TBI Survivors Network

All Blog Posts (57)

My Glass

My Glass I never knew it, but I had worked hard my whole life to shape my own reality. Even in the '70's, hard on the heels of a decade when everyone had tuned in, turned on and dropped out, American society tried to sort its constituents into 'winners' and losers, on the basis of attributes like income and occupation. I had grown up poor, but my mom sheltered her kids from the pressures that weigh down poor people from the day they are born. Absent, too, was the racism that, even today… Continue

Added by Shelah Riggins on December 9, 2009 at 10:22pm — No Comments

Speech Writing: How To Write A Good One?

Speech writing is in lots of ways similar writing a paper, apart from that there is no penalty for spelling and punctuation mistakes. You should not try to write words in your speech that you are not relaxed pronouncing or don't know the meaning of because it can lead to a less fluently delivered speech. To be able to write a high-quality speech is a lot like making a good cake. Having the right elements is key for it's success. Every… Continue

Added by Barbara Wilkins on December 6, 2009 at 10:52pm — No Comments

Traumatic Brain Injury — Stress, Anxiety and Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Part 3

Posted by secondchancetolive on November 23, 2009 Please read Part 1, Part 2 for context. Thank you. The impact of increased stress and sensory over… Continue

Added by Craig J. Phillips MRC, BA on November 23, 2009 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Traumatic Brain Injury — Stress, Anxiety and Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Part 2

Posted by secondchancetolive on November 22, 2009 Please read Part 1 for context. Thank you. In my experience I have found that as I am honest, family and friends are more accepting of me. These individuals love and embrace me for who I am as an individual who experienced a brain injury. I have also found that some family… Continue

Added by Craig J. Phillips MRC, BA on November 21, 2009 at 7:00pm — 2 Comments

Traumatic Brain Injury — Stress, Anxiety and Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Part 1

Posted by secondchancetolive on November 20, 2009 Hello and welcome back to Second Chance to Live. I am happy to see that you decided to stop by to visit with me. A few days ago I received a request to write an article addressing stress related to the holiday season. In the following article I will address several of the factors that I believe impact the lives of brain injury survivors during the holiday season. In 2 weeks Thanksgiving will be upon us, then 3 weeks later Christmas and a week l… Continue

Added by Craig J. Phillips MRC, BA on November 21, 2009 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Additional detail or thoughts from me.

Hello there. Well, it’s been a couple of days since my last message so I thought I should post a new one… so here it goes. Let me explain my fall. On October 18, 2003 I was cleaning the gutters in my house which I had done for 14 years. For some reason I also climbed up to the roof of my garage. I think something must have been behind the basketball backboard and I wanted to remove it. When I was done and started to climb down the ladder, the ladder slipped, I griped the backboard which broke.… Continue

Added by Ric Johnson on November 16, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

I can't get no (motivation)

Motivation. I probably idealize how I was before my injury (I was only 16, so what did I have to motivate myself for, except for school, and that came easy to me), but I had little problem with motivation: if I needed to get something done, I did it. Since then, my motivation has definitely been impacted. Actually, I have had less problem with motivation in the past, and that leads me to think that it is not simply a physical result of the injury. Rather, I think that it is a combination of the… Continue

Added by Shelah Riggins on October 13, 2009 at 1:14pm — 2 Comments

A little advice

Hey everybody. My nameis Jonathan. I got into an a car accident in june of '10, I'm home, am going through some rehabilatation right now. My problem is my short term memory is coming back. This woman that I love, her name is Georgia, I remember almost everything. I was excited yesterday for remembering something so wonderful, but today I am snapping into reality and need some advice on what to do when you are feeling emotional and depressed. Any help is appreciated. I am blessed to be here, frac… Continue

Added by Arthur Jonathan Frenk on October 12, 2009 at 6:46pm — 5 Comments

Having a blast!

School is going awesome and I have some awesome classmates. They are real supportive and help me when I need it. I finally finished the fall newsletter for TBI Raiders. I spoke to some student ambassadors about two weeks ago about TBI Raiders. There are two classmates interested in possibly joining. I'm in the process of studying and slowly moving the websites to a new web host. Continue

Added by Alicia Payne on October 4, 2009 at 3:01pm — No Comments

Message to Barry Joe

I don't hate you, Barry Joe. Sometimes, though, I try to imagine what could have been so goddamn wrong in your life, what sent you out in public spoiling for a fight, looking for someone new to hurt. Rich kid, rich kid daddy was a doctor divorced from your mama. They seemed to bail you out of every jam. Eric must have looked like an easy target, girl-crazy and gangly, his face already pock-marked by the acne that did nothing to keep him from being another girl-crazy geek like me. Rich kid, ri… Continue

Added by Shelah Riggins on September 15, 2009 at 10:30pm — No Comments

TBI Poem

Author's Note: I don't pretend to be a poet--I just thought I might try to capture what it's like to live with TBI in verse. Waves of memory almost break against the shoals of my mind. Half-sensed pains echo dimly and, thus, anchor me to my past my present my future. Who am I? who am i? I am mighty, a salmon, playing out the same destiny that so many have played before me, Only the floodgates have been opened, and I will surely drown . . . No I am supple, a reed, flexing with the w… Continue

Added by Shelah Riggins on September 10, 2009 at 2:17am — 1 Comment

lost myself again:(

ok some info on me my original tbi was late may 1982, I didn't lose much of my personality then least i done think so. I was 21 almost 22 at the time. I was careful for the first 8 years after tbi then I got hired full time by a parks district. I told them of the tbi work was good , over the years i have bumped my head into various things, lightspoles , steeping off ladder from third step giving head a jolt. Iafter 11 years I was working as late shift lead man, I fell out of a pickup onto a cobb… Continue

Added by mark floyd on September 7, 2009 at 3:03pm — No Comments

Concussion In Sports

A concussion is a brain injury. All concussions are serious. Concussions can occur with or without loss of consciousness. Concussions can occur in any sport. Learn how to recognize the signs and symptoms of a concussion. Recognition and proper management of concussions when they first occur can help prevent further injury or even death. FROM: CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Continue

Added by Valecia "Chee-Chee" Parker on September 5, 2009 at 12:04pm — No Comments

More People Eligible for Extra Help under Medicare

For people with limited income and resources, there is Extra Help available under the Medicare program to help cover the costs of prescription drugs. Social Security needs your help in spreading the word about some changes in the law beginning January 1, 2010 that could make more people eligiblefor this Extra Help. The changes were part of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act. The two most significant changes are: • Social Security will no longer count as a resource any life… Continue

Added by Valecia "Chee-Chee" Parker on September 5, 2009 at 11:56am — No Comments

A Web Page Just for Social Security and SSI Representatives

FROM BIAM SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER: Are you a representative for a Social Security or SSI applicant? Or thinking about representing someone who is applying for benefits? If so, Social Security has a web page that was designed just for you. The Representing Claimants page is stocked full of information on everything you need to know: how to be appointed as a representative, when you can and cannot charge fees, and federal regulations on representation. You’ll even find a model fee agreement, standard… Continue

Added by Valecia "Chee-Chee" Parker on September 5, 2009 at 11:32am — No Comments

Workplace - Charity Campaigns and Donations

Workplace Charity Campaigns, such as the United Way, American Red Cross, and Combined Federal Campaign will start soon. Please remember to designate Brain Injury Association of Florida (BIAF) as the recipient of your donations! We raise the funds to operate BIAF through our events, membership, grants and charitable dollars. BIAF does not charge any family who calls our Resource Center and is in need of help, case management services or hope. Workplace Charity funds are very important to BIAF and… Continue

Added by Valecia "Chee-Chee" Parker on September 5, 2009 at 11:28am — No Comments

where has the sun gone?

after a head injury at ten, without any knowlege of what i would never do again, but was able to do, i graduated high school, bright enough to enroll in our local collage.( please remeber one thing, my spelling always stunk, even befor tbi. so far i can't find the spell check on this site, so far yet ) the injuries sustained at ten, haunted me a life time. ( don't ask, a woman never reveals her age,OLD, is that enough?humm real old if i think about it ) any way, i found my self dealing with unco… Continue

Added by michelle boyd on September 4, 2009 at 6:03am — No Comments

The Best and Worst Parts of Being a TBI Survivor

What? There is a best part of TBI?! It depends on your outlook. “Glass half full people” tend to look for the proverbial silver lining. In so doing, they create their own little oases of happiness. It is simply impossible to ignore the negatives associated w/ TBI. I won’t at-tempt to be the spokesman for head injury, the TBI “Poster Child.” Rather, I will mention some of the downside associated with my injury: I guess it all boils down to a jarring rearrangement of every aspect of my li… Continue

Added by Shelah Riggins on August 29, 2009 at 11:29pm — No Comments

Networks of Support

Here I am, midway (almost!) through the Masters in Social Work, and so much of what we learned this first year resonates so strongly with me. It's not that I think that I am special, for I know that many of my classmates w/o TBI have stared down issues as serious as TBI has been for me (and, likely, you, gentle reader!) Sometimes, I hafta stop and think and remind myself how fortunate I truly am. This often happens when I am swamped by the difficulties in charting my life that spring up so damn… Continue

Added by Shelah Riggins on August 17, 2009 at 12:34am — 3 Comments

eeg results

hi everyone so I had an eeg and the results are confusing.. I see the dr monday but I was wondering if anyone has info the results say the test was mostly normal but coulnt rule out seizures or epilepsy. anyone know why it would say that.. does this mean I dont have seizures? thanks marlo Continue

Added by NJ Girl on August 14, 2009 at 7:44am — No Comments