0 - Introduction

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I tip my hat off to you…or, my helmet.  Because you’re here.  You’ve made it this far.  Opened yourself up to learning about another person’s experience with brain injury. You may have a brain injury yourself.  You may know someone, or care for someone who does.  You may be a professional who wants to get a better understanding of the actual day-to-day challenges.  Either way, I tip my helmet off to you…then I put it back on before I hit my head again…

This blog is called “This Hat is a Helmet” for a very good reason.  Or maybe just a reason.  Good or bad or neutral, here is that reason: we all have many different roles.  We are friends, siblings, spouses, parents, coworkers, professionals.  We may be baristas, clerks, teachers, entrepreneurs, landscapers, performers, athletes.  We may also be that person at the party with the bad jokes, or that other person at the party who thinks they are good at karaoke (but aren’t), or that other other person at the party who’s got social media covered… Basically, during the day, week, year, we all play different roles and wear many different hats.  I, personally, wear the friend hat, the sister ball cap, the daughter tiara, the dog owner cowboy hat, the outdoor enthusiast sombrero, the health care professional mortarboard, the performer bowler, the Canadian toque, and…the brain injury survivor helmet.  This blog doesn’t focus on what it’s like to be a friend, sister, daughter, dog owner…it’s not about my adventures outdoors, my work in health care or my performances on stage…and simply having written the word “toque” should be enough Canadiana, eh?

What this blog does focus on are my experiences living with and managing Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS).  There are sure to be some intersections with my other roles when talking about PCS.  Indeed, every role and every part of my life has been affected by the concussion, so it would be impossible to share my experiences without talking about those roles too.  However, this will be done through the lens of the brain injury.

Here is where I wear my helmet.  For all to see.

June is Brain Injury Awareness Month.  One blog post per day.  One day at a time.  Some of this will be informative; some will be my opinion.  Some of this will be funny; some will be sad.  Some of this might be inspirational; some might be triggering.  There will be some stories, some songs, maybe even some cartoons and likely some cute photos of my dog.  But all of it will be my experience; all of it will be true, honest and real.

You’ve made it this far.  Let’s go further.

I tip my helmet off to you.