Keep doing your exercises. I now have lines (muscles activating) on both sides of my face. Neuroplasticity (rewiring) happened. One side is a little weaker, but it is not noticeable unless pointed out. This is me when it started years earlier:
Just because you now have a disability, everything isn't gone. You just have to change it some.
The Person Centered Planning Education site takes you from the very beginning, so you may not need it all. It is set up as a self-study course. Long ago, I learned it through workshops. This can be done, and is currently being used in some areas.
I take two steps forward and one step back. I'll eventually get there, but I'll be dancing.
"The
nerve fibers from the cells were severed, but the cells themselves
remained intact." Nerve cells that have not died can form new
connections. It goes on to say, "The new research suggests that instead
of the sudden recovery Wallis
seemed to make when he began speaking and moving three years ago, he
actually may have been slowly recovering all along, as nerves in his
brain formed new connections at a glacial pace until enough were present
to make a network."
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-07-03-brain-rewired_x.htm
You may be able to do it one day, but not the next. That's
alright. Your brain is rewiring. You can't see what is happening in the brain. When you can't do it again, try as much
you can to finish. If a therapist is there, they will help
you...correctly. 'You can't do it' is probably the brain making neural connections. You have started rewiring, making a groove, and you are
making that groove deeper by doing it again.
http://thoughtfulveg.blogspot.com/2013/03/groove-me.html
Rewiring won't be fast. The person above was 19 years before it was noticed. I, myself, have taken years before notice.
Inspired by Judah Woodard. His mother made sure his day was stimulating for him- not too much, but just enough.
When time for school is up, sometimes there is something
else, sometimes there isn't. Programs after your child is out of high
school is limited in some places. An adult child struck with injury may
have nothing when coming home from the hospital. It may be a parent, and
there is definitely nothing. These are just some basic guidelines. You don't have to do them if
you are happy with your current situation. Also, you may be happy, but
want to add something. Pick this apart, and take what you want. You will have to learn from the hospital basic care needs. Before
discharge, spend an entire day with your loved one. Training may only be
an hour. You can't put a whole day in an hour. By itself, the training
may be inadequate. If possible, more than a day may be required of
observation for the learner. If your loved one is in school, you already do personal care needs.
You can just start the day later (not too late, or this can cause
disruption). If in school, find out what they are working on. It will be much
easier. Take notes. You might get ideas on making a schedule by sticking
to the class schedule. Again, it may take more than a day to learn
everything. Make a general schedule ahead of time. This can be divided into
morning, noon, and night. You will know "this" has to be done in the
morning, "that", needs to be done at lunchtime, and then you have "this"
every night. I ended up dividing my night into two parts: evening
out-of-bed, and night in bed. A schedule like this is so general, it can
be flexible around doctor and therapy appointments. The caregiver might do all the home duties, but certain things can be
set aside, like making the bed. This task may be set aside as a real
living learning task. (The task should fit the person. This is not for
someone in a wheelchair or unable to move.) This task may take a person 2
hours every morning. It doesn't have to be all the way done, or even
done perfectly. A "Good try" can be said and then the caregiver can
re-make the bed. Meal prep is a good time for life skills training. Maybe they can set
the table for every meal. Is there a certain cooking task that was
being worked on at school? If so, continue that. Higher skill levels can
work on recipes. Laundry is good. I think I started with folding towels. One day I was
given a sheet. I was just getting good at towels! Progression was also
in the task. That's all I did for a half-hour; just fold. If I finished
early, the nurse got more. Other household chores are appropriate. This may entail the person
tagging along with the caregiver or just starting a task. If that person
can complete a task, then good. It may take twice the time, but they
should do it daily. It can be re-done if necessary. MOBILITY TRAINING This won't even apply to some. For those who do get around, and the
community has one, they do need to learn how to use the community
transportation system. Here is a map of Centers of Independent Living, http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/
Click on your state. Hopefully your community has one. Usually these places
have some sort of training. That is why they are IL, or Independent
Living. If not in your community, but you can get to one, ask if you can see their curriculum to give you some ideas. With a therapist helping, this can be set up, http://braininjuryknow.blogspot.com/2010/12/rehab-at-home.html Exercises can be done throughout the day. Caregivers also experience a great deal of stress. Please contact
your local county mental health to see if they offer support. Individual
counseling and support groups help. Don't think of this as a program. It's a way of life. You are alive...so live! *This was completed with the help of Denise Holladay.
I was talked about on a show. "She
came back with her personality and her sense of humor....Where was her
personality all those years?" (The whole talk is pretty long. It can be found on Coast To Coat AM, but you need to be a member to listen. I just
happen to be part and quoted what was needed.)
My personality has been here the whole time. Sure my
sense of humor is a little wryer. I may be a little quicker to pick up
the ironies of life. All those secrets...I know them. Like that one about the Respiratory Therapist having the affair. Don't worry. I won't tell your wife...or any of the nurses. (There was more than one!) You are just one more joke.
I know plenty of jokes now. I remember all that happened after I opened my eyes, even though I could not speak. Want to hear a story?
With humor "no matter how painful your situation might be you can survive it." I had one of the most painful. There's still some trouble, but nothing like before, when I first opened my eyes. I survived the situation.
"Humor
has shown to be effective for increasing resilience in dealing with
distress and also effective in undoing negative affect." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humor_(Positive_Psychology) I got through it, but was it at your expense? I just point out what I see. I happen to see you. What you say and do is funny?
Don't confuse communication with awareness. I was aware. I just couldn't communicate.
He picks a good activity; yoga. It specifically works on balance. That's what's needed for walking and sitting unsupported. There are other programs (like dancing, gymnastics, etc.) that work on this. He does something that all of us do- he gets back up when he falls.
The
getting back up and doing it over strengthens the neural pathway. There is
science in persistence! If you want to get better, do it over and over. It
may be bad the first time you do it, but it gets better as you do it over and over. There may actually be growth of your neural pathway which you can't see. You may think you just did it over for nothing, but really you were making your neural wiring grow. Some info on this man. "Meet Arthur Boorman, the star of the latest video to wow the Internet. A
former paratrooper who served in the Gulf War, too many years spent
jumping out of a plane left him with chronic knee and back pain—issues
so severe that doctors told him he’d never walk unassisted again. And
for more than a decade, Boorman believed them. But then one day he
bought some videos from DDP Yoga—that’s yoga à la Diamond Dallas Page, a champion wrestler-turned-yogi—and everything changed."
Ettiquette seems to be lacking a lot with brain injury. It isn't all the time, but it seems to be quite often. Maybe because this is related to social skills. That is a big area of need. Rather than tackle that, I'll talk about an important lesson in this cartoon.
If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all.
This is big when it comes to social media etiquette. If you are leaving a comment, it is usually best to say something "nice"...or at least appropriate. APPROPRIATE doesn't mean you have to agree, just that your response is suitable.
This will not only help you now, but later, as those seeing the interaction form opinions. Be aware there are consequences to your actions. (ie. You are a business person. A socially unacceptable answer is seen by customers. They take their business elsewhere.) It doesn't hurt to talk to your computer screen. I can use all the foul language I want. My computer answer is a smiley face :) . My computer screen won't hurt me later. Here's a famous man dealing with computer hate mail:
Not only is it appropriate...it's funny. His only response is to read those mails out loud.
