Admittedly, I didn't understand or even appreciate the importance of my physiotherapy rehab after my brain injury. When the doctors first told me that I'd be going to the Miller Centre (the rehab hospital in St. John's, NL) I was really excited! At least I'd be out of the hospital! I couldn't sleep. When I ...
It’s going to happen, learn from it
Yesterday evening, as I was about to talk to receive a call from someone from the Mayo Clinic about their Concussion Program to discuss how I could be involved, I was thinking about what it is about brain injury that I want to share with people. I've said it in a more muddled way before, in ...
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Concussion Program
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Concussion Program is on Facebook! The Mayo Clinic in Arizona has a comprehensive sports concussion program that focuses on protecting the health of concussed athletes through evaluation and education/awareness about prevention. Physicians from 12 sub-specialities of medecine are involved: neurology, neuroradiology, neurosurgery, neuropsycholology, headache medicine, sports medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, emergency medicine, internal medicine, ...
Call it what you want, just don’t panic
Confidence, arrogance, or indifference. It doesn't matter which term you use, as long as you understand what it means to show any  of those characteristics. The popular conception is that confidence encapsulates valuing yourself, being proud of what you've accomplished and 'standing up for yourself'. The unfortunate circumstance is that the word 'confidence' (as used ...
Why do I write?
Because, as much as it lets others ask questions, it encourages me to ask questions of myself. Granted, I have always questioned myself, I'm hyper-self-critical. In general, it's not necessarily a good thing. I hesitate or stop completely. I waste opportunities. I'll pass up a good chance (with a woman, for a job,...) for a safer, ...
Still Relating
A few weeks ago I wrote a post entitled Relating. It was about the new (past 9 years, since my brain injury) difficulty I had relating to others. I discuss how it's tough to convey the experience and how great the help from my friends and family was. Recently, I read an article, entitled Voyages in Concussion ...
Relating
I've written two blog posts (attempted posts, really) about relating to people since my brain injury. They now sit in the 'Posts' section as drafts Relating 1 and Relating 2. I was happy with my first one until I realized that I just kept talking about my brain injury and recovery, very slowly meandering to a vague point. ...
NFL players: They’re not doing it for their health
With the NFL season getting started last night, player health, at all levels, comes to the front of my mind. I have recently been thinking about health insurance with respect to sports. Living in Canada, it is definitely less of concern than in the U.S., but I thought I would share some thoughts about the ...
Caught in a vicious cycle: the media and Lance Armstrong
People assume that I'm a big Lance Armstrong fan and it's easy for me to see why that presumption is made. Maybe it's because I read, and have on my bookshelf, 2 Armstrong books, It's Not About the Bike (that one's yours John, I've just had it for 9 years) and Every Second Counts. Maybe it's ...