3yrs; Day 1255 – from Corey; TBI behavior
Hi everyone,
Today’s TBI facts are not found in statistical documentation or long term case studies followed by professionals post inpatient stay. However, it is intimately understood in the day to day lives of the families and survivors.
Corey continues to have disrupted sleep. She wakes disoriented often with night terrors. Her anxiety levels have increased, possibly due to recent medication changes. Bottom line, we are back in the trenches. Behavioral outbursts are not uncommon in the TBI world. Long term anxiety is also common. Unfortunately, its not easily managed due to short term memory loss and medication is not the “quick fix”. I’m hoping to get an appointment with Dr. Long to discuss some creative strategies. Until then we need prayers! We are in the fox hole and there is not sight of a cease fire. I never thought it would be possible to replace Crazy Corrine, but we are currently living with Corrine’s evil twin who makes Corrine look like Timid Tina!
Our only functional strategy is using Corey’s journal. She can “Write it out”. The following is just one of today’s entries from Corey. Please, Please pray for her, for us. We WILL get through this stage…xoxo
From Corey;
different personalities, raging rachel and confused cindy
when i am rachel i suddenly get angry and cannot explain why. i don’t know why i get so angry and i don’t like it. i think it is because so much is going on around me i don’t know where to go, how to run away or what to listen to.
then there is confused cindy which is confident corey sitting back and hearing everyone around her talk until it is to many things for my brain to comprehend. i don’t remember or understand what people are saying because everything is different.
i go from confident to confused to angry all in a blink of an eye. when i am going to meet someone new i get pent up anxiety because i don’t know what this person will be like.
the anxiety starts. my mom tells me i kick and scream and yell but i don’t remember doing any of that. that feels weird. how do i not know?
i know that that i can’t blame everything on my brain injury but this one i can.
that’s it. that is what is happening today. its not happy but we can’t change it right now. i don’t know what to do because i don’t remember getting upset. i guess that’s brain injury too?
3yrs; Day 1251 – TBI facts BIAA
Hi Everyone,
We are going to try to post eveyday but some days/nights are better then others. Corey had a good afternoon yesterday but last night didn’t lend itself to composing the carepage.
TBI fact;
Most statistical data collected about TBI survivors is for the first two years of recovery only.
As you all know from reading about Corey, she continues to excel 3 years and 5 months later. Yesterday, Corey walked over 400 feet to the out-patient gym to ride her recumbent bike. Unfortunately, It was occupied. That didn’t stop the ladies…Natalie and Corey turned around, walked back to the Neuro gym and practiced balancing and completed her exercises with some squats and marching holding onto the ballet bar. It was a strong leg day!
Imagine if all TBI patients had the opportunity to receive professional therapy for a minimum of 15 hours/week.
The brain and the body require daily stimulation in order to regenerate. If you haven’t had a chance to call your local state/federal representatives, please choose one, call and ask them if they are aware that TBI rehabilitation is underfunded across the nation. Not every state has waivers to supplement Medicaid funding and most waivers are closed or have extensive waiting lists. More critical is the fact that medicaid funding for rehabilitation is in constant jeopardy of budget cuts in every state in the union. Most private insurances as well as medicaid want to see functional improvement to keep approving coverage. Unfortunately, both are uneducated as to the length of time recovery requires across the survivors lifetime. They are short sighted; if TBI survivors had funded resources/services they actually would improve to regain functional improvement and most would rejoin their communities. Each year the gov’t spends 76 billion dollars to help supplement TBI patients that live with permanent disabilities as a result of their injuries. Imagine how that number would change if they were given a chance to thrive rather then just survive.
If you need research sources for your call, www.biaa.org The Brain Injury Association of America is a fabulous resource if you know of anyone that needs help with their new direction.
xoxo
3yrs; Day 1250 – from Corey; TBI facts and video
hi everyone its corey
today’s tbi fact: something will click if you work hard every day
yesterday I mentioned to you about the difference between the left and right side of your brain. today i proved that my brain is ambidextrous. im not going to give you another hint, you will have to watch todays videos
okay maybe a little hint;
today i blew my teacher Cari away with new firsts. i recognized shapes, colors, letters, could build a robot jenga tower (which is hard btw), a rainbow Lincoln log house, sorted by color, matched patterns and sequences. oh and also worked with a stretchy band pulling with my left hand and arm.
so i guess that i can not be stumped by her challenges and today my brain definitely clicked.
tbi fact…i get better every day, xoxo
Corey Beattie Robot Jenga Tower
Corey Beattie Scrabble Genius
3yrs; Day 1249 – from Corey; TBI facts
hi, everyone its corey
todays TBI facts start with a question to you.
do you know which side of your brain controls what?
right side controls the left and the left controls the right. the right side is really the fun side and the left side is the learning side.
if you do art, are creative, have an imagination, have good intuition, have insite, can see 3D pictures or are musical you think mostly with the fun side
if you are logical, can talk, speak and understand english or more than 1 language, are good with numbers can both read and right letters and you are pretty good at thinking through problems then you have a learning brain aka controlled by your left side
i’m a little of both sides but i have no idea what that means especially since they told me i broke my entire brain. guess i can be both now.
i thought you would like a brain joke mom told me.
If the right side of the brain controls the left
And the left side of the brain controls the right
Then left handed people are the only ones in their right mind…
my aunt louise will love that because she is left handed.
hope you had fun learning something new even if you are not left brained. here’s a quick quiz for your friends. see if you can tell which side is being used in each of these
1) Drawing a picture of an imaginary castle.
2) Doing your math homework.
3) Daydreaming when you should be studying!
4) Talking to a friend.
5) Listening to a parent or teacher.
here are your answers xoxo
right, left, right, left, left
3yrs; Day 1248 – from Corey; TBI fact
Hi everyone its corey, with some help from mom,
Today’s TBI fact
Annual Emergency Department Visits = 1,365,000 which is 3,740 TBI patients per day
that number is probably way more than anyone would have guessed. this number does not include all the people that just go to the doctors office not the hospital.
i never thought that i would be one of the people in that number. i don’t remember but it makes me think of all the doctors nurses surgeons fire helicopter and ambulance people that were called to help me to get better.
more importantly is how lucky my family and i are to have so many nice people in my life. people that put out a random act of kindness to help me and they didn’t even know me. i hope that the rest of the people in that number are as lucky as i am, xoxo
3yrs; 5 months – from Corey
hi everyone, its corey
were you aware that march is tbi awareness month? if you did not know that this can be your first fun fact to walk away with today.
i will try and write you every day this month even when i may not feel like it, its kind of my home work. i will not only tell you about how good i’m doing, but i will give you a new fun fact to share with someone else and thats your home work because after all it is awareness month
since i missed March 1st here is your 2nd fun fact for today. tbi’s ribbon color is green. when i think of green in march i think of st, patties day. i am a quarter irish but guess what? tbi can happen to anyone for no rhyme or reason no matter your age color or religion. it doesn’t even matter if you are irish, italian or what?
green is the color of new life and hope. 3 years ago i started a new life. some times its not easy to have a new life.
there is a story that i like its about a plant growing and i find myself relating a lot to it. its about a seed that gets planted in the dirt. the dirts dark and cold and its up to the seed to fight its way up and out of the dark to find the sun. somedays i feel like a seed and the only thing i have to do, like a plant, is grow and be strong.
the seed might be planted but it needs a lot of nourishment to grow. to me thats the help i get from mom and caitlin and the people that help me.
so when you wear green this month i hope you remember tbi and tell someone else the real meaning of the color green. maybe tbi awareness will grow too, xoxo
3yrs; Day 1244 – from Corey; time to pick up my big girl pants
hi everyone its corey
yesterday i could not write because it was a bad day but then today i decided to get my big girl pants on and face the day whatever it may bring and i like that attitude, that seams to be more of a corey attitude.
an old friend of mine that i thought forgot about me by now wrote to me today.
basically i was surprised that he still had my corey bracelet from the first fundraiser right after the accident. then he told me about the impact i have had on him and other people. i realize that bad days make you selfish and force you to think just about yourself but thats not what we are here for.
sometimes you can be going through a really bad problem and people are watching who could be going through their own really bad problem. our motto is never give up and never give in and its that for a reason. i guess people see that i don’t give up and that helps them not give up as well. don’t you think God would have wanted that so we could all work together between the good times and the bad?
i thoroughly hope this helps you if your going through your own bad problem, xoxo
3yrs; Day 1242 – from Corey; “falling down days”
hi everyone its corey,
when the bad days make life hard the first thing that comes to mind is what does the light at the end of the tunnel look like? some times its a hard day to see the light. its not always easy. my biggest question is what will happen to me when i have finally reached the light? i can only hope its not a train coming to hit me!
you know how people say two steps forward and 1 step back is still 1 step forward? well some days you just wake up and go about your day trying not to fall down.
yesterday was a falling down day, actually for that matter the past several weeks have been full of falling down days. so today i have tried to spend my day standing up straight no more falling down. in fact i stood in the pool for 5 and a half minutes all by myself. then i held on to the side rail to walk 2 laps around the pool all by myself. also mom wanted me to ride in the wheel chair to go into the pool and i said no and walked in and out of the building with moms help no wheel chair. after swimming mom had to go to the doctors, so while she was gone i took it upon myself to fold the laundry including the socks.
i really appreciated reading all of your letters and if you need help on a falling down day write me and i will do my best to help you stand up too, xoxo
3yrs; Day 1241 – how many steps?
Hi Everyone,
I found today’s inspiration on a FaceBook wall.
Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip Toe if you must, but take the step.
We have been taking many many small steps for sometime now. Poor Corey has been struggling with how long its been taking. She’s also back to not sleeping, her headaches have remained constant and I’m sad to say, Corrine has been rearing her ugly head again.
When I read Corey today’s inspiration she liked the quote but immediately asked how many more steps does she need to take? How I wish I had the answer!
She has been writing to express her thoughts but in her private pages. She’s not happy and doesn’t want to share her feelings with you. She said she doesn’t want to make you sad.
There are so many of you out there praying daily and writing both privately and publicly. I would like to ask if you would, could you please write her. Let her know how she has helped you or share something that might help her through this frustrating stage.
We all have good days and bad days but the best part of our day is knowing all of you are with us every day, xoxo
3yrs; Day 1237 – from Corey
hello everyone its corey
today i went to go work out with Natalie and i happened to beat yesterdays best record
yesterday i balanced standing alone for 5 minutes with Jen. when natalie heard that she and i wanted to set another personal best. we timed 6 minutes and 10 seconds
next, still not tired, was step aerobics with a wooden block, not as a dare just because i wanted another personal best
and darned if i did not set it. i front stepped and side stepped and even did some lunges.
so after that we set another bet. Natalie asked me to hold a small beach ball between my knees. i was supposed to stand up and sit down to practice squats. everyone guessed a different number that i could do. mom said 5, i said 6, Natalie said 7 and my nurse said 10. i ended up doing what no one bet. i blew them away and they were all like, you can stop anytime you want but i happened to do 14. i don’t know where it came from really, but its a new personal best. i’m sure this one won’t last for long either because i am a competitive athlete you know.
a personal best to me means reaching an all time high. its important to me because it tells me how much i can do without quitting or taking a break. when you are trying to get better you are always trying to reach for your best. its important for all of us to reach for our all time best every day, xoxo