Gray Matters Survivor Outreach

We will be meeting the first Tuesday of each month, from 6-7:30 PM, in the smaller Community Room at Serra or Kerny Mesa Library. The first meeting will be on April 5th. The address is 9005 Aero Drive, San Diego, CA.

We are signed up for:

Tuesday, April 5th – 6-7:30 PM
Tuesday, May 3rd, 6 – 7:30 PM

After that, we will need to wait and see if the budget cuts are going to change the availability of the room. We may need to make a schedule change. I will let you know.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brain-Injury-Gray-Matters-Survivor-Outreach/172581792756317

For kids, the Silent Epidemic continues on…

Children who sustain a TBI early in childhood often grow into their injury; their problems sometimes don’t surface until they are in elementary school.

First, my disclaimer – I am no nutritionist, but I am a health nut and fitness regular.  I have been on the path of finding what is best for me personally, after a brain injury for 21 years.  I have found some things that have REALLY worked for me and I would like to share some of them with you.  Perhaps you can benefit from what I have played around with for quite a few years.  I am talking about preventative medicine

Attention problems -   Omega 3′s

Depression -   Aerobic exercise –   (3-4 times a week – ideally)     It’s been researched and I confirm that yes, it does help!  If women don’t take enough Iron, they could become anemic, which leads to depression.   If low in B-12, this can lead  to depression.

Vitamin B’s have a lot to do with the nerves.  They are an important nutritional resource for Brain Injury Survivors!

Energy level     -  B-12 (Sublingual – the most digestible and easy to assimilate)

Mood Swings   – B-3

Health & Well Being –   Look into a good easily digestible multivitamin

Water -   Brain tissue is 85% water!   The brain is only 1/50th of the total body weight and it uses 1/20th of the blood supply.     Hmmm… logically, that tells me for optimum brain function, we need water!         The International Sports Medicine Institute, has a formula for daily water intake: 1/2 ounce per pound of body weight if you’re not active (that’s ten eight-ounce glasses if you weigh 160 pounds), and 2/3 ounce per pound if you’re athletic (13 to 14 glasses a day, at the same weight).

Fiber    – Got to make sure everything is flowing, right?  We do have to give back to the earth!  ;D

Vitamin C & Calcium -  are important too (to me-because of family history and coffee intake) .  For anything of importance to you, I recommend seeing how much I’m getting in the multivitamin to see how much more I may need through food  supplements.

Immune strengthener -  The thing about immune strengthening, you want to be sure not to be taking Goldenseal or Echinacea on a regular basis.  If you do, then when you need it, it won’t work.  I use Astragalus Root tincture.

This is what I have for now, if anything else comes to mind, I’ll add it in.  Remember, I am no authority, just my own personal health “freak”.  I have found that some accommodations for my brain injury have come from the health food store!!!

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Consider reading my book, it has been said that is not only beneficial for brain injury survivors, but also for those without complications – it promotes attitude adjustments that help to get by in life!  To order a book, go to the home page and click on the leaf on the flower.  It will take you to my publisher, where a book can be purchased.

This Sunday we did our first Mentor Training!  We have four men who are very interested and enthused about being mentors for other brain injury survivors! This web site will go through a transformation when we get started…

I have worked for more than 10 years in Brain injury peer support.  When two people that “know” brain injury get together, an understanding transpires; an acceptance is kindled; possibilities are ignited; hopes can be shaped.   When I use the quote to “know” brain injury, I refer to the biblical understanding of the word – intimate knowledge , as Adam knew Eve.   I am not referring to book-knowledge about brain injury.  People with book-knowledge about brain injury interact with survivors in a different mode than two that have experienced an injury to the brain.

more later…