I almost died a week ago

[Fight with attitude]

I just want to give everyone an update on how I'm doing and post an article about me from a winnipeg newspaper.

I'm still having pains in my head, they are getting better but they are still there and hurt the quality of my life. I'm not as zoned out of it as I once was but I'm still not 100% here, so hopefully I'll be able to go to school next week and learn at a good rate where I can get the kind of marks I want.

I'm still not sure when the next time I'm going to be training if ever. I have heard of people with brain injurys having to never go back to the sport they love because of the brain injury. I'm hopeing I don't have that kind of an injury but I do know I won't be training for a very long time, at least 6 months to a year.

I did have an interview done with me on what happened with my brain. http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2005/08/29/1192262-sun.html

Finally, I just want to thank everybody on this site. I really enjoy reading all the posts on this site. Thank you for all your help and support with my head injury.

 

[arnisador]

Good luck, and thanks for sharing your story. Hopefully others will take heed.

 

[John Lacy]

Fight with Attitude.
I am glad your feeling better. I know training may be a far thing for now. But when you're able,and the Doc's say it's OK, get back to it. Get back to the feeling of accomplishment when you finish class. Get back to the comraderie you feel at class. Get back to the things that make you smile. Get back to who you know you are.

Don't give up-- Don't ever give up- Coach Jimmy Valvano

 

[Eternal Beginner]

How about an update? How are you doing now?

I hope things are looking up for you.

 

[Jonathan Randall]

I just want to give everyone an update on how I'm doing and post an article about me from a winnipeg newspaper.

I'm still having pains in my head, they are getting better but they are still there and hurt the quality of my life. I'm not as zoned out of it as I once was but I'm still not 100% here, so hopefully I'll be able to go to school next week and learn at a good rate where I can get the kind of marks I want.

I'm still not sure when the next time I'm going to be training if ever. I have heard of people with brain injurys having to never go back to the sport they love because of the brain injury. I'm hopeing I don't have that kind of an injury but I do know I won't be training for a very long time, at least 6 months to a year.

I did have an interview done with me on what happened with my brain. http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2005/08/29/1192262-sun.html

Finally, I just want to thank everybody on this site. I really enjoy reading all the posts on this site. Thank you for all your help and support with my head injury.

Good luck with your recovery. I was in a serious automobile accident 3 1/2 years ago and, despite using a seat belt, sustained a head injury. It takes some time but you may have a greater recovery than expected - the brain has multiple redundancies.

 

[masherdong]

Sorry to hear about that. I hope you get well soon.

 

[Soldier]

Sorry to hear what have happened to you.
Everyone is unique,
but I would guess that I would try some supplements to speed up recovery.
Vit. C, Zink, Sulfur are some of them.

Get well soon!

 

[Soldier]

Also take a look into ginkgo and how it can help you.

 

[Fight with attitude]

How about an update? How are you doing now?

I hope things are looking up for you.

Everything is slowly getting better. The doctor said my thinking patten was doing great which I think is from going to school and reading books all day.

My cardio is still pretty bad, I can't even walk up stairs without being out of breath. The doctor said it this was a pretty big shock to my cardio system so I will have a lot less energy. I do go for walks to help my cardio system get better faster, it still might be some time before I can jog or even run.

They still don't know how much if any perament damage is done, only more time will tell, which is kinda worrying me because it might cut back on the quality of life I have. I try to think positive because I have already come so far, when it happened the doctors thought there was a high proablity of me dieing within 24 hours and even if I did live pass 24 hours they thought I might be mentally handicapped. Now I'm doing a full course load at a University getting straight A's so far, six weeks ago I was looking and feeling so bad but I never gave up, I've been reading books with people who had the mental will to never give up when face with bad odd's with diseases. People where doctors said they would be ok and then died and people who doctors said they would die and then lived. A lot of this has to do with the thinking in the person. I think this may have played a part in where I am today so I'm going to fight what ever this injury throws at me.

I have a goal to get a degree in psychology, it's something that I wanted for years and as I said before I'm going to put up a hell of a fight to this injury.

This whole near death experience has given me things that I could not have got other wise. I really found out what I was made of when I was in bad shape, it made me realize if I can beat this then I can put up a hell of a fight againest anything this world thows at me. This has event has changed me in so many ways that I sometimes see myself in my second life. There was the person before the assult and the person after the assult who acts very different (and IMHO better) then the first. I'm stronger now then I have ever been in my life. This post is getting very long so I'll just stop right here

 

[Flying Crane]

If it still looks like a long time til you can train again, maybe consider finding a good Tai Chi instructor. It could be much more gentle, and gradual return to training. the gentle movement might even help with your overall recovery. Emotionally, you would have a reconnection to your training so it might be easier to handle. baby steps will get you there. all the best.

 

[mantis]

As some of you know I'm a bouncer, it's not the easyest job in the world. Last week I was trying to talk a guy into givening me his beer because he was drinking it illegelly. After a few times of asking I knew he wouldn't I grabbed the beer myself and tried to take it at which time I either got sucker punched or bottled with the beer bottle. Then the back of my head hit the ashfalut and cracked my skull wide open.

I woke up in a puddle of blood, as I heard the sirens come to pick me up to go to the ER. I lost a lot of blood. I was told later that my brain was bleeding and I need to stay for a while. I thought I was going to die, I mean my brain was bleeding and when I got a cat scan a few days later the blood was increaseing. Now I was very worried, day by day I very slowly got better and I was relesed an 1 hour ago. I am very lucky that I'm even alive.

I now want to talk to anyone and everyone that I can, so you can PM me or post on this thread, I would love to talk to you on the phone or in person. I could come by training one day if you wanted but I couldn't train, it's going to be weeks, maybe even months before I fully heal.

I thought I was going to be a good bouncer because I've been training in MMA for about two years and I know how important talking is in bouncing but a week ago I was so very wrong, not all the training in the world could have prepared me to get sucker punched or sucker beer bottled like I did. So Bouncers and cops out there be carefully.

God bless you,
Don

sorry to hear that
it's horrible
get well, and heal fast
and most importantly GET OFF THE COMPUTER! (if told by a real doc)

 

[arnisador]

Good luck! Keep a good attitude. College profs. will work with you--I'm one and I've had such students before. Just speak to them early on in the semester.

 

[Eternal Beginner]

...six weeks ago I was looking and feeling so bad but I never gave up...

And it is precisely this attitude that will see you through this whole ordeal.

Your mental toughness and refusal to accept anything less than your best will pull you through this. All the best and thanks for the update, I hope all your dreams come true.

By the way, Winnipeg has a great support group for survivor's of head injury and another one for their families and friends to help everyone cope with the after effects. I hope you have looked into this as it can be a really great resource while you recover.

 

[Fight with attitude]

Thanks everyone for the comments. A very special thing happened in class today. My psychology prof gave us a book to read which was written by his brother.

It's called dying and living, in it he wrote about his cancer. He's had cancer since he was 28 and he is now 62. By all accounts he should be die, doctors have told him he was going to die several times, he beat all the odds and is still alive after all these years. The book was writen in 1985 and today my psychology prof spent most of the class talking about what happened to his brother in the last 20 years after the book was put out. He was very emotional talking about his brother getting a relapse many times and fighting through each of them. When I thought about what he went through it made me think that if he can fight that for so long then I should fight anything this head injury throws at me with everything in me.

I wanted to join my prof in crying in class but I fought back the tears and it wasn't because I was sad that I wanted to cry. It was for joy, people told him many times he was going to die and he never gave up and when to work with maintaining a high rep in his company, it made me want to get 95% on my next test then 85% and it made me want to come back to the dojo and leave my heart and soul on the mat.

I wanting to go up to my prof and thank him for the update on his brother but I knew I would burst into tears if I did, so as soon as I got home I email him. He was very kind, saying if I ever need anything I could call him at home and he gave his brother's email address so I could email him if I wanted which I did right after I finished reading my prof's email.

 

[Fight with attitude]

I must not be the only one in this kind of a situation on the fourm. I'm sure other people have diseases that have to be fought off. The book that inspired me so much and continues inspired me everyday is called Dying and Living. One Man's Life with Cancer. It is written by Kenneth A. Shapiro.

I really encourage everyone who has a disease to fight or knows of someone close to them that has a disease to fight to buy this book. This book has helped so many people before because it is so inspiring. The book is out of print so it may be harder to find. The one place I know where to find it is at the University of Manitoba's bookstore. So if you don't live in winnipeg this book may be harder to get. If anyone wants a copy of the book, please PM me or reply here and I'll email the writer of the book Kenneth and talk to my prof about finding an easyer way of getting this book for you. The cost is $15 at the store, it may be more for shipping.

I've read this book cover to cover and I contine to reread it because it does help me out so much in my daily life.

 

[jbclinic]

glad to here that you are doing better. if you were by yourself then your assesment was off, working with a team, the team would've been in position upon redirection of the civillian. not to disrespect or tell you that your approach was wrong. i think if you keep your job, that you will use a different tact.

god bless,good luck keep your eyes open

james