Survivors SPEAK OUT! Jessica Taylor
Survivors SPEAK OUT! Jessica Taylor
presented
by
Donna O’Donnell Figurski
Jessica Taylor – Brain Injury Survivor and Author
1. What is your name? (last name optional)
Jessica Elizabeth Taylor
2. Where do you live? (city and/or state and/or country) Email (optional)
Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
3. On what date did you have your brain injury? At what age?
Age 31
4. How did your brain injury occur?
A fall down a steep staircase head first into a steel-plated door
5. When did you (or someone) first realize you had a problem?
My husband knew I was sick, but he did not know I had a brain injury. (I was not told that I had brain injury until six years after the injury!) I didn’t know who I was, who my husband was, and who my children were. I became a child again. I had to relearn everything. My personality was greatly changed. My balance was off for some time. My left hand curled inwards, but I trained it to straighten. I also had contusion of the back, a hemorrhage behind my right eye, and scalp laceration.
6. What kind of emergency treatment, if any, did you have?
Intensive care
7. Were you in a coma? If so, how long?
I was in a semi-coma for several weeks.
8. Did you do rehab? What kind of rehab (i.e., inpatient or outpatient and occupational and/or physical and/or speech and/or other)?
I had rehab only in a psychiatric ward as a day patient for some months at a time in two different countries. I trained myself by learning again and also by becoming positive and never giving in to depression or my disabilities.
How long were you in rehab?
I had no proper rehab. I was just given many IQ tests and psychiatric care. This did not help matters!
9. What problems or disabilities, if any, resulted from your brain injury (e.g., balance, perception, personality, etc.)?
Recent recall was and still is a problem. I cannot take on too may projects at a time. I have to avoid stress at all times.
10. How has your life changed? Is it better? Is it worse?
My life has been enhanced through training my dormant brain neurons myself and by having spiritual knowledge. As a result, I am a happier person.
Jessica Taylor – Brain Injury Survivor and Author
11. What do you miss the most from your pre-brain-injury life?
I do not look back.
12. What do you enjoy most in your post-brain-injury life?
I enjoy being who I am.
13. What do you like least about your brain injury?
I don’t think about the past. I just put up with my disability as a part of my life.
14. Has anything helped you to accept your brain injury?
No
15. Has your injury affected your home life and relationships and, if so, how?
I had distant relationships with my husband and my children, as well as with all who knew me.
16. Has your social life been altered or changed and, if so, how?
My new and holistic view of life has changed all that I do and think.
17. Who is your main caregiver?
ME
Do you understand what it takes to be a caregiver?
I know what caregivers should be aware of with regards to brain injury.
18. What are your plans? What do you expect/hope to be doing ten years from now?
I hope to keep sharing my knowledge through the publication of my books and by giving talks.
19. Are you able to provide a helpful hint that may have taken you a long time to learn, but which you wished you had known earlier?
From Tragedy to Triumph: Journey Back From the Edge by Jessica Taylor
I only wish that I had been taught by specialists how to retrain my brain in the early years, as opposed to doing so later.
If so, please state what it is to potentially help other survivors with your specific kind of brain injury.
Know that we can train and activate dormant neurons through studying a subject that is of interest. This has to be done frequently.
20. What advice would you offer to other brain-injury survivors? Do you have any other comments that you would like to add?
My advice is to study spirituality and to read as much as possible about the subject. I do not mean in the religious sense – study people like Deepak Chopra and watch Super Soul Sunday on TV. Stay positive and learn not to give in to negative thoughts. Try hard to rise above fear, jealousy, hatred, greed, envy, etc., and your vibration will increase in frequency. All this happened to me through my self-rehab.
To learn more about Jessica Taylor, click on the following links.
Jessica Elizabeth Taylor website
Jessica E. Taylor Facebook
Jessica E. Taylor Twitter
Jessica Elizabeth Taylor Linked in
Jessica’s book
“From Tragedy to Triumph: Journey Back From the Edge”
(Disclaimer: The views or opinions in this post are solely that of the interviewee.)
If you would like to be a part of the SPEAK OUT! project, please go to TBI Survivor Interview Questionnaire for a copy of the questions and the release form.
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(Photos compliments of contributor.)
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There is nothing sweeter or more rewarding in life than spending time and helping those with special challenges.
I was eighteen when I had my traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a car accident in 1985. I was brought back to life once. I was in a coma for fifty days. I was in a wheelchair for one and a half years. I have memory problems. My body drew up into a fetal position. It took seven years of painful surgery and therapy and close to thirty procedures to straighten my legs, feet, arms, and hands. Thirty years later, my claw-shaped right hand looks like it has rheumatoid arthritis, but I use it. I write with that hand and walk with a cane in it. Three years after my accident, I went back to college. It took three years of difficult work to get my first Associate Degree and two years for a second in Mechanical Drafting, AutoCAD. I worked fifteen difficult years doing AutoCAD. Not one day since my accident has been easy for me. I am proud of what I accomplished, and I hope my story will be an inspiration to others.
inspired me to go forward. What a sport does is teach sportsmanship, pride, respect, and loyalty, and it inspires one to do better.
Rooms or even in morgues because they fall while walking and hit their head. Should every man, woman, and child wear a helmet simply to walk? It seems just as foolish to end all athletics.
Ann Boriskie, a TBI survivor of more than 17-years says, “Get involved. Volunteer.” “By helping others with a brain injury, you truly help yourself in so many ways.” Ann is the Brain Injury Peer Visitor Association Director and her motto is “YOU CAN!”
It can happen to anyone, anytime, . . . and anywhere.
They say a picture says a thousand words. It’s been nineteen months since I fell on a patch of ice and landed full-force on the back of my skull. I suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) plus whiplash, torn muscles in my neck, shoulder, and chest, and I also dislocated my sternum. What the photo doesn’t show is how I wasn’t able to do any exercise – even mild – for the first year. Just walking around the grocery store was enough to leave me spent for the rest of the day – let alone carrying in the bags of groceries. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I lived pretty much in my bed or on the couch for over a year. I would do photography sessions a few times a week (because that’s my only form of income, and I had bills to pay) and pay the price for two days – icing my body and popping ibuprofen like it was candy. Even just six months ago, I couldn’t properly stand up straight – let alone do strength training. And let’s not forget about the horrible vertigo and balance issues that came with the TBI. But I finally decided that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! It was time to DO SOMETHING – anything! So I started doing yoga for 10-15 minutes a day. At first it was hard – really hard. I could do only very basic, simple stretching poses. I would hold onto a chair for any pose that required standing so that I didn’t lose my balance. But you know what? IT HELPED! It started me on a path to gaining back my strength and endurance.
the neurological ones are still present). I know it seems impossible when you’re in the darkest days after a TBI. I’ve completely been there. But, man, you take back control of your life when you finally start to step out of it and say, “F… Y.., TBI!” If I can do this, I know you can too!
SPEAK OUT! Itty-Bitty Giant Steps will provide a venue for brain-injury survivors and caregivers to shout out their accomplishments of the week.
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