#bisurvivor Archives

Fatigue: the cost of a brain injury

The brain becomes exhausted quickly when it is injured. Sometimes it becomes difficult to live a normal life with this fatigue

Everyone tends to talk about how people with brain injuries suffer from fatigue. Fatigue means that the brain can tire quickly. I think I have not experienced a lot of fatigue until I joined the workforce.

Throughout my schooling years, I was not mentally tired. There were times I thought I was mentally exhausted but turns out it was nothing compared to what I experienced in the past couple of months.

It turns out that what I thought it was me being an introvert during school was probably mental fatigue. I used to need time for myself and rest without people around me. This occurred after especially rough days.

Now I believe that I experienced fatigued. My need for breaks from others was a result of my fatigue, I didn’t know how to read it.

Even through college, I sustained my mental capacity by taking breaks throughout the day.

Now, I am in the ‘adult’ workforce as I like to call it. I am working eight hours a day. I am doing what I enjoy, and I am helping others live their best lives.

It’s a rewarding job, but it is physical. On top of being mentally exhausting, I exhausted myself physically. This means I need to try to find time to do what I want to do. I love to write, but sometimes my brain cannot handle it at the end of the day.

I am trying to use exercise as mental relaxation. It allows me to let my mind wander for a bit and then when I get home I am more willing to do activities that require more mental energy than just watching TV. These strategies keep my fatigue at bay.

If you have not read the story about my brain injury, please click here.

Math: That Subject in School

We all have that subject in school that was what we dreaded going to. It is no different with a brain injury.

Everyone has that one subject in school where they struggle and are in turn not a fan of it. I struggle with math. That is okay.

Math is my subject. I have always been a slow learner, but the math seems to take a while to click in my head.

That is okay, but the frustrating part is my foundation isn’t stable. The foundation isn’t reliable because I was busy getting pulled out of math to work on my reading.

It was a vicious cycle. It’s essential for me to put in the extra time and effort to be able to do everything, but if it impedes my ability to perform another subject, that is difficult.

Math has very different subsections. Some of it clicks with my brain, and others don’t. I had a lot of sections of math that just cannot mesh with the way my mind works but other I am.

I can grasp the concepts of algebra and geometry, but calculus is not my thing. It is okay.

The goal is just to keep working and never give up. I made it through high school and college math with hard work and never gave up. That is what has allowed me to push through and get to the point where I am today.

Please read about how I got my brain injury by clicking here.

Depression: Feeling blue

It is important to take care of yourself and if you think you are depressed and don’t be afraid to talk to someone.

Anyone can suffer from depression. It is not unique to an injury, but a brain injury can cause depression. It is essential to understand that right off the bat.

People who don’t have a TBI or ABI can have depression too. I can’t say for sure that I have depression because of what happened to me, but I can argue that its possible.

The important thing is that don’t ignore it if you think you have depression. You need to be able to know the signs and understand what to do about them.

Take a minute, notice how you feel right now. Was it tough to get out of bed this morning or do you have a lack of interest in doing something you used to love to do.

If you think you are depressed or may ha depression, it is essential to talk to someone about it. Don’t just keep it in. It doesn’t have to be a doctor, only a trusted adult.

The most important thing is to find help and take care of yourself.

If you are interested in my story, please click here.

Injury: I am a Person first

Once people know about the injury, they tend to see the injury and not the person. I am a strong believer that I am a person first.

I never thought about the concept of being a person versus being an injury. I began to think about it when I volunteered with people who had disabilities.

An injury does not define me as a person. I am a person who happens to have an injured brain. That is okay, as long as others understand that.

This is the exact reason why I am not a fan of sharing information about my past and my injury with others until they are able to know who I am.

This allows me to be a person with an injury instead of an injured person.
When you meet a person with a brain damage, it will make all the difference in how the person feels with you.

I know a few people who treat me like an injured human. Let me tell you, I want to get away from them as fast as I can, but when people just treat me like a person, I will hang around for a lot longer. My injury does not define me.

That is really all I want and what most of us want, to be treated normally.

Click here to read the story of my brain injury.

Time: There is Never Enough of it

There are never enough hours in the day. When you have a brain injury this is more than true. Everything takes longer and it is important to find strategies to help complete what you can.

Time is a human construct but, everyone says there are not enough hours during the day. It is true no matter who you are. But with a brain injury, it is even more difficult.

The ability to perform a task can slow after a brain injury. It is essential to take time to complete what you want to do.

The time it requires to finish a task can put this famous saying into reality. For me, reading a chapter takes the time it takes my friends to read multiple chapters.

This makes me not want to read often or at all. I enjoy reading, but it just takes a while for me to finish a book. That is okay, I need to keep doing what I enjoy.

For me to complete tasks that are time-consuming, it is helpful to create a list. I always have a list of things I would like to get done. This allows me to stay focused.

A to-do list can help me see what I still need to do, but it also allows me to see what I have accomplished. This can make me feel better when things are moving along slowly.

It is essential to be careful when making a list. It can be easy to get discouraged by seeing that what one still needs to get done and it is okay not to complete the list, just focus on what you have accomplished.

If you would live to know more about my story, please click here.

Reading: A love, hate friendship

Sometimes, a brain injury can cause issues to do what we want to do. It is difficult to rekindle the enjoyment that task used to give us.

I love to read and I like the idea of it. There are plenty of books I would enjoy to sit with and get lost in. The problem is that reading takes energy out of me.

After a long day I would love to read and relax, except for that I would rather relax and lose my mind in a tv show. I know that some people don’t like to read, but I would love to.

I wonder what would make it be able to be effortless for me. People will tell me that if I read more, it will get better.

My question is when. When does it get easier. Will reading ever be able to be my way to relax and unwind after a long day or will I always turn to Netflix.

There are plenty of books that catch my eye but opening them is what scares me. I have always had trouble.

When I was in third grade, I had to miss communal class and go to a particular class to help me read. I don’t remember what we did in there, but I remember walking back into the classroom and them being halfway through their math lesson.

I believe this is part of the reason I am not a fan of reading. My underlying fear when I open a book is that I am missing something more important.

I deal with irrational fears all the time. I can not pinpoint their origin, but they are present.

If you want to know more about my story, please click here.

Testing: An Inside Look of the Brain Function

Testing can assist the recovery process. It will show what areas need to be worked on the most.

I went through some significant testing at a younger age. These tests required me to do different tasks to show how I was able to handle them.

They told me that I had to prove that I had a brain injury. This didn’t make much sense to me, I am who I am.

They told me it was essential to get these results because it would assist how I can perform in school. It turns out that it did.

Even after all the testing, I went through, the prognosis was not very good. They predicted I would not be able to read at grade level, and there were questions about if I would end up going to college.

Now I have a college degree, and I have just finished my first week at my first full-time job. It is essential to keep pushing. It was not an enjoyable experience getting tested but it was worth it and I am glad my parents forced to do it.

Doctors will make predictions about outcomes and the future. The brain is a mysterious thing. It will change. Results will vary if you are willing to work through the difficulties your outcome will change.

If you would like to know about my brain injury, please click here.

Relationships: Letting someone in

Major life-changing injuries can be rough on every type of relationships, romantic ones, familial ones, and friends.

Some of these relationships will fizzle out and are not able to withstand the challenges presented. As harsh as this can be, in the end, it is a good thing. This process will show you who your real friends are.

I do not have experience with losing friends after the incident. But the things that frustrate me the most, I have found, frustrate some of my friends also. The only difference is that they can walk away.

I am usually able to be close to people who can look past the difficulties and I have had some friends who can’t handle it. I am not able to say what makes them leave and end relationships but for whatever reason they do.

My injury has been used as an excuse for even a breakup. That was not fun, and it hurt a lot. If it was the exact reason I can’t say, but it didn’t feel right.

The important thing about being rejected is that life goes on. I use it as motivation from failed relationships to show how wrong they really are. It is essential the push a little more because of each rejection.

Curious to know more about my story? Please click here.

Reactions: How people respond

When people hear about my story there are many different reactions. Some people accept it and others think I am a new person who can’t understand a normal situation

People have unpredictable reactions. This may be because you never know what the other person has gone through. Therefore, it can be difficult to tell someone about your big life-altering event.

This first question I must ask myself is how to bring it up. Do I want them to know just to know or is it essential information that would be helpful for them to understand how I work.

Usually, I assess the situation and first decide why I feel the need to tell them. After that comes the tricky part, how to bring it up.

This usually does not require a lot of thought. It is a subject that comes up naturally or not. If it does come up naturally, I am not able to think about how to describe what happened.

After telling your story, it doesn’t require a lot of thought. It is your story, there is no right or wrong way to say it. The important thing is that you know what you want to say.

Reactions: Effect my Relationships

The big fear I always have is after the story is over how will they view me. I never thought of this much before, but what made me think of it, was when it happened to me.

There was a teacher I had that knew my background, but I felt like I was being mistreated and getting talked down to. Even at my young age, I did not appreciate it. This is when I became self-conscious of my story and decided to keep it to myself until people got to know me better.

I found this to assist in my dilemma. As friends and teachers got to know me for who I was and not what had happened to me, they seemed more open to my story. I felt like nothing change their view of me once they found out since they were able to know me for me.

This is not always possible. No matter how they react, if you feel it is the right thing to do, then do it. People’s reactions are unpredictable. You never know how they will respond, the critical part is that you do what is best for you. If it is something you feel the need to do, then do it.

If someone reacts to how you don’t want them to, they are just one person. Think of everyone else in your life who are supportive and treat you like a human being. Just keep your head up high and know it is not your problem. If they have a problem with your story maybe it is not the right place for you to be in.

Want to know more about my story and why I started this blog? Click here

Thankful: Take a Moment for Gratitude

When life gets rough, it is difficult to feel thankful. It is necessary to find things in life that you can express gratitude for.

I like to tell people after they have heard my story that I am thankful for what happened. This injury has shaped who I am and what I enjoy doing.

I could not imagine what I would be like if my injury didn’t happen. I am not sure if I would be able to do stuff I could do now.

Thanks to this injury I have a strong work ethic. I can push through challenges, do what I want to do and I am not willing to give up on anything. For this, I am thankful.

I used to not be able to stand on one foot. After hard work in physical therapy, I am not jumping on the ice and landing on one foot.

I am thankful for all the opportunities that I had to get to work on the things that proved difficult for me.

I am thankful for the people who didn’t give up on me, especially when things became difficult. This happens a lot.

My injury has taught me how to be compassionate towards people who have their own struggles. There are people you will encounter in life who don’t understand that things that come easily to them don’t come quickly to others.

I am thankful that my injury has allowed me to advocate for what I need to succeed. This took me some time to learn, but I began the process at a young age. Everyone needs to learn this no matter what the situation is.

If you would like to know more about my brain injury, please click here.