Over All
I couldn’t be happier with my progress! This time last year I couldn’t:
Walk by myself
Read for more than 5 or 10 minutes
Think straight in crowded Places
Had multiple migraines a week
Couldn’t process what I was hearing when there was a lot of different noise going on
Be out in the sun for extensive periods of time
Work teaching riding lessons for a whole 6 hour evening
What I Can Do Now!
Walk unassisted
Read for about 35-45 minutes at a time before getting double vision
Can spend time outdoors without eye strain as long as I have sunglasses
My migraines are reduced to just a few a month
The baseline headache that I have is not as bad as it used to be
Handle stimulating situations for short periods of time
Work out and still have enough energy left to do other things
Stuff I’m Still Working At
Pacing Myself
If you are a TBI patient you can relate to this. It is hard when you start feeling so much better to be able to pace yourself. I struggle with this everyday.
Even if I consciously try to plan my days to avoid it, often times it doesn’t work out… Leading to…
Neurofatigue
Neurofatigue gets worse the more I push myself to do. Throughout the whole process, each time I made progress I experienced extreme fatigue that requires me to have a crash day( or two)
I have continued to improve and I still get exhausted and experience neurofatigue, but I think positively about it because it means that I’m pushing myself and I’m making the next step in my recovery.
One Of The Hardest Things
For me the hardest thing is not being too hard on myself. Since I struggle so much to increase my endurance and learn to balance my daily activity, I tend to be hard on myself when I don’t get it right.
This leads me to getting super frustrated with my situation and that leads to me forgetting how far I have come.
In these situations, I need to remember to look at how far I have come and not just how far I still have to go!
If You Are A TBI Patient
Keep on keepin’ on. You will continue to improve if you keep working at it everyday and pushing yourself. It is a fine balance between working hard and pushing yourself and forgiving yourself on the days that you just have to crash.