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My name is Kelly and I live on a cattle property near Monto in Queensland. At the time of writing this I was 21. I was a legal secretary. Seven days after I was married I was involved in an accident where the car I was driving hit a black cow standing on the road at night on a main highway. The car rolled a number of times and was a total wreck and I sustained a head injury and was unconscious for several days.
As well as not being able to remember my wedding, I have no recollection of the accident, being in Intensive Care and in hospital or of the several weeks after I was discharged from hospital that I spent recovering in Rockhampton before I came home. As a result of not being able to remember any of this, I have found it very hard to comprehend how much I have changed due to my brain injury. I find it hard to understand why I can no longer do most of the things I used to do and why I have become such a different person.
To look at me, most people would think I am fine because my physical appearance hasn't changed and outwardly I appear to act normally, but inwardly I have changed so much. I get fatigued very easily and usually need to have a rest during the day. Things like my concentration and attention span have been affected and I find that I am only able to do one thing at a time. There is no question that I would not be able to return to my job as a legal secretary in my current state, let alone drive a car. Things that I used to love doing like martial arts, motorbike riding and target shooting take a lot of concentration now, which in turn makes me tired and I get frustrated with myself because I used to do those things so well.
ABIOS organised for me to undertake rehabilitation at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. Things like going shopping and planning to cook a meal are things that need a lot of planning now. The therapists I have seen at the hospital together with ABIOS have helped me to devise strategies that enable me to do such day to day tasks easily and without too much stress. They have helped me to plan my week so that I am able to do all of the things that need to be done but so that I don't do too much each day and therefore become fatigues.
While my husband and I were living in Brisbane when I was attending rehabilitation at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, ABIOS organised for financial help from Centrelink that we didn't even know existed. ABIOS was able to fast track all the application and forms needed by Centrelink and they have continued to help us by liaising with Centrelink, assisting with all their paperwork and cutting all the red tape thus making the process as stress free for me as possible. ABIOS are also assisting my family with a Superannuation claim that we are pursing which, like Centrelink, has a mountain of paperwork that ABIOS have been helping us to shift though. Without their help we would never have been able to get through either of these things by ourselves.
ABIOS have been a great support for my family and in times of stress ABIOS have been able to put things into perspective for them. ABIOS have organised for me to attend counselling sessions to help me cope and understand myself and my new personality. In the future when I feel I am ready to do things like driving and going back to some type of work again, ABIOS can refer me to a service such as CRS who will be able to help me to get back into the workforce again. Without ABIOS, we would never have known about organisations such as these that help you get back on your feet.
ABIOS has helped me come to terms with the things that are different now and have helped me to understand my brain injury better. Without them, I don't know who I could have turned to when I needed someone to talk to about problems I have had. Their reassurance has really helped me to realise that I am not going crazy. Things that I used to take for granted like driving and being independent were suddenly taken away from me when I had my accident and I found that hard to understand and still do sometimes. I used to think it was so unfair but with the help of ABIOS, the Princess Alexandra Hospital and my family, I have come a long way in the twelve months since my accident (although I can't remember what I was like when it first happened) and I am continuing to progress well. I am really grateful for all the assistance we have received from ABIOS. It has been a very hard time for myself and my family but we couldn't have gotten through it without them.
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