What really happens in the aftermath of a brain injury? Why can’t doctors give definitive answers? Will life ever return to normal? In Living with a Brain Injury, fourteen victims and caregivers invite readers inside their own intimate journey and expose a tender array of emotions, fears, and hopes. Along the way they offer truthful—and sometimes profound—answers to common questions many are too afraid to ask.

The candid yet inspiring true stories offer refreshing insight into the diversity of recovery from nonclinical perspectives, and highlight the unexpected ways we discover courage and hope in the aftermath of a life-changing brain injury.

Foreword

Preface

1  The Beginning

2  Facing the Aftermath

3  Understanding The Prognosis

4  Reactions by Others

5  Understanding Sensory Changes

6  Being Informed

7  Our Personality Changes

8  Emotional Outbursts

9  Braving Social Stigma

10 Transition of Relationships

11 Facing Social Situations

12 Managing Engagements

13 Our New Routine

14 Behavioral Changes

15 Confessing Our Struggles

16 Memory Challenges

17 Confronting the Darkness

18 The New Normal

19 Finding the Silver Lining

20 Making Peace with our Journey

Meet the Writers

Thank You

About Lynda Cheldelin Fell