Hello,

I am so glad to be here. Everyone seems so nice.

I am a person who has a Traumatic Brain Injury from a car accident. The person who hit me had his cell phone on the floor. He was speeding; his cell phone went off and he let go of the steering wheel with both hands and looked for his phone. He never saw me. I have multiple body injuries from the impact and more than one part of my brain is injured. I work every day to get better and sometimes I get tired of it.

I was fussed at tonight by my friend because I no longer keep my apartment spit spot like I did before the car wreck. She just doesn't get it. She thinks I'm lazy instead of so overwhelmed I walk from room to room and don't know what to do.

I feel lost. My years in college seem wasted now. I can't remember a thing I learned. My home is filled with wonderful books that are old friends. I can't read them any more. My spoken grammar is shot and I can't spell worth a darn. I get lost, my memory is shot and I don't know who I am anymore. I've lost part of my sight because my brain can no longer recognize everything that my left eye transmits to it. I walked right into a column and bounced off it this evening because I forgot I can't see to the far left anymore. I'm sore all over from it. Yet my family and most of my friends expect me to step up to the plate and just "get over it" because "after all, it's been six months".

In a way though, good things have come out of this. Since I can't hide in books and writing any more, I've had to come face to face with myself. I am tentatively discovering this new person that I am and I've learned a bunch of humility that I didn't want, but probably needed. I also know I could be so very much worse. I am so very blessed in that regard. The Drs told me they don't know why I'm alive. I don't either, but I know God works in mysterious ways.

I look forward to making friends here.

Best,

Silent2

Hello silent, and a warm welcome to NeuroTalk!

I am so sorry that you're going through so much. I honestly don't understand why some people expect you to bounce right back from so many things, and can't or won't understand why that is impossible. Maybe it's to make themselves feel better, I don't know. I do know that the same thing has happened to a lot of us here, so you are not alone.

This is a great place to hang out with many forums with interesting topics, and lots and lots of friendly and caring people.

Below is a link to the Traumatic Brain Injury forum, to get you started.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum92.html

We're here for you. You have too much to deal with by yourself. It will take a lot of time to heal. It becomes a way of life.

welcome silent

I have read your posts on the TBI forum , and would like to thank you ,I know how hard it can be to even type, we understand what your going through and the folks here are so nice I am 18 months post injury, it dose get easier slowly with what we call work around,s I look forward to getting to know you

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Great to see you have come to be with us. Just let us know if we can be of any help. We are all here to assist each other as possible.

Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around.

Darlene

BLESS YOU HEART!!!I, too, believe God works in mysterious ways... Most everyone here at NT can identify with you. So you have come to a good place. Please stay around and write often. Get to know the sweet, wonderful people here. They will be a life saver on a daily basis. My prayers are with you. Though my label is different from yours, some of what you go through sounds very familiar. We don't know why this has happened. But it sounds as though you are staying as positive as you can and looking for the blessings through it all. There are good days and bad days...just know we are here for you through it all.

Hi Silent2 and welcome to NeuroTalk. You're dealing with alot right now and I can see how it must be overwhelming at times. I'm so glad you joined this community. There are lots of people with lots of different ailments.....but one common bond.....and that is friendship. You're always welcome here, you don't have to be at your best all the time.....you can come here and complain and whine and offer no apologies and we understand. We get it.

Feel free to have a look at all the different forums. Join in wherever you feel comfortable. We're glad you decided to join us!

Silent2,

Have you had any serious diagnosis of your condition? Especially an neuropsych assessment? When my wife read my neuropsych report, she finally understood. She wrote a long letter to our three grown children explaining my symptoms and how they were effecting my relationships for our entire 29 year marriage. She could see my slow deterioration and personality changes from minor head bumps.Two of our three children accepted her explanation and can now accept my condition and occasional melt-downs. The third ( Daddy's girl) has PTSD from a year in Iraq so she cannot get her own life figured out enough to understand mine.

Those who are not prone to dump on you should come around to understanding your condition if you can help them understand your diagnosis. Family that expect you to carry the load in a relationship with reject you.

You cannot carry those relationships with needy people. You have enough work just carrying your own load.

As you struggle with the clutter, try to focus on just one small area of your place. If your mind is working like mine, it gets overwhelmed with 'Where do I start.' Ask your friend to help you get things organized. If she knows you just need help staying on task, it just might work.

Explain that with memory problems, we tend to fear losing things if we put them out of sight.

Download and print out Dr. Glen Johnson's TBI Guide ate www.tbiguide.com.

have you friends and family read it. It may wake them up to your realities.

Hope this helps. Maintaining the old relationships after a brain injury can be tough.