How is snowboarder Kevin Pearce handling his TBI?

I can't believe it's already been just over one year since Kevin Pearce was injured when he hit his head on the edge of a halfpipe while snowboarding in Park City!

There's a nice article in The New York Times that gives an update on his recovery. Here are two quotes that I can relate to oh-so-well . . .

"Pearce said he was having a harder time than others were in seeing improvements in his brain function." (I think most TBI Survivors remember who they were and what they could do pre-injury, so this makes it difficult to recognize improvements because you are always comparing. Yeah, so I just wrote that in the third person, when really I'm talking about myself "I remember who I was and what I could do pre-injury . . .")

"As the morning wore on, Pearce mentioned taking a nap. He wanted to be ready for this week’s broadcasts, and all the travel had drained him." (I feel for him. Any brain activity wears.me.out. Sometimes I feel like an infant, the way I have to take regular naps)

Click HERE to read the entire article

George Clooney has a TBI?

I hadn't heard this one, but according to a 2005 article, George Clooney sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury while filming the movie "Syriana." Click below to read the article:

George Clooney and TBI

On a related note, George Clooney's aunt Betty Clooney, died of brain trauma caused by an aneurysm. The Betty Clooney Foundation (est. 1983) in Long Beach, CA helps people with cognitive disabilities. Click HERE for details on the foundation.

Mark Kelly speaks

A great article from Wash Post (about Giffords and TBI)

I'm keeping tabs on the status of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' recovery, and I found T.H.E. B.E.S.T article and T.H.E. M.O.S.T R.E.A.L.I.S.T.I.C article about TBI. Although many of the articles brush over the fact that Ms. Giffords has a Traumatic Brain Injury, this is the first one I've found that really discusses the parts of her brain that may be injured, and gives readers specific rehabilitation exercises that may be used for her brain to rebuild itself.

Here's a teaser: "One of the things about traumatic brain injury is that recovery can go on for an extended period of time," said Michael R. Yochelson, a neurologist at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington. "We leave the book open."

To read the rest of this wonderful article, click HERE

A conversation with my dad . . .

Dad: Hi Jennifer? Jennifer Mosher? This is your dad . . . in Minneapolis (insert laughter) .

Me: Yeah Dad, it's me! (insert eye roll)

* * *

This is always how my dad and I start our phone conversations (read pg. 79 in my book for another example) and tonight was no different. It's kind of silly that we've been doing this for years - ha ha ha. Anyway, I don't know why I started with that other than it came to my mind as I just got off the phone with my dad. As usual, Dad made an insightful and somewhat philosophical comment . . . this time about recovering from a Traumatic Brain Injury.

He's been reading a lot about the healing capabilities of yoga and meditation. I practice a lot of yoga (maybe "a lot" is not the best word since I usually only make it to a class twice per week. However, let it be known that I am a committed gym-goer, and I do faithfully attend some sort of fitness class 4 times per week). Dad read about a film called Spiritual Revolution (all about the healing powers of meditation). Daniel Davis, who contributed to the film, was also the Activities Coordinator with the Jan Berry Center For The Brain Injured. I don't know much about Mr. Davis' practices, besides the fact that he began developing mindfulness, drumming and other creative practices for people with serious brain trauma.

So, then my dad asked my thoughts on why I've done so well in my recovery.

Luck? Medication? Vitamins? Studying books about Brain Injury?

AND this is where he made the insightful and somewhat philosophical comment. He said, "It's like anything else. You have to work at it to get better." Then he threw in the golf analogy (if you know my dad, you know that in his earlier life, he was obsessed with golf and did anything he could to improve his game).

"It's like golf. If you want to become a better golfer, you have to constantly practice."

I think he's right (don't tell him I said that)! Recovery from a Traumatic Brain Injury is a lifelong endeavor. It doesn't happen over night and it takes a lot of hard work. Which reminds me of a favorite quote from Maya Angelou (also in my book on page 93):

Nothing will work unless you do.