My gut has responded well to cutting out the tiny seeds and nuts. I can still eat my granola (which has walnuts in it), so that’s fine. I can’t imagine getting rid of ALL nuts in my diet. Just those little tiny ones that cause me so much trouble.
I’ve got my punchlist of all the stuff I need to do for the next 18 hours, and it’s good. I’ve got it all written down, in the order of priority, and I’m working my way through it gradually. One piece at a time. It looks like a lot, but there are a lot of little 15-minute jobs in there, that I can do concurrently. Or that might not even take that long.
Bottom line is, I’ve got my mission clear in my mind, and now it’s time to move forward.
Onward — into the day — onward.
Author: brokenbrilliant
I am a long-term multiple (mild) Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI or TBI) survivor who experienced assaults, falls, car accidents, sports-related injuries in the 1960s, '70s, '80s, and '90s. My last mild TBI was in 2004, but it was definitely the worst of the lot.
I never received medical treatment for my injuries, some of which were sports injuries (and you have to get back in the game!), but I have been living very successfully with cognitive/behavioral (social, emotional, functional) symptoms and complications since I was a young kid. I’ve done it so well, in fact, that virtually nobody knows that I sustained those injuries… and the folks who do know, haven’t fully realized just how it’s impacted my life.
It has impacted my life, however. In serious and debilitating ways. I’m coming out from behind the shields I’ve put up, in hopes of successfully addressing my own (invisible) challenges and helping others to see that sustaining a TBI is not the end of the world, and they can, in fact, live happy, fulfilled, productive lives in spite of it all.
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Broken Brain - Brilliant Mind 
how do I get on here to be able to write my story?????????????? PLEASE do let me know â I would like to share with everyone
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“I can do anything for 15 minutes,” is basically a guide and encouraging statement from Marla Cilley, AKA FlyLady, who has helped millions get rid if clutter and establish a system of routines for household management. It served me well for at least a decade now. I keep a list of that three most important things to do today when my to do list is really long and I acknowledge my progress on getting those tasks checked off even if the list becomes longer or wasn’t completed. Konmari methods for reducing clutter have also been incredibly helpful recently with the single question, “does this spark joy?” when evaluating objects that should be cleared out or better managed.
Even bigger news here than my kid winning an award at her culmination ceremonies is that she went to the end of the year dance at her previous school. Big for several reasons: a couple of girls invited her and encouraged her and she agreed. The social area of TBI recovery has been our weakest realm of the journey, so this is hopeful. Also, she faced the noise and the lights and the movement of the dance activity without getting too overwhelmed. She cut the evening short, but came home with a smile instead of extremes fatigue and frustration. She spent a lot of time grounding herself my hanging out with me afterwards, but I prefer that to watching her hide away in her room with the lights off until she can re-engage again.
And finally, the overseer of the optometry ordering for our medical group got thr pricing and agreed to order the contact lenses. More expensive than we can find them on the Internet, but once we have the initial order and verification that these work, we can proceed with ordering them online in the future. The higher cost of the lenses paired with the no cost (because insurance will pay) exam balances out almost equally with the low Internet cost paired with the out of pocket payment for an eye exam and the fitting/training for that lenses.
Baby steps, an understanding that progress doesn’t always move linearly and support from others really helped. Blogs by caring people can make the highest difference even when local support has been lagging. Thank you!
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You can add your story anywhere, really — just put it in the comments section, and I’ll see it – and then post it on the blog. Looking forward to hearing from you!
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Wonderful, wonderful, and more wonderful. That’s completely awesome about your daughter. Such a huge thing. The biggest thing about these kinds of experiences, is that they ARE experiences. And you can refer back to them later — See? I managed it before, and I learned how to do it, so now I have the skills to do it again. It was like that with my business trip last month — it was tough, but now I know how to do it… if I ever have to do it again.
Social things are so important for so many of us, and since TBI can be so isolating, any little bit helps. I think especially with girls / women, who are reportedly more “wired” for social connection. I think TBI can be hardest on women and girls who lose that critical piece of their identity, or have it curtailed in some way.
The anything-for-15-minutes is good. I often start out that way, then I can’t switch gears, and I end up overdoing it on things. I have as much trouble stopping, as I do starting — which often keeps me from starting, in the first place. But there are ways around that. And since I’m aware, that sort of erases the possibility of excuse 😉
Thanks for sharing your wonderful news with us. I suspect those are bigger steps than they seem to be 😉
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