Promoting Abilities
15
Veronique Theberge
M
y brain injury was acquired following a brain infection called viral Meningoencephalitis in August 2017. The infection had the effect of destroying neurons and neuro pathways which resulted in an Acquired Brain injury (ABI). Since then, life as it was has been flipped inside out. I am operating with a new normal and a “new me”. To this day, I still have to plan and manage my situation daily and adhere to strict fatigue management practices to avoid having my brain batteries dropping too low and triggering an avalanche of weird and not so wonderful things. Neuro fatigue, all aspects of cognition, balance, vision, sensory overload, coordination, mental health and general stamina have all been affected by the ABI. I’ve always been an active person and keen to push the limits of what my body and mind could achieve. I think that’s why I’ve always loved Endurance sport. With Endurance sport, success comes through staying focused, pushing through and finding the mental strength that you didn’t think you had in you to complete a challenge. Little did I know that all those years of running, cycling and swimming would eventually serve another purpose, that those skills would pay off in other ways later on in my life. Following my ABI, I was very keen to reintroduce exercise into the mix, a piece of the old me within the “new me”. I’m not going to lie though, reintroducing exercise into my daily routine hasn’t been easy. See, for a long while, walking to the dairy and back was as much as I could handle.
My past sporting achievements seem so out of reach. However, there came a point where I made the conscious decision to stop giving encephalitis and ABI so much power over what I could and couldn’t do. I felt it was time to give the “new me” more credit and to believe in myself once more. That’s when I set myself the challenge to partake in an all women adventure race. I completed what I thought was impossible 4 times now and this year, I joined adventure racing to fundraise for more awareness of encephalitis and ABI. I successfully reached out to a variety of media and was able to share some insight of what living with a brain injury is like.
Over the past 2 years, I have also started a blog in which I share my journey of ABI recovery. There is a wide variety of subjects addressed on my Weird Wonderful Brain blog…including the not so glamourous aspects that need to be factored in my everyday routine. Raising awareness of those issues has enabled me to learn many new skills that I probably wouldn’t have developed otherwise. I’ve discovered that in spite of newly acquired limitations, I have grown tremendously as an individual and that I am still capable of achieving great things. I have discovered a new path, a new worth, new strength and I am very proud supporting others facing similar challenges.
Adventure racing for more Encephalitis & ABI awareness, Veronique – Centre front.
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