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
Sunday, 9 August 2009
What Did My TBI Feel Like? Cloudy!
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4 comments:
Hi Mike, thank you for this blog . Our son had a TBI in Dec 2007 and like you he was in hospital for a month then he went to Porirua Cavit ABI for 6 months we are so grateful to the team there as they got Daniel holding his head up learning everything again, Daniel is unable to walk yet we don't know if he will but are confident that with the right treatment he will as he was walking with a gutter frame in Cavit . there is not much in the way of treatment here in wanganui , we do travel to Palmerston North to see specialists etc . Daniel is able to walk in the hydro therapy pool here I take him there . I am sure we will enjoy your blog , Daniel is very interested in TBI now he is unable to type big sentances but ok with small ones I guess it's early days yet for daniel as everyone keeps telling us . Well done Mike regards Pauline , Charlie and Daniel skjoth.
ps Mike me again I just forgot to mention that daniel has not lost his love of sport he has the tv on rugby while i'm typing on here . Daniel is 22 yrs old as Daniel cannot remember what his recovery has been like I found your account of your experiance very enlightning .Pauline
Congratulations on your recovery Mike. My 22 yr old son suffered a severe TBI in an auto accident last summer 2008. Two months in hospital, 4 months in day center rehab. His GCS was 6 in the hospital. He is making a spectacular recovery. He went back to engineering school just 6 months after his injury, despite the strong reservations of his medical team. He took two classes and struggled in the beginning but improved over the semester. He did well in both classes. He just started his next semester and is taking 3 courses. We expect he should have far less struggle this time, although clearly he is still improving cognitively and will for another year or so. I glanced at some of your entries and agree with much of what you say is needed for recovery. I will add what I have learned. Don't look back, only look forward. You must believe you are going to recover. Attitude is extremely important. You must exploit any sign of improvement. Any little sign is an opportunity for greater gains. You must have faith, hope and patience. Although you need patience because some stages of recovery may go fast, recovery from TBI takes years. Doing familiar things improves recovery by stimulating your brain. Although your brain may not initially put the pieces together, it will improve over time. The old adage, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again certainly pertains to TBI recovery. Do not fear failure, rejoice in how much closer you come to success. Best wishes to you Mike and best wishes to all of you recovering from TBI and your families. It takes a tremendous amount of family support and trained professional support to gain the best recovery you can.
Best regards, Bob
Please keep up your blog. It was one of the first things I found on the Internet after my husband suffered a tbi in October, 2008. He is still attending rehab and has deficits with problem solving and memory. He is very frustrated.
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