Neuroplasticity

Eight years ago, I suffered a traumatic brain injury after a drowsy
driver hit my Jeep head-on. The MRI showed six areas of hemorrhaging.
For the next six years I lived life on the sidelines. Despite a
plethora of treatments, rehab professionals, and medications, I was
unable to get back in the game.

It’s quite ironic, actually; before the accident I was a motivational
speaker. I knew exactly how to inspire audiences to succeed. Yet,
despite my knowledge, I was unable to affect my own life. I liken my
situation to the simple act of trying to tie my shoelaces. For me,
living with a brain injury was tantamount to being faced with the
dilemma of knowing how to tie my shoelaces, wanting to tie my
shoelaces, desiring to have tied shoelaces, but unable to tie them
because my fingers were frozen. After several years of intense rehab,
my neurologist said I would never work again in my life. I was put on
a disability pension, settled with the insurance company, and moved to
a small town in the Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada.

In retrospect, I believe that significant time for organic healing was
prerequisite to dramatic improvement. Occupational therapy, for
instance, was virtually impossible for the first few years. Believe
me, I tried. With all the might I could muster, I tired.

The year prior to my accident, my girlfriend of 5 years became my
fiance. After the accident, for the next several years, we tried to
make it work. But my entire personality shifted from extrovert to
introvert. I never wanted to go out, but instead stayed in my room,
playing video games, watching TV, and sleeping. I started smoking
cigarettes again. When we had first met, I was a non-smoker. This was
not the relationship either of us signed up for, and despite the idea
of “in sickness or in health” - with my urging, we went our separate
ways, still caring deeply for each other. I wanted her to be happy,
and, as for me, I could no longer tolerate the constant pressure to
live an active life. Today she is still my best friend and we remain
each other’s strongest ally.

I then moved out on my own. Before the accident, I celebrated 18 years
of sobriety. Living alone, continuing to deal with chronic anxiety and
depression, I turned to alcohol. It didn’t take long for my mental
health team to intervene and arrange the addiction support I needed to
stay the course.

Then something quite interesting happened. First, I must share that my
career for most of my adult life has been that of a professional
magician. Okay, that said, one random day I decided to order some
magic tricks online. When they arrived in the mail, I opened the
boxes, read the instructions, watched the accompanying how-to DVDs,
and started practicing and perfecting these small illusions. These
were card tricks, coin magic, effects with shiny brass cups and balls,
egg and small black bag, rope, and other close-up, sleight-of-hand
magic.

What was happening to me during this process, without any conscious
awareness at the time, was that the damaged parts of my brain were
being circumvented; it seems that the undamaged section of my brain
that dominated during childhood, the part that housed the passionate
childhood magician, activated and took over the load! As the months
went by, I engaged fresh, untapped gray matter, accessing resources
like mental organization, ability to withstand input, executive
functioning, short-term and long-term memory, concentration, and
abounding energy. Instead of thoughts spinning round and round in my
head, obsessively, like before - I was able to take action, bringing
ideas back into my daily life. I was thrilled to find a sense of
control over my life again.

Well, about a year ago, while dropping off my medical social
assistance stub, I happened to glance at a pamphlet on the wall. It
was for a local organization that helped people with disabilities get
back to work. I contacted them, went through the intake process and
was accepted into the program. They helped identify work that I was able
to do, find potential employers, help put together a resume and set up
job interviews. I soon got a job working at a local retail business
supply store.

Stocking shelves was my basic job description, with no more than 4
hours shifts, a couple days a week at the most. Well, one of the first
demands of my mandatory orientation was training as a cashier. Every
employee had to know how to execute transactions; a must when things
get busy and customers begin to line up. At first I was terrified!
Cash, debit cards, credit cards, computer - numbers, buttons, sounds -
and most threatening of all, people! My initial thoughts were
desperate. I was throwing myself into the deep end and would drown
during my first shift, I knew it. This was a big mistake.

But I surprised myself and eventually flourished at my new job. Actually, it
was rather fun. I was very much like a kid in a new town, at a new school.
I moved from tentative to confident in no time. It didn’t take long for the
management to give me more hours and numerous days per week. During
the back to school rush, I was working 8 hour shifts, six days a week.
My Doctor thinks this job is excellent for my TBI because it offers
structure. Structure, he says, is not only important for someone like
me, but for everybody.

I think that jumping up to the plate was key. Although a bit scary,
taking on the challenge of a job was vital to pushing my system to
accomplish more. I believe that when the brain is pushed to execute an
action, despite the damage (as the famous line from Jurassic Park
goes):

“Life will find a way.”

I have heard that this type of adaptation mechanism kicks in for people who
suddenly become blind; their hearing becomes more attuned in time, for instance.

With this successful momentum, I began marketing myself as a magician
close to home. I performed at birthday parties for kids, fairs,
churches, and Christmas parties. Now I’m back to motivational
speaking. And I look forward to getting busy again. My new show is
called: Forging Ahead - Teaching Success in Uncertain Times. It’s a
wonderful topic for the times, but what excites me the most is the
opportunity to inspire others who are living with a disability, who
want to get the most out of life and reach their full potential.

My struggles are not over. During the past several years, after eating
whatever I felt like and living a very sedentary lifestyle, I gained
50 pounds. I’m also on 6 prescription medications. My current goals
include a diet/exercise regime and slowly reducing the dosages of my
meds, eventually minimizing the amount of my pharmaceutical
dependence. *I am working closely with my Doctor in regards to my
meds, not making any rash choices on my own. And I feel blessed to
have such a cooperative relationship with my Doctor.

Regardless of the challenges, I am ever so grateful for the many
caregivers in my life. I truly could not have gotten back on my feet
without the support of my family and friends, my psychiatrist, my
rehab worker, and employment workers, who have been instrumental in my
healing and ability to function at a higher level.

In retrospect, I think my passion for magic was the trigger that
ignited Neuroplasticity in my case. I believe that when we access our
deepest passion, or interests, we not only inspire amazing growth and
healing to come about, but our quality of life improves. If my new
life's purpose is to give others hope that life can become richer, and
that caregivers, through consistent support, can effect positive
change in their clients, then my close brush with death was not in
vain.

Finally, I’m having a blast with my new Blog - check it out; I’m
adding new content each week!

Be well,

Don