Living With A Brain Injury

As time went on I understood what the power of a positive mindset could do. I stopped looking at all of therapies as tasks and approached them with goals. My main goal was to walk without assistance again. I went from walking with my own two feet to a wheelchair literally over night & that was tough. I eventually graduated to using a heavy duty walker and man was that tougher.  I eventually began to understand these were all temporary. I won’t need medical equipment for assistance forever, just until I was able to walk with my own two feet again. I realized that’s when the real work would begin. 

I remember I had to learn everything again, and I mean EVER-RE-THING; from talking, breathing properly again, walking, sitting, standing, eating/swallowing safely, toileting, making the bed, folding clothes, and personal hygiene. It all sounds easy but trust me you’d be surprised at how the body and brain works. It’s amazing how vital the nervous system is to the brain-body connection. The simplest movement like “scratching your head” becomes the hardest thing to do at all. Yes sure it sounds simple but once those brain cells have died or are damaged, that oh so simple thing you could do without even a 2nd thought; becomes such a daunting task. So for me (with now a brain injury), re-learning how to do this was hard but quite possible. I just had to develop a new mindset and take it one day at a time.