Living with Traumatic Brain Injury

I was kicked by a frightened horse over my right ear on November 1 2008. I suffered a crushed skull on my right side, 2 weeks in a coma, and 4 months of rehabilitation. I now have a plate in my head and thanks to very skilled surgeons and team at Rockford Memorial Hospital I have very little physical signs or symptoms of my accident. I have concentration and multi tasking difficulties and my husband and son are very frustrating to me all the time now. I used to have a lot of patience and now I do not. I trained horses, dogs, and raised three stepsons while going through college and working full time. Now I couldn’t imagine doing any of those things or how I accomplished them in the first place.

I had a partial seizure in feb 09, so I can’t drive until Aug 09. That and winter were wearing on my attitude, but since spring is here, happiness is better. If I have to repeat myself more than once, I get frustrated easily. I hope that gets better with time. My adopted son is only 6, and it’s going to be a long 12 years if it doesn’t. I’m happy that I can walk and maybe ride my horses again in time. The one in question has since been replaced, so I have to get used to this one first before I trust it to get on or around. I am having some sadness about not being able to train my Friesian stallion myself this year. He is ready to start under saddle, but my husband says I’m not doing it. I bought him 3 years ago so I could do just that, so that may be tough to swallow. I need to learn to accept what I cannot change and be more thankful for what I can do. I’m struggling with it, but learning what I can in the meantime.
Donna