On September 24, 2014, my life was changed forever as I was doored while cycling home from work on Preston Street in Ottawa. I spent several minutes lying in the middle of rush hour traffic, part of it unconscious. I was lucky to have survived.
Hi, my name is D and I have a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
My hope is that by sharing my story that I am able to help increase
awareness and to also help someone out there. There's no need to
suffer alone, in silence.
Over the past 10 years, my future was continually in doubt. I had no idea what my brain was going to be capable of down the road. Would I even be able to work effectively again? Would I be able to perform simple day to day tasks like doing the dishes. Could I still be a great dad?!…
I had stopped counting for the longest time. It really didn't matter anymore how long ago my bike crash was, it just mattered for me to live my life and to be the best dad that I could be - TBI or no TBI.…
As a parent, my worst nightmare is having my children get seriously hurt. As a TBI surviving parent, my worst nightmare is having my children get seriously hurt and having a TBI to show for it. In the past four months or so I've had to endure both scenarios, one for each child.…
We've been physical distancing now for what must seem like an eternity for some. It's been awful, right? For the majority of us, it means that we've had little to no face-to-face contact with colleagues or classmates. No riding public transit, no visits with friends.…
Pop quiz, friends. 5 years ago I was involved in an incident with another party. We might live in the same neighbourhood.. Our kids go to the same daycare. His place of employment is somewhere my family frequents. What do I do? What do I do?…
I had to double-check, but last week was actually a pretty good week, despite it having started off with a total of two, maybe three, hours of sleep on Sunday night because of a sick kid. But feeling good physically doesn't necessarily correlate with good cognitive functioning.…
I have a terrible short-term memory. It's one of my biggest limitations, if I recall correctly. I can watch a movie and by the time next weekend rolls around, I can watch it again as if it were a new movie.…
I must confess that since the dooring incident, I've become a front of the bus rider, or more precisely a front of the bus stander. That's right - I get on the bus and I stand at the front.…
I want to spend as much time with my kids as I can. I want to teach them all the things that I know. I want to share with them all the things that I love. I want to set a good example that they can follow. But some days, I wonder what kid of example I'm setting for my kids.…
I learned that yes, I am still capable of many things, but I have to respect certain limits.…
Mathematically it doesn't make sense. Putting clean sheets on a bed seems like a pretty straightforward task, right? A bed is typically a rectangle, a fitted sheet fits right on top of it, corners holding snug. Assuming it's the right side up and you're…
The first few years after having been doored, I agonized about the potential of running into the Guy That Doored Me or his wife. Turned out that both his home and his workplace were minutes away from my own home.…
It was just 5 years ago that my life changed forever on September 24, 2014. I started this site to help spread awareness of concussions, safe cycling, and people and treatments that have helped me along the way. I took a break in November 2015 to focus on my personal…
Ottawa's Confederation Line finally opened on Saturday... I ended up lightheaded and dizzy at work.…
I've been seeing a cranial osteopath since October 13th. I had my 4th session on November 9th, I had to admit to her that I was ready to call it quits. If anything, I thought that I had been getting worse since I started going. I had been…
It was not a great week last week. It culminated in tears on Thursday night. I did not make it in to work on Friday. That's right. I'm man enough to admit that I cried. It was not the first time since the concussion (third time…
I yelled at 4 youths on the bus today because they wouldn't yield their seats to some senior citizens. Old Me might have been nicer about it... I don't mind that New Me is a little more to the point, but I still have to remember…
Recall one month ago that I marked one year by finding a chip wagon and indulging on some deep fried goodness [https://www.dooredinottawa.ca/one-year-since-the-dooring/]. It occurred to me that since then, I haven't stopped eating. It might have been that way before, but I've…
Optimism is a powerful tool in winning the daily battles. It's easy to focus on all that is going wrong and lose sight of the little things that make us happy. Things that we used to take for granted, things that we must now put extra effort towards…
I marked one year by finding a chip wagon and indulging on some deep fried goodness. I don't indulge much these days, I don't remember the last time that I had cider, wine, beer, or rum. I've snacked on some chips and mixed some…
An apology to all of my friends that I've lost touch with or have not been in contact with recently. I've had to learn a bit of selfishness over the past year and put almost all my energy into myself and my family.…
So what has helped me over the past year? I look back and am amazed at all the struggles that I've fought and won over the past year.…