this blog is great
 so please read it
 I have copied it to share with y'all cuz there is permission to...
 this is GREAT UPDATE and EXPLANATION OF ME, THE DIFFERENT ME and others.. also included other ppls comments to this blog..
.:)))) thank you for reading this in my new blog journal...luv ya---brita

 

 

 from

Llanojake

http://llanojake.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/mild-brain-injury-implications-for-independence/#comment-13

MILD BRAIN INJURY: IMPLICATIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE

Posted on December 16, 2011

This article from therapist Luann Jacobs is the most concise and comprehensive description of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury that I have read, as a MTBI survivor. MTBI can be caused by strokes, wounds to the brain, tumors, diseases, concussions (whether from explosions, contact sports such as hockey and football, auto accidents, or falls), and anything which compromises the circulatory or neurological functions of the brain.
“MILD BRAIN INJURY: IMPLICATIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE”
Luann Jacobs, MA-CCC/SLP RMT
Mild brain injury is a real misnomer, as it conveys the idea that nothing much is a problem when quite the opposite is more often true. It is called “mild” because, in fact, the mildly brain injured can walk, talk, eat and dress independently, often times drive a car, shop cook, go to school, or even work.
What the term fails to account for is the inherent limits of how often, for how long (endurance), and the all-important, how consistently (e.g., every day, once a week) these activities can be performed. Even more elusive is the concept of how many of these daily activities can be done sequentially in a given day as is normal in the lives of people who are not brain injured.
The mildly brain injured cannot put back-to-back the normal activities of everyday living (dressing, eating, shopping, cooking), work (engaging in gainful employment by meeting deadlines, delivering a product for money, being present a requisite number of hours) and social life (eating with family or friends, participating in parties or holidays, going to movies, etc.). They cannot do all of this on any one day or in any one week. Many mildly brain injured have poorer hygiene than they did prior to injury because if they bathe and wash their hair, that may be all they can accomplish in a given day. So they often must trade off activities. Bathe on alternate days. Cook two days a week. If they engage in work, then someone else must be performing many or all of the other activities.
The mildly brain injured who live alone, but attend family and social functions, are often seen either as lazy (they don’t help out much before in the planning or after in the clean up), or if they do pull it together when in the company of others, they pay for it with severe fatigue, crashing for hours or days afterward. They fatigue they feel defies description, going far beyond and far deeper than anything a non-brain-injured person would consider profound exhaustion.
It is extremely common for the mildly brain injured to become overwhelmed in the attempt to organize a normal or routine life. Normal life is filled with unanticipated changes to the schedule. A routine life is never just so; it is filled with the need to do simultaneous functions, to operate on automatic while engaging the conscious mind in decision-making, planning ahead, responding to changes, and improvising with more than one person’s schedule in mind. The mildly brain injured go into meltdown when faced with normal and routine living. In fact, even when they can engage in a seemingly normal pace, it is frequently because they have not judged carefully enough how much energy they have in store, and the mildly brain injured with overload, crash and burn.
I have worked with clients with mild brain injury for many years. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned is simply to say “it’s time to take a break now,” when a client has been doing well, but starts for no particular reason to express meltdown. Meltdown is frequently not recognized until too late, not only by others, but also by the person experiencing it. Meltdown can be recognized by a shift or change in the outward behavior of the person’s seemingly normal responses. One client’s speech rate increases as she starts not to process those who are speaking to her. Another client breaks into tears for no apparent reason and can’t recall how to do simple mental functions he may have been doing (or organizing) just a moment before. Meltdowns frequently trigger the very real feelings of isolation and loss that come with brain injury that can, in turn, trigger depression.
Mildly brain injured clients who are fortunate enough to live with family or friends can be helped a great deal by timely cueing to conserve their energy. If many of the daily independence functions. which are serious energy eaters for the mildly brain injured, can be handled by others, then they can use their energy to really expand their social and work worlds. When energy does not have to be used just to stay afloat, then it can be used for other creative and productive work. However, in the mildly brain injured, the supply of energy is extremely reduced from whatever the individual was capable of prior to the injury.
Mild brain injury often is accompanied by pain. Frequently the pain and fatigue go hand in hand. But often they do not, further confounding the understanding of what system is working here—what is cause and what is effect? The pain is often felt or expressed as flu-like. Muscle and joint aches. Frequently the pain wanders between two or three loci (head, neck and lower back, for instance). Weather and pressure systems also seem to interact and cause difficulty. Pain and fatigue are often the baseline of what is felt as normal to the mildly brain injured. This is where the day starts—awakening with flu-like symptoms, and having the day go down from there with the press of many activities to do and so little time and energy to do them.
Additionally, rehabilitation and cognitive work help the mildly brain injured to stay focused on what they can do and how to organize and apportion their time and efforts. Psychological therapy helps them deal with the emotional devastation of losing the self they were prior to brain injury. Neurological help in the form of good diagnostic work-ups and supportive treatments can help to control the multiple physical symptoms: blood pressure problems, fatigue, pain, and sleep deprivation, to name a few common sequelae of brain injury. Alternative therapies such a chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, Reiki, meditation, and yoga can be very valuable in treating symptoms and providing self-help and self-healing tools.
……Luann Jacobs
Note that the author has given her permission to share this article attributed to her as a mans to raising awareness and understanding of this invisible crippler of people who are the walking wounded.



my comment
Brita Jan Trimmell Theriot says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

January 2, 2012 at 2:20 pm

Thank you so much!! This explains who and what I am now that I have TBI since being injured May 13, 2010 by a horse…I struggle daily., divorced mom of teenage son and unable to work, and no family but my son and BFF in this state or involved in my life before or now expect my 97 yr old grandma who is like 1200 miles away, a call away…….and no one even my son my BFF and dear friends local or far seems to understand what or why I am who I am now…I will share with all my friends and family…
I hope I actually got into words and said what I meant to and what I am thinking..proofreading doesnt always help me find “mistakes/problems” saying what I think I have just typed or said… O struggle with my language though I sound good most the time but I can not get words that I am tihinking out or even written or typed…oh I think I was told it is aphasia is why (injury to left temporal lobe), I am slow on memories too….my left frontal lobe was injured too. I am alive and survived surprisingly and happily my hospital docs after many bad days in ICU and slowly recovering day to day…ups and downs… forward and backwards …I have gotten over grieving my losses and changes of who I was and my memories caused by my TBI. I also forgave myself and have gotten to back to peace and love now and going in forward healthy recovering steps each day…
Thank you again!!!!
brita

5 Responses to MILD BRAIN INJURY: IMPLICATIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE

1. Eileen says:

   December 18, 2011 at 11:52 am

   It’s always been difficult trying to explain to friends and family how my daughter’s TBI affects her in her daily life and this article states it so well. It’s been 7 years and her life has been totally altered from that of an active independent working professional woman, to one who can no longer work and who needs my assistance on a daily basis. I sent this article to everyone I know with the hope that they’ll better understand her situation. Thanks for sharing it and bringing it to our attention.
   

   Reply
2. Denise  says:

   December 20, 2011 at 12:34 am

   Thank you for sharing this with us….what a great article…..it explains me to a tee…..Now I know how to express what I’m going through and what I need to do to help myself…..I hope it does the same for others.
   

   
   
3. sunnydays140 says:

   December 28, 2011 at 12:12 am

   this explains my son as well. he just turned 15. i will be using this article to help many people try and understand his symptoms and difficulties. seems the school and people who know him like his grandma just cant figure out why he cant make it places everyday or make it anywhere on time or at all. some have even called him a lazy spoiled teenager with a mom that doesnt seem to care if he makes it to school or not.(the school actually said that to me by the way!) it is very frustrating to find any sort of help or support in my town who actually know about this type of injury. he has had many falls as an extreme bike skateboard and scooter sport kid. his last fall was october 2010. he hasnt touched any of his sports stuff since or done much else. every day is a challenge.
   

   
   
4. Stacy says:

   December 29, 2011 at 12:28 pm

   This is how I feel everyday, but I have never been able to put it in to words. I have to share this with my family and friends. I have been called all the negative terms in this article..And I am trying my hardest to get better.
   

   
   
5. Mira says:

   December 29, 2011 at 6:58 pm

   This is by far the best explanation I have read in ages of what it is like living with MTBI. Thank you so much. I will share this with all my friends and family.
   Sincerely,
   Mira Bartok, author of THE MEMORY PALACE