Getting Better and Better after Brain Injury: A guide for survivors for living smarter and happier

Getting Better and Better after Brain Injury: A guide for survivors for living smarter and happier

Jeffrey S. Kreutzer, Ph.D. and Stephanie Kolakowsky-Hayner, Ph.D.

Life after brain injury is, more often than not, a tremendous adjustment. This practical, easy-to-read guide addresses day-to-day issues faced by many people with brain injury.

This down-to-earth, illustrated book is backed by years of clinical experience, research findings and most of all, the personal lessons learned and advice given from many individuals living with traumatic brain injury. It is filled with worksheets, checklists, and many practical ideas offered by and for survivors. Recognizing that emotional and physical recovery are two different things, this guide tackles the difficult question of, “How can I live like this?” Topics are organized by 25 Great Ideas and feature frank discussions of the many ways that brain injury changes one’s life and the personal struggles and challenges that survivors face as they follow their journey of personal growth and recovery.

This book is included in the Survivor Tool Kit for Adults with Brain Injury

Item: 25SU
Price: $25.00
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Full Description

This practical book voices the many thoughts, feelings, and reactions that survivors experience but too often do not talk about. With frank conversations and honesty, both positive and negative experiences of survivors are shared as they rebuild their lives after brain injury. This innovative guide provides a framework to help survivors understand recovery, feel better, accomplish more, and improve relationships. Getting better is a skill. Like most skills, improvement comes with practice and hard work.

The content is organized into 25 sections, each reflecting a different idea. Readers are encouraged to look over the ideas in each section and then pick out a starting point. Over days or weeks, readers will understand how to apply the idea to their personal lives. Once readers have successfully applied an idea, they can then move on to another idea and so on. This guide is a tool for building a fuller life that is not just about “reading a book” but is about developing skills and applying the ideas to build a better life.

Details
Item 25SU
Pages 63
Year 9th printing: 2010

Authors

Jeffrey S. Kreutzer, Ph.D., ABPP (RP)

He is a Professor with appointments in the Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia Campus in Richmond. Board certified in rehabilitation psychology, he has more than two decades of clinical experience as a brain injury rehabilitation specialist. Since 1987, Dr. Kreutzer has served as the Director of Virginia’s federally-designated Traumatic Brain Injury Model System. Dr. Kreutzer has co-authored more than 130 publications, most in the area of traumatic brain injury and rehabilitation.

Stephanie Kolakowsky-Hayner, Ph.D.

She is the Director of Rehabilitation Research at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, CA and the Project Co-Director of the U.S. Department of Education, National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) funded Northern California Traumatic Brain Injury Model System of Care. Dr. Kolakowsky-Hayner is also the Project Co-Director of a NIDRR Field Initiated Grant entitled, A New Measure of Subjective Fatigue in Persons with TBI.

Her main interests include ethnicity and cultural issues, return to work, family and caregiver needs, and substance use after injury. She continues as a reviewer for NeuroRehabilitation and Brain Injury, and is an Associate Editor on the Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology.

Contents

Introduction

How to Use this Guide

#1. How can I Live Like This?

#2. Brain injury is Long Term

#3. Extending the Natural Recovery Process

#4. Emotional and Physical Recovery are Two Different Things

#5. Success is Relative

#6. Patience is Important but Not East to Find

#7. You can’t do that!

#8. A Good Patient Doesn’t Question the Doctor. True or False?

#9. Don’t Just Sit There and Wait to Get Better

#10. Writing Things Down in the Best Way to Avoid Confusion and Memory Problems

#11. There’s Usually More than One Problem, But It’s Hard to Fix More than One at a Time

#12/ First Decide What You Really Want To Do, Then, Figure Out What You Can Really Do and When You Can Really Do it

#13. Trying is Better than Not Trying

#14. Take Your Temperature Often

#15. You Can Start Feeling Better Right Now

#16. Feeling Better is Sometimes a Matter of Attitude

#17. Avoid Being Your Own Worst Enemy

#18. Figuring Yourself Out is Not Easy Whoever You Are

#19. Many People are Better at Recognizing What They Do Wrong

#20. Don’t Whip Yourself for Not Doing Better, You Don’t Deserve It

#21. More Often than Not, Brain Injury Hurts More than the Survivor

#22. Blaming Other People Probably Won’t Make You Better

#23. Watch Out for People Trying to Push Their Advice on You

#24. Having a Brain Injury Doesn’t Mean You Won’t Have the Same Problems as Other People

#25. Do You Really Want It All Back?

References

Notes and Ideas

Worksheet: Questions to Ask at My Next Appointment

List: Things to Do

List: Things That Make Me Feel Worse

“Send Us Your Ideas” Form

Excerpts

Sample excerpt. Preview only – please do not copy.

Getting Better and Better after Brain Injury: A Guide for Survivors

Idea # 1.

How Can I Live Like This?

A question with a very complicated answer. A sign of despair. Whether you say the words out loud or to yourself, most survivors question how they’ll go on with life after their injury. Many are unhappy with the changes in themselves. Changes that are harder because they’re sudden and unexpected:

  • I was sharp, now I can’t remember where I park my car.
  • I was working before, now I’m not.
  • I had a good memory before, now I don’t.
  • People liked me before, now I have no friends.
  • I used to go out a lot, now I stay by myself.
  • I had a new car, now my mother drives me where I need to go.
  • I lived in my own home, now l live with my sister and her kids.

Brain injury brings on tremendous challenges. Once again, you need to figure out who you are, what you can do, and how much better you can get. Not a small undertaking. For most people the process takes years.

There is no simple answer to the question, “How can I live like this?” Many will struggle for months or years to find greater meaning in their lives.

  • Take heart in the success and encouragement of others.
  • Take the time to reexamine your values, goals, hopes, and beliefs carefully.
  • Talk to other survivors who have done well.

Idea # 5

Success is Relative

Do you remember what you were like in the first days, weeks, or months after your injury?

  • Did you have problems with simple things like walking, talking, and eating?
  • Did you have 24 hour splitting headaches, ringing in your ears, dizziness?
  • Was it hard to remember what day it was and where you were? Were you confused?

Judging yourself in comparison to how you were before the injury can bring on disappointment. Also, if you focus too much on what you want to do, you can easily lose sight of what you’ve done. Instead, think about the progress you’ve made since your injury. You’ll feel better. For at least four reasons, you may not notice how much progress you’ve made:

  1. Progress can be very slow.
  2. Progress often requires a lot of hard work.
  3. You may not remember what you were like in the hospital.
  4. Sometimes you take one or two steps back when you take two steps forward.

Ask your family members and other people about your progress. Most will be glad to tell you. Many doctors and therapists use special tools to measure your physical well being and abilities. They may be in the best position to give you accurate information about your changes.

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