NW Dive Girl

Two Years Ago Today…
In a split second, my life’s path was altered, only I wouldn’t remember or understand any of it for another 6-months!
I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about trauma induced amnesia, persistent post-concussion symptoms, post-traumatic stress, sinus tachycardia, and so many other undesirable outcomes.
However, I made it my priority to learn about the brain, brain health, the gut-brain axis, meditation, brain healthy foods, cognitive rehab, circadian and ultradian rhythms, healing yourself through mindfulness practices and so much more! Not that I can remember all this information 😬 but I know where to find my resources.
Brain injury is an invisible illness and often misunderstood, especially the mental and emotional impacts.
It took me almost 2-years to allow myself to surrender to my journey - which doesn’t mean I’m giving up on my recovery!! It means I can now embrace the person I am (most🤷‍♀️) mornings vs. despising myself and my brain deficits. Loving myself in my new reality is still a work-in-progress… and it’s becoming much easier! I’m grateful to be able to S L O W down and take care of me! A sincere thank you to everyone that has helped me (knowingly or not) along the way!
Today, I celebrate my two-year journey, and hold onto hope that I’m just another year out from Scuba diving again! YES!! I still have HOPE for 4 ATAs 😉



Thank you for your science, positivity, expertise, and resources:
.virgin
….. to name a few of my favorite 🤩

Dive to 11 feet? Heck ya!
Next stop on my healing journey…
“Mild” Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Mild because it’s in a soft-sided individual chamber that is pressurized to just 1.3 ATA (approximately 4 psi or 11 ft/3.3m below sea level). I spend about 1-1.5 hours in there 2x a day breathing oxygen from a mask 😷.
The big undersea chamber docs generally say this is a waste of time and money yet there are over 80 studies that support the use of these soft-sided chambers to help reduce or alleviate persistent post-concussion symptoms(PPCS) after traumatic brain injury (TBI).
So, instead of insuring failure by not doing it….. gonna give it a go!! Two “dives” down and 38 more to go!!
Thanks to my mom💜 and bonus dad for helping me make it happen❣️ And to my aunt and bonus uncle for letting me stay with them for the month. It takes a village. 🥰