Accepting you have TBI is the most difficult thing... - Headway

Headway

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Accepting you have TBI is the most difficult thing to do.

Bright2018 profile image
10 Replies

I had my TBI in 1983 while delivering newspapers on my bike before school. There was this idea of "recovery" but in reality there in not recovery only adaptation. Recently I learned the brain builds new networks based on memories from before the event in order to cope. Nobody ever explained this. The NHS is severely underfunded and does not care properly for TBI survivors, we must lobby for more support and funding ought to be found by claiming damages from the people who caused the TBI such as reckless drivers. The NHS could get funded from properly claiming the care costs from vehicle insurance companies, so not from tax. It is up to us all to lobby the government to properly make drivers responsible for the TBI they cause by reckless driving. Insurance companies are legally obliged to pay for TBI care so please help support the STOP RISK campaign at stoprisk.page.tl/TBI.htm We need to turn the page to totally live and stop being in denial of TBI and the many new needs we all have. This is only possible thanks to the loving generosity of my beloved wife Eva who looks after me and is here in the photo supporting my work for The Commonwealth at her school. Thank you for reading and please comment.

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Bright2018 profile image
Bright2018
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10 Replies
Bright2018 profile image
Bright2018

Thank you very much we hope this one works, please share it.

ukok.page.tl/TBI.htm

Bright2018 profile image
Bright2018

The only solution to my TBI was to turn the world upside down.

Kirk5w7 profile image
Kirk5w7

Can i add that the brain is quite able to learn new tasks/concepts all our lives. It does not need past memories to link to. If there are past memories that may help speed up recovery because the brain can make new pathways around broken old ones and that may be quicker than making new.

We learn all our lives, we are not born able to juggle yet people do it because they learn it and it does not matter what age you are, you need dedication and perseverance not an old memory of it.

Same with all new tasks or relearning old ones.

Janet

Bright2018 profile image
Bright2018 in reply to Kirk5w7

Thank you Janet. Certainly I base it all on the old memories. It is difficult for me to adapt to change so I depend on the memories to go on and build my life, doing my best for Almighty God and Her Majesty The Queen by connecting The Commonwealth.

Thank you very much for your supportive advice.

sealiphone profile image
sealiphone in reply to Bright2018

All the opinions I've heard from the experts is that returning to a old job is much easier than starting a new career. As Janet said it's likely that most of the connection relating to a particular skill are still present, probably just a different description of the concept of memory.

I presume you learned new thing during your degree, certainly hope so if you paid tuition fees, one of my pet hates. However again that would be building on those old connections and knowledge about a subject from before.

I'll man the barricades with you, love the website by the way.

Bright2018 profile image
Bright2018 in reply to sealiphone

Thank you so much. Yes I want to go back to my old department which is now called DDCMS as it was National Heritage when I was there. It would be nice to go back to the same environment and deal with the same issues, namely promoting the UK so we will all be OK!

Cornishwaves247 profile image
Cornishwaves247

Hi goldie,

I’m 13 months now and still struggling. I can’t walk independently yet, have poor balance and my eyes are still impaired. I do like to believe I’m still improving but I don’t notice it on a daily basis , it’s more monthly. I keep my hopes up that I will walk again soon on my own, though it’s pretty repetitive the practice I do daily to achieve this goal. Good luck on your journey and after six months there is still plenty of time for improvement. Don’t give up hope we are all in the same boat. It’s hard but you have to keep positive

Bright2018 profile image
Bright2018

Firstly it is important to celebrate being alive, in my case I was all but written off as a PVS Permanent Vegetative State case in Plymouth in 1983. After one month I started to show signs of recovery. The first thing I knew about it was back in Barnstaple when I remember my friends from school brought me some Green Grapes. Ever since I have been in complete denial until this year so my family and friends have been supporting me. I was able to just about finish school and go to university and have even had a few jobs but nothing has lasted.

In a GIG economy nothing lasts anyway but TBI patients and the other members of the disabled community struggle to survive. DWP Suicides have more than doubled following the introduction of flawed and inhuman fit to work assessments:

independent.co.uk/news/uk/h...

Everyone wants to work and play an active part in society but how can you actually get to work if you have no public bus, no public housing, not the public relations skills needed and you're just a bit slower to think than the other candidates?

In a competitive, cut throat society like the one the UK has become it's no surprise that suicide is increasing at an alarming rate. Most shocking is the fact that suicides are not even counted if the victim is homeless as many are. Living with friends on the sofa and not really having an identity after the DWP Denies your claim and delays your appeals and frankly ignores your emails makes you homeless...

So we simply do not know how many victims there are. What happens to the bodies and what are local councils doing to help? In Bournemouth they are doing absolutely nothing to help but might have removed the Hostile Environment of the Anti Homeless Architecture benches that have become so prevalent:

telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/0...

Honestly, we are living in a country where the Prime Minister is proud of the Hostile Environment and suicides by our most vulnerable people are not even counted. Even in Nazi Germany there were records kept of how many people were murdered by the Gestapo but in the UK lives apparently count for nothing.

Living with Traumatic Brain Injury makes you think more about life and how valuable it is. Please support out campaign to Bring Back the local bus that all disabled people need to have a conductor on board. Conductors can help wheelchair users to easily board the bus and can sell tickets so the driver can focus on driving. With more buses and less cars there will be less Traumatic Brain Injury and we will Save Our NHS the billions of pounds spent on Road Incident responses.

Police will be able to spend time helping build communities and running youth clubs and helping people recover lost property instead of racing around in panda cars with flashing blue lights. Doctors will be able to enjoy proper working conditions with breaks to be fully rested and avoid making mistakes. Nurses will be able to talk to patients again. All this will SAVE MONEY and Save our NHS.

All we need is enough of us disabled people to organise ourselves and talk more about what we really need. We don't need anti depressant pills we need an anti depressant Prime Minister who will bring back local bus services for everyone.

Hopefull22 profile image
Hopefull22

Sounds very good. But what happens if it was the NHS, that was to blame by an inexperienced doctor not accepting that she had our son on the wrong medication and refused to stop/change it and not discuss it with a senior colleague who was well qualified in his field. If this is how they treat one of “their own” yes he work in the NHS, I don’t hold much hope for anyone else. Damages that’s a laugh our son will most likely not be able to return to work which he had a passion for in caring for those in his care. As for any apology from them I don’t hold my breath. No wonder the NHS is in such a state, as a family we have been involved and behind the NHS for well over 4O +years. Now we are left with a 34yr old son with a TBI, so much frontal lobe damage that he’s not able to read. It’s extremely painful for us all as we struggle on without very little support.

skydivesurvivor profile image
skydivesurvivor

life is challenging!! Find inner peace by accepting, developing the new you!!

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