“Improvement is not meant to be relentless.” Yes it is. “It’s OK to have a setback.” Wise and common sense words from my GP (family doc), but oh do I ever wish improvement was relentless, a never-ending path upwards to perfect health. January is a tough month, not only emotion wise with its reminder of…
Tag: Health
Music: What Does the “New” Me Like?
I have spent the best part of two days sorting out the chaotic mess of my music collection. A “new” refurbished laptop sparked this heroic endeavour. The reason it wasn’t that well organized: most of it I ripped before Y2K, when computers were slow and file names had relatively recently broken the 8-character limitation. Although…
Eleven Years Ago, Four Drivers
It’s that time of year again, except today’s anniversary has a special twist: it’s the exact same day as the day two drivers hit the car I was a passenger in and shoved us into the car of a third driver. It’s the exact same day I sustained a closed head injury. It’s like reliving…
The Hypothalamus and Brain Injury
The first part of this series is how I came to look at the hypothalamus. This post is more about general principles of how the hypothalamus works for those of us who aren’t physiologists, rather than a scientific treatise. However, I’ve included links for those who want to know the mind-bending details. I’d also like…
Reading: The Eyes and Brains of It
Reading. Once you learn how to do it, the only thing you need worry about is what to read and when to find the time. Until a traumatic brain injury f* it up. As I have discovered over the past few years, reading is a complicated process, mediated by several parts of the brain. It…
Alpha Waves, the Creating Waves of the Brain
I first heard about alpha waves during a sleep study I underwent many, many years ago. Back then, I didn’t know much about them other than they were intruding into my sleep. That sleep problem eventually resolved itself, and I thought no more of alpha waves until the day of my closed head injury. As…
Attention, Attention, We’re Talking Attention and Traumatic Brain Injury
OK folks, pay attention, it’s attention lesson time. I know, I know you go through life not having to worry about such a thing, unless you have ADD or a screaming baby. But when life smacks you across the head, ringing your brain, it becomes über important to you and those around you because it’s…
Tax Relief in Canada for Those With Disabilities
You’re an adult, you’re tripping along, living life, working hard, and then the universe sends you splat, and suddenly you’re seeing doctors, suffering, in pain, not working, and watching your bank account slide into the red. While you may be receiving good help for what ails you, you’re probably not getting good help for what…
The Continuing Medical Insanity of Brain Injury
You know, it’s a good thing I grew up in a medical family, learnt how to do research and search through libraries from a young age on, studied hormones from age 11 until, I think, 22 (through sex ed, biology, sciences), and took a one-year physiology course at the University of Toronto, else I may…