June 10, 2014

So welcome to the blog about the present. And at the present, I'm still getting over my visit to one of my neurologists. I was told to bring in my current MRI. My neurologist loaded up the MRI and Voila! I found out I have a brain. And I also have some pretty major damage. Therefore I have brain damage, or traumatic brain injury. I'm pretty lucky though, as she pointed out, if my bleed was just a little different, I would have no heart control, no breathing, none of all that stuff that keeps you alive. So I'm pretty lucky even though I'm messed up. I asked her if the brain can repair itself and she kind of looked like a deer in the headlights. She said, "Just keep working hard." And I will. You know, they make their best educated guess (doctors). I feel it's really up to you to keep working hard and stay positive. I told the doctor I was thankful there are no squirrels in my head and she just looked at me blankly.

A cool thing that happened this week was I got to try bike riding. It's a giant mountain bike that looks like a tricycle. It came with a giant rattle and a milk bottle, and a white hat with a bow tie. Just kidding about the last three things, but the bike was pretty cool. It did take a therapist to go along with me, but I did manage to go around a three-mile lake. It felt great. It felt like I had a little freedom. Although the therapist kept screaming at me, "Stay to the right! Stay to the right!" I kept yelling at her, "Why are you screaming Stay to the right?" and she said, "Stop. I keep telling you to go to the right because if you keep going to the left like you do, you're going to end up in the lake and that's not a good thing." So I guess it was good incentive to stay to the right. Anyway, it was overall a great experience. I'm thinking of getting a mountain trike for myself. The hospital said I could get a grant to pay for the trike. Very cool.

Oh yeah, I found out this week there's one thing worse than having diarrhea when you're like this, and that's having a freaking mosquito by your bed when you're like this. I punched my face. I slapped my neck. I punched myself in the balls. I almost took out a few pictures. My legs fell out of bed. It was a mess. All because of one mosquito. Anyway, now that I think about it, I should buy a fly swatter.

My eyes are getting better. There is less shaking and my eyes seem to be registering more and more. Like I don't see cross-eyed as much as I used to. It's a relief. It feels like it's getting better. My friend here said, "There's proof right there. You're getting better." It's true I am getting better. I just wanted more positive feedback from the doctor. We can't always get what we want, right?

I'm gonna include some pictures from my road trip. I drove across America with my friends. I wanted to show people you can still do what you love even though you're messed up. Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice

P.S. Hey, check out this bag my friend made. It's pictures from my trip!

P.P.S. We're taking orders now if you like.

Here's a link to my other blog.

June 3, 2014

Hi everybody. Let's call this blog "Plan B" and I'm gonna dedicate it once again to my parents. I'm gonna call it Plan B because I figured out finally that as you go through life, you need a back up plan, a Plan B. And it can either be a friend, family, relation, religion, whatever you want, just as long as you have back up. Luckily, you know, when I was in a bad way, I needed back up and luckily my parents were there to offer me shelter, food and love. You know, the basic stuff.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the above with you. It's good to have back up. I guess subconsciously you keep it in your mind. As far as other stuff, I've been feeling good lately. Things are a lot sharper and a little clearer. My eyesight is better. Overall, I feel like I am clearer and I realize I'm messed up. Man, I've got a lot of work to do. I've mentioned this before, but it goes on and on. It's like the never-ending wakeup. Today I went out on a road trip with my mother and my health assistant. Boy, I tell you, anytime you leave your daily routine you get real tired. I went to Barnes & Noble bookstore and it was like getting hit by a 2X4. Talk about over stimulation. And on top of it, I had a coffee and thought I was going to explode. I came home really tired, but I guess it's good to get out of the house.

You know, I was sitting on the porch, just sitting there looking at stuff and I realized my life has done a complete 180. I used to travel all over the world and now I just sit here. But, you know, if you take the time, you start to notice stuff. Like I said before, you just gotta take time to look.

You know, right now there's a big storm going on and a front came through bringing a change in the weather. It's remarkable when you're like the way I am, you can feel the change in pressure. For example a low pressure system came in and I felt the difference. I guess that's why I'm not supposed to go to altitude. I guess some people, you know, feel it in their knees or joints. I just felt it all over. It was weird.

I've also been working on a new website, you know, for my landscape work. It's been keeping me busy, but I'll tell you, it's tough to do what I used to do. Put images together and create a professional website. It's tough. I can only work in like five minute intervals. Then I need to rest. I guess anytime you get too much stimulation you get overtired. I guess no late night ballroom dancing for me.

I just want to mention one other thing. I'm really thankful for my family and friends who have brought over food for me. It's really basic, but it makes a big big difference, although, my mom hides the chocolate chip cookies from me and that pisses me off.

Anyway, I'm gonna finish up and include some cartoons I used to do. My friend here will grab a book and we'll take some shots of some cartoons. I used to love to draw. I will include the other link too. Love you guys, talk to you soon. Love, B. Nice

May 27, 2014

My health assistant displaced 8 cm of air in 1/99th of a second. I've never seen anybody move so fast before. You see. He saw a bee on the floor next to me. I was stretching out. Just thought I'd share that with you. I guess the guy doesn't like bees.

When you're like this, you know, a traumatic brain injury, it's good to stretch out, to stay in shape. It's tough, but I get on a mat on the floor and stretch my hamstrings, all the muscle groups. It's important. Now, who knows? You never know, I might need another operation and I gotta stay in shape.

It's been getting real hot here and really humid. I've found the combination of the heat and humidity at the end of the day brings on what I call little moments. I get super tired. I guess you might call them mini seizures. But they never develop into full on seizures. One interesting thing was I had a moment in the morning, early in the morning. That's never happened before. Never a dull moment. I'm fine today. Just a little tired.

My life is really exciting right now. The biggest moment of my life right now is that my mom and my health assistant took down all the curtains. Who would imagine that this would excite me so much. Anyway, the house is so much brighter. And I'm gonna have to be careful about walking around naked. The windows are super clear because my mom had them cleaned. It is cool though. It's totally changed the light coming in. You know, I look at things so differently. It's as if I take a photo in my mind's eye. It's like taking a photo without the camera. Does that make sense to you? Anyway, it does to me. And like my friend here says, the photos come out perfectly each time. But all kidding aside, I look at things as if they were photos. I always did, but more so now, with the change of the light.

I tell you, you don't want to have to go far to be entertained when you're like this. My personal life is like a daytime latin soap opera. I sit on the porch and I see tons of wildlife, like baby foxes, bobcats, deer. It's never-ending. Our house faces West Point Military Academy. There's lots of activity because the President is coming here to speak at graduation. Maybe he'll stop by for a cup of tea. Anyway, never a dull moment. You know, I really don't feel like chatting that much. I'm gonna include some photos from my road trip again. I've been thinking about the next trip. I'm thinking of taking a ship to Europe. Any ideas?

Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice

P.S. Here a link to my other blog where I talk about the past.

May 20, 2014

Hi everybody. I'm gonna dedicate this blog to my little sister. She's doing great work. Check out this link:  http://www.lohud.com/videos/news/health/2014/05/17/9224465/ I'm very proud of her.

Well, another week of traumatic brain injury recovery goes by. It's been a strange week. You know, every morning I wake up and after saying hello to my daughter in my mind, I think to myself, what's gonna be in store for me this week? Every day is different. For example, today my feet, legs and hands are really numb. Never a dull moment. My family life has been very stressful and it seems to take a toll on me. I'll tell you, stress is the enemy. I've said it before but I'll say it again. Stress isn't good. I have been doing a lot of art therapy and I have been taking a lot of photos. It helps a lot, I'll tell you. I'll include some examples of some work I've been doing.

Actually, something pretty funny happened to me. I've got this power chair, right? And it's pretty powerful so I took it out on the lawn. Bad idea. I got stuck real bad. It seemed the more I accelerated, the deeper into the ground I went. I was finally rescued by my health aide. He had to dig me out of the hole I'd dug for myself, and he's now recovering from a hernia. He should have gotten "Danger Pay."

My nephew came over and he hooked up a playstation for me. I've been trying to operate video games. It's good hand eye coordination. Now I see why kids get hooked on this stuff. All I need is a lazyboy chair and a cooler. Oh yeah, and a "Do Not Distrub" sign for the door.

Swimming has been good. I've been going once a week to do a little water therapy. It's not bad when you fall down. It's a little easy on the body, as long as you don't drown. All in all, it's all work, I'll tell you. It's tough, and to tell you the truth, I'm getting sick of this shit, but like I said before, there's no other option. Although, sometimes I feel like doing what some quadriplegics did at the hospital I went to. They went to a local bar and got ripped. That's not the answer though, I know.

You know, that's about it for this week. I going to include some photos from the trip I took across the United States. I still don't know how I pulled that off. I guess ignorance is bliss cause if I tried to do it now, you know, I'm more alert now, if I tried to do it now, I'm not sure I'd make it. Anyway, this is B. Nice signing off. Remember, if you're recovering from traumatic brain injury, you just gotta be patient. Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice.

Oh yeah, here's the link to my other blog. Thanks.

May 13, 2014

I can't decide whether it was funny or pathetic. You see, I was trying to roll over in my bed, had a good hold on the side end rail when my hand slipped off and I karate chopped myself in the face. Man, did that hurt. My right eye is still swollen. Welcome to another week of traumatic brain injury recovery.

Hi everybody! Hey, check it out. I had my yearly visit with my surgeon. It was a good visit. The assistant to the surgeon said I look stable. I said, "Really? Can I quote you on that? I'm stable? Most people call me a sick puppy." Anyway, I talked to my surgeon for a while and he noticed an improvement. At the end of our conversation, he said, "Oh yeah, why don't you have an mri done right now?" I said, "What? MRI, I hate those things." They are very claustrophobic and I had to hold still for exactly one hour. One hour of hell. And in the same breath of saying why don't you get and MRI, he said, "Will you please be part of a seminar we have later? You'll give a talk on your experience." Yeah, and the assistant to the surgeon said I would need to get a release of my information. I'd have to sign a release. I said, "Listen, the last time a woman told me to sign something in the hospital, I lost my house." Those who know me know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I signed the release because it will help someone somewhere sometime. Plus, I have nothing to lose anyway. Wait! I do have a dog that smells...

The seminar does sound pretty cool though. I would talk about my experience amongst like 2000 doctors and interns. Maybe I could teach them something. Anyway, it's better than sitting around watching TV.

The other thing I've been doing is I've been looking at trikes. it's kind of cool. A trike is like a mountain bike with 3 wheels. You can either get the kind that you pedal with your arms or you pedal with your feet. I'm looking forward to getting one because I can bike with my daughter. I'll get the one where you pedal with your legs.

The other cool thing I got this week was a book my friend in front of me made. It was a book full of photos from our trip we did across America. It was pretty cool. It was made by mypublisher.com Pretty cool. Anyway, I was impressed.

The other thing is I've opened up the room on the front of my parents house. It's like a spring/summer/fall room. It's pretty cool. We opened it all up. It's good to have something to look forward to when you're injured like I am.

Not much else to talk about. I work hard on my balance right now. I sit on a table and try to find a neutral position. It sounds easy, but I'll tell you, it's tough. And scary too. Man, if I were to fall forward that would hurt. I always have 2 people spot me.

Let's see, I'm trying to think as I dictate. Just working hard. The pool, walking with the up & Go. I'm gonna include some photos from our trip. Here's a link to my other blog, things I used to think about when I was in bed. Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice