A Nurse's Experiences with a Traumatic Brain Injury

This post is all about the eyes.  The windows to our souls.  More importantly, I want to discuss an often overlooked issue with recovering traumatic brain injury victims-visual impairments.  I can best highlight the issues based on what I have been dealing with the past 11 months since starting vision therapy.  When I was evaluated by my physical therapist a year ago, I had no idea that my impairments that caused horrible headaches, sensitivity to light/sound, and ability to read in a straight line had to do with my visual system.  I couldn't track very well either and didn't know that.  Why?  I had been in the hospital following my accident and yet, no one saw these issues with my eyes and visual processing system.  My thoughts were that maybe the impairments hadn't set in a week after my accident.  Who knows?  I NEVER thought it would take this much work to get back on track visually.  What makes matters even worse is that many medical providers don't understand

I cannot believe it's been a year already since my car accident.  Boy, have I got many things to reflect on.  I've had 2 hospitalizations, 6 months of speech and physical therapy, ongoing vision therapy 8 months and counting.  I am still not back at work and I have had to put my house up for sale.  Through all of the obstacles and challenges, I am growing stronger from the inside out.  This injury has taught me to spend my time wisely, since I max out so easily due to fatigue.  I have learned to be less tolerant of foolishness and allowing others to drain me like I used to prior to the injury.  I've also learned a powerful lesson summed up in one word:  PATIENCE.  The bible says to "let patience have her perfect work" (James 4:1a).  She has worked me this entire year, but I thank her dearly for it. Sometimes I just want to get away from the entire process.  Get on a ship and go sailing off to some beautiful place where it's about 75 degrees always and a nice

July 11, 2016 MY Birthday!!!!! Yaaayyy!!! I'm so grateful God blessed me to live to see my 36th birthday.  Yes, I have no problem revealing my age because I'm blessed to even be alive.  This could be a day or mourning my memory for my family and friends.  One thing this brain injury has taught me is to live life to your fullest and to NEVER take people, things, acts of kindness, or your life for granted.  Prior to my accident, I lacked the depth I have now.  I had many plans that I was adamant about completing, yet I still lacked my focus; or my purpose.  Since the accident I have to remain aware of my new self, my altered plans and letting go of what will not work.  This was a very hard concept for me to adapt into my manner of thinking.  Then to add insult to the injury, I struggle keeping it all together in a sequential manner that helps me prioritize my areas of greatest priorities.  Last year on my birthday I cannot remember what I did to celebrate it.  I know

Well, it’s my 10 th month update and boy have I been busier than normal.   I guess it’s good but it can also be really bad too.   Having injuries to multiple sections of my brain impedes my judgment a lot of the time.   For instance, I know I need to budget my time and energy wisely, so I am detailed in planning my activities.   Last weekend I was a part of a wedding; well I was one of the wedding singers.   The wedding was to start at 6 pm but the party was asked to be at the church by 5pm.   This was not really an unreasonable request being that I like being early to events to get a good seat, figure out what I’m supposed to be doing, and take the edge of anxiety off.   I arrived on time at 5pm as requested.   Next I went inside and greeted the other singers of the group, and waited and waited for the ceremony to start.   Heaven only knows what was going on behind the scenes with the bride and groom because the wedding didn’t start until 7pm.   So, I lost 2 hours of time and en

I cannot believe it's been 9 months since my accident.  In preparing to write about my progress I kept pondering on the number 9.  What's striking to me is what this number means in terms of an ending before a beginning.  For instance, a woman is pregnant for 9 months for a full-term pregnancy.  In this time, she has to stretch, endure morning sickness, cravings, mood swings, and ultimately prepare for a new life.  I have never given birth to a child, but I feel as if I'm preparing to give birth to something great.  The past 9 months have been super challenging and I've had to accept an altered life and way of thinking to survive it.  Just when I'm tired of going back and forth to doctors and therapists wanting to throw in the towel, God sends someone to encourage me to keep pushing.  So, that's what I'm doing:  pushing.  I will push until my purpose manifests.  A woman in labor needs encouragement because the pain is greater than what she has expect

April 29, 2016 Today is my 8th-month post-concussion anniversary.  Each month I like to reflect on what progress I've made from the previous month and share any new information I've come across.  First, I'd like to share a scripture that has truly blessed me. You see, the mind of a person suffering from a concussion goes through many challenges.  We first have to navigate our normal world with an abnormally functioning brain.  Our brains are healing and making new pathways and sometimes they don't always match up quite right.  For instance, as I'm typing Grammarly is a huge help.  I used to be a terrific speller and now I misspell words and even type them backwards.  What the fudge?  LOL!!!   Meditating on the Word of God is a huge help for me.  I don't know what other people rely on to pull them through, but my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is everything to me.  When I ask for his help, guidance, wisdom, peace, or whatever I need to get through

I shared with you in my first blog that I didn't know much about concussions or mild traumatic brain injuries with my 10 years nursing experience.  This is because nurses and doctors focus on major injuries when learning about traumatic brain injuries in school.  I have worked in the emergency room before and if you're not bleeding, have limbs falling off, or unconscious, your injuries are not serious to the medical staff.  Yes, I'm just putting it out there.  We have a process that we follow in how we prioritize those needing care.   Concussions are the trickiest of injuries because it can take days and sometimes weeks for serious symptoms to form.  This is due to the ongoing neuronal injury or shearing of important cell pathways in the brain.  What cannot be seen on cat scans and MRIs shouldn't dictate to the treating provider if you have sustained a brain injury.  However, in my case, my symptoms were a dead give away that something was terribly wrong with my neuro

I never suffered debilitating headaches before I was in my car accident August 29, 2015.  Headaches have been a regular nuance for me ever since I was diagnosed with a concussion.  I experience them sometimes 3-4 times  a week.  I've even figured out the patterns, what triggers them, and what helps to get rid of them.  A dear friend of mine posted this migraine article with a simulated video by the Huffington Post.  I had to place this on my blog. Until I experienced a migraine, I had no idea the misery sufferers were going through.  When I get them, I feel like my whole body just wants to shut down.  I run to my cave (bedroom) where my blackout curtains shield me from any glimmer of sunlight. I cannot wait for the day I can report I am no longer experiencing such debilitating headaches.  I trust God is hearing my prayers.  I know he is fully able to do more than I could ever ask or think. Emotional Video Shows People Experiencing Migraines For The First Time — In Virtual Rea

Hello, everyone.  I'm back with a post, but this time, it's a poem.  It came to me as I reflected how our concussed brains can impact our thoughts.  I hope you enjoy this poem. "When Thoughts Betray You" Thoughts are powerful.  They are things, so I've been told. You can control them, mold them, and even reject them. They are inside of you, so they come from you. Well, this is what I thought until my thoughts betrayed me. I thought I would never sustain such a life altering injury. I thought I would never be sick this long. I thought my strong will and determination was all I needed to conquer the world. I thought people would understand why I am behaving and speaking differently. I thought I would never be so "needy" and feel so afraid. I thought I could just snap out of this fog and get on with things like people expect of me. I thought I could sustain my relationship with my boyfriend after my injury. I thought I could get

Hello everyone.  Today has been a tad bit rough.  Why?  I have only had about 2 hours of sleep. Before my concussion, it seemed as if I couldn't get enough sleep.  This is the most aggravating aspect of my brain injury.  The brain needs a lot of rest to heal.  So, when sleep doesn't happen, this is what actually does happen to me: As funny as these memes are, I don't play around with my sleep.  I'm trying to figure out the reasons why I am so off track with my sleeping patterns.  Could it be from something I ate, or the neck injury that has resurfaced?  I had a good two months free of tightened neck muscles and nerve pain but that has returned and I am finding myself waking up all kinds of times of the night with pain and stiffness.   I am so over this traumatic brain injury.  I know I am blessed to be well informed due to my profession, but with matters of the brain, nothing is exactly textbook.  My doctors have given me information on practicing good sle

They say nurses are the worst patients.  I try not to be, LOL!!!!  I apologize up front for the long post.  I need to give a quick synopsis of what took place.  So here we go.  On August 29th 2015, I was enjoying a lovely ride with a friend after a date when suddenly my entire world changed.  From behind, a distracted driver hit us going at least 35 mph as we had initiated a stop to make a right turn.  Bang!!! It felt like lightning was surging through my head from the back to the front.  I mean it felt like a serious brain freeze but ten times worse.  Dazed and stunned, I managed to gather myself and I thought I was ok.  Well, if you can imagine, 7 months later, I'm still trying to get this brain of mine together.  What scared the living daylights out of me was a day I will never forget:  September 9th 2015.  This was the day I woke up from a nap with severely slurred speech, difficulty walking, and dizziness worse than a drunk person.  It was so bad, my friend, who is also a