Well another 2 years have flown by. I am still teaching and still constantly forgiving myself for not being the same old me... but who I was is growing fainter as the new me takes over. I guess that is the one thing good about a poor memory... It is easy to forget who you were prior...
My kids have grown up a lot more and at times I wonder if things might have been different if I hadn't had this injury, but then again.. God says that ALL things work for good for those that love Him... and I will hold that too Him!
Some changes in my life are that I have learned to take a bit more time for me... I recently was diagnosed with arthritis and I realized that I had (re-)injured my neck in my accident, but that it was likely overshadowed by my brain injury. I have found a wonderful doctor, a physiatrist, who helps to keep me on an even keel. I am still teaching full time and really enjoying it. This year I will be putting on a musical involving all the students from Grades 1-6 as well as a few grade 7's. Some of my high school students will be assisting as well. One will be my "memory" as I will forget details.
It is amazing how we can learn to compensate for our deficiencies... like writing things down, setting alarms and learning to validate what is really important for those battered neurons to try to remember. My fellow staff members and my students have learned to love me as I am, forgetful and all and that has been a HUGE blessing. I still get muttled over what my daily schedule is and what I did in yesterdays class, but I have also learned to be patient and that sometimes I can use clues to figure out what did happen.
My husband and my children don't seem to miss the "old" me as much as this "new" me is what there is now. They have learned to be mom's memory at times, like don't let me forget to get milk on the way home!
Over all I feel really blessed and while life isn't as easy as it once was, I take solace in the fact that I am loved by my family, my peers and my friends as the "new" me. The "old" me is just a fainting and now distance memory...
Take care... God bless.. remember time and a poor memory heal many wounds!
Shauna :)
Hi and welcome to TBIChat.My name is Shauna and on May 2, 1997 I was in a freak accident. I was helping to supervise a late night after school activity, and by accident, I was hit by a six foot tall ball (Earthball) and ended up striking my head against the wall and then the gym floor.
The immediate results were that I received a basilar skull fracture, a ruptured left ear drum and a concussion. I was out initially for about 5 minutes and then was repeatedly going in and out of consciousness for several hours.
I was home from the hospital in 7 hours and mostly slept for the next few days. I was told that no brain damage had been done, even with the fracture, and that my hearing would return in 10 days and I would be just fine.
Four years later I am still learning to cope with the "new" me, but I have accepted it and done my best to move on. Life doesn't have to end when you have a brain injury. It just changes.
It took me 2.5 years to start working again, 1/2 time and another year to return full time. I am back teaching, which is something that I thought I would never be able to do again. Not only am I back teaching, but I am teaching computers! I did return to teach band and worship the first year back and last year I started teaching computers as well. This year (01/02) I will be teaching only computers and worship.
I am working on my Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and after I have completed it I would like to get my BA in Computer Science. Learning is now a LOT harder than it was and I have to memorize the same things over and over. But I DO learn, so don't give up!!
I still have many of the deficits of a brain injury. Poor memory and cognitive dysfunction, vision, hearing, partial amnesia, vestibular damage, headaches, depression (moodiness), insomnia and such and I still have some autonomic problems as well. Over time I have learned to deal with, cope around or simply ignore.
If you are at the early days of a TBI, hang in there!! It does get better!! Give yourself time to heal, time to grieve and find things to smile about. You have made it this far and when you feel like you can't go any further, reach for your mouse and click on over to TBIChat. Someone will be there who understands what you are going through and will help you when you feel you can't help yourself. I know. I have been in both seats.
I would like to thank God for His grace, my husband for sticking through thick and thin, my children for supporting me and putting up with a fried out mom on many days and my friends both from TBIChat and my non-TBIChat friends.
TBIChat has been a place of healing both through laughter and tears.
Thank you Sagasha for starting TBIChat in the first place. Thank you to all the chatters for making the room such a special place!
Shauna
