You're so right on the money with that. I remember when I first came to DS. Everyone told me...give it time. It was so bad...I began to think time just never would add up for nothing!

The part I was missing was patience. Time with out it...stands still.

I think that in reality that's all we as injured can think about...if we didn't loose all memory of ourselves. We want it back but we had not a clue in the beginning of how to make that happen.

Time for me has not only allowed the injuries of my brain but the other physical ones as well. During this time I have learned so much I never had a clue of before.

I've found out what really makes me tick, what my own feelings really are. However, the most important thing I've learned...I can do ANYTHING I want to do if I want it bad enough.

Great topic Elanie!

Whoops...I meant time for me has not only allowed the injuries of my brain but the other physical ones to heal as well.

It has been several years since my first one. i learnt about epilepsy from it. memory that may never come back. Many things others here have.. But i have also gained more compassion for others, always had that, but from a different side as well now. More understanding and aceptence we cant do some things we want. i am never allowed in a pool or beach again in case I black out. And live on a small quiet penisular with beach on three sides protected from big surf by a line of small islands just off shore. Palm trees, the lot. But I am alive, and can help others by the experience.

Time after a TBI, is a gift.

I make the best out of every situation, and have a greater appreciation for life.

I believe that my recovery will never be finished. I always have something to do, as I can never return to my pretrauma performance. Pain will subside.

It was very hard to accept the new realities of life. Take guidance from experts and caring people who have been there before, like Elaine.

Reach out for answers, because you are not alone.

Lonliness can be very scary. Daily strength is the best site i've found. So many answers.

i could write a completed book on every minute, i believe, it impressed upon me so deeply.

starting with an entire room of beeping machines that cryptically revealed his frightening inner, can i live through this or should i just die, decision making story, until today, where we, my son and i, were discussing 'the new apartment' details over the phone, it's been trajectory of continual repair. and i will add here, thankfully and luckily.

it'll be 3 years at the end of September, since the word, 'Diffuse Axonal' took center stage in my vocabulary.

seemed he stayed in the cocoon of his coma, for just about ever. then slowly began to emerge, one little active increment at a time.

they had him in a chair and on a tilting bed thingy, in attempt to let his organs feel some gravity when he was nothing but 'Rancho Level' puny. once his body passed that test, the game was on.

he stayed in his first and most amazing Rehab for six whole months, being exercised, challenged and studied at every turn by a whole host of young, forward looking people.

he remembers nothing of this.

he walked out of there under his own, hard won, steam...and into residential horror rehab #2. he was, at this time, still unconcerned with things of the world. tv, phone, days, times, pens and pencils. etc. it was at this dreadful warehouse, where the world just drops people off and shuts the door tight, that he started tuning in. i gave him a disposable Cell Phone with a charger one day. within a few days, he was 'texting me' ! from that moment on, he never, a.) lost the phone or b.) let it run out of juice.

soon after, i gave him an old laptop to mess around with. that was very challenging for him at the time but he cared about it, which is always, step 1. he morphed into watching DVD's on it, which meant that he had to figure all that on/off and in stuff out.

it was as if he were made out of Lucite and by paying close and careful attention, you could actually see inside, as the axons were re-wiring and lighting up. every week end we'd experiment with more, new and different.

after 6 months in that most derelict of places, i stole him away under the cover of darkness and we never went back.

encouraged by my sons desire and ever increasing capabilities i sought out an independent apartment situation, for him. everyone told me that i was nuts, except one guy, who happened to be a retired Neurologist. i decided that giving my son back his physical freedom, come what may, was beyond better than a controlled life of senseless rehabilitative tasks that meant nothing to him. being in real life, with all it's infinite negotiations and hardships, would facilitate a more thorough and expedient healing process. these were also, the wise words of the wise old Neurologist man.

it's been 16 months now, since he has successfully lived in his own tiny apartment with his kitty, Vivica. he has an ever expanding circle of new friends and many incredible and important things on his mind.

the other day, we went together to an important interview for an internship program and after an hours car ride to get there, with me bolstering his confidence by pointing out every single hurdle that he's overcome, the whole way, he went in there and captivated his audience with aplomb, grace and humor! i swear, he was fully firing, at least for those 2 hours! it was, awesome.

amazing. amazing. amazing.

i don't know what the future holds exactly but his thinking deepens and widens with every passing day.

Elanie,
I am one of those members.

I understand I will never fully heal at least to
the my vigor of pre-trauma.
I guess to me this is inconsequential, "whatever".

I sees time as a good thing.
I know how challenging waiting for big recovery increases
can be, but in that time of waiting, maybe this extra time given
me is lost.

time stays in motion. Our personal time, it is a treasure
as we all should be dead, no?

*think I said correct*

I just want to share that time is on your side. I am 6 years out, and it has been a most difficult task to overcome the rewiring that has gone on in my brain. I'm not sure I could ever do it again! My time started after I awoke from the coma, but I don't remember that time for approximately 1 year, only sparce and traumatic events that happened in that time.

It seems like so long ago, I was waiting on my Mom to take me on the daily trips to rehab for treatment in speech, physical, and occupational therapy. Time kind of set still in those days, like the next moment didn't really matter anyhow, because I couldn't remember past it.
And then I progressed to not needing to have 24hr a day supervision and I was waiting for a driver to take me. This is when time began to seem ever so slow. It was like I would never be able to progress further. But time keeps right on marching!
Then I progressed to being able to drive myself, only being allowed to drive short distances. This was over a period of approximately 2 years from my initial accident. It has been a slow, but steady climb, that has been full of all those major highs and lows of any roller coaster ride.

Then came the task of getting back to life. A life I no longer knew! Oh the challenge!! I can not write about time anylonger, for it flies by for me now. I feel like my life is passing me by too. I just have to block it out, beause it is so difficult to rebuild a life, and try to be something you no longer are.

I will say I am back to life. Still struggling to be who I am told I was before my accident. I am back to work full time in a professional position. I believe anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Oh, and yes time heals a lot of things. That's the one thing I hold on to. Time has been my friend, and my enemy. But we just have to keep holding on and find patience, probably the most difficult thing to find.

Bitemarks- Thank you for sharing about your son. That made me smile to hear how time has given you a time line to share for improvements you have witnessed.

Time heals a lot of things...