Description
Book SynopsisThis book tells the author's story of her ten-year journey of recovery and identity transformation from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Dr. Dee is a survivor who regained the ability to articulate what many TBI survivors cannot, and this powerful account, provided in real-time, portrays the many seemingly unrelatable symptoms of brain injury and subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Dee portrays how events pushed her beyond her limits and resulted in life-altering learning experiences, revealing a process of first figuring out how to live, then making meaning of her struggle.
When half-way through her PhD program, Dr. Dee was crashed into by a car travelling at 65 miles per hour. She suffered a TBI. She lost her ability to read and write. She had a severe speech impediment and significantly impaired memory. Her journey of recovery, described in the book as her trek, spans four significant periods. The road begins with the loss of most of herself. Diagnosis a
Trade Review
“The most striking aspect of Dee’s recovery has been how far she has come from the days when she struggled to hold a two-minute NPR news clip in her memory to now completing her doctoral degree. Her singular will and determination have driven her recovery and reset our equations for what is possible after traumatic brain injury.”
– R. Richard Sanders, M.S.CCC, M.T.S. Senior Speech Language Pathology Clinical Specialist at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown MA.
Table of ContentsIntroduction Planting the Seed: Where the Rubber Meets the Road 1. Setting the Context Trek One: Budding Through Non-Ideal Conditions: Off-Road: Years 1 and 2 Post-TBI: Changes in Self-Perception: Loss of My Old Self 2. Potholes: Diagnosis and Evolving symptoms 3. Stepping Stones: Speech Language Therapy 4. Lost in the Alleyway: Impact of Awareness 5. The Broken Path: Hallmarks of Communication Trek Two: Rising Through Mud and Adversity: The Rocky Road: Years 3 and 4 Post-TBI: Changes in Interpersonal Relationships: Re-Identification 6. Not a Throughway: Intellect, Emotionality, Control of Behavior 7 Lost Trailways: Relationships and Loss of Identity 8 Finding a Footpath: Rehabilitation and My Life Coach 9 Unearthing Stepping Stones: Learning to Read and Write 10 Road to Recovery: Beginning of Self-Discovery 11. Road to Recovery: Beginning of Re-Identification 12. Taking a Toll Road: Concurrent Mental Health Issues 13. Speed Bumps: Co-Morbidity with TBI and PTSD 14. Ruts in the Road: Reckoning with Anger 15. Breakdown Lane: Impatient Rehabilitation Trek Three: Petals Opening One by One: Changing Lanes: Years 5 and 6 Post-TBI: Changes in Philosophy of Life: Acceptance of My New Life 16. At the Cross Roads: Spiritual Crisis 17. Staying the Course: Transcending My Story 18. In the Right Lane: Moving Forward Trek Four: Ultimately Blossoming in the Sun: Paving a Way: Years 7 and Beyond Post-TBI: Toward New Growth: Hope 19. Opening Passageways: Insight, Value and Growth 20. Trail Blazing onto a Steady Path: Blossoming into Disability Culture
