Hiking to Hope

So a few weeks ago I was in a business travel in Colorado. By the way what a beautiful city of Colorado Springs. Everything is so gorgeous, the nature, the birds, the mountains and I can keep going and going.

Well, my husband went to visit me and we had a great weekend. We went hiking, yes you heard right, HIKING!!!! I was nervous but really, how do you know there is progress if you don't try it. It was not a horrible hike, it was a trail going to the top of the mountain. Just imagine going hiking with my husband who has bad balance issues and dizziness. I have to say that I am so proud of him. Yes, it took us double or triple the time it takes anybody else but we made it. I actually filmed him on video and I captured how he used strategies to keep it straight and make it to the top of the mountain and down. He does not know about the video but I will tell him, maybe he likes it and posted in his blog :)

I thought about taking this video because it is not about limitations with brain injury, is about how far you can go applying your strategies and I wanted to capture that. Overall we had an amazing time and we enjoyed outdoors that for a long time we hadn't. By the way let me clarify that my husband had permission to do this activity and now the rehab center incorporated hiking as part of therapy so he goes here in El Paso with the rehab team.

Thinking about that weekend makes me feel very happy that we can do things together and can share many things, some are things that we invented after the brain injury. Some we had to let go like the motorcycles and sudoku (advance). Like any other caregiver I do have my ups and downs but I always like to reinvent and do things that will help me maintain a good mood. If I let myself down I would not be able to be there emotionally for my husband when he needs me the most. I do get sad, I am human, but memories and experiences like the hiking makes me smile and with enthusiasm of going forward to support and be there for him. I hiked behind him all the time but he was so concentrated of the balance and trying to avoid dizziness that he did not noticed at all the video but I will tell him tonight so just in case he reads this posting :)

Hugs!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A New Beginning All Over Again

Image
It was a bright and warm morning in early May 2009. Many families gathered in an hangar at Fort Bliss, TX, for the farewell of the 1st Armored Division Soldiers getting ready for a new deployment to Iraq. One of these Soldiers was my wonderful and loving husband, at the time staff sergeant (SSG) Victor Medina. Before leaving, he ran to me three times for a last hug and kiss. I will never forget that memory and how it felt.  Some weeks later on May 29th we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. Victor always made me feel so special and important in his life, and this time was no different. It was the fourth time we celebrated our anniversary apart and as always, he didn’t forget and planned ahead to make sure it was special. Little did we know we were a month away from experiencing a life detour, the biggest test of our love and lives, all in a click of a button. On June 29, 2009 during a patrol mission, Victor’s MRAP was hit by an explosive formed projectile, one of the d...
Read more

Marriage after a Brain Injury

Image
Today was a beautiful day in El Paso, TX. The Sun was shining and a blue sky make my eyes appreciate how spectacular is to live day by day. I do not worry about tomorrow, the enjoy the blessings of today. Life after a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can be challenging not only for the patient but for the family. My husband sustained a TBI and I also suffered the consequences that comes with it. That may be just me but I don't believe so, the more I hear spouses the more I realize that this injury although unknown by many, it is well lived by others. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the incidence of brain injury is approximately 1.7 million a year (http://www.cdc.gov/TraumaticBrainInjury/). That means that every day 46,575 people sustained a TBI. This statistic excludes TBI in Soldiers, so the incidence is even higher. The short and long term consequences of a TBI are(http://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/outcomes.html): •Thinking (i.e., memory and rea...
Read more

Marriage and Intimacy

I was asked to write about marriage and intimacy. What a topic of so much divergence and complicated to the human nature. When I see marriages that survived WWII, Korea and Vietnam I can’t avoid thinking “wow, how they made that happened”, but the more I speak with more experienced couples the more I see a common theme among them, values and commitment. I remember seeing my grandparents’ growing old and still saying “I love you” like it was part of their daily language. “What have we forgotten or when did we disconnect?” “There is no intimacy, there is no marriage”. These question and statement are so common and have been brought to my attention by spouses of wounded warriors. One afternoon I am sitting at home and I am reflecting in all the comments that I have heard and the pain and sorrow that these situations bring to these spouses. Are you the spouse of a wounded warrior? Life is not over, like my husband will say, “It is a new beginning”. The problem is that sometimes we are y...
Read more