Half a Mind to ..

Life after brain injury – one small victory at a time.

Tag: challenge

  • The “Palliative Label (Insight 034)

    The “Palliative Label (Insight 034)

    One of my hospital consultants once explained my condition to me in a way that, although difficult to hear, turned out to be unexpectedly helpful. That was in 2008.

    He told me that from that point onwards, all my care would technically be palliative. At first hearing, that sounds extraordinarily stark. The word carries enormous emotional weight. Many people hear it and understandably think it means that death is imminent, or that medicine has somehow “given up”.

    What he carefully explained, however, was something rather different.

    (more…)
  • A South Pole Record, and a Shared Story of Stroke  

    A South Pole Record, and a Shared Story of Stroke  

    There are moments in life when something remarkable happens “out there” in the world…
    and yet it feels strangely close to home.

    Recently my nephew Jonny Huntington became a three-time Guinness World Record holder. He is now recognised as the first disabled person to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole.

    That sentence alone feels almost too large to take in.

    But for me, it lands somewhere quieter.

    Because Jonny and I share something that doesn’t make headlines.
    We have both had strokes.
    And we both live with what that leaves behind.

    (more…)
  • When the Room Gets Too Loud (Insight 036)

    When the Room Gets Too Loud (Insight 036)

    There’s a particular kind of moment that I’ve come to recognise over the years. It doesn’t arrive with a bang. It creeps in.

    It tends to happen in the most ordinary of settings — a meal out, a gathering with half a dozen conversations flowing at once. Nothing unusual. Nothing dramatic.

    And yet, something begins to change.

    At first, I’m absolutely fine. I can follow the conversation, contribute, smile at the right moments, keep track of who is saying what. It all feels perfectly normal.

    Then, gradually, almost imperceptibly, the effort increases.

    (more…)