06/18/2022
Today is 11 months since my car accident, 11 months since I suffered a mild traumatic brain injury (what an oxymoron). This is me today, 11 months post accident hooked up to a heart rate monitor, continuing to look for answers and ways to heal my brain and body.
We forget that the brain controls EVERY system in our body and that when we suffer a traumatic brain injury that we have an idea of how the body may be affected but we don’t really have a full picture of the entire scope of what can happen.
Like we have no idea why at the point of sleep my parasympathetic nervous system doesn’t always kick in and release sleep hormones, slow my breathing rate and let my body fall asleep but instead releases epinephrine, increases my heart rate and jolts me awake. We don’t know why sometimes when I’m brushing my teeth I’m out of breath and my heart rate spikes to 157 bpm or why I can pass out after five minutes walking on a treadmill but can seemingly tolerate biking on a stationary bike for 20 minutes.
It’s hard to believe that 2 1/2 years ago I was summiting mountains, trekking through the amazon and backpacking around the world and today taking the dog for a short hike requires multiple breaks and a three hour nap afterwards.
I keep being told that this is only temporary and things will get better. Some days that’s hard to believe. Some days I’m thankful for how far I’ve come in these 11 months and other days I’m really angry some kid didn’t check his blind spot.
Frustrated seems to be the theme of this last year and although in general I’m thankful my accident wasn’t worse, it can be hard to feel like your body isn’t yours and scary to not know what your future looks like anymore. If there is anything I’ve learned from all of this it’s don’t take your health for granted, climb all the mountains you can and if there is anything in your life you’ve ever wanted to do, do it!
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