My Unofficial Service Dog’s Pay Day!

Pay day at McDonald’s. He’s their #1 Fan!

Grateful for My Companion Animal

I woke today to this face. Again. Too early for me.  But he’s getting older and needs to go out more often.

This is Pepper.  My family and I adopted him 12+ years ago.  I found him on the internet.  When my husband and son went to pick him up from the adoption place they did so with my instructions to not come home without him.  He had some behavioral issues.  We slowly worked through them although his separation anxiety remains an issue.  He was approximately 9 years old when my husband and I divorced.  When I moved from the family farm to a small apartment I chose to leave him there because I thought it might be cruel to move him from the only home he’d ever known.  He had room to run and play.  There were other animals there to interact with.  Instead, his anxiety issues grew worse.  He began to destroy things when my ex-husband would leave him alone.  One year after I moved I received a call to come get him or my ex-husband would find another home for him (I’m being respectful here). I made the necessary arrangements to go get him.

He’s been with me since.  However, I’ve had to leave him again several times.  Necessarily.  The last time two times that I had to leave him was when I was in the hospital and when I was recovering.  When I finally settled into the apartment where I live now I, once again, went to get him.  This time I made him a promise.  He’d chosen me.  Time and time again. I promised him that I’d never leave him again.  And I don’t intend to.

This needy, sometimes seemingly neurotic, insecure yet overprotective dog is my unofficial service dog.  He seems to know me better than anyone.  He comforts me before I even know anything’s wrong.  There are a couple of neighbor boys who enjoy playing with him.  They visit him and offer to take him for walks only to have him rush back home.  He truly is my companion.

One of the things that he enjoys the most is our visits to McDonald’s.  I get my coffee and he gets his usual 4 piece McNuggets.  We sit in the parking lot and enjoy our snack.  He recognizes the sign and they know us there.  It’s the small things.

He’s getting older and so I appreciate all the time that I have with him.  He’s a happy dog and very energetic.

Companion animals are healthy, meaningful and often necessary for those of us who have brain injuries for a myriad of reasons.  Fortunately I don’t have a physical need for one but my Pepper takes care of my emotional need.

For that I am grateful.

Survivors Need Support…Ongoing

Today has been a difficult one for me.  I woke with a headache and tired.  They are doing construction on my apartment building and the noise is not helping.  When I struggle physically it seems to affect me emotionally as well.  It made me think about the issue of support.  I have lacked adequate support since my injury.  I have found solace and comfort through other survivors.  Through their stories and my experience I have learned the following about the need for support.

There is no question that support is needed immediately after any traumatic brain injury.  What is not often talked about, in my case anyway, is the ongoing need for support in the months following.  When all the physical wounds seem to have healed, recovery continues emotionally and mentally.  Lifestyles change, memory issues continue, psychological issues are ongoing. Traumatic brain injury is invisible because the damage is done to the brain rather than some other more visible part of our bodies.  The fact that the brain is what is effected makes it complex is an understatement.  It is difficult to deal with for the survivor and those family members who choose to support them.  Hopefully, the attached articles will shed some light.

Hopefully.

http://www.brainline.org/content/2011/07/lost-found-what-brain-injury-survivors-want-you-to-know.html

http://www.brainandspinalcord.org/coping-traumatic-brain-injury/Family-support-tbi.html

Brain Injury Q & A

”Brain Injury”

Will you admit that it is unseen? It’s possible with the right lens made clean

Will you be willing to see? Or turn away from me

Will you listen when I try to explain? Or continue to dismiss my pain

Will you know that my break is inside? It’s not obvious, it hides

Will you see the signs that I show you? It’s the only thing I know to do

Will you listen even when I rant? I often don’t have words, my symptoms speak when I can’t

Will you accept that I am changed? I’m still here, just rearranged

Will you be there for me even when you get tired? Your help isn’t just something that I want but require

Will you help me to make others aware? We are many and we have a lot to share.

-jmf