You cannot suffer the past, or future
Because they do not exist.
What you are suffering is your memory
Or your imagination.
Tag: tbi
Oh, also…
Like a phoenix, rising from its own ashes, I’ve metaphorically crawled from my own ashes and am now proudly doing something that is completely unlike the previous two careers that I’ve had… ehem…
I’m an actual 737 aircraft mechanic.
With everything that I and my family have endured over the past five-ish years, I’m kinda proud of that.
No, I don’t have my A&P licenses yet.
Yet.
They’re not at all required as a mechanic at an MRO. But that absolutely doesn’t mean I’m not going to get them. They’re just on hold with the timing of the whole offer/acceptance/start/onboarding with Boeing.
Changing Careers?
I’ve mentioned Purpose a few times, but a followup question might be “when” to change careers.
Here’s a quick chart that illustrates the important bits:
That said, I still have a few things to get sorted while I’m getting the certifications in order. But, it’s in progress.
Memories of Before
I’m clicking around on Canva for no reason in particular. It does seem that I’ve been here before, but I couldn’t recall when or why.
Oh, look — there’s a login function and it does appear that my Mac keychain has stored a username and password that I’d used on here before, so we’ll give it a go.
Well, that worked.
Hey, look, there’s also a “All your designs” section. I wonder what’s there…
…and suddenly it all became a bit more clear, about why I had memories of having been here before. I was trying out this new “Canva” thing and seeing if it would have any value for our team or for presentations. In fact, I could even say with absolute certainty that it was on December, 20, 2017 — just days before The Fall.
Apparently, I was trying out a humorous visual aide for a talk that I was planning on giving at the end of Christmas when the teams returned at the beginning of the year and that I’d include in a discussion with onboarding of the Noida team.
Probably only really meaningful to maybe two or three hundred people around the globe.
I certainly do miss being involved with the motley crew of most capable and admirable designers, developers, and engineers.
TBI Thoughts
Somebody had posted this in a TBI group…
Hi everyone, how’s everyone doing? Quick question: what’s the recovery process like for Diffused Axonal shearing? Is there any coming back from this severe type of brain injury? 4 months in and my brother still doesn’t talk.
–Anonymous
And, because I can’t leave well enough alone, perhaps the world may stumble onto my thoughts and find some benefit from it:
—
Okay, here’s the thing: “DAI” and “Shearing” are the terms that are used medically to describe what’s occurred.
Can anyone come back from it? Well, maybe. It depends on… well… everything.
We’re talking about the one thing in the whole of the known universe that can, so far as we know, interpret the universe. And if one’s brain has been jarred from an impact, if it’s survivable, it may effectively scramble all of the memories and knowledge that person had.
Brain Injuries are as unique as a thumbprint. No two TBIs are the same. With two identical twins in the prime of their health and youth were to sustain identical trauma, they will absolutely have a completely different array of issues. One may feel a bit tired for a few days… and the other may be fatal. They’re that unique.
So, can somebody come back from it? That, like all things, depends.
My TBI was about three years: 4m fall, head first onto concrete, knocked unconscious instantly, coma, DAI, CNS shearing. I was 45 and generally in perfect health. I was in a coma for about two weeks and had to relearn absolutely everything (and I do mean everything) and have been frustrated now and again with proprioception and dexterity challenges.
Today, I’m still relearning and gaining more understanding of the various bumps and ridges of my own particular TBI.
Have I come back? Eh, it depends on one’s interpretation of “coming back”. And upon who one asks. I don’t think I have, yet. But in some ways, I can do more now that I did before. I still walk with a cane every now and again, but don’t like it — yet I can still run a 5K or more (I ran a 1/4 marathon a few months ago). I get mentally exhausted much sooner than some people. But I’m learning how to work around it… and work with it.
It’s been a long journey through a mental and emotional hell — and through it all, it was critically important that I had support and understanding of my wife and family.
the rest of me 