After three brain injuries over her lifetime, Amina's cognitive ability was impacted in such a way that she was unable to ask for help on her own.   But like many of us, it was hard for her to know how much she had really changed as a person.

Poignantly, her young son was the one person was able to show her how much she had changed by asking for his "old" mom back.  It was  an emotional blow and a common hit to our self esteem that is common for those of us with brain injury.  

Wisely, Amina had a good lawyer who helped her get access to aides to help her with basic admin tasks and some small parts of taking care of her son.  But she was there for him as he was there for her., even if their relationship got significantly emotionally strained at times.

She knows she has a limited amount of stamina and if it runs out in the middle of a task, she just has to drop everything and go home. It requires planning and she has gotten pretty good at predicting when she is getting low.

She has made great strides and is a wonderfully self determined woman and caring mother.  She helps us learn from her experience.

A Note On The Life Over Pain Theme Music: Emily Bielagus graciously and generously composed the lovely theme music for the Life Over Pain podcast. Find her music at Spotify, wildyawp.com, and reach her at wildyawpband@gmail.com.

Thank you to RØDE Microphones for donating the NT-USB microphone that was used to record  this story. You can check it out on their website at:  http://www.rode.com/microphones/nt-usb. 

Bella Paige was a highly competitive show jumper as a younger girl.  And she LOVED it.  The adrenaline rush alone might have been enough to keep her going but she loved the competition, the horses, all of it.  She planned to compete and show horses for the rest of her life.  Sadly, injuries intervened.  In any sport having to do with 1200 pound animals you can bet that injuries will come, and often.  But highly competitive, driven athletes (even young ones) often don't share their pain with others, nor do they ask for help.  So Bella kept competing in spite of accumulating injuries and increasing pain.  But, finally, sadly she had to stop and she had to drop out of school to heal.

Such a set back can be emotionally crushing, and it was for Bella.  It took a great deal of time,  many dark days with little to brighten them, and a vast amount of help for her to come through her emotional and physical struggles.  And she's not done.  Bella works on herself everyday.  She's found dirt bikes to replace horses, which she sees as less dangerous, but still feeds her need for a rush.   A lot of what gives her purpose and, I imagine a bit of peace, is her podcast, her mentoring, and her speaking engagements.  All of which she does to share her story with others like her (and me) in the hope that we can all gain some small or big insight from her experience to help us on our path to less pain, more clarity, and a life of value.

Find Bella's podcast here: https://www.postconcussioninc.com/podcast and her website here: https://www.postconcussioninc.com.  

A Note On The Life Over Pain Theme Music: Emily Bielagus graciously and generously composed the lovely theme music for the Life Over Pain podcast. Find her music at Spotify, wildyawp.com, and reach her at wildyawpband@gmail.com.

Thank you to RØDE Microphones for donating the NT-USB microphone that was used to record  this story. You can check it out on their website at:  http://www.rode.com/microphones/nt-usb. 

When you are faced with an existential crisis, it's hard to see what is right in front of you.  Brain injury and Lime Disease screw with one's sense of self.  Pamela Schmidt was a never-say-never person a superwoman in the flesh.  She still knows she is that person in some ways, but then again, she isn't that person.

She's had concussions in her past, like so many of us, but nothing like when a window fell on her head.  That changed everything.  Back in the 90's she was told to keep going, that she was okay.  But she wasn't.  She had to change her approach to life.  So she changed what she did, but not entirely how she did it.  She was still all in - home schooling her three kids, being a perpetual volunteer who usually became the lead at those efforts.  She's an incredibly capable person in spite of her limitations.

Superwoman still reigns.  Pamela just doesn't see it herself because she can't be the same kind of superwoman that she used to be.  But you'll hear how strong, passionate and talented she is as she tells  her story.  And you can see it in her quilting.  Check it out in via the link in the text.

A Note On The Life Over Pain Theme Music: Emily Bielagus graciously and generously composed the lovely theme music for the Life Over Pain podcast. Find her music at Spotify, wildyawp.com, and reach her at wildyawpband@gmail.com.

Thank you to RØDE Microphones for donating the NT-USB microphone that was used to record  this story. You can check it out on their website at:  http://www.rode.com/microphones/nt-usb.