Just wanted you to know... I slipped at the end of February, similar story. I was at work (3rd party site) ran to my car to grab something and slipped on the GIANT ice puddle at was under my car, hitting the back of my head. I find myself frustrated now... the depression over this is subsiding and I am more accepting of my limitations, but I still rail against it often....

I hope you are doing even moderately better, and that things are slowly improving... I hope you have a good lawyer... I chose not to go the WC route, after my work dicked me around.... I have a good lawyer, and although I won't see a settlement for a long time, I am hoping that it will compensate me for everything I have been through...

I feel as though I am on an emotional rollercoaster. Calling the doc for med change anvd seeing a therapist. Tried to go to the doc today and got lost. The more confused I got the more upset I got so I pulled over, call hubby asking him to cancel the appointment and then took myself out to lunch. Spent some time sitting on the beach and then went home. I am wiped out by the event but learned that I am able to problem solve!

DHope,

I had a benign brain tumor removed in Nov. 2000. When I woke from the surgery, I thought I was a nurse working at the rehab hospital where I was a patient. I remember thinking, "this is nice, they provide beds for nurses to sleep when they get tired"!!! I was frequently found at the med cart because, "by golly, somebody had to give the meds to the patients!" I was often redirected because i would push patients wheelchairs around the Brain Injury Unit where I was a "patient", and also tried to help people toilet, dress, walk.....etc, as you can see, could have been a dangerous situation. (thank God, everyone, including me survived!)

I had to carry what my therapists named a Memory Book (spiral notebook in which to write down minute details) with me everywhere I went. at first, my therapists wrote down info I was to try to retain. ex. 6:30 am wake up, 6:45 am brush teeth, 6:50 am get in shower, etc. Eventually these things became second nature again, but it took months of therapy and me writing everything down.

It took about 2-3 years before I became brave enough to get back behind the wheel. I was on anti-seizure meds, which caused a lot of drowsiness, and I really didn't have the confidence I once had. Once I started driving again, the confidence returned. Although, there were some "bumps" along the way with my short term memory.

Any time I was to drive to a new direction, I would get specific directions.(back before GPS I used plain old sticky notes with directions written on them) If I had never been there before, I would try to have someone go with me at first. If i had been there, I would try to visualize my route beforehand to make sure I had my bearings before heading out. One piece of advice: stay calm, always have directions, and have phone numbers on hand if you get lost along the way. With today's GPS systems, I-Phones, etc. we can find just about any spot in the US.

When traveling, let someone know where you are going. I found that if I had someone waiting for me, if I got lost I could call and get directions in to the house. Also, most importantly, have plenty of gas in the car. It may sound silly, but I have driven around blocks over and over again to find, I was pretty darn close to where I was supposed to be. Just didn't have that last little detail that could have resulted in me getting there 45 min earlier!

Also, have faith in yourself! Your brain is healing. It will take time for the subtle functions to start happening again. For me, at first, I wore myself out trying to think so darn hard! Another piece of advice: when you park your car in a parking lot, try to park in the same area each time you visit that place. Ex. Grocery store. I have walked back and forth with my buggy of groceries looking for my car because couldn't remember where I had parked!

Give yourself time to heal, and room to laugh when you forget where you
parked! Or if you drive around the block 5 times only to eventually see if you had taken a left instead of the right you would have been there 40 minutes ago!

I wish you the very best, Dodi