"Brain Injury Is ..." Brain Injury Defined By People Who Are Living With It

Like the mirror from Harry Potter, you see things in the reflection of perfection. Then you look down at yourself and realize that it will never happen for a multitude of reasons.

Somewhat like a tree. It begins with 1-leaf and then adds many more. One can look at this a negative or a new beginning. I see it as a new beginning with all that is composed of it.

Like trying to climb a staircase but just as you reach a new level the staircase collapses.  Constant dissappointment as you try to achieve things but end up with extreme brain fatigue for days, sometimes weeks, watching everyone around me out enjoying holidays and doing things in their busy lives like i used to do but knowing that I'll most likely never be able to do those things that most people take for granted, again.  Its lonely. Lots of grief but also some amazing learning, Being good at Living in the NOW, Compassion for others, Knowing that Love is what lifes all about.

 I did everything backwards from talking to brushing my hair had to relearn how to function again and did with the help of my MOM and DAD and both of my daughters. I also still have a hard time remembering things from the past. People, places, incidents, sometimes it is a blessing other times it is a hardship.

I have lost my job.I yell at people and frighten them and myself. I am ashamed of myself and don't leave the house much anymore.I have pain and think about it too much.I don't sleep without some dream or headache waking me up.I think about the same stuff over and over.I talk about the stuff over and over, An example of some of the things are people talking about me small things like did i raise the flag on the mail box.My inter voice talks out loud and i embarrass people. I am a outsider and the scary black sheep of the family.

Sitting and trying to fight back the pain from the headaches and trying to remember what my wife asked me to do for the day. And trying not to loose my temper at those I love . TBI sucks big time but I've gotten used to the painful headaches that I've had for 9 years and only go to the E.R. when the pain stays at 10+ for over 3 days.

Getting up every morning and thinking "here we go again!"

Mourning who you were and accepting who you are now. Relearning things you use to know, and trying to remember things you should never forget. TBI means writting everything down and having constant fatigue and migraines. It's also about... learning to sneeze without feeling like you're're blowing your brains out ;) Most importantly TBI is about counting our blessings and surrounding ourselves with people who understand and can appreciate our unique situations. PEACE & LOVE ~KAR

TBI = Life will never be the same...and it does not get any better !

TBI the INVISIBLE injury

Like a Tornado or Cyclone of Emotions then don't remember what was said or did an wonder why Folks getting upset

I liked the analogy of the puzzle.

My twist on it would be: I am carrying a puzzle box. All the pieces are in there. I trip and the puzzle box goes flying. The pieces scatter. Others come running to help me pick up the puzzle pieces, but we can't find all of them. Most of them, but not all. The puzzle can still be put together more or less intact. The whole puzzle picture is still readily recognizable, but some pieces 'are' missing. It's difficult trying to describe what the few missing pieces mean, to the overall outcome. It's just difficult and there are no - comparators.

Trying to dance in a room filled to the ceiling with thick jelly.

No taste or smell to trigger any lost memories.

never having an easy day again.Make the challenges enjoyable. They are not going away.

Like dumping over a giant file cabinet, full of the "files of your life" & then spending the REST of your life trying to put everything back where it was... (sometimes only half ass... cuz that's THE BEST you can do/hope for.)

I resonate with every one of these statements. But I removed myself as much as possible from the life I had chose to create my own little world that embraced me for the person I became. My new community had no expectations of me to 'get back to normal'.

I love the internet because I get to choose who I interact with. *This is one of my favorite sites.

My Filing system is completely out of whack!

TBI may cause memory loss but the one thing that never goes away is how it happened.

Like reading a book and none of the sentences are finished.

Visual issues & headache daily make you long for the old you which now gone. Frustrating!!

Like everything has been reset

Is isolating...  lonely, scary, clumsy, and amateurish.  ~Tawana

I lost the majority of my vision with my TBI almost two years ago. I only have hand motion now, but though that should have been something good, I also experience hallucinations. My world is bright, colorful and so confusing it hurts. I don't know what is real and what isn't and somewhere I lost myself on the outside along with everything else..

Invisible. That's how I feel. People who used to listen and hang with you suddenly act like you're invisible. Lonely is another one. Mostly totally  confused all the time. Like you're in the middle of an ocean trying not to drown and everyone else around doesn't even realize you're there and that you're in need of help.