Jessy Munch

How has your life’s trajectory changed since you or someone you care about has been affected by brain injury?

I had a bad day at work, I called my husband and asked him if I could quit my job. I have never been one to stay at a job if it’s a toxic environment and that day was beyond toxic! My husband said to just take the day off early and go do something I enjoy and love to do. So I canceled my 4pm orange theory class and met my girlfriend at the motocross track an hour away. I took my extra dirt bike for her to ride as hers was broke down. The picture of us at the track is 30 minutes before I would be in a coma and my life would change forever, however I am writing this so how lucky am I? So lucky!

I was racing as normal, I raced often at 37 years old. I have rode since I was 5 years old. I was a health educator though, so I was big on safety and had a great helmet that cost a little more because it had MIPS in it which is technology in the helmet to help prevent the worst. I believe it saved my life, well that and the fact I was healthy, didn’t drink alcohol or do drugs and had a great mindset. I am told I went over a jump and crashed, when I crashed a rider behind me jumped and landed on my head and then another rider ran over my neck resulting in a coma, Glasgow coma score of 3, a broken jaw and broken neck. I had protective gear under my race clothes.

I was only in a coma for a week, I had a subdural hematoma and subarachnoid hemorrhage, severe TBI and Diffuse Axonal Injury. I am told the day they were going to drill into my skull to relive pressure is the day I woke up. I am not surprised, I am not one that likes to be threatened!

I have no memory of that day or the year before and the rest of my memory is jumbled. For the first 8 months or so I was like Drew Barrymore on 50 first dates, every day I woke up I had to recall of the day before. I spent 3.5 weeks in the hospital and then was transported to an inpatient rehab for 3.5 more weeks. My first memory is actually of being in a medical transport van going over a bridge in Portland.

I was discharged home with 24 hour supervision, had therapies that came into my home and had to have someone help me shower and use the bathroom. I went home with my gastric feeding tube also but was able to eat a soft food diet. It was taken out at some point after I was home. Once rehab at home finished, I started doing intensive outpatient therapy 5 days a week full days at a brain rehab facility. I relied on family to get me there until I was considered safe to ride public transportation. My insurance maxed out within a month and I was nowhere near done. We are very fortunate that we owned a house and had equity and were able to sell it and downsize so we could pay out of pocket for my speech, occupational and physical therapy. From working in the healthcare system, I knew how to navigate it well and that 15 years of experience was still in my memory. I decided at that point to go to speech at a school and work with students who were learning to become SLPs. As far as PT was concerned I was going well and got back into doing orange theory, however looking back I pushed myself too far.

But that was how I was before my TBI. I was a very extroverted person who couldn’t sit still. After my TBI I was so exhausted all the time and still am, but I have yet to learn how to pace well and I am almost 8 years into living with a TBI. I had so many wild ideas in the first 3 years, as a health educator I saw how I could help educate people on TBI, share my story, provide resources and help other survivors navigate the healthcare system and just help others. I gained a decent social media following and was very active in it. I was walking a ton, working out and just trying to go back to my old life as much as I could. But I crashed and burnt out. I was also working a year after my injury and work was not close by, so I was riding public transportation an hour each way and then working for a local trauma program that does brain injury education and helmet safety. I see now looking back that I did way to much rather than focus on healing I and wish I would not have done that, but that is just part of who I am. I always have learned the hard way.

These days I really try to listen to my body. I still fail consistently at it though and then pay for it dearly. I am working now in schools as an assistant and love to work at a local high school in their life skills program, it’s all high schoolers who have a disability and I honestly feel that I’m with my people and they bring me so much joy and happiness.

Most all of our friends walked out of our life, and that’s really hard especially when I’m still here but working in the life skills class gives me not only a purpose, but also the social life I need being around others working and the students. I still see my psychologist I have had since my first outpatient rehab. All of my hobbies from before are no longer a safe option for me, so there has been so much chance. But the one thing I still have is life and an amazingly supportive husband who was only my husband of 9 months when I got injured. He goes with me to my psych appointments too when needed because being married to me is hard I’m sure. I take things wrong all the time, I no longer understand sarcasm, I don’t understand a lot of things often, I have good days and bad days and life is hard but I have life and I am so grateful for my second chance.