Where to begin... Literally, where to begin?
When you suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI), or any type of brain injury, there are times where you feel like you are completely starting over in life.
My story of starting over began on June 16th, 2021, the night I suffered more trauma than I would like to admit due to Domestic Violence. Since that night, I have been through more trials in life than I ever thought I would have to go through. I went from someone who could memorize useless information, knew more math than I could ever have the need for, and could remember ever little detail my children told me, to that not being the case anymore. Now, I am the queen of sticky notes. I carry multiple planners with me to make sure I keep track of everything and don’t forget anything.
If I’m being honest, for someone like me, I find it extremely embarrassing and struggle to admit that I deal with this on the daily. Recovering from this brain injury has not been easy. At times, I wish I could tell others that once you get out of a violent and abusive relationship the hard part is over—but leaving is the easy part—especially when relearning how to live your life with a brain injury.
Here is what I have learned over the last (almost) year with a TBI and short-term memory loss issues:
You will have ups and downs. You will start feeling normal and then you will regress because you are at a loss, which, all of those are perfectly normal and it does not make you inadequate in any way!
This past year, I have suffered all of the above plus some extras. I still have no hearing in my left ear due to other injuries that I sustained that night. I also suffer from extreme overstimulation due to only hearing vibration in that ear. There are times that I get so overstimulated that I cannot focus, and I feel like my skin is crawling. However, I’ve learned to cope and take a 5-minute quiet break and my wonderful kids have learned to understand that I need that time.
Please do not read this and feel sorry for me in any way, because there is so much to my story that you have not heard.
Besides learning how to live this new life, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to switch careers and work for an amazing organization where I get to share my story and help other individuals who are in the same situation I was in last year. Getting to share my story and helping people see that there is a future for them is the most rewarding part of my story.
If I could redo the events of June 16th, 2021, all over again, I personally would do it all over again so I could continue to share my experience and help others.
