After three brain injuries over her lifetime, Amina's cognitive ability was impacted in such a way that she was unable to ask for help on her own. But like many of us, it was hard for her to know how much she had really changed as a person.
Poignantly, her young son was the one person was able to show her how much she had changed by asking for his "old" mom back. It was an emotional blow and a common hit to our self esteem that is common for those of us with brain injury.
Wisely, Amina had a good lawyer who helped her get access to aides to help her with basic admin tasks and some small parts of taking care of her son. But she was there for him as he was there for her., even if their relationship got significantly emotionally strained at times.
She knows she has a limited amount of stamina and if it runs out in the middle of a task, she just has to drop everything and go home. It requires planning and she has gotten pretty good at predicting when she is getting low.
She has made great strides and is a wonderfully self determined woman and caring mother. She helps us learn from her experience.
A Note On The Life Over Pain Theme Music: Emily Bielagus graciously and generously composed the lovely theme music for the Life Over Pain podcast. Find her music at Spotify, wildyawp.com, and reach her at wildyawpband@gmail.com.
Thank you to RØDE Microphones for donating the NT-USB microphone that was used to record this story. You can check it out on their website at: http://www.rode.com/microphones/nt-usb.