Neurorehabilitation from the Trenches: TBI Toleration Pack

 I know I've Outlined the contents of a similar pack before, but those things, although still valid,  represent tools that have made my early experiences more tolerable, not to mention, it is possible to decide to get them AFTER the fact. This grouping represents critical corner stones of my rehabilitation. In no particular order then, departing from my new format, I'd like to outline two major advantages that I've enjoyed.


Partner

This is probably true of other existential crises that you could face, but a solid partner is essential to neuroreabilitation. I've a long way to go, but when I get there, and I will, I will have Claire to thank.

As well as the endlessness of it all, she encourages me not to accept the status quo, and instead, to train harder to better my condition. It helps that she, like me, has been researching neurorehabilitation, and understands that a person only gets out, what they put in. One of her frequent taunts is --and I'll have to paraphrase.

"Do you believe in magic? that you're going to magically get better?"

As a dyed-in-the-wool atheist, this usually pushes the right buttons, to get the desired response. Because, I HATE walking, and, without Claire, I may have racked up 40% of my current mileage--being kind. In summary, it's worth thinking about your partner. Do they really have what it takes? If not, I recommend an upgrade, and if you decide to upgrade, I recommend a Type A personality, to compliment your probable type B. There is no better insurance policy, and there is no better segway into the next item on my list.


Insurance

When I think of my old perception of insurance, I think of suited middle-aged men, going door-to-door with a briefcase. Then I think of my old life, the carefree existence of a freelance software developer; not a care in the world, or a care for tomorrow. Fast forward a few short years, and I see insurance for the essential service it provides. My first bit of advice to all freelancers is to try to find a company willing to take you on -- the bigger the better. I was open to contract work when I moved to Germany, but now I see what a disaster that would have been. I would have been unemployed in Ireland -- probably fat and broke-- not to mention in-a-wheelchair, with little prospects. Advice I would have for freelancers who wish to remain thus, is to invest 5% of your pre tax monthly wages in various insurances, to ensure that, if the worst happens, your life remains worth living.


Treadmill

Strava

Peloton: Best Class

Peloton: Melbourne at Night

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stutter

Image
This month's article has a very specific, target audience. Namely, people who stutter. According to National Stuttering Association of the USA that's about 1% of you. I am an ex-stutterer. One of the consequences of the accident, to me, was that I began speaking correctly and I feel it's only correct that I share with you, how I feel that was achieved. Firstly, a short disclaimer; I am not a medical professional, nor have I studied anything in the area of speech. I simply find myself as part of a rare group (definitely more rare than 1%), of people who used to, but no longer stutter.  The brain controls everything; the infrastructure that is responsible for human speech involves an extensive subset of those systems. Although I don't know anything about the speaker here , he outlines the basics around my journey from stutterer to regular person (normal), although I didn't know much about that journey while I was on it.  I'll guesstimate that I was around 10 yea
Read more

Relearning to Walk

Image
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
Read more

2/4 Quarterly Update 2022

Image
  This is the first quarterly report, starting the new schedule, and name for these updates. The original name of this blog, coma2tri, although aspirational, was wholly unrealistic. So too was the frequency of these updates. The gradualism of my return to workable functionality is such that only quarterly updates could make for entertaining reading. With that additional recovery time, comes a brand new section which has its maiden outing this month, I enjoyed a visit last month from my brother and his wife, which provided an opportunity to break my 400M record in the Billtal Stadion. Break it I did; smashed it in fact, as you will see later. Walking Each morning begins with a short stretch of my hammies. This is followed by some squats -- it started as 100, then I decided, Monday morning, to go barefoot, which saw that drop to 50, with a view to daily increments of 10 -- I did 80 this, Thursday, morning. Next is a 500m stretch on the treadmill. The first of 2, bringing m
Read more