I’ve recently had a few people tell me they’re not experts, as if that’s a bad thing. I bring this up because in the old days, pre-brain injury, I held experts in high esteem. I respected their education and experience and saw them as authority figures. Well, okay, I had no problem challenging them in…
Tag: Health
Reading Rehab After Brain Injury: More Observing and First Homework Assignment
Reading observations continued this week. I’m getting used to this being-watched-as-I-read thing. First up was a page from the Toronto Sun. Busy busy, visually speaking. Ugh. But as my eye caught the byline “Don Peat,” I exclaimed: I follow him on Twitter! That’s OK, my neurodoc replied; he still wanted me to read the article.…
Christmas Break From Health Care
With the way the Christmas and New Year’s dates fall, I’ll be off from some of my health care appointments three weeks instead of two. Most times I looked forward to a break, some years I even tried to extend it, but it’s a measure of how much my routine sustains me these days that…
Accepting Reality: an Ongoing Process After Brain Injury
We’re going to stick to no tDCS and do gamma brainwave biofeedback at PZ for the forseeable future. It seems to be working better for me, although I’m still having trouble with the floaters in the dead centre of my vision. The flashes are almost gone. Last week, the floaters were like some malignant black…
Flashes, Floaters, and a Responsive ADD Centre
The people at the ADD Centre are so responsive and careful. I developed flashes in my eye with the intact retina (the other one is scarred). I, of course, like a 21st century engaged patient, Googled it. And I also began thinking about tDCS and retinas even though the part of my brain that is…
Exhaustion Remains a Reality After Improvement from Brain Injury
Last week, I treated myself to a couple of hours at the hairdresser’s, getting my hair primped while we gossiped and laughed. No Rob Ford talk though this time! To compensate for the extra energy use, I cut my usual walking distance when out and about in half, thinking I was being smart in balancing…
Seek, Ask, Bug, Nag, and You May Get Mental Health Help
Awhile ago, I was informed that I lived in the Mecca of mental health services: Toronto. There are 700 psychiatrists at the University of Toronto alone plus community psychiatrists, too few OHIP-covered psychologists and social workers, and a plethora of private-pay therapists in this city. These are in number completely inadequate to meeting the mental…
PTSD, Getting Real, and the Fakery of Being Positive
Your smile and laugh have changed, my brain biofeedback trainer told me today. They’re real, she said. It’s true, I’m not faking emotions nearly as much or using my intellect to boost them to normal levels like I used to have to. She’s known me since 2005, and I’ve gradually been able to laugh more…
Back to Gamma Brainwave Training at PZ-O1
Back to gamma, gamma brainwave training. Back to the PZ-O1 position: the electrode is gelled onto my head at the back of my skull and slightly to the left of midline. That’s the position associated with alleviating PTSD symptoms as I recall. This is what me and my neurodoc were concerned about, and I’m glad…