Neuro Note #1: Recovering from Traumatic Brain Injury

After learning about traumatic brain injuries in my neuro class, I became interested in learning about personal experiences and living with a TBI. In one of our Foundations classes, we watched a video about an individual who was the first c6 quadriplegic to compete in an Ironman. This video sparked my interest in learning more about people who are competing in ironman competitions post-injury, which is how I discovered this personal blog.

The blog is titled “How to Recover: Comebacks from Traumatic Brain Injury” and is about an individual named Mike Wilkinson. The posts detail his recovery from a severe TBI, which was a result of a colliding with a motor vehicle while riding his bike. One thing that stuck out to me when reading his blog was how he doesn’t consider himself a “patient” and did not want to call himself one. He discusses how he isn’t sick; he is just recovering. As an OT student, we learn to refer individuals receiving our services as clients, instead of patients. Mike’s post validated the fact that the word “client” is more holistic, and that there is a negative connotation of being sick with the word “patient.”

Another important post was from November 27, 2011. Mike references his OTs! He discusses how his OTs helped him return to work, use a wheelchair, and helped him remember conversations with others. Wow! It was so great to read this shout out to occupational therapists and how important Mike considered them to be in his journey of recovery. I have included the link to this particular post: http://howtorecover.blogspot.com/2007/11/nod-to-ots_27.html.

Mike’s journey was so interesting to read. He discussed his most difficult symptoms, websites that were helpful in his recovery, what it feels like to be living and dealing with this injury, and his adaptations resulting from this injury. The main reason I picked this blog to write about was because Mike Wilkinson was training and about to compete in the New Zealand ironman when his accident occurred. Mike discusses how after the injury he believed it would be impossible to compete in an ironman, but through adaptations, he began to believe that he might be able to compete in an ironman one day. In April 2010, 5 years after the accident, Mike completed an ironman! What an inspiration. I feel like this story ties in with the OT theory of Occupational Adaptation. This theory involves adapting to increase the participation in occupations. Competing in an ironman was already a goal/occupation of Mike, but after the accident, adaptations were implemented in order for him to compete. His thinking was adapted, and he had to relearn how to run. One statement that stuck out to me was when mike said that recovery isn’t always about relearning things and getting back to where you were pre-accident, it’s about accepting and improving who you currently are. You can read more about Mike, his acceptance of his TBI, and his other blog posts here: http://howtorecover.blogspot.com/2008/04/hardest-thing-of-mikes-tbi-recovery.html

Wilkinson, M. (2007, November 22). How to Recover: Comebacks from Traumatic Brain Injury. Retrieved April 8, 2017, from http://howtorecover.blogspot.com/2008/09/keeping-at-it.html