For those of you who haven’t read My Story, I encourage you to do so. In it, I go over my experience that lead to my TBI. Some of these situations may not apply to you.
After waking from my coma, I had to re-learn everything. My brain synapse had been severed, mangled, discombobulated and knocked around, and I had to repair it through the traditional method of healing, rest. As my brain began to repair itself, I had come to the realization that I had a totally different brain. I couldn’t walk, talk, go to the bathroom, eat, drink water, ect. I needed to re-learn every process which any adult human being would consider the most basic of tasks. In this article, we will focus on the oral dilemmas you may be facing.
Talking
“Am I in Minnesota?” were the first words I pathetically mumbled as I woke up from my coma. I had broken my mandible clean through during my accident so I had to learn how to use my healing mouth on top of re-learning how to use the nerve pathways that correspond between mouth and brain. Gaining that understanding of how to use my mouth again was difficult at best. Every time I opened my mouth, a fountain of drool would find its way over my lower lip. I couldn’t retain my saliva because my tongue had decided to be equivalent to a sloth. Moving slowly when I sent it signals to my brain that it should move and even moving in directions and ways that I had no intention of. My lips didn’t behave any better. It took some work, but with practice, tutoring and raw determination, I was back to my typical level of articulation.
Things that helped:
- Play with your food
When you eat, start with easy food. Yogurt, baby food, a smoothie, ice-cream to name a few. With the food in your mouth, move it around. Start by moving your tongue left to right and pay attention to how the food moves in your mouth. Move it up and down now, always tentative to the way the food moves. This practice works much better with solids or thick liquids. Apple sauce is another great example.
2. Play with making weird sounds
In order to re-learn how to speak, you have to control the noise you’re making with your mouth. Start simple, no need to sing opera here. You might need to get used to using your voice box again, so listen to some music and try to hum to the rhythm. Sing basic songs like Marry had a Little Lamb, Ba Ba Black Sheep, something really simple. Keep practicing until you can correctly say the ABCs.
3. (for those with Lovers) Kiss a Lot!
Getting used to using the muscles in your lips is vital to re-learning speech. This is an enjoyable way to get there and a way that loved ones can directly help you improve. Puckering your lips will help you establish the relationship between your lips and brain, enabling you to gain more control over their movement. Better control = better articulation!
EATING
As I began to portray a living being, the doctors wanted to start weening me off of the feeding tube. With my newly developing brain, I needed to understand how to eat again. My case had some added difficulty in that I had a clean break straight through my mandible. I had it reconnected via a titanium plate which also pierced my nerve causing permanent nerve damage. Though I had many obstacles in my way towards living a normal life, I wasn’t about to succumb to the life of a victim. Slowly and gradually, I started eating again.
Things that helped:
- Eat like a baby
Your brain will be slow. It will be frustrating at times, but remember that patience is your new best friend. Eating soft foods such as yogurt, baby food, apple sauce, pudding, ect., will help your throat reconnect with your brain. Just make sure there are no solids yet. Since your brain is still relearning how to swallow again, you might end up choking on any solids or biting yourself.
2. Swallow saliva and water between meals
By working the muscles more, you will build them and establish muscle memory with your brain. The more you work it, the faster you’ll be able to eat normal food again. Keep in mind that it takes a significant amount of energy to heal the brain, and you should NOT push yourself with these exercises. remember that patience is your new best friend.
3. Take things one bite at a time
When you think you are able to start chewing again, START SLOW! Something that I had to do was start with 1 solid food in 1 meal per day. The first “solid” I began with was a Banana. Other fruits such as oranges, blueberries and avocado will be perfect to start with. Everyone is different and will take different amounts of time to improve. After you have built that chew and swallow muscle memory, try eating fruits and steamed veggies at every meal. As you become accustomed to your movements and controlling your muscles with your brain, bump it up to pasta, bread and softer meats. Lastly, it should be nuts, chips and other crunchy foods. Save those for last because you need control of your mouth to avoid stabbing yourself in the gums with sharp chips, and you don’t want to bite your tongue trying to chew into nuts.
Think of it as a workout plan. If you want to build your muscles, you need to increase the weight as you get stronger. This isn’t any different than that. Stay motivated to improve and you will get there! I promise that you will never go back to being the same way before your injury, but I also promise that the new life you are living can still be fantastic if you put forth your best effort.
Memory
When I woke up, I had to re-learn my past. I didn’t remember my motorcycle accident, or even anything that had happened the past year. I forgot who my wife was and even some of my family. This got better over time and as of now, I remember everything. the thing about brain injuries is that they are all different. Where I may have regained all of my memories and cognitive functions except processing speed, your loved one may not ever be able to remember some things and be able to process new things in the 90th percentile. It is important to check in on their progress through rehabilitation. If you stay up to date with their abilities and symptoms, you will be able to help them adjust.
Some things that helped me specifically were:
- Memory games
Since I had already been using Luminosity, I was able to find it on my phone. It is a great tool to spend 10-15 minutes on daily, once they are able to achieve the categories above. Since you’ve been keeping up on their cognitive abilities, you’ll be able to recommend which games would be most beneficial based on their individual circumstances. I recommend starting with games that they already score somewhat highly in. After seeing that they CAN do this, they can switch to the more difficult obstacles, saving the most difficult for last. With their new brain, they are likely to get frustrated at the more difficult challenges they face. If they struggle with memory, save the memory section for last. They need to learn how to use their “new brain.”
2. Immediate/ short term memory drills
Another practice that my family used to help me improve steadily was asking questions about things that just happened. “Hey Dan, what was it that you ate an hour ago?” my dad would ask. By thinking about food, you are making their brain think of several different senses that it used when they ate the food. Taste, touch, sight, smell and even sound are used when the brain is observing food. Rather than just asking out of the blue, tell them to remember what they are eating as they eat it, and ask them what they had to eat an hour later. if they can’t remember, don’t pressure them. Instead, you can remind them and talk about how the food looked, smelt, sounded, felt and tasted. It will subconsciously help them to remember those senses later.
3. Long term memory
For this one, it is important to establish the memories first and ask about them the next day. A good example would be watching TV. After they finish watching something, tell them to try to remember what they watched and answer correctly the next day. Tell them to try remembering it throughout the day and it will strengthen their long term memory in the process. Working on short term memory first is going to be more productive as it will get them started on the path towards long term memory.