As many of my friends and family know, this past year has been a difficult one. On August 12th, 2011 my husband Jamie was injured when an IED detonated while he was on mission in Afghanistan. He sustained a subdurmal hematoma to the right side of his brain, peppering/shrapnel wounds, and damage to his hearing. His was classified as moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). To put it in perspective, a concussion is considered a minor TBI, while a major TBI results in a coma. We spent the next two months in San Antonio, Texas; after which Jamie insisted I return to Washington and begin my graduate studies.
Now, the recovery timeline for a moderate TBI is usually 9-18 months. But Jamie returned to his unit's rear detachment less than 6 months after the blast, on December 1st, 2011. He was able to come home to Washington on leave for Christmas & New Years. But as astounding as his progress was, there were still hurdles to overcome. The damaged part of Jamie's brain controls recall function. So, even though Jamie is just as intelligent as he ever was, sometimes it takes him a little longer to access archived information, and storage of new inforormatiom isn't always executed properly. He's constantly working to repair those processes, but in the interim it can make life more challenging than usual.
Although Jamie endured the detonation, we both faced the fallout. In that instant, our lives were altered forever. I tried to be strong, and even thought I was succeeding for a while, but it felt like my world was unravelling. Months later, I took a hard look at myself, and realized I was a different person. How could I have changed so much in such a short time?! Who is this woman? I used to be kind, sweet, happy and perpetually optimistic - always finding a cloud's silver lining, even if I had to look at the situation from another perspective. What I observed instead was a bitterly disappointed, short tempered, hyper-critical shrew.
As Jamie walks his road to recovery, I have decided to embark on a journey to bring peace and happiness back into my life. I have so many wonderful and inspirational people around me; I am taking note of their examples and emulating what I admire, so I may restore balance to my mind, body, and soul. I am adjusting what I eat, I am training in Jui Jitsu as well as preparing for a 4 mile obstacle course race in October, and am doing as many fun and fullfilling activities with friends and family as I can, while finishing my Masters in Teaching this fall (I enjoy alliteration). I invite you to follow me on my path towards discovery - I am committing to at least weekly entries on my blog, detailing my adventures and progress. Through this, I will feel as though I am accountable to you, all who are supporting me, which will help me stick to my goals. So thank you, in advance for traveling with me - I am blessed with your love and encouragement!
PS I will also be trying to catch up with a different friend or family member every day! I'll be reaching out to you soon!
