Personal Story
May 2011 I had a frontal lobe head injury which resulted in damage to the brain. Unfortunately a small wedge at the front of my brain had a bleed which has left me with lasting affects. I have since suffered from epilepsy and short-term memory problems. If I become overtired I can struggle with word recognition and my body has a tiredness which I cam only explain as a long weekend on a hockey or rugby tour.
I was lucky to hear about Headway from a work colleague who had previously been after encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and she had told me how beneficial it was to her. As I started to struggle more I decided to contact the centre and seek support.
I didn’t know what to expect when I got there. There is such a mixture of people with different severities of brain injury. It put everything I had struggled with into perspective and I learnt there were people with an injury like mine to people with severe head injuries.
Headway worked with me to learn a variety of memory techniques and importantly fatigue management which has now governed everything I do. I am now back in full time work as a nurse, playing hockey, dirt mountain-biking and doing a bit of geeky geo-caching. I can say that even though a head injury is no one’s chosen path in life I’ve realised how amazing and supportive my family have been; how great organisations like Headway are and how lucky I am to have such amazing friends.
