Welcome to the team Brittany!

We want to introduce our new Co-host! Listen to Brittany's personal story, where she shares details about her 2018 brain injury, its effects, and her path to joining BIND, the Brain Injury Network of Dallas. The discussion covers Brittany's initial challenges, her recovery journey, including therapies like neurofeedback, and her involvement with BIND and its community. Brittany talks about her love for art as a coping mechanism, her progress and roles at the library, and emphasizes the importance of community and support for brain injury survivors.

Transcript

0:00

Instrumental

Brittany: 0:10

Hi, I'm Brittany. I'm a TBI survivor and a member of BIND.

Carrie: 0:15

And hi, I'm Carrie, a stroke survivor and also a member of BIND. So, today we're going to do things a little bit different. Um, it's going to be just Brittany and I. Most of you, if you've been listening to our episodes, you've been listening to me for almost three years. So, you kind of know me a little bit. I hope you figured me out by now. Or, whatever you want to mean. But, so we're, I want to get, I want our listeners to get to know our new co host, Brittany, a little better. So, this is going to be just more of a one on one questionnaire. Not questionnaire, but you know, one on one talk with Brittany so we can get to know her. Um, Brittany loves crafts and very artsy. And she is, um, She was our first member, first new member to sign up for the Brain Injury Clubhouse in Fort Worth. So she spends most of her time in Fort Worth, but on Thursdays when we record, she comes to Plano, which we love. So, Brittany, just tell our listeners a little bit about you and kind of where you are in life and how you got your injury.

Brittany: 1:11

Well, my name is Brittany, as y'all know. Um, I got my brain injury, um, 2018. August 3rd, 2018. Um, I was driving to school and someone was going over 70 miles per hour and rammed into me and I blacked out on impact. My airbags didn't deploy and everything went black.

Carrie: 1:33

They did not deploy?

Brittany: 1:35

Nope.

Carrie: 1:35

Oh, wow.

Brittany: 1:36

Because it was a rear end, we asked the companies like, you get rear ended, they're not going to deploy. So after that, I just called it Pandora's Box Someone came and woke me up. Um, I went to the hospital, got scanned, they were like, Okay, your ankle's like swollen, everything's swollen, so I went home. I went to my neurologist a couple of times, they neglected my brain injury. So I just went back to school, and I was doing horrible, like I declined. Like, really bad. I went back to see a neurologist, still neglected. Then, I didn't know my name, I didn't know what cup was. So, my brain injury was post concussion at first. So, yeah. And then it got worse, so I was doing better. And I went to my primary in February, and they were like, Oh, your ankle is still swollen, so let's see about this. So, she's like, I'm going to send you to an orthopedic. The orthopedic is, okay, you have foot drop or drop foot. Um, that's more of a brain injury problem. So he referred me to Baylor Scott and White, the brain injury doctor, and they were like, okay, you had a brain injury for seven months. You're supposed to get treated in the first 12 months. So I lost seven months, but after that, I went to Day Neuro and to some program where you go all day and do therapy all day just to get better. So I did graduate from that because I got to a level where I was okay doing better. So my goal was to go back to school, which I did. So I went back to school and I finished. I got my degree in respiratory care. So after that, I came back and did more therapy and that's when I declined again. And so after that, it's like been a year and you're like, you're still not having like brain injury problems. So Yeah, so they figured out it's Functional Neurological Symptoms Disorder, or FND. It's like a computer, so you can turn on the, like the hardware, but if you try to install something or open something, the software doesn't work. So it's like kind of like on an autopilot, and you know, brain injuries are invisible, so it kind of looks like I don't have it, but on the inside. It's like, terrible. But, that's a little bit about myself, but I guess I'm here for a reason. So, yeah.

Carrie: 4:00

Well, that's crazy. I didn't know all that. So it's kind of like you have, you see those memes that are said, it's like on the inside of my brain, I have all these tabs open on a computer and yeah, that sounds like what you're on all the time.

Brittany: 4:13

And then when people ask me, oh, like does it hurt? Like, yeah, after my accident, my brain hurts every day a little bit, or I've had problems. So I kind of like say, oh, it's kind of like a fire. When I'm having a really good day, it's kind of like a little candle tea light, and then it can go to like a fireplace, and then it can go to a bonfire one day. So that's how like I classify, that's how it fills my head, like on my good days, my worst days, my bad days.

Carrie: 4:36

That's interesting. So, and then, you know, the biggest thing we always want to know is, so how did you find out about BIND, and how did you get involved?

Brittany: 4:43

So, um, I found out about BIND, um, I was going to the Brain Performance Center, and She, like, referred me to BIND and was like, oh, BIND would be good for you because I was having problems. But, basically, I was going there because my brain wasn't connecting right. So, my brain kind of, like, re hardwired itself and was not connecting right. It was, like, not doing anything, everything was wrong. Like, I also had problems with my eyes along the way, so, after brain injury. So, that, like, really hurt, like, when I hit my head. So, I actually broke my chair in my car. Not hitting my head.

Carrie: 5:16

Oh, wow. So, kind of, um, after your injury, but before BIND, I mean, you told us a little bit, you know, before you actually figured out that you had a brain injury, but let's go back to, like, when you graduated from Day Neuro, but before you found BIND, like, what would you do on a day to day, I mean?

Brittany: 5:33

Well, I would just go home, but, you know, I kind of, like, medically knew something about brain injuries. I knew something was, like, So I knew I still had to do therapy at home. So I was like, doing puzzles to keep my brain active. But other than that, if I wasn't doing puzzles and I had a bad day, I would just lay on the floor and kind of waste away. That's like, how I felt. I was just wasting away. Like, why, why am I here? What's my purpose? There's times where I said, I wish he hit me so hard to kill me, actually. But, Now it's gotten better, especially since I've been going to BIND.

Carrie: 6:07

That's what was my next question? So after you, after you became active at BIND, um, what did, what kind of activities do you, do you focus on at the clubhouse and how has that helped you to do more on your day to day at home now?

Brittany: 6:22

So I focus on activities in Clubhouse, like my focus is. I came to BIND, which they offer me, um, Hope, Community, and Purpose. So, with the Hope, I have hope to learn more, like, skills, and to get my skills back. I know I'm not going to get all my skills back, but So, I'm not going to get my skills back. I can go, I can do 80%. It's not going to 100 percent come back though, but I can learn different skills. I can learn how to adapt with my brain injury. So every day I learn something new, or every day I improve on something. So that's like my goal, to improve.

Carrie: 7:00

And I will tell our listeners, in the very beginning, Brittany, um, The Fort Worth Clubhouse was only open one day a week. So Brittany would come here one day a week. And Brittany would do she did lots of artwork for us. She's done a lot of things that have labeled all of our rooms and different units so that they look professional. You know, we want the clubhouse to be as professional as possible, but she has used the skills that she has learned. Um, she's a big avid fan of She was a library volunteer, so she got to use their stuff, and we'll talk more about the library in a little bit. Um, but, so like, you're back to more of a normal day to day. Again, that hope, purpose, and community that we always talk about that we want to drive. We get, we come to the clubhouse and we start working on those skills that are everyday life skills that normal people, and I hate when I say normal people, that people without a brain injury just do. Because they know to do them. We need the clubhouse to kind of guide us and give us that structure to go Oh, this is what I should do on a normal day. Okay, I get you. So, what do you think is the biggest benefit for you to becoming a member at the clubhouse so far?

Brittany: 8:10

Um, the biggest benefit is the community, like I said. Our brand, Promise. Yeah, just going to that. But, um, it's the support around it. So when I came the first day to the Fort Worth Clubhouse Um, it was just me, and then another member, but then we grew, and so, seeing other people with brain injuries, it helped me understand, like, I'm not alone, like, this is a place where I can be me, where I don't have to say sorry to people, because I move slow, or my hands are shaking when I give you the change at the checkout. So here is a place where you can, like, be yourself, you can grow, you can actually relate to other people.

Carrie: 8:54

Okay, so this is an interesting question that I'm curious in. Um, but so since you attend both clubhouses, Do you see any big, I mean, I know we, we all do basically the same thing, but is there any big difference in one of the clubhouses that you would like us to like, see that we could better incorporate that, that both, not, not that someone's doing something better, but is there something that you really like that one clubhouse does that the other ones not, that we could incorporate?

Brittany: 9:25

Um, kinda and kinda not because, um, Brain Injury Network of Dallas, the Plano Clubhouse was here before Fort Worth, so, you know, Fort Worth is like the little baby. So, we're learning from Plano, which is good. So, we like how it's run, and so, we're getting there. So, we're taking little baby steps to get up to Plano, which, Plano is really, ran really good. So, I like how it's, like, coordinated. So what I wish for Fort Worth is to grow more and have more members and be more like a solid support.

Carrie: 10:02

Yeah, I get that. Um, so, since I know, I mean, we talk a lot about your crafty and art and she sees someone doing art and she's like, oh, what are you doing? Um, but, um, Um, did you have that hobby before your brain injury or did that become a hobby after your brain injury?

Brittany: 10:23

Um, I think before my brain injury, I did like art and I did some art, but it's kind of like, oh, I did for class, or okay, let me do this project. But after my brain injury, it's Like, my mind, my brain, and my soul kind of got, like, interconnected, where now if I do art, I express myself through art, and it's kind of like a coping mechanism. But in doing art, you can see all the beauty in some things. Like, you can go outside, if you, like, paint a tree, like, you see different colors of leaves. Like, everything's not perfect. Everything's, like, not the same. So it's kind of like how I feel. Like, okay, I'm So, it's just Like, I actually, like, had a stinking other day, like, with my brain injury, so, I felt like, oh, I always felt like I was broken. So, but then, I was talking to someone, and she really inspired me, and so basically now, kind of my motto is like, I'm not broken, my life is not ruined, it's just reimagined. My life just needs to be reimagined. There's no roadblocks, so.

Carrie: 11:23

That's great, I love that. And what a lot of people don't know, or, I mean, it's true. Because a lot of people don't know a lot about brain injury and as brain injured we learn a lot. Um, but like art is something that helps heal a brain injury for a lot of people. I am NOT one of those people, but that's okay. Um, I can enjoy the art, I just don't want to do the art. Um, and then also music is a big deal to a lot of people. That helps heal the brain. Do you have a lot of music?

Brittany: 11:51

Um, yeah, I listen to a lot of songs, and like, I relate to the songs, so it's kind of, I feel the soul, I feel the beat of the song, so it gets in my head. And you know, if one thing, I can't remember school work, I can remember songs though, but you know, the songs, different coping mechanisms, different genres, so it, It speaks to you, so the music speaks to you. You can relate to the artist, what you're going through. Some artists go through the same thing, but you don't know, but it's kind of like you're opening up the whole world of support, community, and like connection.

Carrie: 12:25

Okay, and um, let's go back to school. You talked about that. So you did go back and you graduated. Did you go back before you found BIND or after and while you were kind of doing BIND?

Brittany: 12:36

I went back before I found BIND.

Carrie: 12:38

Okay. And so after therapy finally got better, and

Brittany: 12:42

you And then I started declining, and so then I went to Neurofeedback, and the person that was doing Neurofeedback told me about BIND. It's like, you should get involved with BIND. And at first I was kind of hesitant. I was like, okay, I'm gonna be around people, a lot of people, but, um, she got me to go. And so when I went, and as it grew, I loved it. Like, it changed my life. I was I was depressed for a while, and I still kind of get on my low side, but with BIND, like, it actually gave me a purpose to wake up in the morning like, oh, well, I need to go to the clubhouse, so I can, you know, improve. And so, that's what I really love about BIND. It's a support system that's there.

Carrie: 13:23

So, um, just for our listeners, I mean, I, know a little bit about it, and I'm pretty sure we've had an episode or two on it, but can you explain in your words, not from a clinical standpoint or that, what neurofeedback is,

Brittany: 13:38

and how

Carrie: 13:39

it, how it works and for a brain injured?

Brittany: 13:41

So neurofeedback is retraining the brain. So, and since it's retraining your brain, um, you can put, it goes through electromagnetic, so you'll get, um, electromagnetic pulses to your head. And so, it does, rewires your brain. So, it makes your brain relearn the things that it needs to learn. So, for instance, oh, I have a brain fog. So, it's going to make me, you know, less foggy. So, it's going to rewire, make sure I do that. Like, cause sometimes with my foot drop actually, I couldn't feel the right side of my lower body. And so after that you had to try really hard, or, brain fatigue. So that's another thing with brain fatigue like I can do something and at first I feel like only study for 30 minutes, so I started studying. And now as I was doing that my brain like got more endurance like it I can study for an hour now without my brain shutting down. Because with my brain, if I go too much and overwhelm, like, it shuts all the way down. Like, everything shuts down. Like, I can't move, I can't do anything, I don't know how to do anything. So, I just lay down. But, neurofeedback's really good. Um, it helped me a lot to get back, like, on the path. Like, to help my brain. It gave me a boost.

Carrie: 15:03

Okay, that's cool. And you mentioned the foot drop earlier, and I, I have that as well. So I know, we've talked about these before, um, you have an AFO as well, correct? And that helps. I don't think your foot drop is quite as bad as mine, but, but, where did you have any other, um, physical injuries? Because like you say, you know, most of yours is internal, internal in the brain, and you look totally normal. Like where I, you know, I have, I have, I mean, I look normal on the face, but I have the obvious physical disability.

Brittany: 15:33

Yeah, the little coat of a brain injury, the invisible injury. Um, yeah, I had a foot drop, but now I got better. So, I had a big AFO that went all the way up to my knee, which was really hot in summer. And so, actually, I got better, and so now I, like, downgraded to an ASO. It's just an ankle stabilizer. So, I kind of, like, ankle brace, which is good. So, um, But, other injuries, yeah, after an accident, because I slammed against my steering wheel, my eyes bruised, so some of my ribs were bruised and like still tender. Um, my ankle was swollen, so actually I tore my ATFL, my interior, um, ligament on top of my foot. And, you know, since I like neglected it for like seven months, um, it healed, but kind of healed wrong. And so that's like one of my physical injuries and I know that my shoulder kind of got locked up like I was like literally Kind of walking around like that my shoulder locked up and so also my eyes were shaking violently so I had to go to a special eye doctor and I did eye training and

Carrie: 16:42

Oh, well, that's cool. I'm going to take a quick little break and remind our listeners to go ahead and click that like button, click that share button, and if you're watching on YouTube, click that notify button because we want to make sure you get updated on all of our different platforms. But, um, so back to Brittany because I have a couple more questions real quick. Um, so I know that when you first started BIND, you were volunteering at the library and now you're what at the library?

Brittany: 17:08

Um, so, basically, another thing, um, I kind of got out before I came to BIND, like, going to the library a little bit as a patron, and then So patron, you know, patron that goes in the library that uses the resources. So I went to the Makerspace, which is an awesome place. So it's things like with machines and stuff, um, art, basically, which I love.

Carrie: 17:30

All the little signs you made for us.

Brittany: 17:32

Oh, yeah, definitely. So yeah, so I was the patron at first and then I'd start helping, um, out, and then they're like, okay, you can volunteer. So I became a volunteer, and so then I kind of like, learned and taught myself how to like, fix the machines, which is also another thing with my brain injury I kind of feel, like, But me and my brain injury is kinda like I have to learn everything again and like how things work in my body and my brain because it's a little bit harder now. So it's like fixing machines is like, okay machine, what's wrong with you? Like, let's go to the beginning. What's not working with you? So that's kinda like how I feel and I think that like after my brain injury is like, I like look at different things from a different perspective now. So after that like I volunteered, so then I became an intern. And then, now, I got promoted recently. Um, I'm a part time program specialist, so that means I come up with programs and help patrons with their designs and teach classes to them, which is really good because also with doing art, you move your hands. And so with brain injuries, some people, they'll lose their, like, ability to move their hand or they lose feeling their hands. Like, uh, my hands shake or my right hand, like, I'll hold something and it just So, like, that's kind of like doing therapy while, you know, doing art. So, it helps a lot, my hands, so, and improves my coordination.

Carrie: 18:58

That's very cool. I'm so proud of you. Now, I'm going to ask, um, how do I ask this? Um, so, I know, um, When you first started coming to the Plano Clubhouse, we kept trying to get you in here to do this story, and you were pretty hesitant, but now you're 180 about face, here you are, my new co host! How did that come about?

Brittany: 19:19

Um Basically BIND, because first I'm like, I have a brain injury, I can't do that, like, I'm gonna be there, cause, also I had aphasia a little bit in the beginning, I still do, where I can't find my words, or I won't speak them, and some days I can slur my words, or some days I talk backwards, one time I had one, where I started talking backwards, so, it was really weird, but then BIND, like, cause we do different tasks, you know, like, It's like kind of like a business run, members led, member running clubhouse. So, um, we do different tasks to keep the clubhouse afoot, like administration, like do um, email, send them out, um, actually talk to people, go out in the community and advocate for a brain injury and tell them about BIND. So, I had done a few of those, so it got my confidence really up because like my confidence was down, and especially with brain injuries, like I can't do that anymore. So, it's like, with BIND, I, like, got more skills where I actually could, where I actually got more confident, where I actually know that, yeah, I can do this, like. So, with BIND, it actually helped me open up, out of my shell, and not be like, ugh, this brain issue is going to stop, ruin my life. But no, I'm coming to BIND every day, I'm learning new skills, I'm improving, I'm getting more skills to learn, and actually, like, finding myself. And with all the support of BIND and the community, so.

Carrie: 20:45

I'm so excited that you did say yes, cause and don't worry about the aphasia if that happens here. I mean, you know, Kezia had days where it didn't happen. Happened to her, and again, we're trying to be authentic, show you what real brain injury is all, so, and that's fine. I say words wrong when I don't even have a aphasia, but so, you know, but I have had a brain injury. So, I'm gonna ask one final question. What would be the biggest piece of advice that you would give a new brain injury member? And not a, yeah, a new, not a but a new brain injury survivor?

Brittany: 21:16

Um, first of all, you're not alone. Um, second off, um, it's really good to find a support system, because I know with some brain injured survivors I saw, like, after they got the brain injury, um, their family didn't understand, so they were like, alone, alone, they only had like one person on their side. So, my biggest thing is to find your support, find your community, because if not, you're gonna be alone, and being alone inside your brain with a brain injury is not fun, so. Because, you know, your brain runs your body, so, but, also, yeah, so you should find support even if you go to support groups. There's a lot of support groups out there, like the hospital offers support groups. But also find a place where, you know, you can thrive, like, that you can continue your journey of healing. So, I would tell a brain injured person to kind of actually look into BIND. Like, come in and actually see what we're about.

Carrie: 22:17

Thank you. And I will say, like Brittany mentioned, support groups, we talk about that. You can call either clubhouse, and depending on which one you're closer to, and we have lists of local support groups that we're aware of that we know that we can help get you set up with if you're interested in that. So, absolutely. But, um, so, I'm going to say thank you, Brittany, again. I'm so excited you decided to come along on this journey with me, and it's going to be a lot of fun, and I want to remind our Listeners, like Brittany said, if you are interested in becoming a member of BIND, check out our website, thebind.org And if you just want to learn more about bindwaves, or that's, that's thebind.org/bindwaves. And then again, there's also, we have an email, bindwaves@thebind. org. Say that a lot. We have an Instagram. Guess what?@bindwaves. I encourage you to like and follow that because that's where we post our most current episodes whenever they're coming on. We also are trying to work harder on posting more content, reels, or just different little things to be more active on there, but we encourage you to follow us. We're trying to grow our followership, so please, please, please, please go to Instagram and follow@bindwaves.

Brittany: 23:32

Yeah, and then don't forget to like, share, subscribe, and also hit notify on YouTube while listening to bindwaves. You can find us on all your favorite platforms.

Carrie: 23:43

So, thank you for listening.

Brittany: 23:45

Until next time!

23:46

We hope you've enjoyed listening to BIND Waves and continue to support BIND and our non profit mission. We support brain injury survivors as they reconnect into the life, the community, and their workplace. And we couldn't do that without great listeners like you. We appreciate each and every one of you. Continue watching. Until next time. Until next time.