What is a brain injury ?
Today is a big topic what is brain injury? I had never heard of brain injury until I had one, though it is one of the leading causes of mortality Brain injury can vary in causation.However two very common causes are road traffic accidents and stroke . Recently I have become very aquatinted with the brain in a hope by understanding the way my brain works, I can do everything in my power possible to help my brain recover. There is a prophetic saying I have taken to heart “ tie your camel then trust in God’. With this belief I work extremely hard.
The brain is like a computer control room controlling your entire body. It’s such a vital and phenomenal organ. And it only weighs three pounds but yet it does so much. I don’t think I payed much attention in my biology lessons in school because I have been utterly blown away by my recent study of the brain. The brain sends messages to every muscle In your body, so every Muscle receives a message to work from your brain . Even more phenomenal the right side of your brain controls the left side of your body and vice versa. The point of impact in my accident was the right side of my head hence damaging the right side of my brain. So I have an extremely weak left side because the messages from my brain can’t reach the left side of my body easily, the neuro pathways have been damaged. However one should not loose hope - the brain has something called ‘Neroplasticity‘ which is a mind blowing feature of our brain. The brain’s ability to find new neuro pathways. I don’t doubt my left side will always be weaker then my right side, but I have gone from having a non functional left leg function to having a weak left leg that works it is not very strong but I am working on that . My study and life always bring me to the fact there is a God. I can’t believe the brain happened by some luck or coincidence. My injury is termed a Trumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Although the bus hit the right side of my head, the impact of the force was still felt around the entire brain. I don’t have any direct damage on my frontal lobe, but just by being shook so violently, it caused all over damage. You may not believe it, but I have many cognitive deficits, which we shall go into at a later date.
In the last two years I have met endless people with brain injury in hospital and rehab . One young lady I met at the royal hospital of neuro disability (RHN) had a heart attack in her twenties and her brain was starved of oxygen hence her injury. Another guy, as he stood up on holiday, he hit a pillar. He also had a TBI. Some people have an injury from birth, because for what ever reason there brain is starved of oxygen. In my last rehab centre, one guy in his thirties had a tumour , he had lost all sense of propriety, every time he saw me he would address me with a racist profanity. I would just smile at Him. One really tragic case was a new mum whom I met In RHN. She had been given an over dose of epidural hence again starving her brain of oxygen, she was in a bad way. She had lost all her cognitive functions. Many people with brain injury not only lose their cognitive abilities but even their memory. Each and every brain injury in unique rather like your finger print, so you can never compare yourself with anyone else. Your injury is unique to your brain.
I shall be blogging every weekend God willing so look out for me every weekend. keep smiling every one, I certainly do. Hannah
Disclaimer please excuse my grammar, spelling and punctuation, writing comes easy to me but the editing is a struggle - I have an injured brain.
I never imagined I would be able to play scrabble again or enjoy family time.
My dear sister, thank you so much for writing about your experience of brain injury.
My late father ( May Allah have mercy on him. Ameen), suffered a major brain injury after a car crash in 1978. He was 40 years old at that time. It had a huge impact on us as a family. Just wanted to let you know dear sister , that after many years, my father was able to get most of his memory back ,walk again, talk again and even to get a job. Alhamdolillah. Though his speech was slurred and his right hand constantly shook.
My father past away 5 years ago. He lived a long and fulfilled life and was always grateful to…
Dearest and beloved Hannah. I remember sitting by you one afternoon , by your bedside at St. George’s. You were in this deep sleep but my heart kept feeling positive. Allah is so merciful and happy to see you keep us updated and you playing scrabble and keeping us strong in our Emaan we love you dearly .
SubhaanAllah!
Hannah, seeing this picture of you playing scrabble with your kids is so heartwarming. This post reminds me of the dream I had in the early days, a few months after your accident where I saw you standing and making sandwiches for your children’s lunch in your kitchen. And I asked you, “Hannah, you have recovered so quickly?”
And you responded by saying, “yes alhamdulilah, just a slight weakness on my left side but otherwise I’m well.” May Allah continue to heal you Ameen xx
I found everything you wrote so interesting . Hannah you can move mountains with your willpower.
I am looking forward to read some more.