neurorehabilitationFromTheTrenches

Today I will talk a bit about double-vision. Firstly, A bit about my personal brain injury. Mine is a diffuse axonal injury ( DAI , grade 3) . Not everyone survives this. I had some brain swelling as I lay comatose in Malta. The most obvious result of this, to me, was double vision and it is, as they'd say in Ireland, a real pain in the hole. The German name (the blog article title) for this condition is more apt to help me explain what it is. 'Bild' is German for 'picture', so a crude translation would be 'double pictures', and that's exactly what it is. We have two eyes, like cameras, recording everything they see. The brain takes these two distinct pictures, from varying angles, and merges them into one vision. My brain, sadly, no longer does this, leaving me with two competing images to contend with. There are some hilarious consequences of this. For example, I have poured, perhaps, 5 litres of bottled water, destined for my glass, directly on t

I would like to flesh this out a bit by explaining the premise as it relates to the blog title* etc.. My hopeful intention is to compete in an Olympic triathlon in 2019. This will not be my first such triathlon, having competed, halfheartedly, in a few of them before. Furthermore, I do not look like, nor am I, a classic athlete. I've been in hospitals for 8 months since my accident which has me in a condition, physically, that does not encourage me, or anyone, to aim high at triathlon. That is, however, what I plan to do. *the blog title has changed I should explain what my intentions are. Previously I have "broken" 3 hours in an Olympic. Most recently, however, I failed to do even that. In Dublin City Triathlon (DCT), 2015, I managed in just over 3, at 3:00:02 (annoying). I  plan to compete once again, in 2019, and this blog will chart my transition from chubby wheelchair user to, hopefully, athletic triathlete, breaking, comfortably, 2:45:00. Claire will again be need

 Guest blogger:  Claire Fastner "I will now invite Claire to tell us, hopefully, how she got me out of the coma." While I do remind Declan of my contribution daily, I would not go as far as to suggest that I can make people wake up from comas. Fairly early on, I made the decision that I want to do everything right. Partially, for purely selfish reasons. I did not want to have a single regret. Once the critical first 72 hours were over, my focus shifted from researching survival rates to finding out more about coma and TBI. How do you define coma? " Coma is a state of unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened; fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound; lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle; and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as being comatose." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma) How can you help someone recover from a coma? Since a comatose person does not respond to stimuli, the answer is inpu

Welcome to my blog. I have started this blog as a form of therapy. Although there are probably arguments in favour of blogs as psychotherapy this is purely physical, specifically, my left hand & arm. basically just ThE SHIfT KeY, for my left hand, but one has to start somewhere. I had the misfortune to be knocked down by a car, in September, 2017, receiving, in the process, a broken leg (in 2 places), two broken ribs, some minor cuts and bruises and, crucially, traumatic brain injury (TBI). I can't remember anything from post-accident-Malta but I'm assured that I was well looked after in the Mater Dei for 5 weeks in which, among other things, they saved my life. From there, I was flown, along with my girlfriend, Claire (who you'll be hearing much about), to here , in my hometown of Hamburg. In the Shoen Klinik I began my conscious recuperation with the help of their wonderful staff, which I cannot say too much about. They were great. One of the many things Claire d