10 years ago, my life was fundamentally changed!

I survived a very serious brain injury.  

As you can see from this picture, I was feeling a little under the weather!



Even after months in hospital and subsequent periods of residential rehabilitation, the ongoing consequences of my accident – circumstantial, physical, and mental are very large and far-reaching.

This blog will provide some elaboration – watch this space! Suffice to say for now, my biggest issues have been brought about by damage to my psychological functions and in particular my emotions.

The effect of this has (certainly, at first sight) been very negative. I have considered myself to be a substantially changed person – Phil v2.0!  and I haven’t really liked Phil v2.0. I have considered him to be a shadow of his former self and one that I deeply wished he had not become.  My regrets and misery have been immense and at times, overwhelming.

Needless to say, something needed to be done about this – and with much personal and professional help, the process of rebuilding and acceptance of my alteration has begun and is ongoing.  There is much further to go, but my journey is well underway!

This blog will feature a note of some ways in which I now, fill my time (and have done, in the past).  It will also include various thoughts – be they factual, or otherwise.  In doing all this, I hope to paint a picture of myself, my life and my journey. The plan is to illustrate what I am more and more, coming to believe. Namely, that Phil v2.0’s life isn’t anything like as bad as I have considered it to be. Indeed, a lot of the time it is actually rather good and for me at least, there can indeed, be life after brain injury.

What I am hoping to achieve through its publication is broadly, two- fold.  

First, it may prompt some positive reflection on my own part – IE a form of self-administered therapy.

Of far greater importance though, is my aim in respect of others - and in this context, I am using that term to include those in a similar (however tenuous) position to my own; together with those who love and/or provide care for them.

What I hope to do, is to provide some encouragement and motivation.  Rebuilding one’s life is an uphill battle but one that I truly believe to be worth fighting!  Brain injury will often bring about changes.  Nevertheless - we might be different, but different is not necessarily worse!

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