May 19, 2015

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. Boy, I really miss my daughter, but she'll be here soon. It's pretty cool. We get to hang out. It's nice to be like a kid again, for a few weeks. You know, speaking of escape, it's nice to get out of the house when you're like this. When you have a traumatic brain injury, it's nice to get out of your routine. For example, I went out to visit my friend here the other day. She's got a really cool studio where she makes quilts. It's great to get out. It really is a small thing, but it makes a big difference, believe me. It's funny though, the smallest things can make you really tired. I guess it's stimulus overload. Maybe it was the bar we stopped in on the way back home. Just kidding.

I wanted to mention something. It would be good for anyone with a traumatic brain injury to know. There's a program out there called Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but there are grants available through this program to help you out. For example, I got a grant for my stair chair, so I can sleep in my bedroom upstairs. I'm trying to get a grant right now for a trike, so I can get out and bike with my daughter. It's just good to know about, to help you out. I highly recommend you look into it.

On another note, you know, I increased one of my anti seizure medications. It seems to have helped a lot. I get less, what I call "moments." Medically you could call them auras. You know, everyone's different. You have to find the right anti seizure medicine for you. They were going to put me on one that had a side effect of giving you double vision. That's the last thing I need. I already see double becaue of the last operation. The last thing I need is that times 2. I would be looking around like a fly. "Help me…(in a high pitch)"

The other thing I've been doing a lot of is taking photos and drawing. When you're like this, you know, TBI, you gotta keep doing what you love. Anyway, I'm gonna sign off. My friend here brought up some summer cooler drinks. They're made up of pineapple rum, triple sec, chilled vodka, a splash of chilled gin, half an ounce of chilled top shelf silver tequila, extra chilled, and some ice, in a chilled glass, a twist of lime, a splash of coca cola, a splash of sweet n sour mix and an ambulance. Just kidding. It's really sprite, cranberry juice and orange juice. Very refreshing.

Have a good week. Love, B. Nice

May 16, 2015

 

Hi everybody. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the present. Now this blog might contain some foul language, so I'm warning you, but I feel it's necessary to make a point.

Oh, I'm doing some drawing. Check it out. It's evolved, but I'm going to get back to what I was saying.

You know those phones you have called smart phones? Well, I think I mentioned this before but they turn into stupid fucking phones when you use them and drive. So do us all a favor and put down the stupid fucking phones while you drive. I'm just saying this because you should see what I saw. I was in the rehab hospital for almost a year (if you add it all up). I've said this over and over, but you'd say it over and over if you saw what I saw. That's it. That's all I'm gonna say. Have a good week you guys. Talk to you later. Love, B. Nice

Oh yeah, here's my link to the blog about the past.

May 12, 2015

Hi you guys. Hey, I forgot to add something to my last blog. I was talking about Mother's Day, right? I think I talked about this before, but I had four big seizures. Four in a row. I almost didn't make it, but they were loading me into the back of the ambulance. Now I don't know if you guys have ever experienced this before, but it was pretty wild. I was standing behind a tree looking at myself being loaded on to the ambulance. Then I saw the ambulance driver then I saw myself in the ambulance with my mother leaning over and the ambulance driver was closing the door. I had no emotions. I was concerned as she seemed really worried. Next thing you know, I saw him closing the ambulance doors and I woke up in the ER. Pretty wild right? A total out of body experience. Now do you chalk that up to a good imagination? Who knows. The point I'm trying to make is, I stuck around because my mother was there holding my hand. So, you see, it helps having someone around when you're in a coma or near death. You might not be conscious, but take it from me, it helps having someone there.

That's all I'm gonna say this week. I just thought I'd bring that up. Have a good week. Love you, B. Nice

May 8, 2015 - Mother's Day Weekend

Hi everybody. So check it out. This weekend is Mother's Day. I was gonna dedicate this blog to my mother, but I'm gonna talk about her for the entire blog. She's a freaking Super Mom. There should be a cape in her closet. I'll explain why she is a Super Mom.

My journey started on August 18th, 2009. I had a brain bleed, right? So, my mom greeted me at the hospital and ever since then she's been by my side. When I was in the critical care unit, she would exercise my legs. Basically, she's been my point person since then. The doctor's card was handed over to her, and ever since then, she's been taking care of me. Now she feeds me, cleans up after me, does my dental, combs my hair. Even though I look like a Yugoslavian used car salesman, I appreciate it. She drives me everywhere. Her driving, oh my god, I definitely work on my core strength when she's driving. She takes those high speed turns so fast it separates my white blood cells from the red. My mom dresses me. She hand feeds me. You get the picture. I mean, she has to take care of me all the time, like my medical bills, my legal bills. She cooks for me. She does my physical therapy for me and with me. She does my occupational therapy for me and with me. She's my photo assistant. She does everything. Thank God she took me in. I remember when she agreed to take me in. I remember saying to her, "This is going to be tough for you. It's gonna be a lot of work. Are you sure you're up for it?" And she said, "Yes." So, Happy Mother's Day Mom. See what I mean? She's a Super Mom. And Happy Mother's Day for all you Mothers out there.

Love, B. Nice

Here's the link to the where I talk about the past.

April 14, 2015

Hi you guys. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. I'm gonna benchmark a few things here. For a long time I was having what you would call "moments" or auras. I would control them by meditating. It got to the point where I was having moments in the mornings and the afternoons, so I increased my medication a little bit, my Kepra (my anti-seizure medication). It wasn't much. it was like a 250 ml increase. Not much, but it seems to have worked. When you're like this you have to stay in touch with your neurologist non-stop. You know, everyone's different. There's no set formula. It might be different for you. The bottom line is, you just have to be vigilant.

The other thing that's kind of cool is it's turning warmer here. I've been getting outside more and more. It feels great. I highly advise you get outside more when you're like this. It helps a lot.

One thing I did in this great weather was I went to a show where they had a display of specialized adaptive activities for people like me. You know, like snowboarding, trikes, stuff like that. A friend of mine who works at the hospital offered me a one way ticket to Mars. Just kidding. I always joke around with him. He's so ugly, even the tide won't bring him in. He's so ugly, if ugliness were measured in bricks, he would be The Great Wall of China. Sorry, I just had to throw that in there in case he's reading this. You know what his name is… Ugly. I always joke with him. He's like a big brother to me. You know, like a much much much older brother.

Going back to the adaptive therapy show: there were some great trikes for me to look at. You know, my balance is really bad, so I have to get a trike if I want to get a bike. It's kind of like having a giant Big Wheel. Watch out kids! Here I come. It's pretty cool. I think I talked about it in previous blogs. All in all, the whole show was great. Oh, I want to tell you something. It took a few therapists to get me on the bike, right. So I finally get my feet on the pedals and I try turning them to power the bike and it was really tough. I had a hard time just making the bloody thing move forward. I thought I was gonna blow out my knee. So I thought, "Well, maybe this design isn't right for me." So they got me off the bike and I left the show a little discouraged. Then, as I'm leaving, a therapist comes over to me and he sheepishly admitted the vendor forgot to take the brake off. Like my friend here says, "There's always something."

The other thing that is happening here is Spring has come out, and the allergy season has come around. It's a bummer for me because I'm a little allergic to tree pollen. All the congestion seems to get into my lungs. and I spend a lot of time coughing. Real pleasant, right? Anyway, just another thing to deal with when you have traumatic brain injury. Never a dull moment.

Anyway, I'm gonna stop bitching. I'm gonna end it right here. I'm gonna get back to work. Check out my other blog about the past. Here's the link. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice