August 26, 2014

Hi everybody. So check this out. It's been five years to the week, meaning the past week, that I had my first bleed. I was gonna blog about it last week, but my friend here was on vacation and I can't type. So, since it was five years ago, let's review what I've been going through. Let's see: I had two brain operations, a trach to help me breathe, two stomach tubes to feed me, then they filet'd me to put a filter in over my main artery. That was for the blood clot that I had in my leg. And then, I had two spinal taps. Then there were the two comas I was in. Countless visits to the MRI. Countless visits to the CAT scan machine. I remembered the first time I went to the cat scan. I told the operator I didn't have a cat, but I do have a dog. He laughed nervously and shoved me into the machine. He was probably thinking, "Gee, I never heard that one before." Anyway, going back to what I've been going through: I had like seven visits to the emergency room. Three stays in Intensive Care. Oh yeah, I had an out of body experience. I had four seizures in one go. Then I had two other seizures. Countless other mini seizures. Overall, it's been a lot of fun, but I'm getting tired of this I'll tell you. I won't give up, but I'm getting tired of it.

This week I've been doing more water therapy, and I've been walking again. It's fun. I've been there before, but it helps a lot. I strongly recommend the water therapy. The other thing that's cool is I've been trying out different trikes. It's kind of ironic 'cause they put me on the track to try out different trikes. It's ironic because I used to run the mile at a four minute pace on the track. So, here I am on a bike on the track. Kind of weird.

My friend here has been coming over to try and hook up my TV to my computer. You know, so I can edit my film better. It's difficult to edit on the computer monitor. We almost have it together, but it just takes time. I'm almost done editing my Trip Across America. The shots look real good, I must say. It's gonna make a great book and a great show. Just takes time.

You know, my friend here read back what I've been going through, and I was focusing on the negative things. There have been a lot of positive things to come out of this, like my trip across america. My artwork. Getting to know my friends again. Although, I do miss my daughter. I got a new crazy dog, and I am getting better… slowly. As a matter of fact, this morning I got my eyes to line up. It was only for a brief period, but I did manage to do it. My hands also shake a little less. Overall things are getting better, and it does make me appreciate the finer things in life. It's a bit of a cliche to say this but it's true, you do appreciate the finer things in life. Anyway, I'm gonna end it here to go back to my blog you have to go through my website: www.briannice.com. I'm still working out the bugs, but everything is there. You can visit my other blog by going to this site as well. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice

5 August 2014

Hi everybody. OK, so I want to get something off my chest. It's been really bothering me. For some reason my dog hates, I mean hates humming birds. I mean hey, give me a break. Why hummingbirds? One flies by and the dog goes nuts trying to chase him. The other thing that bothers me is my legs are the whitest legs in the world. They are whiter than my socks. They should call me the human guppy. I guess that's what happens when your inside for like five years.

Hi everybody. Welcome to another fabulous week of traumatic brain injury recovery. This past week has been pretty difficult. I guess humidity is affecting me. Im having a hard time speaking and I get little moments at the end of the day. It's kind of a drag but I work through it. You gotta work through it. I'm gonna make it real short this week cause I have other things to work on. You know, I'm planning our next trip. I'll keep you posted. Check out my other blog. It talks about the past. Here's the link. Hey, if you didn't see it here's my link to the NYTimes article. It's pretty cool.

Love you, B. Nice

July 29, 2014

Hi everybody. Man, I'll tell you, I feel like someone hit me in the face with a 2x4, or is it 2x6? Anyway I feel like hell. You see, when you have traumatic brain injury and you take a nap it's really tough getting started, but here we go.

My daughter came back for a visit. It's why I haven't talked to you in a while. I've been spending about two weeks with her. It's been great. I won't go through the whole visit, but one of the highlights was a trip to the Adirondacks. Man that was great. I'll tell you, hanging out with a kid is great therapy. We get to do puzzles together, paint, play with her toys. The stuff is almost too advanced for me. But it really does help. And it's kind of cool.

I'm still waiting on getting a new bike. You know, a recumbent trike. I'm waiting to get a grant to pay for the bike, but it's a cool way of getting therapy. The other thing that has been a bit of a challenge, but exciting, is I've been editing my film, you know, the trip across America and back. It takes time, but it's fun to see the images I shot across the country. Lots of good stuff. It's a challenge though, putting it all together. When you have TBI it seems you can't spend too much time with the computer. Looking at the screen that flickers is really difficult.

You know what's cool? The NY Times did a piece on me and my film. My assistant's Josh Klatt and Bryan Coppede did a short film on my trip. It was pretty cool. It came out recently. I'll give you the link. Here it is. They did a good job. Just thought I'd throw that in.

The other cool thing is that a friend of mine brought some of my favorite pizza up from the city. Two pies from Lombardi's Pizza on Spring STreet. That was very cool because my mother was away and I ate half a pie myself, (but don't tell her). You know, I guess I've been searching for things to tell you, but I had so much fun with my daughter, I don't have much to tell. It's gonna be a real short one this week. I'll include some images from my trip. I also have some stuff coming back to me shortly. You know, I keep shooting all the time. Remember, you gotta do what you love, and I love photography. Anyway, I'll talk to you guys next week. Here's the link to my other blog. Talk to you soon.

Love, B. Nice

July 15, 2014

Oh man, what a family! I was sitting here at the lunch table in the kitchen looking at my daughter who's hyper-active, my father who had pneumonia and heart failure, and me who had a massive brain bleed and brain surgery two times, and my poor mother who looks after all three of us. Oh yeah, and a crazy dog. Picture this: OK, so my dad can't understand me cause I sound like a burn out. I say, "Dad!" and he goes "What?" and the dog starts barking. My dad says, "Who's there?" And my daughter says, "Someone's here! Let me check the front door." And I yell to her, "No running in the house." And my father says to me, "What? She saw a mouse." And my mother runs in and says, "What mouse?!" You got the idea. Never a dull moment.

Hi everybody. Welcome to another interesting week of traumatic brain injury. I'll tell you, it's been really humid over the past few days. It seems to really affect me. Humidity is definitely not my friend. The other thing I'm looking forward to is getting a new bike. I'm gonna try and bike with my feet. Actually, it's really a trike. It looks cool and with my daughter being here, I can ride with her again. It looks really fun. It's all supplied by the hospital I go to for therapy. The other cool thing is I looked at the old family piano I had restored. It'll be good for me, you know, for my hands, and I can teach my daughter piano. Hopefully I'll take delivery on it in a few weeks. Good for the hands. With my daughter being here, I'm gonna take her to Storm King Sculpture Museum. It's basically an outdoor museum on top of a hill so it's just grass, sculpture and sky. She'll have fun running there. It's visually very graphic. I'll take photos. Kind of cool. It's great having my daughter here because it won't be until October that I see her again. She's really growing up fast. Anyway, I won't get started talking about her cause it kind of makes me sad.

I'm gonna make it a short one. I just include the photos I did on the trip across america. Oh yeah, my friend here and I have been working on our next trip, a ship to Europe. Should be visually really cool. Hope you have a good one. And remember, if you have traumatic brain injury, don't give up. Love, B. Nice

PS. Here's a link to my other blog.

July 8, 2014

Aren't moms great? Check this out. My mom's going to fly all the way to Texas to pick up my daughter and come back all in the same day. You see, I can't fly, nor do I have the time to drive down there. So she's gonna pick my daughter up for me. Just thought I'd mention that. You know, I'm gonna do a little public service announcement. I said it before, but you know, you guys can't be on the phone and drive. If you saw what I saw you would freak out. Especially, don't text and drive! I'm not gonna even mention what I saw.

It's been a crazy week. The other day I woke up about 4 am. I must have been having a nightmare because it triggered a major mini-seizure. I was kind of freaking out because I had to call my mom to basically talk me down. In other words, have her tell me not to freak out. It works. She calmed me down and I'm all right, but man, it was kind of scary. Other than that, it's been pretty normal. I've been doing a lot of painting. I'll show you some examples up above. It feels good. I guess if you had to pidgeon hole it, it would be abstractionist.

You know, I really believe the brain is rewiring itself right now. Some funky things are going on. You know, like my hand will go numb as if it's asleep and then it will go back to normal. It's one reason why I think these mini-seizures are happening. I keep saying it over and over but it's as if I'm more aware of what's going on and I'll tell you I'm aware that I'm highly pissed off right now. You know, I'm gonna leave it at that. I've got some stories to tell you. It's on my other blog. I'll talk to you guys next week. Check out my other blog. It's about the past. Love, B. Nice