Silent Epidemic

Traumas perpetually occur.

Every 21 seconds,

One person in the US

Sustains a Traumatic Brain Injury.

These are the statistics,

This is what continually happens,

Of this we can be assured,

We are just now coming to know,

What we have already incurred.

Brain injury isn’t new,

Cave woman club man over head,

Back then,

You think it turned into something else instead?

Silenced,

Moving like a slug through time,

Brain injury then,

Brain injury now,

Epidemic…

Silently carrying on the infection somehow.

Do you think ADD did not exist 20 years ago?

Before the research…

It just wasn’t explored,

Now, it is quite prevalent,

Yet it is not new,

It’s a silent reality,

Until it affects you!

Why is brain injury soundless?

Car crashes are not quiet,

Yet the injury is reported to be silent,

Quieter than a whisper,

Why?

Perhaps…

Maybe…

Mystery lays in the unknown -

Thoughts make noise,

Ignorance is quiet,

People aren’t aware -

Silence isn’t the epidemic,

The hush covers -

Allows for infectious growth,

It spreads in a cloud of mystery…

Brain injury can even be invisible,

Folks can’t see it,

Haven’t heard about it,

Unblemished minds think…

What would it be without me?

What exactly is brain injury?

I’m calling to all around the nation,

Let us sing in chorus,

Break the silence,

Let’s raise a ruckus,

Hip, hip hoorah,

Hip, hip hooray,

Together,

We’ll draw a close

To the silent dismay.

This is a call to awareness -

I’m making a shout,

So the bacterial stain

We can clean out.

Pick up my book,

Listen to my rhyme,

I’ll have you captivated in no time!

Pass on the word of what you hear,

We are breaking the silence,

Thanks to your receptive ear.

We’re paving the way for knowledge,

We are the pioneers…

Gray Matters!

Heidi Lerner

http://www.graymatters4u.org/

Gray Matters for you!

Disclosure

I am writing this just for you,

Because I intend to give you a clue,

My poetry comes from my own inner construct,

I give you markings so you can at least draw dot to dot,

I want to personally disclose this to you,

Because I want you to better understand what I speak to,

I’ve been through some life experiences that do awaken,

Well, I’ve had my nagen shaken,

That is a Traumatic Brain Injury,

And I want you to discern what it does to me,

Cerebral bruising, tearing, bleeding & swelling,

Not just mental impairments, there’s much more to be telling,

I’ll translate this into real life,

So you can understand my neurological strife.

I want you to better see,

So you can more competently talk with someone like me,

Perhaps, for me it is quite healing,

For others to have more of this feeling,

I’m not going to be playing the cosmic trickster,

I want to point you to the holistic picture,

I’m going to communicate what I can,

So people with brain injuries you can better understand -

I talk straight from the heart in my chatter,

I say this to you, because…

GRAY MATTERS!

Never think a small group of thoughtful people can’t change the world.     Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

FOREWORD

This inspiring book of poetry by Heidi Lerner offers readers an opportunity to experience the shattered and confusing world of recovery from a traumatic brain injury through the perspective of someone who has been there.  Research has shown that approximately 5.3 million people in our country live with the effects of an injury to their brain, and over 30,000 children and youth are disabled from brain injury each yeari – but these are only statistics.  It is the individual person’s unique experience and recovery from brain injury that we need to better understand.  Brain injury can happen to you, me, or anyone we know at a moment’s notice; life is forever changed for that person and those connected to him or her.

Aldous Huxley said, “experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you” (Texts and Pretexts, 1933).  In writing this book of profound and sensitive poetry, Ms. Lerner has used her own traumatic experience to help others.  She shows us the process that a survivor of brain injury goes through in using disoriented and confused thinking to figure out the world again.  She shows us the complexities of brain injury recovery through the language of poetry that helps us to feel brain injury rather than merely observe it or study it as a professionally interesting “subject”.

Cognitive disability resulting from a brain injury is often described as a hidden disability, because most people do not fully understand the vast scope of cognition.  All too often, we ignore what is right in front of us.  A little girl struggling to keep up in school; a lonely teenager who just can’t connect with his friends anymore; or an unemployed man or woman who has lost another job because no one explained how to do some things he used to know how to do (for neither s/he nor the boss recognized s/he had lost that knowledge or skill).  These are the day-to-day problems that people with brain injuries live with that so few people fully understand and have adequate training to help.

Ms. Lerner’s book will no doubt raise public awareness about the thoughts, feelings, and needs of someone with a brain injury, as well as the need for increased support and education regarding this disability.  Readers will enjoy a book of beautiful poetry that demonstrates that after a brain injury, a person is not only still able to function, but is able to live, reflect, write, and give meaning to the experience for others.

Janis Ruoff, PhD – Special Education Administration (now retired),  Director, Center for Education and Human Services in Acquired Brain Injury, George Washington University.

Dedication to my book, Gray Matters:

It’s a Good Life

Everything was fine,

Then one day,

My life buckled under.

Now I walk around,

And my scars are under cover.

I swam up and jumped aboard again.

Sure, there are some functional irregularities,

But I’m glad to have another time around the bend.

This is a “Cheers” to those that trauma has taken for a fall,

For we all agree that it is a good life, after all!

A frustrating dilemma for many stroke and/or brain injury survivors is the inherent difficulty with word recognition (i.e. Aphasia). The following information is important to directly quote The National Aphasia Association’s website, http://www.aphasia.org…

“Aphasia is a communication impairment usually acquired as a result of a stroke or other brain injury. It affects both the ability to express oneself through speech, gesture, and writing, or  to understand the speech, gesture, and writing of others. Aphasia thus changes the way in which we communicate with those people most important to us: family, friends, and co-workers., The impact of aphasia on relationships may be profound, or only slight. No two people with aphasia are alike with respect to severity, former speech and language skills, or personality. But in all cases it is essential for the person to communicate as successfully as possible from the very beginning of the recovery process…”

“Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that impairs a person’s ability to process language, but does not affect intelligence. Aphasia impairs the ability to speak and understand others, and most people with aphasia experience difficulty reading and writing…  Aphasia affects about one million Americans — or 1 in 250 people — and is more common than Parkinson’s Disease, cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. More than 100,000 Americans acquire the disorder each year. However, most people have never heard of it.”Here are some suggestions to help communicate with a person with aphasia:

• Make sure you have the person’s attention before communicating.
• 
  During conversation, minimize or eliminate background noise (such as television, radio, other people) as much as possible.
• Keep communication simple but adult. Simplify your own sentence structure and reduce your own rate of speech. You don’t need to speak louder than normal but do emphasize key words. Don’t talk down to the person with aphasia.
• Encourage and use other modes of communication (writing, drawing, yes/no responses, choices, gestures, eye contact, facial expressions) in addition to speech.
• Give them time to talk and let them have a reasonable amount of time to respond. Avoid speaking for the person with aphasia except when necessary and ask permission before doing so.
• Praise all attempts to speak; make speaking a pleasant experience and provide stimulating conversation. Downplay errors and avoid frequent criticisms/corrections. Avoid insisting that each word be produced perfectly.
• Augment speech with gesture and visual aids whenever possible. Repeat a statement when necessary.
• Encourage them to be as independent as possible. Avoid being overprotective.
• Whenever possible continue normal activities (such as dinner with family, company, going out). Do not shield people with aphasia from family or friends or ignore them in a group conversation. Rather, try to involve them in family decision-making as much as possible. Keep them informed of events but avoid burdening them with day to day details.

These guidelines are intended to enhance communication with persons who have aphasia. However, they cannot guarantee that communication will be immediate or on a par with former skills.”

Does Aphasia Affect a Person’s Intelligence?

NO. A person with aphasia may have difficulty retrieving words and names, but the person’s intelligence is basically intact. Aphasia is not like Alzheimer’s disease; for people with aphasia it is the ability to access ideas and thoughts through language – not the ideas and thoughts themselves- that is disrupted. But because people with aphasia have difficulty communicating, others often mistakenly assume they are mentally ill or have mental retardation.

Are All Cases of Aphasia Alike?

No. There are many types of aphasia. Some people have difficulty speaking while others may struggle to follow a conversation. In some people, aphasia is fairly mild and you might not notice it right away. In other cases, it can be very severe, affecting speaking, writing, reading, and listening. While specific symptoms can vary greatly, what all people with aphasia have in common are difficulties in communicating

The study was supported by National Science Foundation grants, and a National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders grant.
Contact: Karen Mallet – Georgetown University Medical Center
Source: Georgetown University Medical Center press release
Image Source: Neuroscience image adpated from an unrelated image shared at Wikimedia Commons by By Bkroeger via CC-BY-SA-3.0

What is it about January that beckons us to set our gaze beyond our feet, up the road, past the fence, and towards the horizon?  What is it about the ringing in of a new year that makes us regard the future like children with a ball of colorful Play-Doh – warming it, kneading it, stretching and bending it, until it becomes something useful, beautiful, or just plain silly.  What pleasure it gives us to approach something as vague and innocuous, and yet, as full of potential, as a “new year”.

The power we have to continuously shape and define how we live our lives through the choices we make is not a freedom to be taken lightly.  The fact that we can, at our own time and place, exercise the liberty to create changes in our lives, is one of the true glories of being human.

Denise Bissonnette’s True Livelihood Newsletter

I feel we can grab hold and thrust our core desires into the new year!   With persistence and faith, we can follow through.  We can allow ourselves to stumble, but NEVER SAY NEVER!!!

A Blessing for Longing

By John O’Donohue

Blessed be the longing that brought you here
And quickens your soul with wonder.

May you have the courage to listen to the voice of desire
That disturbs you when you have settled for something safe.

May you have the wisdom to enter generously into your own unease
To discover the new direction your longing wants you to take.

May the forms of your belonging – in love, creativity and friendship-
Be equal to the grandeur and the call of your spirit.

May your dreams gradually reveal the destination of your desire.

May a secret Providence guide your thought and nurture your feeling.

May your mind inhabit your life with the sureness
With which your body inhabits the world.

May your heart never be haunted by ghost structures of old damage.

May you come to accept your longing as divine urgency.

May you know the urgency which with the world longs for you and awaits your gift.

- Excerpt from “To Bless the Space Between Us”, Doubleday, Copyright 2008, John O’Donohue

Vitamin C is generally considered to be an important “nutrient,” but its perceived value usually ends there. Only rarely does the public (and the medical profession) glimpse its true potential in the prevention and treatment of disease — and this because, by legal definition (in the US), only FDA-approved drugs can prevent, treat and cure disease.

This does not mean, however, that essential nutrients like Vitamin C cannot in fact prevent and treat disease, i.e. only because it is illegal to speak truthfully about something, doesn’t mean that that something isn’t true.  The National Library of Medicine, in fact, contains thousands of studies demonstrating vitamin C’s ability to significantly improve health, with 220 disease applications documented on the research site GreenMedInfo.com alone.  The best thing ‘we the people’ can do, despite our lack of medical degrees and licensure, and without the FDA’s iron-fisted legal and regulatory apparatus on our side, is to use the peer-reviewed research at our disposal to inform and protect our treatment decisions.

Perhaps we must revisit an important moment in history to regain a sense of how profoundly vitamin C deficiency and vitamin C therapy can affect health. James Lind (1716-1794), pioneer of naval hygiene in the British Royal Navy, conducted the first ever clinical trial proving that citrus fruits cured scurvy. Lind’s discovery saved tens of thousands of seamen from the ravages of scurvy, spurring England’s naval supremacy, putatively changing the course of world history.

If significant historical events like these don’t provide enough evidence to vindicate the efficacy of nutrients like Vitamin C, molecular biology and the science of genetics can help to fill in the gaps.

It is a little known and under-appreciated fact that all humans are born with a serious, life-threatening genetic defect: namely, the inability to manufacture Vitamin C.

This defect occurred approximately 63 million years ago, when our haplorrhini (“simple nosed”) primate predecessors lost the gene (Gulnolactone oxidase pseudogene – GULOP), responsible for the manufacture of Vitamin C from glucose.

The ability to synthesize Vitamin C, in fact, has been lost several times in vertebrates, e.g. in guinea pigs, some bats, some fishes, passeriform birds and in primates of the suborder Haplorrhini, which includes monkes, apes and humans.

It was Linus Pauling, two time Nobel Laurette, and the world’s foremost vitamin C proponent, who first brought this inborn error of metabolism to popular light. Pauling advocated taking large doses of Vitamin C (up to 10-12 grams a day) in order to offset the deficiencies of our modern diet. He believed that it was our movement away from a vitamin C rich fruit-and-vegetable based diet that explained the modern epidemic of heart disease.

According to this perspective, without adequate Vitamin C we are unable to produce the collagen necessary to heal our arteries. The Vitamin C starved body compensates for this by increasing the production of a very small and sticky type of cholesterol known as lipoprotein A, which leads to the formation of atheromatous plaque (clogged arteries). Linus Pauling advocated taking large amounts of vitamin C in combination with the amino acid lysine to reverse the damage done to the arteries, and to prevent recurrence.*

Indeed, a study published in 2008 showed that higher plasma vitamin C levels are associated with a significantly reduced risk of stroke. Scientists from the clinical gerontology unit at Addnbrooke’s University Hospital in Cambridge, UK, tracked 20,649 men and women aged 40 to 79 years, between 1993 and 1997. The group was followed through March 2005. Individuals who had the highest vitamin C levels showed a 42% reduction in stroke risk! If you compare this with Plavix’s 8.7 – 9.4% risk reduction, and the profound side effects drugs like these generate, one begins to understand why the media projection of “vitamins are toxic” propaganda serves only the interests of the drug companies.

Before one goes out and buys a bargain bottle of Vitamin C tablets, one should be advised that ascorbic acid is not exactly the same thing as Vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is found within the Vitamin C complex as it exists in food, but is only one of a number of inseparable cofactors, such as rutin, bioflavonoids (vitamin p), factor k, factor j, factor p, ascorbinogen, protein chaperones, and various enzymes like tyrosinase, which together in their entirety constitute the whole food complex.

Ascorbic acid is also 10 times more acidic than the naturally buffered Vitamin C found in raw food, and will on occasions lead to stomach upset, calcium loss from the bones, and kidney stones, in susceptible individuals. Traditionally ascorbic acid is produced semi-synthetically from corn or rice starch through a heavily chemical dependent process. Ascorbic acid can be considered no more natural than white flour, and yet despite this fact, has very little toxicity relative to pharmaceuticals, and can be used in much higher doses than the FDA’s Recommended Daily Allowance without adverse side effects.

The difference between ascorbic acid and Vitamin C in whole food form was perfectly clear to Szent-Gyorgi who received a Nobel Prize in 1937 for discovering Vitamin C. Even though Szent-Gyorgi received international recognition for identifying ascorbic acid as Vitamin C, his later research lead him to conclude that ascorbic acid had very little anti-scurvy activity in and of itself. Szent-Gyorgi found that the vitamin C found in organ meats and food sources like paprika, where the aforementioned cofactors are intact, were far superior in combating scurvy. We would be well served to acknowledge that all raw fruits and vegetables contain a “life force” that can not be fully decomposed or reduced to the chemical skeleton within which the life force of “vitamin activity” works, no more than our life/soul can be reduced to the $10 or so worth of chemical building blocks that our body is composed of. Fortunately there are vitamin manufacturers out there who acknowledge this fact, and produce raw whole food concentrates rich in vitamin activity. When eating raw, organic fruits and vegetables is not an option, or when higher levels are needed, these supplements offer authentic therapeutic activity.

The history of vitamin C illustrates just how profoundly important it is for us to get these vital nutrients known as “vitamins,” and that they are best derived from food. If we choose to overlook the importance of vitamins in maintaining health, and yes, even preventing and reversing disease, we will be forced to accept a pharmaceutically driven medical perspective that believes that health is the absence of symptoms, and that symptoms are to be combated or driven back deep into our bodies with sublethal dosages of toxic chemicals, i.e. drugs. Such as perspective on disease is itself so diseased that there is no escaping the ill health that results from it. We must remember that there has never been a disease that has been caused by a lack of a drug…..therefore, why would it ever be considered sound medical practice to treat disease with drugs, as a first line of treatment?

*If Linus Pauling and other Vitamin C researchers are correct and a deficiency of Vitamin C causes the breakdown of collagen in the artery, aspirin therapy, which causes Vitamin C deficiency, would not be considered a safe way to reduce cardiac mortality. To the contrary, it would further destabilize the strength and elasticity of the artery leading to hemorrhage, which is the primary deadly side effect of aspirin therapy.

Brain Injury – Surviving Jail

-   Heidi Lerner,

Gray Matters Survivor Outreach

Being arrested and held in custody can be a nerve-wracking experience for anyone; it can be dangerous for a survivor of a brain injury. In this article, Albert Finklestein will be used as an example.  He was recently mistakenly arrested, is fired up and he had much to say regarding the topic at the Gray Matters Brain Injury Support Group.

Finkelstein says “You are arrested and are being punished as you are guilty.  You are confined in an uncomfortable setting (i.e. no food or water, uncomfortable temperature in the room).  They take away medications (*** this is a scary risk factor and can even be life-threatening!). There is no communication and you are perceived as dangerous.   Interactions can lead to confrontation, even violence.  This can lead to further mistaken incarceration, even further strokes!” Risks for any person brought in custody become magnified for a person with a brain injury; it is unsettling for anyone, it is extremely bewildering for brain injury survivors to be held in custody.

“Brain injury survivors are more sensitized to perceived threats to themselves. This can affect their behavior, then police see their behavior and see them as a threat.  This can somersault and create more and more chaos.  This is due to a lack of understanding in the police department about a brain injury survivors’s experience.  They have no reference points in order to understand a person with brain injury’s personal experience.

There are said to be psychological resources within the police department or in the jails.  Though according to Albert, they are lacking and not available when the need arises.  Because the psychological resources are not available, police officers should have a minimal level of understanding of brain injury survivors sensitivities and needs.   They should recognize the dynamics of a person’s situation in jail, for a person with brain injury.  There should be a sensitivity training or additional psychological resources available.

Albert said that he didn’t see any accommodations in the jail for people with disabilities.  He thinks that there is a need for jail settings to be inspected to assure they are keeping up with ADA standards.  A bare minimal raising of awareness needs to occur, so procedures can be modified.  People with brain injuries and all people with disabilities need a standard of care.  Under the present conditions, a person can die.  We are trying to avoid that.

BI-IFEA (Brain injury-Ideas for Education & Advocacy

Madelaine Sayko •

1. Many folks have visual issues so they like strong direct lighting BUT they also need to be able to have dark and control visual stimulation so dimmers, good windows with blinds (not just shades)
2. Organization is always an issue – many people like to visually see things but don’t want a mess – so built in cubby’s, walk in closet with lighting, walls with corkboard for pinning up messages or reminder notes
3. Balance is also an issue and can be a problem in bathrooms – grab bars in tubs and by toilets, sinks where a person can bend over and wash their face without bonking their head on anything
4. Easy accessible cabinets in the kitchen
5. Rooms do not have to be huge, sometimes a more manageable space is easier
6. Rugs can be good and bad – easy for pain from spinal injury but might cause more balance problems but avoid slippery floor materials
7. Lots of easy to reach outlets
8. Smoke alarms – everywhere
9. Larger print on dials and controls for ovens and microwaves
10. Railings on all steps inside and out
11. Sound proofing in walls/windows – noise can be very disturbing

A new grant-fed George Washington University, Brain Injury – Special Ed Masters Program…

This is a fantastic opportunity!!!  This is the Masters program that I went through under a new grant. Turns out that a woman that I studied with is now the Director of the program. It is exciting, because she is making it BRAIN INJURY FRIENDLY in a way that this program has never seen!!!   Of course it involves Masters level academics.  This program is open to survivors who are up for the challenge and anyone with the desire and will to work with children and adolescents with brain injuries.

There are two programs offered, a Masters and a Certificate (this is used to supplement another degree & give a specialty in brain injury). The certificate program can be obtained through distance learning (i.e. over the computer). The Certificate program is not grant-funded.   This new Masters program is a scholarship program (pays 75%) and it is not distance learning. In other words, you’d have to move to the DC area, but they can be flexible. If you want to start the Masters program, you can begin taking classes online and that will give you a semester to move to D.C.

I am working with Theresa (the Director) in starting a Service Learning or coaching program. This will give the students personal experience in interacting with brain injury survivors. In this way, professionals will come out of the program at least having a clue about what it is like to conscientiously interact with people with brain injury with a therapeutic tone.

Theresa Sacchi Armstrong, MA

Research Associate, Graduate School of Education and Human Development,

The George Washington University

tjsacchi@gwmail.gwu.edu,

(202)994-7306

A Master’s Degree Program with Teacher Licensure, Building Schools’ Capacity to Serve Students with Brain Injuries:For more information:     www.gsehd.gwu.edu/abi

Application :    http://www.gwu.edu/apply/

Brain Injury Certificate Program:    http://gsehd.gwu.edu/programs/brain/certificate

http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=948386499&gid=1678017&type=member&item=86366622&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.familypracticenews.com%2Fnews%2Fmore-top-news%2Fsingle-view%2Ftbi-not-a-single-disease-but-many%2Fbd0288465a.html&urlhash=DsPS&goback=.gde_1678017_member_86366622

Trauma’s Unceasing Harvest

Have you heard anything

Regarding injury to the brain?

For in your heart,

You’d think it’s such a shame.

Lets take Jimmy here,

He’s a friend of mine,

Walking to school one day,

Everything was just fine,

Ready to cross the street,

Two cars hit with a crash,

One car rebounded,

And laid Jimmy in the grass.

Sent him right into dreamland,

Twenty days in a coma, or more -

And now he’s battling with himself,

Just to do every day chores.

He sees a therapist regularly,

The way he handles,

I don’t know how,

But let’s ask Jimmy

How he’s doing now.

“It was hard for me at first,

Everything seemed so strange,

Yet my teacher tells me,

That nothing’s changed!

The girl that I used to like,

We’d meet out on the track,

When our classes were free,

Now she won’t even look at me!

To tell you the truth,

I don’t know

If I want to be here in school,

They all look at me

Like I’m such a fool.”

Well thank you Jimmy,

For speaking your mind,

Just know that out there,

Are people that care,

Them, I’m sure that you will find.

Being dragged through the wringer,

Jimmy starts his wrinkled life anew,

And as much as you may have heard,

Do you really know what Jimmy’s going through?

2012-13

* ***New Group *** San Diego/Kearney Mesa
Sharp Rehab Hospital
– Conference Room
2999 Health Center Dr, San Diego, CA 92123
- Second Thursday of each month, 5;30-7;30 pm

* San Diego/Mission Valley Support Group
Access to Independence (a2i)
– Conference Room,
8885 Rio San Diego Drive, Suite 131 San Diego CA, 92108
(619) 293-3500
- First Tuesday of each month, 5;30-7;30 pm

* North County Support Group
Del Mar Library, 1309 Camino del Mar, Del Mar, CA 92014
- Third Thursday of each month, 5:30-7:30 pm

http://youtu.be/5d1B-f8Hq5U

Pegasus Rising

-Partnering horses and humans for healing

http://pegasusrising.org/the-herd/

These guys wish all peace in heart.   The one in the blue is Jewish!  (I know, she told me!)

Equine Assisted Experiential Health Therapy Programs

Our Equine Assisted Experiential Health Therapy (EAT) program is specifically designed to provide assistance to our U.S. military personnel, as well as their families, in readjusting back into their family and civilian lives. Many of our returning service members are being diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and our program can definitely help heal these service members too.  By interacting with our herd as equals, without any form of domination, our program helps military personnel reconnect with their civilian lives in a natural and fun way. Click here to learn more about the organizations and individuals that provide inspiration and support for EAT.



This is to let you know that our holiday support groups are next week.  We will all be bringing “finger foods” or appetizer-like dishes.  There will  be  2funny guys that are going to give their comedy gigs, Chuck Hanson and Howard Mason.  They will be igniting some smiles.  It should be fun!

Mission Valley Support Group – Tuesday, December 13th, 5:30 – 7:30 PM – Access to Independence of San Diego
8885 Rio San Diego Drive, Suite 131   San Diego CA, 92108

Del Mar Support Group  – Thursday, December 15th, 5:30-7:30 PM  -   Del Mar Library    1309 Camino del Mar

I want to mention that everyone is welcome to bring friends, family members or whatever.  Just try and bring appropriate amount of food.

We hope to see you there!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/how-exercise-benefits-the-brain/

A witty woman is a treasure; a witty beauty is a power.

George Meredith

Why does Gray Matter 4 U?

Statistics state that a little more than 2% of the US population (approximately 5.3 million), currently live with a Traumatic Brain Injury (i.e. TBI).  One and a half million Americans are reported to sustain a Traumatic Brain Injury each year.  So many people in this country suffer from TBI and we have no way of identifying who these survivors may be!  I ask – what is it like to function in this world with a brain injury?

These stats are brain injuries formed from external traumas; there are also Acquired injuries caused by internal events, such as Tumors, Aneurisms, Strokes…).  So as you can imagine,  the quantity of Americans with brain injuries is significantly higher than what I previous mentioned.  Also, brain injuries have occurred in the past and even still, with no diagnoses.  In the field of rehab, brain injury is termed the Silent Epidemic!

In this technologically advanced age, isn’t it a shame that we are so unfamiliar with our own master organ, the brain? It is time to consciously step over our stumbling stones in order to allow for greater advances in consciousness.

As in the Hundredth Monkey, there is a point at which if only one more person (the 100th) becomes more aware, the field of consciousness is strengthened so that the majority picks up this awareness! Perhaps I am visioning the hundredth person starting to “wash their sweet potatoes before eating them” or becoming more conscientious of brain injury. This will then cause a great leap in consciousness for all. The world will become a better place for people recovering from and surviving head trauma; it will develop into a place where people will exhibit greater understanding and tolerance.

Gray Matters starts out with this quote about the author:

She will share her word with those who will,
Take the time and drink their fill,
She’s lot of message in her verb,
We will keep quiet, for now is her turn.

(Anonymous, 2003)

BOOK REVIEW:
‘GRAY MATTERS: BRAIN INJURY, THE INSIDE PERSPECTIVE’

Author: Heidi Lerner, M.A.
Website: www.graymatters4u.com
www.facebook.com/graymatters4u
Publisher: AuthorHouse®
Price: Paperback $14.95 Hard Cover $19.95 – Publisher http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore
/BookDetail.aspx?Book=255960
Reviewer: Dianne Aitken
69A Addison Rd.
Culburra Beach
New South Wales 2540, Australia
Email: aitken.r@bigpond.net.au

I am a practicing Physiotherapist, employed in a community setting in rural New South Whales, Australia. I conduct a weekly group for stroke survivors as part of my work. Reading Gray Matters has enabled me to connect with the members of this group in an emotional and social way that I was previously unable to do.

The use of the canvas of poetry to convey complex feelings and experiences, has helped to guide me, and will introduce readers to a more complete and experiential understanding of the person with an Acquired (or Traumatic) Brain Injury. I am now better skilled at “using my empathy muscle” (See poem – Paved Paradise, p. 47) as I train my group to better use their motor muscles.

I also gained important insight from the chapter on Recreational Therapy, titled Nature’s Touch. In this chapter, Ms. Lerner gave artistic expression to her connection with the ocean and her leisure activities. I now understand how such recreation has assisted her overall recovery.

I am thankful to be able to have shared in life’s journey and teachings with author, Heidi Lerner via her written word, Gray Matters. She has given a very comprehensive, yet enjoyable read, which will enlighten her audience, whether they are other people with brain injuries, their friends and family or those who assist with rehab, as I do.

Dianne Aitken

BOOK REVIEW: GRAY MATTERS: BRAIN INJURY, THE INSIDE PERSPECTIVE
Author: Heidi Lerner, M.A.
Website: www.graymatters4u.com
www.facebook.com/graymatters4u
Publisher: AuthorHouse®
Price: Paperback $14.95 Hard Cover $19.95
Publisher: http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/BookDetail.aspx?Book=255960
Reviewer: Ken Aitken

In the field of rehabilitation, brain injury is termed ‘The Silent Epidemic’; this book dispels many of the mysteries that make it silent. It reveals the inside viewpoint of a Traumatic Brain Injury, because for a brain injury survivor, the epidemic is far from silent! It is pervasive, comprehensive and undeniable. To onlookers, the outbreak quietly spreads amidst a lack of awareness. This book breaks the curse of silence.

Gray Matters lets you know on the inside, what is like to walk in the shoes of a brain injury survivor. This is a call to knowledge. This book is not written in a normal analytical style, but rather in a personal, poetic voice. Heidi has such a simple way of expressing an idea from the inside out, what it means to have a brain injury. She does this through her poetry in an uncomplicated series of flowing points. Heidi’s wonderful poetry captures in a few words, a whole series of word-pictures.

Most assume that in the brain’s injured state, it is the cognitive, analytical side that is impaired. The poetic perspective allows us to tap into the emotional, psychological and social sections of our being in a very introspective and sometimes humorous way. For Heidi verbally paints what it is like to suffer a near-fatal blow to the head and live with the complications.

Heidi Lerner presents a thorough, subjective viewpoint as well as a professional and objective understanding of brain injury. She does this with a real creative flair. Heidi both educates and strikes a chord, sharing struggles with personal changes, losses and challenges as well as ways she has found that help her to get by.

Gray Matters exemplifies the potential of inner strength, adaptability and persistence for survivors of trauma and brain injury. The greatest gift we can give to those who have lived to tell the tale of this challenge is our understanding of how survivors live with this reality.

___________________________________________________

You can order the book through this website:

The needs of people with brain injuries are slipping through the cracks! Gray Matters Mentoring will personally attend to issues that are not addressed in the traditional system of care. In the Gray Matters Mentoring Program, we will professionally funnel rehab goals through the personal care of long term brain injury survivors (i.e. Mentors). Each brain injury takes individual care and survivors can best do this for each other!

Survivor Outreach

Gray Matters Survivor Outreach extends support in the form of montly groups in San Diego and North County. We raise awareness the public about having a personal experience with a brain injury and better educate survivors about theirs, aiming to help in coping and rehabilitation.

Mentoring

The Gray Matters Mentoring program will train individuals to provide one on one peer support to those who have sustained mild to moderate Traumatic or Acquired Brain Injuries. Successful mentors will be patient, flexible, non-assertive and will collaborate with mentees in figuring solutions to problems.

Mentorships will be monitored to assure they stay proactive, free of problems and that they reach their potential to rebuild skills & improve attitudes. This will lead mentees to increase their confidence and have a greater degree of independence.

Qualification

Gray Matters’ Program Director, Heidi Lerner has her Masters in Transitional Special Education for people who have sustained Acquired or Traumatic Brain Injuries. She is qualified to work with people of all ages, ranging from children to senior citizens. She has published a book about brain injury titled Gray Matters, Brain Injury: The Inside Perspective www.graymatters4u.org.

Heidi Lerner has been a Peer Support Specialist and has facilitated support groups for brain injury survivors for over 12 years. She previously ran a mentoring program for people with disabilities, when working at Access to Independence, an Independent Living Organization in San Diego.

Heidi is instinctive in her work and has an intimate understanding of the needs of brain injury survivors. In her studies, Ms. Lerner conducted research on the inner workings of personal motivation in the rehabilitation from brain injury. The results of her study inspires her work. Heidi works to bring survivors out of their shell and encourages them to be interactive; participants are appreciated and are then more willing to participate. Individually, Heidi encourages strengths, edifies clients (makes people feel valued) and encourages them to advocate for themselves.

Statement of Need

Sustaining a brain injury is a life-altering experience. It effects many different aspects of who we are as people. We are affected cognitively, psychologically, socially, emotionally, neurologically & it affects our behavior. A person may come to from a coma and not even know who s/he is. Even a person’s very core sense of self is shaken. A brain injury is far-reaching and comprehensive.
n the acute phase of recovery, a survivor may have to relearn speaking, dressing, eating and many other daily living skills. In the post-acute phases, survivors are left dealing with problems in:

• Memory (events, people, where things are, names, etc.)
• Organization
• Attention and concentration
• Judgment
• Interacting socially
• Making decisions
• Inhibiting behaviors
• New Learning
• Perception
• Balance
• Coordination
• Sleeping
• Depression
• Self-centeredness
• Anger management
• Coping skills
• Motivation
• Irritability
• Mood swings/Emotional control
• Fatigue
• Self-confidence/Self-esteem
• A whole list of Psychosocial issues

Listed above are some of the basic symptoms; there are many other possible symptoms of brain injury. Please note that survivors are not just dealing with these individual symptoms, they deal with many of them at the same time and it can be quite overwhelming! No two brain injuries are the same; they take individualized care. People with all of these complications are continually trying to better understand themselves and they have a strong need to be understood by others. Mentoring helps to satisfy this overpowering need.

Benefits

The aftermath of a brain injury is devastating. Peer support and mentoring can be a core part of the recovery process. Peer support encourages survivors to feel OK with themselves (i.e. significantly improves a survivor’s coping skills) and their recovery. Personal support can be the motivating force that propels a person through rehab. successfully.

People who have sustained brain injuries intimately understand one another. Mentors & mentees bond because basically, they know what one another are going through. This support or bonding alone can be healing in and of itself. Mentees benefit from mentors in many ways (see list below). For a survivor, just knowing that his or her mentor cares can be soothing. Mentors also benefit. Brain Injury survivors, after years and years of personal rehabilitation, have a need to give back. A mentor-mentee relationship can bring fulfillment, healing and satisfaction for all involved; it is a win-win relationship!

For a mentee to have a trained mentor will significantly increase his/her learning curve in the rehabilitative process and will reduce the frustration of dealing with his or her great loss of skills. This program will dramatically increase the quality of life for brain injury survivors.

Peer Support

Peer support is vitally important to a brain injury survivor. Everyone needs to be understood, especially brain injury survivors, who are always trying to understand their new self. A peer or friend (i.e. Mentor) offers a receptive ear and presents a mirror for a survivor to better look into him or herself.

A mentor helps fill up that empty, isolated space inside that a survivor usually blocks out the world with and they help a survivor know they’re not in this alone! Additionally, they can help to avoid depression. A trained mentor provides a more experienced guide in dealing with the complications of brain injury; she or he helps the Mentee cope by aiding the survivor in coming to terms with personal issues.

Objectives

In their relationship with a survivor or mentee, a successful and supportive mentor will:

• Build a relationship of mutual trust and respect with the survivor,
• Affectively communicate in a way that is clear and easily understood by the mentee,
• Promote positive social inclinations and behaviors,
• Coach the survivor regarding interpersonal or relationship skills,
• Allow the survivor to practice in interpersonal relationship skills such as effective verbal and written communications, and provide feedback,
• Provide insights & suggest techniques to help the survivor minimize stress and better cope with their injury based on the mentor’s own life experiences,
• Help survivors avoid isolation & depression,
• Improve the survivor’s attitude about dealing with personal challenges,
• Enhance the willingness of the mentee to seek out all opportunities for rehabilitation and personal growth,
• Inspire the mentees to take the initiative to perform interventions for themselves and to assume responsibility for their actions and outcomes,
• Help mentees rebuild their skill sets and attitudes, promoting self-confidence and independence.
• Act as a positive role model at all times,
• Exhibit a level of personal responsibility & empathy that will help ensure the relationship with the mentee will be sustained & encouraged to develop.

Protocol:

• Process of becoming a mentor starts with the Program Director training the mentor.
• She then matches up the mentee with a mentor, based on condition, needs, location, and gender (mentors are usually the same gender).
• The mentor, mentee and Program Director gather together for an Individualized Mentor Planning session. There they will discuss the areas that the mentee needs to work on. They will write an Individualized Mentoring Plan (IMP), which consists of goals and objectives, both short term and long term. The IMP will then serve as the roadmap for the mentor.
• The mentor and mentee from there, meet at places of their own preference. This includes communicating via email, phone calls and personal get-togethers. They are encouraged not to meet in their homes unless there is a specific purpose for that.
• The mentor is welcomed to call to consult with the PSS at any time regarding mentoring. He or she sends Heidi Lerner a monthly report of the progress of the mentee. Mentors will have regular meetings with the mentees, ideally, twice a month.
Section I. Some Common Psychosocial Problems Following Brain Injury

Gets frustrated easily
Has limited insight into own abilities and behaviors
Gets tired easily
Denies problems
Changes mood rapidly
Isolates self
Increased sensitivities
Has inappropriate manners and mannerisms
Cannot understand humor and “size up” situations
Cannot inhibit inappropriate behaviors (disinhibition)
Is inappropriately affectionate toward others
Cannot see others’ viewpoint (egocentricity)
Cannot correct behavior after feedback
Gets stuck on one thought or behavior
Appears apathetic or poorly motivated
Takes too many risks or acts impulsively
Acts fearful
Acts immature for age
Gets angry out of proportion to cause
Is verbally and/or physically aggressive
Appears anxious or depressed
Laughs or cries for no apparent reason
Seeks attention, even with negative behaviors
Is demanding
Is irritable
Seems unmotivated and passive.

One study Dr. Amen has been doing in California is regarding members of the NFL and brain trauma. His study is “Impact of Playing Professional American Football on Long Term Brain Function” and he has tested these professional football players in using SPECT scans and Microcog (a test of neuropsychological function). He also showed great success with use of his nutritional program, in treating NFL participants in the study and their symptoms of brain trauma (i.e. The Amen Solution). He is a great innovator in nutritional (i.e. holistic) treatment of our master organ!

The Amen Solution:

http://70.32.73.82/blog/4560/amen-clinics-scores-big-with-nfl-study/

Look under Blogroll and click on Amen Solution!

Montana Pole Dancing

ALL OF YOU WHO POST ON THE BLOG, DO YOU EVEN BOTHER TO READ WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?

I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO SELL. I DON’T WANT YOUR VIAGRA.

THIS IS SHOWING THAT PEOPLE DO CARE ABOUT PEOPLE.

I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU!!!!

YOU DON’T EVEN BOTHER TO CARE, SPEND A MOMENT AND EVEN READ SOME OF MY POETRY…

DO YOU EVEN LOOK AND SEE WHAT THIS BLOG IS ABOUT BEFORE YOU POST YOUR MINDLESS SHIT?????????????????

Pardon me Lord, Yeshua bless these folks, it’s only a simple delete button.

Many of the thoughts that automatically enter our minds are negative, irrational, or unrealistic. Although they may seem completely valid as they are running through your head, automatic thoughts can be very deceptive.

Being able to identify these thoughts can help you learn how to control your emotions. To change negative thoughts, you first have to gain an understanding of your own specific thinking patterns.

Defining Optimism and Pessimism

Ways we explain bad (or good) events in our lives
Enduring and internal trait of people
Learned in childhood and adolescence
Stems from your view of your place in the world
Can be learned or unlearned

Personal Goals

Understand the connection between our thoughts and how we feel both emotionally and physically
Define and understand what makes us optimists or pessimists
Learn to identify negative thoughts that lead to negative feelings
Develop strategies to positively explain setbacks

Embracing Optimism

Understand the connection between our thoughts and how we feel both emotionally and physically
Define and understand what makes us optimists or pessimists
Learn to identify negative thoughts that lead to negative feelings
Develop strategies to positively explain setbacks

Why Be an Optimist?

Lower incidence of depression
Greater personal achievement
Improved physical health
Improved ability to manage pain
More pleasant state of being
Ability to influence others’ optimism

Embracing Optimism: Benefits for Mind and Body:

Negative Thoughts and Traditional Beliefs

Holding pre-conceived notions
Thinking in absolute terms
Making a mountain out of molehill /molehill out of mountain
Playing the blame game
Being a negative magnet
Drawing emotional conclusions
Living under a dark cloud

Holding pre-conceived notions

Tim feels that things “never” work out for him. After being turned down for a job, he thinks, “I couldn’t get this job, why should I even look for another one? I’ll just get passed up.” Tim has formed an opinion based on a single situation and uses this to predict how similar situations will turn out in the future.

Thinking in absolute terms

Mandy tends to think of things in extremes – she doesn’t consider anything less than perfect to be acceptable. For example, she often thinks, “If I don’t exercise each day, I may as well not even bother to try.” She frequently criticizes herself and those around her for not doing things according to how they “should” be done. This often leads to her feeling angry, frustrated, and unmotivated.

Making a mountain out of molehill /molehill out of mountain

Jill often views a “small” issue in her life as something much more significant than it actually is. For example, when an idea she suggested at work was not acted upon, she considered herself a worthless employee who would most likely lose her job and never be able to find another. Even if she has done a good job, she thinks, “It’s nothing. Anyone could have done it as well or better.”

Playing the blame game

Jeff is quick to blame himself for anything that goes wrong even when he’s not entirely responsible for the outcome. Other times, he does the opposite – blaming others for situations in his life without actually looking at what he has done that could have contributed to the problem. For example, he frequently tells his wife, “It’s not my fault that I keep gaining weight. It’s you and the kids that have the junk food in the house.”

Being a negative magnet

Ryan received a lot of positive comments from his boss in his yearly review. He also received some mild constructive feedback. However, he only focused on the minor negative comments and completely discounted the rest of the review. This type of thinking tends to “attract” negative comments rather than taking all factors of the situation into consideration.

Drawing emotional conclusions

Mary often draws conclusions about what kind of a person she is based on how she feels at any given moment. For example, after feeling guilty for having forgotten to go to a friend’s graduation, she felt she was a horrible person. One morning when a co-worker didn’t say hello to her, she thought, “He must be angry with me. It’s all my fault he’s acting this way.”

Living under a dark cloud

Robert is convinced that “nothing” will ever work out for him. He views the “glass as half empty,” and even small setbacks lead him to believe that he will “never” be happy and will “always” feel miserable. Despite what anyone says to the contrary, he holds on to the notion that there is no joy in his life and that he is a miserable person. Because of this, people tend to push him away, which results in a continuous cycle of rejection.

Do you recognize any of these patterns in the way you think about yourself, your situations, or your future? Most thinking happens so quickly and so automatically that we don’t even realize it is happening.

Remember, the first step is to recognize negative thoughts. Only then can you fight against them…
Fighting Back Against Negative Thoughts

There are several ways to challenge negative thoughts. When you find yourself thinking negatively, try some of the following suggestions to help get you back on track to more positive ways of thinking:
Consider the evidence
Find other explanations
Give yourself credit
Don’t make hasty judgments
Surround yourself with positive people
Use your imagination
Smile until you mean it
Be realistic!!!

Flexible optimism… not blind optimism!

Benefits of Optimism

Family
Financial
Health
Career
Social

Consider the evidence (or lack of) that you have to support your beliefs.

Can you back up the way you are feeling?
Is there a chance that you could be wrong?
What other explanations could there be for the situation?
What other factors could have contributed to your situation?
Consider all the possible outcomes of how your situation could turn out.

Remember – nobody’s perfect!
* Don’t set unrealistic expectations for yourself or for others.
* Give yourself credit for your effort and accomplishments.
Be kind to yourself – treat yourself the way you would treat a friend.
* Don’t make hasty judgments when you are upset. Instead, try revisiting situations when you are in a more positive mood.
* Replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
* Try to re-frame your situation as a positive learning experience.
* Look for the good in every situation. Sometimes things that are seemingly negative turn out to be blessings in disguise.
* Use phrases such as “I will”, “I can”, or “I choose”, and you just may find yourself believing them.
For example, “It’s hopeless” may be replaced with “I have the power to control how I handle this situation or I choose to …”
* Surround yourself with positive people.
* Believe in yourself and in the power you have to overcome your situation.
* Don’t give up hope.
* Use your imagination. Picture yourself successfully dealing with the situation in a positive way or imagine someone else experiencing the same situation. How would you view them?
Smile until you mean it. When you are feeling particularly negative, smiling can do wonders for your mood. If you stick with it and keep smiling no matter how bad you may be feeling, eventually your smile just might take over.
* Be realistic. Try to see the situation from a realistic point of view. Ask yourself the following questions to help put things into perspective. How long is the situation truly going to last? What’s the worst that can happen? Is the situation really unbearable, or is it just difficult?
* Are you characterizing yourself based on a single event? What are your other traits?
* Consider examples of times you have been in a similar situation and have gotten through it.
* Take care of yourself.
* Keeping fit and eating healthy can help to reduce stress and negative thoughts.

Michael Idell
A Simple Brain Injury Support Group

DEL MAR: Blue whales getting closer to our shores

Two Choices:
What would you do?….You make the choice. Don’t look for a punch line, there isn’t one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: ‘When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?’ The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued.. ‘I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.’
Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, ‘Do you think they’ll let me play?’ I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, ‘We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning..’

Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt.. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again…. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over…. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game..

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, ‘Shay, run to first! Run to first!’ Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, ‘Run to second, run to second!’ Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball; the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, ‘Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay’! Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, ‘Run to third! Shay, run to third!’ As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, ‘Shay, run home! Run home!’

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team. ‘That day’, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, ‘the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world’.

Shay didn’t make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

Literally takes kayaking to a whole new level!

The following was informationed shared by a Gray Matters blogger. I want to pass this along to you.

These two supplements help stop the inflammation in the brain (which occurs hours and days after the initial impact and is what causes all the damage).

* BCM 95 Curcumin (stays in system longer and is more bioavailable),
* Fish oil should be high dose for 90 days after injury (I use Carlsons liquid).
* Creatine has been shown to protect the brain from an injury as well.
* Niacin has been shown to help “rewire” the brain after damage from stroke.

LENS Neurofeedback and EDS biofeedback in my experience improves cognitive functioning after a head injury. And lastly, Win Wenger’s underwater held breath technique increases oxygen intake and overall brain function though be cautious as every injury is different and I am only doing it as often as comfort allows.

I want you to picture this – One summer day, the sun is shining.  You’re walking  along the road and you come to a traffic light.  It flashes walk and you cross the road.  A car comes speeding through the red light and sends you flying onto the sidewalk.  Your head hits the concrete and you immediately go into a comatose state, where you remain for days, even weeks…  What will it be like when when you open your eyes?  What will you be like?  …Have you ever thought about these things?

Yes, we may not be aware of all our capabilities until we go with out them, but this is my challenge as a writer.   I aim at giving my readers a sense of what it’s like to walk in the shoes of a brain injury survivor.  Read Gray Matters, you don’t have to go through the rough ride of trauma to the brain!    Have you ever felt your brain was all tied up in knots?  We all have rocks in the road that we stumble upon.  My theory is  we come to use those challenges to make us strong!  Gray Matters is provocative, light hearted and a fun book; it is inspirational.

Gray Matters can be purchased here:   Gray Matters for you!.  Pass this link onto someone who has  been through more trying experiences or knows somebody that has. For some, it may be a saving grace.

Paved Paradise

I guess Joni Mitchell
was pretty right on,
When she said
that we’ll never know
what we’ve got
until it’s gone.

Does that mean
we don’t usually appreciate our A, B or C
until they’re taken from us?
I ask – does this have to be true?
Can you possibly imagine
that this has happened to you…?

In the flash of a moment,
the picture perfect sky
cracks into millions of tiny pixels.
The sun boils, blisters,
Pops and oozes dry.

The sedatory crash of the ocean waves
Turns to high-pitched wails.
Shock sets in,
Melody siphons into monotone,
Life’s intimacies are dulled,
Processing slows,
Everything changes

In a blink of circumstance.
Pains cringe out of unknown places,
Emotions turn up their volume,
How you are now is not the same
as how you once were.
Now deal with it!

Smoke comes out of the tractor’s exhaust…
Your paradise has been paved
and they’re installing a parking lot.

In time,
You’ll be looking for a parking space,
and you’ll never know
what was once there in that place.
Worse yet and what’s a scare,
You will not know what could have been there!

At first,
You probably don’t realize
what you cannot do.
Just try to not let it get to you!

Brain injury flattens out our many capabilities,
Even ones that beforehand, we were not aware.
I guess some of us must learn these things the hard way -
The question remains…
Must we go through loss
To appreciate what was once there?

I’m calling to attention -
In you, I’m trying to cause a rustle,
So that you can exercise your empathy muscle!

To the unimpaired,
This is aimed,
So ignorance of this loss
will cease.
Knowledge births tolerance,
Acceptance…
For survivors deserve
To be granted their peace.

A clear portrait is being painted
of what we’ve got…
So don’t belittle others,
Because what you can do,
they cannot.
Please…
Don’t pave paradise and put up a parking lot!

Heidi Lerner

Gray Matters for you!

Gray Matters – Brain Injury: The Inside Perspective
Heidi Lerner

Imagine this: the sun’s shining and you’re crossing at the light. Out of nowhere, a car comes racing through the red light and…WHACK! You go flying through the air and land on the sidewalk. Your head hits the concrete. Immediately, you go into a comatose state… When you come to, what are things like? What are YOU like? Have you ever thought of such things?

Silent Epidemic

What would it be like to have a brain injury? It is a dilemma for brain injury survivors that others simply don’t have a clue what they are going through. People don’t comprehend the devastation or how comprehensive the affects are in a survivor’s every day world. This lack of awareness is often a strong factor that drives survivors further and further into isolation. This hovering vacancy of knowledge is the “silence” in which brain injury spreads, hence the “Silent Epidemic”.

Gray Matters remedies the Silent Epidemic

Heidi Lerner introduces an intriguing book of poetry, Gray Matters, Brain Injury: The Inside Perspective, in which she offers an introspective, resourceful and sometimes humorous view of what it is like to suffer a near-fatal blow to the head and live with its complications. Ms. Lerner was in a car wreck twenty years ago, where she sustained a severe Traumatic Brain Injury. Ten years after her injury, she earned her Masters degree in Special Education specifically for survivors of brain injury. Gray Matters gives its readers a non-clinical, but professionally based sense of what a brain injury entails. Readers walk away with a personal sense of what it’s like to walk in the shoes of a brain injury survivor.

The author brings a smile to her readers’ faces; she touches on serious issues, but not in a distressing tone. She believes that laughter can be “emotional medicine”. The aim is to help survivors see objectively the problems they’re going through and glimpse the lighter side of these otherwise troublesome issues. Such insight and humor can cause attitudes to adjust, leading to acceptance and a better coping with problems brought about by brain injury.

The chapters of the book consist of Brain Injury, Sequelae, Rehabilitation and The Brain. Sequelae (i.e. meaning symptoms) is a particularly educational chapter where poems masterfully articulate many of the symptoms of brain injury. The last chapters are Academia, Nature’s Touch and Circle of Support. Academia is regarding Cognitive Rehab through schooling, Nature’s Touch is about how the ocean serves in recreational therapy. Lastly, Circle of Support illustrates the therapy of support groups.

Audience of Gray Matters

The target audience is multi-faceted. The primary aim is to educate those personally affected by injury to the brain. This includes survivors, their friends and family members as well as caregivers and other therapeutic professionals. The aim is to be an intellectual, psychological and emotional support. The secondary purpose is to educate the general community about what it’s like to have an insult and compromise to our master organ, for those who have been spared the drama of brain injury.

Ms. Lerner has been most distressed to see how professionals in the field of rehab have such an un-personalized, book-knowledge of brain injury. They should know that they are not treating information, they are treating people!!! In a review in the Journal of Neurosciences Nursing, Marie Lasater states “Gray Matters will give survivors of TBI hope and reassurance that they are not alone in their rehabilitation process. It will help family members understand the thought process of the brain injured patient. It will also guide the health care provider in giving optimal rehabilitative care.”

In the sickness of silence, we are called to a new frontier of awareness regarding brain injury:

In the field of rehabilitation,
Brain injury is often termed the “Silent Epidemic”
Silence hovers around the lack of awareness,
Allows for infectious growth.

But for a brain injury survivor,
The epidemic is far from quiet.
It is PERVASIVE / COMPREHENSIVE / UNDENIABLE,
Life gets off skew,
GOT TO GET A BALANCE!
Organic dysfunction,
24-7… dealing!
Rehabilitation is a full time job.

Lets break the curse of silence!
You need to know on the inside
What it’s like to walk in my shoes.
Pick up my book,
Listen to my rhyme,
I’ll have you captivated in no time!

This is a call to awareness…
Pass on the word of what you hear,
We are breaking the silence
Thanks to your receptive ear.

We’re opening the gates,
Enter and you can feel.
IT’S OK TO CARE,
Because empathy heals!
Melt those stones in there,
Love rebounds,
When it’s found.

We’re paving the way for knowledge,
We are the pioneers…

Gray Matters!

Contact info:

Heidi Lerner
Brain Injury Advocate, Peer Support Specialist, Published Author
www.graymatters4u.org
braininjuryadvocacy@roadrunner.com