returning from a traumatic brain injury

[tulip]

You sound like me. I will send you a PM since I don't want to go into details here. Take care.

[OakLeaf]

((((((((loopybunny))))))))

No advice, just sincere wishes for a quick and complete recovery.

[Crankin]

Please be very careful in your recovery. TBI is a funny thing; you can feel fine, but you are not. Are you going to be working with specialists to assess you as you recover?
There are plenty of people here that have been through this, but I also recommend sending Denise Goldberg a note. I have ridden with her a bit (after her crash) and her recovery story is inspiring. She has a blog and a website.

[Miranda]

yep, another +1 on "been there, done that"...

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...=century+crash

Thank gawd for bike helmets, right?! (Which btw, Giro offers a 25% crash replacement discount when you call them and order directly.) Yikes (((hugs))) for you. So sorry this happened. "Club Crash" is not a fun one to be in. But, you are not alone.

Well, on the brain fog mine was a few weeks. But no where severe as your damage. Even tho the doc had cleared me att I just remember coming to the realization that I was "not all ok" in the head driving my kid to school... I was sitting at a stop light and didn't remember what I was suppose to do... uh, kinda scary.

Here's wishes for the best recovery possible.

[shootingstar]

Take care loopy. Visit us more often.

[sundial]

I just want to wish you a complete recovery and keep us posted on your progress.

[indysteel]

What an ordeal! I don't have any personal experience with TBI, so I'll leave it to the ladies who unfortunately do have such experience to give you advice. But I do wish you a speedy recovery. Heal well and keep us posted. Take good care of yourself.

[spokewench]

Loopy - Wishing the best in your recovery! I have no personal experience, but have seen others with concussions like yours; some are fine very quickly, most take a few months and sometimes longer. It is really dependent on the person and severity of concussion. Just hang in there knowing that it will get better.

Hoping the best for you.

spoke

[loopybunny]

Thank you so much for all of the well wishes and information. It'll take me a while to go through all of it.

I'm happy to report that this morning I made my own breakfast (toast with peanut butter) and even rinsed the dishes then put them in the dishwasher. I also brushed my own hair after a shower. I figure all of this is a good indication of my increasing independence. Not close to driving yet, which means my mom is driving me to a doctors appointment today (unrelated to accident), but I'm hopeful I'll be okay to drive in another week or so.

I have a follow up phone appointment with my primary care physician on Monday as well as an appointment to have the staples removed (one is missing... probably pulled out from trying to brush out my hair). I start physical therapy on the 18th.

My friend sent some photos of my damaged bike and I have a few of the helmet. I'm posting a link instead of posting directly here because the helmet ones are a bit disturbing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4952147...7626119602777/

[nolemom]

A friend had a brain bleed that required emergency surgery but he was able to be back on the bike in a little over 2 months. Took it very easy at first and still has some issues of neck strain and headaches from the scar tissue over the plate, but he is has returned to the same level of riding.

[bcipam]

Funny I and my two riding buddies all had traumatic brain injuries. Mine was the least of the 3 (we all had car v. bike accidents). My one friend is now on life long anti-seizure medication. My other has some physical limitations. All 3of us have the same quirky, weird injury in that when we type, words get messed up. Not typos, just weird word order for instance I might type for "I need to stop by the store and pick up milk" "I guy need to want by the store and see up milk". The words are all spelled correctly but make no sense in terms of context. I don't speak that way; I just type that way.

I have to re-read emails and letters a number of times to catch all the weird mistakes. It's tough because words aren't spelled wrong so spell checker doesn't help. Grammar checker will catch it sometimes.

When we send emails back and forth, and the weird words are there, we understand and figure out what the other was trying to say but sometimes my emails come back with the note "please interpret Pamspeak"...

A head injury is scary. It helps to go through cognitive redevelopment and do mind games and puzzles. And with time, things get better although this little quirk for me is permanent. It is actually getting worse as I get older. That's frightening!

[linzq]

Huge hugs and good wishes for a speedy recovery.