BOB WOODRUFF TO SPEAK 3/18/07

W-A.B.C. News Anchor Bob Woodruff and his wife Lee will be making the opening address at the Brain Injury Association of New York State 25th Annual Conference in Albany New York. They will be taking the stage after Michael Kaplan and Judy #1 have their say at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday June 7th. The two day conference as usual will be hosted at the Marriott on Wolf Road.

Those of you living in a news vacuum may not know that Bob Woodruff got a t.b.i. from an exploding bomb over in Iraq in January 2006. He and his wife Lee wrote a book about the ordeal. The book is called, "In an Instant."

The scoop among the t.b.i.-ers on e-groups was a bit of grumbling and remarking that his results are proof of what money can buy in terms of cognitive rehabilitation and dedicated professionals. So it was shortly after a docu aired on teevee. Certainly, money and terrific insurance policies and some fame does go farther in the world in terms of posh rehabs and all of that. What I don't want our community to forget is that there is that word motivation too. The human spirit surely rises above the envy of those of us who have been cast into the role of the have-nots by our subsequent t.b.i.-related disabilities. At least I want to believe that.

As for the Conference itself: The food at the Marriott is good, workshops good, pool outstanding. I've been to two of them-- I skipped last year's due to a scheduling conflict with a writing workshop that I co-facilitate with one of my editors-- and that is what I remember of them. Oh sure, the not so wonderful VESID folks from New York State put in their annual appearance. Aside from their noxious presence, it is a nice thing to meet up with other t.b.i.-ers who continue to strive for healing.

sapphoq healing t.b.i.


sapphoq
traumatic brain injury
BIANYS
VESID

SIGN, SIGN, EVERYWHERE'S A SIGN 3/14/07

When I first came down with my traumatic brain injury, I became very self-focused out of necessity. Nothing was automatic anymore. I had to think constantly about what I was doing-- everyday things that we take for granted required excessive thinking. And so I navigated my way through a world that had suddenly transformed itself into an alien landscape. The familiar became strange. I didn't recognize my own self.
My taste in music changed. Later, when I was able to tolerate reading, I found that I no longer enjoyed the same kinds of books. New interests took over. I found that I could not assemble the old pieces of my old life. I had to reconstruct myself. And no one could do that for me.

It came to me that I had to force myself to think, even when not thinking would have been easier. I had to force myself to think about my future and what I wanted. I had to force myself to think about how to advocate for what I needed medically. In re-learning the patterns of living, I turned to the internet. I stumbled into a t.b.i. chatroom. In that chatroom, we spent many serious hours attempting to name the seven dwarves. I learned how to read t.b.i-typese. [None of us could spell worth a damn.] And with my new internet buddies, I learned how to laugh again.

The folks in the chatroom told me that I would have to be in charge of my own rehabilitation. I was getting vision therapy and physical therapy but no cognitive rehabilitation. Following the advice I was given in chat, I sought out various brain games on the internet. I became obsessed with Snood. And at a store, I found a large-screen hand-held Tetris. I also crocheted cotton washcloths and went to the gym as soon as I was able to. When I did get kicked out of cognitive art rehabilitation therapy months later, I continued the things I had been doing already. I discovered blogging and computer art. Now I am slowly learning how to animate. I have to think that through since I am unable to follow the directions as of yet.

Once or twice throughout my life, I have been accused of "thinking too much" as if that were a bad thing. Forcing myself to think has served me well in my own healing journey. Some days I sit and think about thinking. Like the sign says: Thinking really does tickle the brain cells.

sapphoq healing tbi

I AM A WITCH 3/9/07 ***language***

I am a witch.
I am a witch with blue eyes.
I am vicious, spiteful, and hateful.
I am a cunt, a hermit, a player.
I am a star shining in the night sky.
I was born on Sirius, I live on Earth, I will die Alone.
I am alone in my own skin.


I am my own destiny, my passage through the caverns of the Mother.
I talk too little, too much, I am neurologically fucked.
I am a thief by trade, but not a very good one.
The words in me scream,
"Witch! Witch! Witch!"
louder and louder through my brain.
Anger is my truest friend.

I embrace myself wholly and skate off
away into the glittering stars.
I am a witch and my name is spike.

sapphoq healing t.b.i.