On the night of August 11, 1967 my dad, mom, brother and myself were in an automobile accident that forever changed our lives. Per my injuries, when the Cadillac hit our Volkswagen Beetle I was catapulted from the back seat. In the process of being thrown forward I fractured my left femur (thigh bone) on my dad’s bucket seat and then made direct contact with the inside of the windshield. Consequently, I sustained an open skull fracture. I remained in a coma for 3 weeks and in traction to set my left femur for 6-7 weeks.

When my skull was fractured my right frontal lobe — location of the brain that controls executive center function — absorbed the initial brunt of the contact where my skull was fractured. Additionally, I sustained a severe brain contusion as my brain was jostled about inside my skull — coup contra coup. From the records I found out that my brain stem — attention, arousal, and consciousness, as well as being the gateway of brain function for the body — had also been affected subsequent to my skull being fractured and my brain moving around inside my skull.

Once I regained consciousness, completed traction to set my left femur, and placed in a Spica — full body cast — I was transferred to another hospital where I under went brain and skull surgery. Following surgery I was transferred back to the first hospital. Several weeks later I was released from the hospital and taken home. I remained in the Spica cast for 4-5 months.

After being taken out of the cast I attended several physical therapy appointments and I was then released into the care of my parents. Because neurological rehabilitation was not available in 1967 I was essentially on my own — to re-teach myself how to walk, talk, read, write and speak in complete sentences. I taught myself how to walk, talk, read, write and speak in complete sentences with the encouragement of my family.

In follow-up to my brain and skull surgery and after re-learning how to walk I underwent several EEG’s completed to determine the extent of the injury to my brain. In conjunction with the EEG’s I was given a battery of cognitive and psycho social tests to determine how the injury to my brain impacted my cognitive and psycho social skills.

The results from the EEG’s and these tests were shared with my parents, however my parents elected not to share the results with me. Years later — after completing graduate school — my Mom revealed the results of the EEG’s and tests that were completed in 1968. My Mom shared with me that the results from the EEG’s and the cognitive and psycho social tests indicated that I would probably not be able to succeed beyond high school academically.

Although the data and scientific findings predicted that I would be probably be unable to succeed academically beyond high school, I went on to obtain both my undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Due to the invisible and unknown nature of my disability and because I was able to achieve far beyond all reasonable expectations I continued to remain in denial concerning the impact of the injuries to my brain — for approximately 36 years post injury. Nevertheless, my life was adversely impacted by the effects of my brain injury both personally and professionally.

Because of the invisible nature of my disability and my lack of awareness I had to develop strategies to compensate for my deficits and limitations — which I internalized as a reflection of who I was as a person — to empower my life. On February 6, 2007 — at the encouragement of a friend — I created Second Chance to Live to share the principles and strategies that I have used to encourage, motivate and empower my process.

These strategies have helped me to succeed beyond all reasonable expectations — when giving in and giving up would have been so much easier. Please see my Service page.

My hope is that as you read through the articles that I have written and published on Second Chance to Live you will be inspired to pursue hope. The applications presented with in the articles that I have written for Second Chance to Live illustrate and provide practical solutions for living life on life’s terms. The articles have been designed to encourage, to motivate and to empower the individual to live their destinies.

If you have any questions / concerns or I may be of service to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. All questions are good questions.

You may do so by using my Contact Page

I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your time.

Have a pleasant day.

Craig

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My Motivation

Welcome to Second Chance to Live. I am glad you decided to stop by and visit with me. At the request of a friend, I will share some of my struggles as a traumatic brain injury survivor. I do not share this information to whine or complain, but to help others who are recipients of an invisible disability. My experience is unique to my journey, however I believe you can benefit from my experience. The power of identification sets us free from the shadows of despair. (Please read my post, The Power of Identification). As I write, I use the principle of identification to guide me.

Through much of my life, I had no idea that I was a traumatic brain injury survivor, much less as a person with an invisible disability. As I have shared and alluded to in many of my posts, I internalized my despair and disappointment as a reflection of being a flawed individual. I absorbed the intolerance that I received as a quotient of being inadequate and defective. I practiced self-hate because I owned the messages given to me through ignorance. I spent many years of my life questioning the struggle of life itself. Unconsciously I believed that I deserved to be abused by people, because I did not know how to trust my judgment. I lacked self-confidence for a host of reasons, but mostly because I relied on others to validate my worth and value.

I bought into the notion that what other people thought of me was more important than what I thought about myself. Unknowingly, I attempted to overcompensate for my invisible disability through striving. I was driven to over achieve so that I might silence the inner wrangling of debilitating guilt and debilitating shame. I spent too much of my time attempting to answer, defend or explain myself to other people, because I feared being misunderstood. I sought acceptance through active participation in many different kinds of churches. Needless to say, I frequently found as much, if not more intolerance from religiously pious individuals. I also found myself in a love – hate relationship with God. These cumulative struggles — as well as other ordeals that I will not elaborate on for sake of time — motivated me to look for solutions.

So as you have read through my posts, you may have asked yourself some questions. How did the author of Second Chance to Live arrive at these conclusions? The answer is simple, but not easy. Every post that I have written has been birthed in the rooms of disappointment, discouragement, heartache, self-hate, self-sabotage, self-doubt and other menacing dark times in my life. I write from my journey as a person who has encountered many learning opportunities. I present practical solutions that have helped me and then share how I applied them to my life. These solutions gave me tools for living life on life’s terms, as well as providing a map to lead me out of my perceived despondency.

My emotional catharsis began when I realized that if I did not look for solutions, I would die emotionally and spiritually, if not physically. All of the material that I share in Second Chance to Live is from my experience, strength and hope as a person who has lived with an invisible disability. The practical solutions that I present are unique to my experience, however what I have learned can be applied to life at large. I believe that life is for living, not merely surviving.

As a person with an invisible disability, I have come to accept certain realities. Ignorance perpetuates itself like a bad virus and for some people ignorance is a terminal disease. If I am waiting for someone else to change before I can hope to live the life I have imagined, I will be disappointed. And if nothing changes, it will remain the same. That is why I encourage my readers to get busy. So as you read my material keep asking yourself questions and then look for solutions, because you are the only one that can live your life.

All material presented on Second Chance to Live is copyright and cannot be copied, reproduced, or distributed in any way without the express, written consent of Craig J. Phillips, MRC, BA

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