Just when I start to think I have it all together, I have a brain meltdown. I went to bed last night with the feeling of accomplishment and ready to start a new day in the morning, ........ – but ...........................where’s the coffee?
Larry and I have different sleep schedules and he is always awake when I get out of bed in the morning. I can safely bet money there will be coffee ready; and, as soon as I take my morning medication for all the conditions as a result of the brain injury, the coffee is my next stop. On occasion, Larry is busy working and the timing doesn’t work out that way. And so it was this morning. No coffee.
“That’s okay”, I told myself as I stumbled to my laptop still half asleep. I understand there’s no rule he has to have coffee ready for me and that sometimes he is just so caught up in what he’s working on that it’s not an opportune time for him to stop and make coffee. So, I usually patiently check my email or the online news until he gets around to it. Why don’t I make the coffee? That’s a whole other article. Remember, I said I’m not even awake good – not good to combine that with the effects of a brain injury. Trust me.
Some people are morning people – not me. I prefer not to communicate until I have that first cup of coffee and start to organize my thoughts. If you have suffered an acquired brain injury AND you’re not a morning person – well, you can see where I’m going. That is me. Although I love the morning once I’m awake, I do like to wake up slowly. It’s especially important for me to allow myself extra time to get ready for the day since my anoxic brain injury in 1990.
I like to have at least one cup of coffee as I gradually start to plan my day. That usually starts by reviewing what went on the day before and then preparing my list for the current day. Sometimes this requires a prioritized, detailed list. Other times it can be some notes on a scratchpad. There are a lot of electronic planners on the market these days which can be helpful in the later stages of brain injury, but sometimes all you need is a consistent place to jot down some important notes such as a daily planner.
This morning was one of those days Larry was busy and there was no coffee. He and I share our home office and he was busy working, so I did my usual thing – headed to my laptop to check my email. As soon as I sat down, Larry was finishing up what he was working on. He handed me a memory stick to add some information to my laptop. I did that with issues. Then he began to explain what he wanted me to do with the various tabs on the spreadsheet.
Normally, I would be fine with that; but, don’t forget, I had not yet had MY COFFEE! To say the least, I was having a problem concentrating and could feel the frustration building and even a little resentment toward Larry for requiring me to try to concentrate before I had even had a sip of coffee. As usual, he was extremely patient when I appeared frustrated and not very interested in the project.
Larry and I have different sleep schedules and he is always awake when I get out of bed in the morning. I can safely bet money there will be coffee ready; and, as soon as I take my morning medication for all the conditions as a result of the brain injury, the coffee is my next stop. On occasion, Larry is busy working and the timing doesn’t work out that way. And so it was this morning. No coffee.
“That’s okay”, I told myself as I stumbled to my laptop still half asleep. I understand there’s no rule he has to have coffee ready for me and that sometimes he is just so caught up in what he’s working on that it’s not an opportune time for him to stop and make coffee. So, I usually patiently check my email or the online news until he gets around to it. Why don’t I make the coffee? That’s a whole other article. Remember, I said I’m not even awake good – not good to combine that with the effects of a brain injury. Trust me.
Some people are morning people – not me. I prefer not to communicate until I have that first cup of coffee and start to organize my thoughts. If you have suffered an acquired brain injury AND you’re not a morning person – well, you can see where I’m going. That is me. Although I love the morning once I’m awake, I do like to wake up slowly. It’s especially important for me to allow myself extra time to get ready for the day since my anoxic brain injury in 1990.
I like to have at least one cup of coffee as I gradually start to plan my day. That usually starts by reviewing what went on the day before and then preparing my list for the current day. Sometimes this requires a prioritized, detailed list. Other times it can be some notes on a scratchpad. There are a lot of electronic planners on the market these days which can be helpful in the later stages of brain injury, but sometimes all you need is a consistent place to jot down some important notes such as a daily planner.
This morning was one of those days Larry was busy and there was no coffee. He and I share our home office and he was busy working, so I did my usual thing – headed to my laptop to check my email. As soon as I sat down, Larry was finishing up what he was working on. He handed me a memory stick to add some information to my laptop. I did that with issues. Then he began to explain what he wanted me to do with the various tabs on the spreadsheet.
Normally, I would be fine with that; but, don’t forget, I had not yet had MY COFFEE! To say the least, I was having a problem concentrating and could feel the frustration building and even a little resentment toward Larry for requiring me to try to concentrate before I had even had a sip of coffee. As usual, he was extremely patient when I appeared frustrated and not very interested in the project.
Now I realize I should have told him I was not yet ready to take in that information. My brain was hurling through the cycle of response, saying stop - I’m not ready for this yet! With no short-term memory, it seemed pointless to continue. He would have been fine with that and my day would have gotten off to a much better start. What I’ll do now is start over, re-group, and do some planning for this beautiful day.
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