Hi. So, I'm a 28 male. When I was 23 (almost exactly 5 years ago), I was driving to a friend's house from work. It was raining heavily, and I've been told that I was supposed to pick another friend up. However, she said she needed about half an hour longer, but I offered to wait. She told me she'd take the train, so I drove off. Then, apparently a FedEx truck hit me, or I hit a FedEx truck (according to the driver's testimony (no witnesses)).

So, yeah, basically, I broke a bunch of bones, punctured my lungs, had a part of my right-side temporal lobe removed due to swelling, had a hemorrhage, and lie in limbo, comatose for 26 days. Doctors thought if I survived, I would be a vegetable. However, only one rehabilitation center took me in, Helen Hayes Hospital in upstate New York. So I went from a wheelchair to walking; I went from pointing to letters to communicate to speaking; from soft mushy foods to learning to swallow properly; I went from being really awkward to being slightly less awkward.

Luckily, I have a wide ranging support network. Well, had, anyway. However, I picked up smoking again, much to my parents' dismay. Marijuana, which I think I love, and cigarettes, which I'm sure I hate. However, last Thursday, my mom (yes, I still live with my parents) found me unconscious on the floor of the bathroom. After waiting in the ER hallway for 2 days, I was finally given a room and a 24-hour EEG was run. While not discovering any seizure activity, the doctor thinks it was a seizure due to my TBI and due to my description of what I remember before I passed out. So I quit cigarettes, and my parents convinced me to be a monthly user of marijuana instead of a daily user. Furthermore, I will ingest edibles rather than smoke it. But that's a different topic.

After my TBI, I briefly had cognitive therapy until it was canceled, the pathologist determined that I do not have cognitive deficits. This slightly worries me, as it seems too good to be true; how can I go through such massive trauma with my brain and have so little wrong with it? Either way, I'm done with this topic. I mean, I'm pretty sure I have more to say, but I am going to leave this alone for now, not wanting to think anymore; not sure who my target audience is yet.

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