August 2019 Courtney Rowe

My name is Courtney Rowe. Back in November of 2009 I was in a car accident. This resulted in my obtaining a TBI, which stands for traumatic brain injury. I was the passenger in a little Honda Civic. We were struck on the driver’s side. According to the news article, my ex-boyfriend ran a stop sign. There was no additional way to prove otherwise, as there were no witnesses other than the driver of the Mack truck who was conscious. We were on our way back home from picking up my Siamese cat. She survived, and according to the news, the rescue crew found her lying right next to me. I remained in a coma for a little over six months. Based on the amount of time I was in a coma, people did not expect me to live or function normally again. Luckily my mother believed and did not pull the life support on me.

Prior to my injury I was a relatively active person. I worked, went to college, and to the gym. I also wrote and played the guitar. I was living in my own apartment and my current boyfriend had just moved in with me. Life at the time seemed nearly perfect.

It is now 2019. Wow, it has been almost 10 years! I am still going to outpatient therapy most days. I am re-learning a lot of things. One of the first things I had to re-learn was my speech. I tried using the phone one day during my speech session early in my recovery, and the person on the other end of the receiver hung up on me because my speech was mumbled. How rude!

For a while I was wheelchair bound. I worked so hard in physical therapy to walk again because I missed it so much. Guess what? I am speed walking, nearly jogging now. I still have balance issues, so there is still work to do. I am still motivated to make improvements.

During occupational therapy they got me into doing money management. I am still working on that in my own time, and it’s not that bad. I could still improve, but who couldn’t? Now I have been discharged from my one-on-one sessions of occupational therapy, and I am now in group sessions. This allows me to socialize, talk about current events, and work more on my goals, but is not as intense.

I was also placed in recreational therapy. Recreational therapy has helped me with exploring different activities to do in my free time. Some of what I used to enjoy doing no longer interests me as much or I cannot physically do the activities. Recreational therapy is helping me explore new options I can learn.

At the end of what has happened, I am a whole new person living a new life. There are things from the past I do miss, but this is a new beginning for me. I recently bought a house and got a cat. This past Christmas a friend bought me a new camera and I love photography. I got myself a new acoustic guitar and have been taking lessons every week.

In conclusion, I have some advice: don’t give up. Your dreams may have changed after all that has happened, but people change their minds all the time. Things may be challenging to do but that’s it, it’s a challenge. Face the change and take on the challenge. Do not be disappointed with the outcome of things, try your hardest, and be proud of what you have done.