Here ME on the radio . . .

Sunday, November 21st, the KSL radio show, "Cultural Connections" hosted by Nkoyo Iyamba, will discuss The Culture of Brain Injury.

Featuring:
(drum roll, please)

TBI Survivor JENNIFER MOSHER
Parent of a TBI Survivor BROOKE GONZALES
TWO recent U.S Military Veterans who sustained brain injuries in combat (I'm honored to meet them)
RON ROSKOS -- President of the Brain Injury Association of Utah and TBI Survivor

Listen to the Podcast (after 7 am on Sunday, November 21st) here.

la la la la onion

So, about what I posted earlier, getting eye surgery to repair my double-vision. Scratch that. Yeah, that's right. Things have changed. After discussing it with the Ophthalmologist again, we decided to hold off on the surgery . . . for now. That's mostly because he put a prism in my glasses which makes the problem 95% better. I still see double slightly, but it is soooo much better that I don't feel so neurologically taxed all the time.

Maybe in a few years, if my vision reverts back to its old ways, I will look at surgery again. But for now, I feel it's best to wait.

Brent Mosher the angel

I didn't ask my brother if I could do this, so I hope it's okay. But after watching the following video on Brainline.org, it got me thinking about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful, supportive sibling.

Watch this video HERE

Brent once told me that my nurse, Duane, at Regional West Medical Center in Nebraska, had him help move me from my bed to the guerny and vice-versa. That really let him feel involved in my recovery.

Sometimes I wonder if loved ones are forgotten during tragedies, especially siblings, as the focus in on helping the injured. My injury and hospitalization was just as hard for Brent as it was for my parents . . . Watch the video and you will see that a Family Therapist agrees with me

Inspirational Quote of the Day

Here is the test to find out whether your mission on earth is finished: if you're alive it isn't.

- Richard Bach

ophthalmology /oph·thal·mol·o·gy/ (of″thal-mol´ah-je)

So scratch that about the Neuro-Opthalmologist. I gathered some great advice to see a regular Opthalmologist first because my double vision may be from damaged eye muscles.

Today I visited a clinic and gained some very helpful insight into my problem!

First, let me just vent and say that a brain injury in and of itself is incredibly neurologically taxing. Add double vision on top of that and, well, a girl's brain can go crazy! The person who performed my eye exam said, "Wow, you can really control your eye movement well!" It was difficult for him to see my sporadic eye movement at first because I've learned how to compensate. I'll take that as a compliment.

He said when you slam the front of your head, like I did, and your brain bounces back and forth, it damages the back, where all the vision nerves are (that said in total lay-man's terms).

Here's what we discovered: My double vision stems from a damaged nerve, not a muscle! And, geez, I can't believe I've lived with this problem for such.a.long.time, because a simple surgery can fix it! Why didn't I look into this before? Actually, I do remember seeing an Opthal. shortly after my accident, and he said surgery would not help -- granted, that was 16 years ago, and medicine has improved since those days.

I am so excited because this means I've peeled away another layer of my onion!

Peeling away at my neuro-whatever . . .

Healing from a Traumatic Brain Injury is like peeling an onion. The layers of injury are deep and today I thought I was going make some headway in my recovery. Here's what I'm talking about:

I have double vision double vision (a.k.a Diplopia) when I turn my head to the left and when I'm looking down (walking down a staircase is extremely challenging for me). I've had this problem since my injury (16 years -- ack!) and yes it's extremely annoying, but I just got used to it. I did do a few weeks of vision therapy at Uptown Vision Clinic in Minneapolis which helped me a lot, but it didn't fix the problem completely. So much time has passed and is it time for a tune-up? Recently I attended a presentation given by another vision therapist and she said "yes."

But, I wasn't so sure my problem was a "vision one" as much as a "neuro one," therefore I contacted The Hearing and Balance Center in Salt Lake because I'd learned at the BIAU Conference that the dizziness and double vision I experience might be because my Inner Ear was damaged. What is your Inner Ear, you ask? Well - read HERE to find out!

To make a long story short my Inner Ear is fine. My balance is fine. But, I still have double vision, so my audiologist today suggested I see a neuro-ophthalmologist. My problem is not my inner ear but a neurological one.

This is what I mean with my onion analogy. I will just need to keep peeling away at the effects of my injury until I am better.

Tomorrow I will call the neuro-ophthalmologist . . . another layer in the onion.

Did you know my book is also an Ebook?

I just got word that several people have purchased my book as an Ebook for their iPad!

iPad's are A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Well, I don't personally have one, but I wish I had one. I'd probably download books left and right. My little mini laptop now feels so old-school.

It only costs $9.99 and a click right HERE to download my book to your iPad.