February 20, 2015

Hi you guys. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. You know, how I live with traumatic brain injury.

OMG! I couldn't figure out why I felt so elated when they wheeled me to the car through the snow. I felt great. I didn't know why and then I realized it was the first time I'd been out of the house in 3 weeks! I had been wheeling between my bedroom and the kitchen for 3 weeks. I guess normally a regular person would go a little crazy, but I have no gauge of time. It's hard to explain, but it feels like I had my last operation a few months ago. It's been almost 6 years. So you see what I mean. Just another benefit of having a traumatic brain injury. I could have an awesome CD collection. I could pick one out and think "Wow! I've never seen this before!"

You know, I was reading some past blogs I did and I came upon the one I was going to do on February 14th, valentine's day. I forgot to mention something. I wanted to send it to my daughter so if anyone talks to her, can you forward this to her. I was going to say, "You know, everybody's different. How boring would the world be if we were all the same. But there's one thing that we all share and we all feel love. So on this Valentine's Day, my love for my daughter is a little brighter."

Anyway, that's it. If you see her, give her that message. Oh yeah, and tell her not to eat all the chocolate she got, cause I want some.

Oh yeah, you know what I want to mention to you? You gotta make sure you got a great social worker. I do and it's so important. My social worker has a lot of cases, but she seems to get a lot done for me. You know, I have my mom who looks after me, but my social worker takes care of all the other stuff, like getting equipment. It's really important. Just thought I'd share that with you.

You know, I've said it over and over, but you've got to treat this traumatic brain injury like a job. It's sunrise to sunset of therapy. It's your job to get better. If you look at it that way, it'll make things a lot easier. I mean, just doing this blog is good for my memory. It brings up some good stuff and not so good stuff. Anyway, that's about it for this week. I'm gonna go back to staring at the snow. We've had a record amount of snow here. If the roof doesn't collapse, I'll blog to you next week.

This is B. Nice signing off from Ice Station Zebra. Here the link to my blog where I talk about the past. Love, B. Nice

February 17, 2015

Hi everybody. I was going to blog to you on St. Valentine's Day, you know, February 14th, but we got snowed in. I'm gonna blog to you today.

You know, just the opposite of love, positive vibes, you know, stuff like that is negative vibes and that is the last thing you need to be around when you have a traumatic brain injury. It's all a bit of a cliche but you have to surround yourself with positive energy. If there's any kind of negativeness, you know, like the news or people talking negatively, it can really bring you down. In my case it can trigger auras. I therefore try to surround myself with positive stuff. Just an observation. I therefore have one thing to say to you guys, "I love you Man!" That's all I have to say. Have a great Valentine's Day. Make it a year actually.

Love, B. Nice

Don't forget to check out my blog from the past (little story there for you).

February 6, 2015

Hi you guys, welcome to the blog where I talk about the present. It's presently sunny here, but man, it's cold. Another snow storm is coming. I've been locked up in this house for like 3 weeks. I'm getting cabin fever and the dog is talking to me. Just kidding. I am getting cabin fever though. And let me tell you, stress definitely affects you when you have traumatic brain injury. I'm gonna leave it at that. Not much has changed, just ready to go for another cross country trip. I'll talk to you guys before Valentine's Day, but I hope you have a great week. I'll leave you with some photos and a link to my blog where I talk about the past. Check it out. It's kind of funny. Love, B. Nice

Oh yeah, a family friend asked me to do a portrait on the porch of my parents. Kind of cool. See you next week. Love, B. Nice

January 31, 2015

Hi. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. I'm gonna do things a little differently. I'm gonna mix the past with the present. Above is a photo I took of me at the beach one day. I used to drive on the beach with my dog. I picked out a good place on the ocean to windsurf. I would pick out a nice fiberglass board, you know, like 8'6", and go out on the ocean in the waves. It was total freedom. Very much opposite to how my life is right now. I mean, people have to feed me, shower me, carry me into bed. Let's just say, it's much less than total freedom. When you have a traumatic brain injury you basically turn into a stone, a stone that eats and shits. I am getting better though. I have a therapist coming twice a week to teach me how to feed myself. You know, become a little more independent. It feels great. Going back to windsurfing, cause I love to talk about it, windsurfing got me back into surfing again. Let me tell you when you're on a board going through waves, big waves, they don't seem so big when you're standing up. But when you're on your belly paddling on your surfboard, a big wave looks humongous. I guess that's kind of like life right now. It all depends on how you look at things and how you approach them. That's my profound thought of the week.

You know, it's been really cold here. I've been inside a lot. Having someone take you out of the house just for a couple of minutes helps a lot. And if someone takes you out to, let's say lunch, it helps so much. Otherwise you get a little cabin fever. Just an observation.

One other thing that's been happening is I've been getting more and more of what I call moments. I guess you could also call them auras. But they are different. They're shorter. So I guess that's a good thing. I've also been waking up feeling remarkably different each day. Like, today I feel like hell but I feel very focused. It's bizarre. Remember, you just go with the flow. Don't freak out.

That's about it for this week. Not much else to report. Oh yeah, one other thing. I keep waking up in the middle of the night wanting to put on a dress and some heavy make up. Just kidding. I wanted to see if you were paying attention. Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice

Here's a link to my other blog.

January 23, 2015

Hi you guys. Welcome to another week of traumatic brain injury. I'm gonna dedicate this blog to my team. You know, it was my birthday the other day and my team got me to another birthday. When you're in intensive care, you really need a team to get you through it. It's a lot of hard work and you can't take any short cuts. You know, in life, there are no short cuts. I'm gonna be profound here for a moment. Like when I ran track & Field. Sure you can take short cuts. Skip a work out, or shorten your runs by taking a taxi. But in the long run, you'll pay for it. You'll get halfway through a race and get blown off by everyone else thinking, "Oh, I should have done those workouts." See what I'm saying? You can apply that to life as well. For example, when I was in the ICU, you know, you really had to work hard at just breathing. It can be a problem if you take a short cut. See what I'm saying? A good team will help you get through everything. I had a good team, and I dedicate his blog to them.

You know, I took a week off at the gym and after going to the gym for the first time in a week, I'm really shaky. I feel totally out of it. I guess, you know, by missing just a week, it really takes its toll on you. You gotta stay busy and active. Just an observation. You know, I do have what I call "moments." They're more and more often but shorter and shorter. I call my neurologist and they say, "What do you want to do?" again. I feel like I should change my name to guinea pig. Once again it comes down to either increasing the medication or meditate. I choose to meditate. That and get some strippers. Just kidding. I wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Not much else to really report. I've been having a hard time sleeping. I always wake up at like 4 am, freaking out. But I guess it's all part of the process. I can't get back to sleep so I think about drawings I'm gonna do. I'll include one here. Here's my link to the past, you know stuff I used to think about. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice

P.S. Remember, I couldn't even hold a paintbrush before. Now I can at least hold a paintbrush.