An Update on Mike's Recovery

It's about time I wrote an update on how my recovery's going. As readers may have noticed, I've had little time recently to write posts for this blog. That's because my recovery's all go! Right now, there are two major parts to it and it's these I want to fill readers in on.

The first part is my second attempt at racing the Ironman triathlon in Taupo, New Zealand in March 2010. Readers may have seen in other posts that I received my brain injury in a traffic accident I had while training two weeks before the same race in 2005. An intense desire to race Ironman is something that's always been a special motivation for me to recover more. I'm really looking forward to finally achieving this goal.

The second part is a Masters degree I recently started in my favourite subject, economics, at a university here in Wellington, New Zealand. The degree involves the preparation of a 30-40,000 word thesis, which I am hoping to complete about June next year.

I continue to think about brain injury recovery and what readers might like to hear about my experiences as I attempt to complete these two goals. Unfortunately, finding time to write them up and put them on here is a bit of an issue, right now. But readers can rest assured that I'll get them up here at some stage soon(ish).

Cheers,
Mike

What Did My TBI Feel Like? Cloudy!

My Dad recently reminded me of the way I described my TBI not long after I received it! For me, my TBI basically made me feel all cloudy. I'm lying there in a bed in my rehab centre; I'm not in pain, but I'm just trying to take it all in. Yet things are so confusing and my head just feels unable to cut through that confusion.

Of course, I've just been thrown into this new environment. I've got very new limitations - I can't walk, I can't even talk properly - and I've now got a very unfamiliar outlook on where my life's heading. What will my recovery be like? It stands to reason that I'm going to be confused, but my brain just can't seem to get started on making head or tail of it! I find myself in this surreal world where I just can't find my bearings.

Fortunately, things do start to fall into place. They slowly begin to make sense and you get more certainty about where things are headed. The cloud lifts.

Getting clarity on where things were at was the start of looking at/thinking about what needed to be done. So it feels more like I should finish this post by saying, the cloud's lifted, let the Games begin!

Cheers,
Mike

The TBI Fingerprint

My own experiences with brain injury recently led my Mum into joining the Committee of the local brain injury association. One of the other Committee members discussed a good analogy for brain injuries and I thought I'd blog about it here.

The Committee member's analogy was, every brain injury is like a fingerprint. There's stuff in common with other brain injuries, but it's pretty much unique! No two brain injuries will be alike.

That idea might create issues for my readers. If every brain injury's unique, why should I bother reading about recovery ideas from a bloke who's only had one of them? After all, my fingerprint will be different to his.

Another thing is, it might make recoverers feel better or worse that their brain injury was more or less severe than someone else's. However, in Recovery from Any TBI, I say how I think, in terms of effects, there's little that sets any TBI apart. If I meet anyone with a TBI, I can be fairly confident that it's fundamentally changed their life. Every TBI's unique, but that doesn't take away from the effect of any one TBI.

What might be similar between recoverers, though, is attitude! Accordingly, the main goal I have when I blog is to help other recoverers find their own determination to recover!

Cheers,
Mike

Listening to Your Body: Sweating and Cravings for Salt

Your body is exceptional at telling you what it needs. All you have to do is listen!

One particularly undesirable effect of my brain injury is, when I exercise, I sweat... heaps. As long as I drink lots of liquid, I have no problem with it (although I'm less keen on running into girls I want to impress when I'm like that :-). However, I'm only slowly getting used to the new ways my body operates.

As I started triathlon training more regularly, I was exercising more often and therefore sweating more. About the same time, I started experiencing periods of cravings for potato chips. I'd never before had intense desires for particular foods (both before and since my accident), so I was very perplexed by such episodes.

Eventually, I realised that what my body was after was potato chips for their salt to replace the amount of salt I was losing in my sweat. Eureka! I increased the amount of salt in my diet by adding it to meals every so often. I haven't since experienced trouble with cravings for chips.

I certainly don't propose every recoverer will have a similar craving caused by sweating more! What I am saying is, listen to, and think hard about, what your body's saying to you. A TBI will likely change some/many of the ways your body works. As you get used to the new you, it might help to pass close attention to what it's trying to tell you.

Cheers,
Mike

More Unsympathetic Reactions: Getting Ejected from a Bar!

I mentioned in the post, Unsympathetic Reactions to Brain Injury, getting stopped by a nightclub doorman as I entered his bar and asked how many drinks I had had. That first bar was in Melbourne, Australia, and it was during another recent trip to Australia that I had a similar experience; this one actually resulted in me being kicked out of the bar.

It was the end of a long day of touring near Alice Springs in Central Australia. I was relaxing with my tour group in a local bar. Even four years on from my TBI, the end of a long day normally means one thing: I'm fatigued!

During a trip to the toilet, I was unknowingly followed by one of the bar's doormen. He decided that my stumbling, fatigued motions were due to intoxication. After stopping me, he said, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

Nightclub doormen are not people to muck around with! They're unlikely to listen if I try telling them of my brain injury. I decided it was best just to politely accept and ask if I can say goodbye to my tour group. That request was granted and then I was politely sent on my way.

Did I get annoyed about the incident? Well, it's wasn't good having my night ended for me, but I just did my best to accept it. The doorman was doing his job and meant no ill-feeling. The sheer fact I was fatigued shows me that it was time for bed, anyway.

Basically, the only sensible option I saw, and still see now, was to accept it and live/leave to fight another day!

Cheers,
Mike

Getting Red-Carded!

In New Zealand's favourite contact sport, Rugby Union, players receive a yellow-card if they commit a foul bad enough for the referee to suspend them from the game for ten minutes. Players receive a red-card if the referee decides to permanently suspend them from the game. A similar sort of approach is used in football or soccer.

Basically, I know when I'm tired, but, if I'm trying to stay part of the action, I might not respond to it. My brother adapted rugby's card system to encourage me to manage my fatigue.

If I look tired enough for a one, I'm given a yellow-card and sent off for a half-hour neuro-rest. If I'm so tired that a normal neuro-rest won't be enough and it's the end of the day, I get a red-card. Time to pack it all in and head off to bed.

While somewhat light-hearted, this system is great for keeping me focused on what's really important here; managing my fatigue! Hope it also helps others.

Cheers,
Mike