, I could not comprehend that anything had happened to me. My brain had been damaged, but my mind literally could not grasp that very fact. Even though I was uncapable of doing things that I had always done, my perception was that they were still getting accomplished. For example, my voice was extremely monotone and when my speech therapist would tell me that I had to use voice inflections, I thought she was being insane. Because in my head, I was speaking the exact same way I always had.

            In occupational therapy, my therapist would try to get me to do simple addition problems. I legitimately thought that I was scrolling through the page at a rapid pace and I was extremely frustrated because I had just completed an AP Calculus class and now they were making me do addition! However in actuality, it took me about 10 minutes to get through a page and many of the answers were not even numbers – rather just dashes or dots.

           People had a hard time believing that I was not just being stubborn and belligerent. It seemed so obvious that I could not finish things, that my voice was so deadpan, etc. that there was no way I couldn’t see it! Yet somehow, my brain was not processing that there was a difference. My brain was so focused on physically healing that it could not supply my mind with adequate resources to fathom any sort of deficit.

I had no understanding of why I was trapped in the hospital for so long and I put all my efforts into getting out. To underscore this idea, I would have one sip of a 1600 calorie milkshake and think I had all 1600 calories. (Since eating a LOT of calories was a prerequisite to going home.)

            It took me a long number of months before I began to realize that things were taking a longer time and that things were a heck of a lot harder. It took a lot longer than that to understand that things would never be the same. I still struggle with all of it, but the final piece, radical acceptance, took the longest. “Radical acceptance is when you stop fighting reality, stop responding with impulsive or destructive behaviors when things aren't going the way you want them to, and let go of bitterness that may be keeping you trapped in a cycle of suffering.” It is NOT a joyful acceptance of the reality.

Mild, Moderate, and Severe

I won't talk very much for this post. One of the symptoms of severe brain injuries is high irritability and lack of compassion. That is ever present in situations I have with injuries that are less severe. So, trying to show some sensitivity, I'm going to just post pictures about the topic.

This is from the picture above, I know it's hard to see:

Concussions: Let's Debunk Some Myths
Around Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Let's clear up four misconceptions right here:
You can't have a "mild concussion"or a "severe concussion."
There is only "concussion (mTBI)." You sustain one, or you don't.
There is no grading system for concussion severity
Your brain does not bruise in a concussion. Part of the diagnostic
criteria in concussion (mTBI) is that there are no imaging
findings on CT/MRI.
You do not have to "blackout" to have sustained a concussion. It
turns out that less than 10% of all concussions involve a loss of
consciousness.
You do not have to be hit in the head to sustain a concussion. A
concussion is an acceleration-deceleration injury that causes
functional damage to your brain

FYI: I go WAY past the levels of severe. Even on the Glasgow Coma Scale!

Even someone with a severe head injury can feel to be in the green zone at times.

How YOU Can Help

 There are a number of things that YOU can do to help those with brain injuries. The most important thing is to just be there. Be compassionate and understanding. Be honest and know that their brains are relearning everything all over again. So you cannot beat around the bush. You cannot make empty promises. You cannot give them false hope. Because we don't know how to interpret signals that are not extremely direct. Seek understanding, if they are doing something you don't like, tell them! Reach out to me if you have questions that you don't want to ask them specifically. Do not abandon us. We are warriors and we have to fight every single second. Teach your children, nieces, nephews, friends, anyone about brain injuries so that we can reduce the stigma. People are afraid of us. Talk about head injuries and the importance of wearing a helmet. Reach out to communities that help those with disabilities - that do fun things! - like Wasatch Adaptive Sports or National Ability Center. Buy these T-Shirts and wear them around! I have all of the profits going to the Brain Injury Alliance of the United States of America. Thank you and God Bless you for the support!!

Whether Commoner or Celebrity, Always Unique

 
It’s no surprise that people like Gary Busey, Jackie Chan, or Miley Cyrus suffered head injuries. But brain injuries are far more common than you might expect. According to biausa.org, there are more than 5.3 million people in the United States living with a permanent brain-injury related disability. While many of the other celebrities do not suffer from a permanent disability, some may surprise you. Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Rebel Wilson, Lady Gaga, Derek Amato, Justin Bieber, Roald Dahl, Priyanka Chopra, Gavin Degraw, Natasha Richardson, and Richard Hammond all suffered traumatic brain injuries. Some of them were more severe than others and some of them had more lasting effects. Which leads me to remind you all of something that can never be said enough.

Every brain injury is UNIQUE. No two brain injuries are the same.

Brain injuries are unpredictable and there is no set treatment because of it.

The effects are complex and vary greatly from person to person.

The effects and longevity depend on factors such as cause, location and severity.