Considering the Impact of a TBI

Hello faithful family, friends, and followers. We had another eventful week in our sorting, downsizing, and organizing our current and future life. We’ll have more details on all of that in the weeks to come, but for now, know that we are so grateful for your ongoing prayers, support, and encouragement.

I don’t know if its the magic of C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia or just the principle of “practice makes perfect,” but Joy’s reading has shown some promising gains in her pacing, word recognition, and pronunciation over the past week. While still slow, her reading is steadier, with less faltering, fewer words that stump her, and fewer mistakes. We are both encouraged by her hard won progress. In addition to the Chronicles of Narnia, Joy continues to stay on track daily for her reading through the Bible in a year and keeps up with multiple knitting projects as well.

This past week we crossed the 11 month anniversary of the accident. For me, each of the monthly anniversaries have produced a flood of memories and emotions, while at the same time, thankfulness and gratitude. As we approached this anniversary, I read a story in a publication by the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance, a resource and advocacy group dedicated to raising awareness of many issues regarding brain injury. This particular article was so poignant and had so many parallels with Joy’s injury and subsequent care/recovery, that it triggered a bit of PTSD for me as I read it, and yet, to know others have faced so many of the same struggles, in fact even more severely than we did, was sobering, horrifying and gut wrenching, but also to a degree comforting in knowing we were not alone. Because it spoke so personally to me/us, we want to share it with you and ask, if you would, to take the time to read it.

The article starts on page 6 of the publication and is titled “Breaking a Stacked Deck” (click here to open). While the article shares the story of two TBI survivors, I would draw your attention particularly to the story of Jan and Tim Thurn threaded throughout the piece. It begins with, “On July 20, 2020, Tim Thurn’s wife was out for a run when she was struck in a crosswalk by a negligent driver…”

From the trauma of the accident, to navigating the health care system, the challenges of facing a tangle of auto vs health insurance reimbursement, even when you’re a pedestrian, to the lack of accountability for a negligent driver, to seeking and advocating for and paying for resources necessary for care and recovery of TBI, the article “hit home” in so many ways for us.

We are humbled and blessed by the remarkable recovery Joy has made and that, despite her on-going physical and cognitive challenges and limitations, we are able to live and very beautiful, “normal,” life. But my/our hope in sharing the article is to generate a greater sense of awareness as you look around your world to potentially recognize that someone with a TBI or the caregiver or family member of someone with a TBI, may be within reach and if so, perhaps you could, as you have done for us, seek to be an encouragement to them in some form or fashion.

Ok, I’ll get down off my soapbox now and next week we will, “return to our regularly scheduled programming.” Until then, please know that we pray for you daily and continue to covet your prayers for Joy’s continued healing in the deficit areas she faithfully faces and seeks to conquer each day.