Larry and I had a great time in St. Louis last week. We met up with two couples that have become very special friends over the years. We met in Saint Martin while on vacation and started booking our stays at the same time every year. One couple is from Maryland and the other is from Minneapolis. It just so happens the couple from Minneapolis also owns a house in St. Louis and it worked out we could all meet there this year.
I decided to write about our trip this week because I was reminded of my dependence on Larry as a result of my brain injury. I so very much want my independence because that is really who I am. Of courses, even if I didn’t have this anoxic brain injury, I would rely on Larry to make some of the final decisions in our lives because I trust him and we’re a team. However, that is not the kind of dependence I’m referring to here.
The trip to St. Louis was very enjoyable. We took a somewhat leisurely drive and I was reading the directions on the map we had printed. Everything was going fine when all of a sudden Larry asked me (What's next?) while we were driving through the busiest section of St. Louis. He was trying to negotiate the six-lane interstate and I couldn’t decide if we needed to exit on the left or the right side. Well, the next thing he said was “there’s the exit” – as we passed by. We had missed the exit! I won’t drag this part out. We finally found an exit that allowed us to back-track and find the hotel where we were staying.
Once we parked and got our luggage to our room, Larry was ready to go down to meet our friends. I agreed although I really wanted to stay in the room long enough to get somewhat settled and gather my thoughts. That didn’t happen. I followed Larry to the area where we met our friends. Our time with them was great, but by bedtime, I had a major migraine and the strong medication caused me to sleep the next morning until I could function again. Migraines are another side effect of anoxic brain injury. Although I packed plenty of medicine to help prevent it getting that bad, I had none of it with me while were away from the hotel. Thus, it got out of control.
There were days of doing this and doing that – all of which were enjoyable. Since we were staying in a busy hotel, there were crowds of people. Another side affect of my brain injury is that I have no peripheral vision which is not helpful when in a strange place. By the end of the trip, I realized I had not gone to the room by myself. I still didn’t know how to get there and back. The only time I went to the room without Larry, I was accompanied by one of our friends who happened to be going to their room down the hall from ours.
Now, I have strategies which I use regularly to deal with such situations. Brain Injury Guide is full of such strategies. I’ve gone on trips alone and made it fine because I used these strategies. I use them every day at work, shopping, and any other time I need to function independently. This time I became lazy because I knew Larry was there and I could depend on him. Giving caretakers a break is a whole other article.
I decided to write about our trip this week because I was reminded of my dependence on Larry as a result of my brain injury. I so very much want my independence because that is really who I am. Of courses, even if I didn’t have this anoxic brain injury, I would rely on Larry to make some of the final decisions in our lives because I trust him and we’re a team. However, that is not the kind of dependence I’m referring to here.
The trip to St. Louis was very enjoyable. We took a somewhat leisurely drive and I was reading the directions on the map we had printed. Everything was going fine when all of a sudden Larry asked me (What's next?) while we were driving through the busiest section of St. Louis. He was trying to negotiate the six-lane interstate and I couldn’t decide if we needed to exit on the left or the right side. Well, the next thing he said was “there’s the exit” – as we passed by. We had missed the exit! I won’t drag this part out. We finally found an exit that allowed us to back-track and find the hotel where we were staying.
Once we parked and got our luggage to our room, Larry was ready to go down to meet our friends. I agreed although I really wanted to stay in the room long enough to get somewhat settled and gather my thoughts. That didn’t happen. I followed Larry to the area where we met our friends. Our time with them was great, but by bedtime, I had a major migraine and the strong medication caused me to sleep the next morning until I could function again. Migraines are another side effect of anoxic brain injury. Although I packed plenty of medicine to help prevent it getting that bad, I had none of it with me while were away from the hotel. Thus, it got out of control.
There were days of doing this and doing that – all of which were enjoyable. Since we were staying in a busy hotel, there were crowds of people. Another side affect of my brain injury is that I have no peripheral vision which is not helpful when in a strange place. By the end of the trip, I realized I had not gone to the room by myself. I still didn’t know how to get there and back. The only time I went to the room without Larry, I was accompanied by one of our friends who happened to be going to their room down the hall from ours.
Now, I have strategies which I use regularly to deal with such situations. Brain Injury Guide is full of such strategies. I’ve gone on trips alone and made it fine because I used these strategies. I use them every day at work, shopping, and any other time I need to function independently. This time I became lazy because I knew Larry was there and I could depend on him. Giving caretakers a break is a whole other article.
I'm making a mental note to try not to let that happen next time.
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