A surprise adventure to Cornwall

I did have a great 30th birthday and it was amazing!!! My wife suprised me with the idea of a trip down to Cornwall to celebrate. We did have a very good time there even though my wife had to do all of the 8 hour drive to get thereunfortunately for me - but not taking anything from her - she is super. It's a very long drive to Cornwall though and it frustrated me that I couldn't share the drive with my wife Jo, she is great but I don't want to let her do everything ( it's an 8 hour drive from home to Cornwall. It was a surprise for me that on my 30th Birthday we went away to Cornwall, I am keen to go back there already. I don't like that I can't help Jo with the driving and I don't like it that Jo has to do it all. She also has to take me wherever I need to go. I haven't tried biking yet but that may be the next step and give me more independence. Maybe at most I could bike to my parents house in the summer or elsewhere. Getting a trike could be the next thing that could be like driving but still cycle orientated. A trike has a big basket on it that I could store things in and getting a trike could be the next thing like driving considering that I can't drive at the moment. I am excited to think that there are more options for me even though I can't drive. There is a guy from a charity that works with me who is planning to work with me on cycling around our place. Exciting stuff ahead!

29 again?

I am turning 30 on Sunday. Its a time of mixed emotion but what I am really pondering is... as I missed out on a year does this mean I get two thirtieth birthdays? In my mind I am turning 29 as I feel like a year has been stolen from me. There is a whole year of my life of which I have no memory. Others tell me things but I am unable to remember. My memory of that time is non-existent. My wife tells me, for example,  that I used to speak Italian with a recreational therapist called Frank. I have very vague recollection of this but I certainly would not have known his name. So I think I should have a second 30th birthday next year to make up for the forgotten year in America! It feels so strange that others have a memory of that time but I don't. Not to be too negative though I am really grateful to be here, after all I am grateful to God that I am still alive and have a beautiful wife. So despite the lost year, this Sunday will be a really special celebration! And actually I am looking forward to living life in my 30's and all that it may have in store. So here's to looking forward. Thats it for now!

So who am I and what happened

Hello everyone, welcome to my new blog!    

A Few years ago when I was 25(my wife 22)we were living  in America.  I had just gotten my PhD in chemistry. I was involved in a car cash with my wife who thankfully is unharmed, I however received a nasty head injury (Which mainly left me with brain injury)   which left me with much memory loss and affected  my sight  and balance significantly.  

I suffer mostly with short-term memory loss but however my  long term memory is still patchy. For example I remember very little of my PhD or how I proposed to my wife.  (I WILL remember one day!)

  I find it very difficult to remember what it was that my wife  said to me just moments before, or what the last telephone conversation was about, so I use a moleskin book to write everything down keeping a record of my day

I am wanting people to read for themselves what it is like being a head injured person -not fun I can tell you.  Plus I want to keep a record of my own thoughts at this time in my life.  I can't promise good spelling or grammer or that my sentences will make sense, but I can promise that it will be a true account of living as a person who suffered  traumatic brain injury (tbi)but I can promise it will be....ooooops I forgot that I'd just written that bit....a true account of somebody that has a tbi and has learnt to live on (with the help of others).  

After my head injury I had to learn how to do everything again(walk,talk,eat, laugh)You may be wondering why this is entitled 'Four Chickens in a tree', well this, according to my wife  was the first joke that I made up and told, which I thought and still do is funny.  OK, Why were there Four chickens in a tree?                          Because the fifth one one went home!

That's it for now.