Our Soldiers and their Recovery from Brain Injuries

Today I can't stop thinking about our young men and women in our forces who are returning from combat with closed brain injuries and being labelled with PTSD.  The term PTSD can be used to simplify a condition or so that people understand  there are soldiers who are suffering and looking for answers.  We must start to talk about the brain and brain injuries.  People must be more open to discussion about brain injuries so that the road to recovery can be easier for the brain injured and their caregivers. 

My mission is to educate people and provide a forum where people can feel comfortable talking about their brain injury and know that anything they share is something I have already experienced. 

If you know of somebody who has served our country please ask them the write on my blog, visit my facebook page and read the information on my website.

http://www.livingwithmynewbrain.com/

I know that we need to start the conversation and see how the conversation can aide in recovery.

Why do you think brain injury survivors become their brain injuries?

When I first had my brain injury there were so many changes I was just trying to make sense of all that was happening.  As time went on and my questions were not answered I think the whole focus became the brain injury and finally everything that happened in my life was because of the brain injury when actually things were happening in spite of the brain injury.

I couldn't get anybody to listen to me and answer my questions so to get to where I am today I just had to rely on my instincts and every day get up and put my feet on the floor and keep on trying.

In the 13 years since my stroke I have learned that "I am not my brain injury" I am so much more than a little damage to my brain.  I have learned that people still don't want to talk about the brain injury, I still have a lot of questions, I still don't have all my memories back but all those things do not make me who I am. 

Who I am, a person who wakes up every day and tries to be thankful for what I have experienced and how I can share it with others.  It wasn't easy but it was worthwhile because I have learned so much about myself and others and hope that I will be able to continue to share my story so others can find strength in dealing with their own brain injuries and the brain injures of the people around them.

Finally to sum up the answer to the question above.  We become our brain injuries because we don't get answers that will help us deal with our brain injuries so without answers we fall into dealing with our brain injuries the best we know how and we live with our brain injuries so they become a big part of the decisions we make and how we live our lives.

Dr. Doidge and Brain Injuries

I just watched a great show on the Nature of Things about research and how technology is making breaking ground on the treatment of schizophrenia and other brain disorders.  It is amazing what research is being done so that people who live with brain injuries find out that there is advanced information out there. 

Here is the link to:

Changing Your Mind

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2010/changingyourmind/

The Brain That Changes Itself

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2008/brainchangesitself/

Fixing My Brain

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/thelens/2008/fixingmybrain/



Everyone who is living with a brain injury or are caring for a brain injured person should read these stories.

Art Therapy

Why is Art Therapy so important in recovery?  Because it uses another part of the brain.  There is some connection between being creative that stimulates the brain.  There are many ways to be creative and lots or organizations that promote the healing qualities of art.  Very early in my recovery I went to the art store and picked up a lump of sculpting clay and started to sculpt miniature sculptures.  It was very therapeutic on many levels.  I was being creative, I was doing physio on my damaged side and it also gave me some confidence that I could actually do something productive because I had lost so much.

Please share your story about how Art Therapy has helped in your recovery or if you are a art therapist please write what you do and how it has helped your clients.

Parents of Children with Brain Injuries

There are so many people who have children who have experienced brain injuries and feel totally helpless because people will not answers their questions.

I have a section on my website http://www.livingwithmynewbrain.com/ under the Answers Tab where I have tried to answer questions from the brain injured point of view.

I would ask that people share their stories on this blog so that people can see that there are some things that are similar with all brain injuries and that recovery is possible but it takes time.

If you have a story to tell please post it here.

The Brain - Frontal Lobe Damage

Frontal Lobe Damage

The frontal regions of the brain are called the "executive" regions of the brain because they are involved in rational planning, recognizing consequences of behavior, long-term memory, inhibiting behavior (such as unacceptable social behavior), impulse control and are also strongly involved with attention and concentration. These regions allow us to "step back" emotionally from situations to evaluate them intellectually and make rational decisions about what to do and how to do it. These regions are the "high road" that ensure we are not driven just by emotional reactions, the "low road".

The inability to inhibit unacceptable social behavior is a well-known possible consequence of frontal lobe damage.

Here are some links that may help people learn more:

Here is some information about a classic early case in neuropsychology about a man called Phineas Gage who had a frontal lobe injury. Here are some links about him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Phineas-Gage-Neurosciences-Most-Famous-Patient.html

http://lecerveau.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/articles_pdf/phyneas_gage.pdf

Here are some Google searches on "frontal lobe injury"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontal_lobe

http://www.neuroskills.com/tbi/bfrontal.shtml

Adult Children who Have Parents with Brain Injuries

The Whole Family has the brain injury and adult children need a place where they can voice their concerns and share their stories about how it is like to live with a brain injured parent.

Some adult children have to take over the care of their brain injured parent especially if they are living at home when the brain injury occurs. 

The adult children of brain injured parents need to know that they are not alone and there are many adult children who need support during this time of recovery.

Please leave your story here on this blog

Constraint Induced Movement Therapy

There is a doctor in Baltimore called Dr. Edward Taub and he has a clinic that practices Constraint Induced Movement Therapy  or (CI) Therapy on people who have experienced strokes and people who attend his clinic show increase in movement.

On page 132 of Dr. Norman Doidges book "The Brain that Changes Itself" he tells a story about Michael Bernstein M.D. who had experienced a stroke but after CI Therapy this is what he wrote about Dr. Bernstein:

He is now back working running his busy office.  He is also playing tennis three days a week.  He still has dome trouble running and is working out to strengthen a weakness in his left leg that wasn't fully treated at the Taub Clinic - which has since begun a speical proram for people with paralyzed legs.

He has a few residual problems.  He finds that his left arm doens't quite feel normal, as is typical after CI therapy .  Yet when I had him write his ABCs with his left hand, they looked well shaped, and I neer would have guessed he'd had a strok or that he was right-handed.

I think that every person who has experienced strokes should have access to CI Therapy.  We need to find a way to bring this therapy to Canada.

If you would like to read more about Dr. Taub's Clinic in Baltimore follow this link: http://www.health.uab.edu/16193/

Also don't forget to read Dr. Norman Doidges book The Brain That Changes Itself and his website http://www.normandoidge.com/normandoidge/ABOUT_THE_AUTHOR.html

Soldiers Returning with Closed Head Injuries and Other Types of Brain Injuries

There are so many of our Canadian Soldiers who are returning from combat with closed head injuries similar to people who have experienced strokes and other brain injuries.

These young people have a long time to live with these brain injuries and I know that the programs that are being set up at Veterans Affairs do not always work for many of our soldiers.

There are up to date brain assessments that can be given to the brain injured, and their families to help them deal with brain injuries.   Because we all know that "the whole family has the brain injury"

You can visit my website http://www.livingwithmynewbrain.com/ and click the brain training tab to find out about this up to date brain assessment.

Finally, if you know of any soldier who might benefit from my website please pass it along and if they email me I promise I will write them back.

Our soldiers have survived one war on the combat field we must make sure that they survive "living with a brain injury" on this combat field.

Disability Insurance

For the people with brain injuries have received disability insurance be grateful.  There are so many people with brain injuries that never received their disability pension.

There are many people with brain injuries that go through all the processes of receiving disability and still are turned down.

There comes a time in recovery that some people lay it to rest the idea of receiving compensation for their disability and choose to trust that something good will come for them so they can make a living after their brain injury.

As a brain injury survivor you have to decide what is right for you and know that doors are opened all the time if you are open to the opportunities that come along.

Brain injured survivors just want to be part of something, feel productive and learn to manage their brain injury.

Brain Assessment that Actually Work for the Brain Injured and their Caregivers

Brain Training for Brain Injury


Dr. Doug Jernigan is certified human behaviour consultant with the DISC system of human behaviour analysis.

Sondra Jernigan is a York University graduate and obtained a PhD. in England, Sondra went to Kansas to work at the Menninger Foundation, a private psychiatric facility.

The Drs. Jernigan are certified human behaviour consultants with the DISC system of human behaviour analysis through Personality Insights, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia.

“DISC represents four basic behavioural styles,” Dr.J says. “Everyone has a combination of all four, but are usually strong in two, even though all 4 could be in play:

• D – Outgoing, action and task oriented.

• I – Outgoing and needs other people to interact with.

• S –Reserved and people oriented, Team player, sympathetic, likes helping others.

• C - Reserved and task oriented, detailed, list oriented, fact based

Doug and Sondra have worked with people with brain injuries and through the DISC assessment program which provides scientific research into how part of the brain is functioning, how one’s genetically based behaviour can both help or hinder recovery and can provide answers to the many questions associated with brain injury. The DISC assessment program is easily implemented into any brain recovery program.

The DISC assessment is a statistically validated system that produces knowledge that may assist a brain-injured individual in understanding and implementing new strategies for recovering brain function. The DISC system can be a vital piece of that puzzle.

The DISC assessment can also benefit anyone who deals with the brain injured person on a daily basis by providing individual training programs to help the families/care givers go from friction to function because “the whole family has the brain injury.”

Here us my testimonial as proof that this assessment works:

Jean Oostrom had a brain injury in 1997. She has been on a journey of recovery that has included many types of assessments but only recently did she come in contact with Doug and Sondra Jernigan and the DISC Assessment System. Even after 13 years, this knowledge has helped her moved forward in her recovery. The DISC assessment system taught Jean how her personality has helped and hindered her recovery, answered many questions about how her brain is functioning after the brain injury but most of all offered an individual assessment of her behaviour and the impact it has had on her recovery. I recommend this program to anyone who has suffered a brain injury and the people who deal with the brain injured persons on a day to day basis.

Start Training Your Brain Today with Your Personal Brain Assessment

http://www.bordercolliebrain.com/assessments_12.html

Brain Training and Assessments

There are some fantastic websites that provide brain training games that you can track your success and even though you don't notice right away if you are making progress if you stay at it you will notice a difference in how your brain functions.

Brain Assessment
This is the brain assessment that made a difference in my recovery even 13 years after my brain injury.  www.bordercolliebrain.com .  You can take this assessment online.

Lumosity
http://www.lumosity/ is a great site where you can start your brain training. 

Mozart
Listen to Mozart - it is a scientific fact that listening to Mozart will increase brain function.  They put people in MRI machines and the images found that the brain was stimulated more then with other music.

Listen here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df-eLzao63I&feature=related


If you know of any sites that other brain injured people can visit please post them on this blog to help anybody who is looking for answers,

Posts for Caregivers

I am the brain injury survivor not a caregiver but I know the need for caregivers to have a place where they can share their stories with other caregivers. 

I know for a fact that all caregivers on some level really do not know what to do.  They are looking for answers and hopefully this blog will help them with that.

Some answers can be found at my website http://www.livingwithmynewbrian.com/  and caregivers can follow me on twitter at newbrainliving and they can right any questions on this blog and I will do my best to answer their questions or find someone who can.

Who is this New Person after the Brain Injury

So many people who have brain injuries spend so much time and energy trying to become the person they were, that is never going to happen....not because of the brain injury..but because they are developing into different people because of what they have been through...celebrate who you are today.

I remember working so hard to try to become the person I was before the brain injury.  I wanted to be that person who had lots of energy, worked hard, understood jokes, and had a memory for names and numbers.

Now after 13 years I am quite happy with the person that I have become.  I am more tolerable, compassionate and live much more aware of what I say to people and how I let other people affect me.

Most days I am thankful for the brain injury because I have met some great people who also are struggling, it gave me a different outlook on life and it has taken me on a health journey that if it wasn't so hard sometimes it was quite exciting.

Remember, you are not your brain injury.

Jean
Looking At Brain Injury from the Inside Out

Dr Norman Doidge's Book "The Brain That Changes Itself"

You must not let your brain injury rule your life.  The brain injury is only part of who you are as a person.  You can control the brain injury by acknowledging that it is there but you don't have to let it control your life.  If you are living with a brain injury please read Dr. Norman Doidge's book "The Brain that Changes Itself"  Finally Science has caught up with what is happening in my brain.  Here is the link to Dr. Norman Doidge's book.  http://www.normandoidge.com/normandoidge/MAIN.html

Living With A Brain Injury

Go home and have a normal life that is what my neurologist said to me 13 years ago after a stroke.  I soon found out that "having a brain injury" and "living with a brain injury" are different things. 

I can now say that even after 13 years there is recovery and finally science has caught up with what is happening my brain.

If you talk to anyone with a brain injury we have all experienced loss, disappointment and lack of services, however in the year 2010 there are way more services around then 13 years ago.

I have created a website for people with brain injuries and their caregivers to read my story, find answers and up to date information about brain injury.

My website is http://www.livingwithmynewbrain.com/  follow me on twitter at newbrainliving and on facebook Living With My New Brain.

Jean