Introduction
I’ve summarised my recovery progression into bite-sized sections, each containing links to sub-pages where I provide further explanation. The numbers beneath each heading refer to the number of elapsed months from my injury on 31st July 2015.
I feel like my recovery journey resulted in me carving myself a new path through life, which has been immensely satisfying.
Hospital Rehabilitation
Months 3 and 4
Psychological assessments and general observations regarding my time at the NHS Haywood hospital rehabilitation centre.
Transcription of the diaries I kept, where I recorded events happening to me or around me.
Acceptance
Month 4
My thoughts on how I managed to avoid the frustrations which I knew that I was vulnerable to.
It was clear to me that dwelling on negatives could lead to a downward spiral, so I chose to recognise and appreciate how I still had the love and support of my family and close friends.
Home Rehabilitation
Months 5 to 13
Transcription of my diary entries after being discharged from the Haywood, which evidence my first thoughts of being at home. By having daily baseline diary notes to refer to I could subsequently reflect on my progress, which I genuinely didn’t recognise at the time.
Friends and family would tell me how much better I was getting, I think the disparity was because they’d be using a different time reference than me. They were expressing the progress I’d made in comparison to seeing me weeks or months prior, whereas I was subconsciously comparing myself to the previous day.
Neurosurgeon Review
Month 5
I visited the neurosurgeon who’d operated on my brain for a progress review meeting in November 2015, two weeks after my hospital discharge.
Amongst matters we discussed was my intent to return to work as an IT security consultant. He commented that I was sensible in deciding to wait a further two months until early 2016. Despite desperately wanting to regain my vocational purpose by returning to professional work, it was a further twenty months later in July 2017 that I did so.
Anxiety
Month 9
I made notes in preparation for a meeting with my rehabilitation consultant at the Haywood hospital (nine months after my injury), where my anxiety was on the agenda.
There’s nothing particularly insightful in the notes (some of which are rather personal), but I thought it useful to record anything which came to mind at that time.
Occupational Therapy
Months 10 to 22
I underwent interventions from a multi-disciplinary team of occupational therapists, psychologists and a physiotherapist. There are minutes of meetings, as well as descriptions of some of the tasks I was encouraged to undertake.
Speech and language therapy tasks involved me doing simple exercises on vocabulary and the like, similar to what I might have done at an early school age. With hindsight I can see how this was extremely useful to me, as it made me aware that I wasn’t as limited as I imagined myself to be.
Volunteering
Months 12 to 24
One year after my injury, I felt certain that returning to my previous professional role as an IT security consultant was unrealistic. However, I did need a work-related purpose, so I involved myself in various volunteering roles. I’ve since learned that this is a recovery approach which goes by the name vocational rehabilitation.
My volunteering journey turned out to be the most personally rewarding activity of my life. My eventual return to professional work was a wonderful by-product, rather than a planned objective.
Professional Work
Months 25 to 48
My return to working again for the Metropolitan Police Service in London was a significant event for me. After a twenty-four-month break, allied to my brain limitations, I had inevitable anxiety over whether I would be able to function effectively. Nevertheless, I was delighted to be back doing something I’d previously enjoyed being an expert at.
I kept a detailed diary for each day of my first week at the Met. The time period was Monday 24th July through Friday 28th July 2017 – my brain injury had been on Friday 31st July 2015.
I’ve come to realise that it wasn’t the work, per se, I enjoyed so much. I now recognise it was the interaction with people and dealing with challenging situations which I found stimulating.
Retirement
Months 49+
I retired from professional employment in July 2019, but knew I would gain vocational satisfaction and enjoyment through a volunteering path.
My Work | Career page presents an overview of my career. By scrolling down to the ‘My Present and Future’ section, some of my volunteering activities can be viewed.
Contentment
Transcription of rambling diary entries I made after returning to work; they’re loosely based on my feelings of contentment.
