As you can see from the top of this page, I have been fortunate to have some pictures from my recovery that I am able to upload. I will share these pics gradually as I am able to meditate and reflect on the memories and emotions they bring up. Already these pictures have hit me in some unexpected ways, and I will be interested to hear your thoughts.
The on picture I have uploaded so far - the picture at the top of the page - is my sister comforting me in Geisinger Medical Center, the first hospital I recovered in. More thoughts to come.
Showing posts with label About Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label About Me. Show all posts
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
What I Know of the Accident
In this blog, my primary topics are recovery, storytelling, and my experience with TBI. However, when I perform “Who Am I, Again?”, I’m often asked, "What actually happened in the accident?" My initial reaction response is that this isn’t important - while every case of TBI is different and caused for different reasons, many of the recovery experiences are the same, and its the recovery, not the accident, that this project is focused on. Also, I don’t remember - I was in a coma.
But I also recognize why people are curious - you want to know where a journey starts from, and so, with that in mind, this is the story of what happened as its been related to me:
It was November 4th, 1999 - I was a 17 year old high school senior and basking in all the arrogance that entails. In the evening, I had gotten into a spat with my mother over - I’m not sure about what, but it probably had to do with some work I didn’t want to do. My sister, however, was attending a class wide sleepover party at her middle school - a small Quaker school that was about a 20 minute drive outside of town. I wanted out of the house and away from my parents so I argued that I should take her to the school, and was allowed to be the chauffeur.
As a new driver, anytime I got behind the wheel I was excited. On the way to the school, we took some back country roads through the hills of Pennsylvania - much more exciting than the regular state highway. Knowing my temperament, then and today, I was probably driving just a little above the speed limit - not to save time but to show my mastery of the roads - yet we made it to the school without a problem.
At the school, I do remember seeing my former French teacher - the teacher chaperoning the event - and I remember feeling good and very adult. No longer was I one of the kids in her class but now I was the adult driving one of her students. It was exciting to be achieving this new independence. We spoke about my university plans, her life in college, how I was already feeling checked out of school (senior-i-tis), and I remember watching her waving goodbye as I pulled out onto the country road in my parent’s maroon red 1986 Volvo sedan, honking my own farewell.
I mention that scene in my performance piece, and that truly is my last memory. What happened is that on the drive back, on the same country, hilly roads, I passed a car going the opposite direction. He has said it didn’t seem like I was going fast, but I expect I was pushing the speed limit just a little. Immediately after he passed, I lost control of my vehicle and crashed into a telephone pole. No-one knows why I actually lost control, but as time has passed several possibilities as to what happened have been proposed - it may have been a deer jumping into the road that caused me to swerve, I may have been adjusting the stereo and lost track of the road for a second, or any one of a thousand other possibilities. The story I tell myself, though I have no proof of this, is that I was a little too far on the right side of the road - hugging the right curb - and going a little too fast. When the man passed me, being a new driver I pulled just a little more to the right, my wheel slipped off the side of the road, I lost control and careened into the telephone pole. Whatever the reason, the man who had just passed saw my accident in his rearview mirror and, because this was before cell phones were in their current prominence, he found a nearby farmhouse with the lights on where he called 911 emergency services.
That evening had been a quiet evening in terms of emergencies, and the nearby rescue team was able to immediately dispatch a Life-Flight helicopter to my location. Interestingly, our family auto mechanic and friend was volunteering on the emergency squad that night, so he recognized the car and immediately knew who was inside. This rescue team extracted me from the vehicle and flew me to Geisinger Hospital Emergency room where my journey through recovery began.
As I think about this story, I am constantly amazed at the events that all happened in just the right manner so that I could have the best possible chances for recovery. I’ve been told that I must have been really lucky that night, but then I remind whoever tells me this that I was in an accident that put me into a coma, give an laugh, and we move on. Whatever the truth is, that’s the best I know of how my accident occurred, but like I’ve said, this is only the beginning of a story, and the rest is a lot more interesting.
But I also recognize why people are curious - you want to know where a journey starts from, and so, with that in mind, this is the story of what happened as its been related to me:
It was November 4th, 1999 - I was a 17 year old high school senior and basking in all the arrogance that entails. In the evening, I had gotten into a spat with my mother over - I’m not sure about what, but it probably had to do with some work I didn’t want to do. My sister, however, was attending a class wide sleepover party at her middle school - a small Quaker school that was about a 20 minute drive outside of town. I wanted out of the house and away from my parents so I argued that I should take her to the school, and was allowed to be the chauffeur.
As a new driver, anytime I got behind the wheel I was excited. On the way to the school, we took some back country roads through the hills of Pennsylvania - much more exciting than the regular state highway. Knowing my temperament, then and today, I was probably driving just a little above the speed limit - not to save time but to show my mastery of the roads - yet we made it to the school without a problem.
At the school, I do remember seeing my former French teacher - the teacher chaperoning the event - and I remember feeling good and very adult. No longer was I one of the kids in her class but now I was the adult driving one of her students. It was exciting to be achieving this new independence. We spoke about my university plans, her life in college, how I was already feeling checked out of school (senior-i-tis), and I remember watching her waving goodbye as I pulled out onto the country road in my parent’s maroon red 1986 Volvo sedan, honking my own farewell.
I mention that scene in my performance piece, and that truly is my last memory. What happened is that on the drive back, on the same country, hilly roads, I passed a car going the opposite direction. He has said it didn’t seem like I was going fast, but I expect I was pushing the speed limit just a little. Immediately after he passed, I lost control of my vehicle and crashed into a telephone pole. No-one knows why I actually lost control, but as time has passed several possibilities as to what happened have been proposed - it may have been a deer jumping into the road that caused me to swerve, I may have been adjusting the stereo and lost track of the road for a second, or any one of a thousand other possibilities. The story I tell myself, though I have no proof of this, is that I was a little too far on the right side of the road - hugging the right curb - and going a little too fast. When the man passed me, being a new driver I pulled just a little more to the right, my wheel slipped off the side of the road, I lost control and careened into the telephone pole. Whatever the reason, the man who had just passed saw my accident in his rearview mirror and, because this was before cell phones were in their current prominence, he found a nearby farmhouse with the lights on where he called 911 emergency services.
That evening had been a quiet evening in terms of emergencies, and the nearby rescue team was able to immediately dispatch a Life-Flight helicopter to my location. Interestingly, our family auto mechanic and friend was volunteering on the emergency squad that night, so he recognized the car and immediately knew who was inside. This rescue team extracted me from the vehicle and flew me to Geisinger Hospital Emergency room where my journey through recovery began.
As I think about this story, I am constantly amazed at the events that all happened in just the right manner so that I could have the best possible chances for recovery. I’ve been told that I must have been really lucky that night, but then I remind whoever tells me this that I was in an accident that put me into a coma, give an laugh, and we move on. Whatever the truth is, that’s the best I know of how my accident occurred, but like I’ve said, this is only the beginning of a story, and the rest is a lot more interesting.
Monday, January 18, 2016
About Me - the quick and simple
I’ve been trying to write a little about myself, so people who don’t know me can have a better idea of where I’m coming from in my writings and commentary, but I’m finding that it is a really hard thing to do - write just a short bio - I feel like I’m always leaving too much out. Below is my bio that leaves out all the interesting details, but I hope it gives an idea of where I come from.
Originally intending to be an actor, I moved away from theater after a car accident that caused Brain Injury in November of1999. After this incident and as I began university studies at the local Bloomsburg University, I dabbled in a wide variety of social science and artistic fields, finally deciding that I wanted to be a Storyteller after witnessing a performance by Master Storyteller Jay O’Callahan. The day after this performance, I began to study the art with head librarian and Master (though not as well known) Storyteller Hal Pratt.
While independently studying storytelling, I was also completing my Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, and upon completion enrolled in the graduate program for Storytelling at East Tennessee State University, where I studied with Dr. Joseph Sobol, as well as other artists and academics. I completed the graduate program with a thesis presentation titled “Who Am I, Again? a verbal collage of stories about Traumatic Brain Injury”. Upon graduating, I began working various part time jobs and professionally performing at locations throughout the North-Eastern United States, including several performances of my signature piece about Brain Injury at conferences throughout the country.
After leaving Tennessee and working several years in Pennsylvania as an independent performance artist and an artistic educator with Box of Light Studios, in 2012 I decided to see more of the world by teaching English in Korea. Currently, I am finishing my time in Korea, living in the small city of Pohang and preparing to begin my final Korean teaching contract.
That’s the quick and easy of where I’m from, but I hope it helps to give an idea of my back ground - if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.
Originally intending to be an actor, I moved away from theater after a car accident that caused Brain Injury in November of1999. After this incident and as I began university studies at the local Bloomsburg University, I dabbled in a wide variety of social science and artistic fields, finally deciding that I wanted to be a Storyteller after witnessing a performance by Master Storyteller Jay O’Callahan. The day after this performance, I began to study the art with head librarian and Master (though not as well known) Storyteller Hal Pratt.
While independently studying storytelling, I was also completing my Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, and upon completion enrolled in the graduate program for Storytelling at East Tennessee State University, where I studied with Dr. Joseph Sobol, as well as other artists and academics. I completed the graduate program with a thesis presentation titled “Who Am I, Again? a verbal collage of stories about Traumatic Brain Injury”. Upon graduating, I began working various part time jobs and professionally performing at locations throughout the North-Eastern United States, including several performances of my signature piece about Brain Injury at conferences throughout the country.
After leaving Tennessee and working several years in Pennsylvania as an independent performance artist and an artistic educator with Box of Light Studios, in 2012 I decided to see more of the world by teaching English in Korea. Currently, I am finishing my time in Korea, living in the small city of Pohang and preparing to begin my final Korean teaching contract.
That’s the quick and easy of where I’m from, but I hope it helps to give an idea of my back ground - if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Who Am I, Again? - a film
A video of the story Who Am I, Again? a verbal collage of stories about TBI is available at:
www.whoamiagain.com
This is what this blog and project is centered around, so please take a view and enjoy.
This film was a way to start of the project TBI voices (www.tbivoice.com) which was organzied by Attorney Gordon Johnson (www.tbilaw.com) and collects stories of Brain Injury survivors. All this is an important resource for legal matters involving Brain Injury.
www.whoamiagain.com
This is what this blog and project is centered around, so please take a view and enjoy.
This film was a way to start of the project TBI voices (www.tbivoice.com) which was organzied by Attorney Gordon Johnson (www.tbilaw.com) and collects stories of Brain Injury survivors. All this is an important resource for legal matters involving Brain Injury.
Introduction
Who Am I, Again?
We start it simple -
I am Lethan.
I am also a brain injury survivor with a Master of Arts degree in Storytelling. Who Am I, Again? is a storytelling piece - what I call a verbal collage - that shares the experience of Brain Injury using the oral tradition.
I’ve worked and lived with this piece for more than a decade, and have had the privilege of sharing this story at events throughout America, but now feel it is time to take a look at this story in a new way. With this in mind, I’ve decided to write a book to accompany the spoken performance.
What will this book be?
I want a book that provides something more - something that doesn’t look to mimic the storytelling, but that will provide something different. It’s with that goal that I’ve started to create a list of what will be included in the book:
1) An explanation of my process in creating the Who Am I, Again? - one of the great things about creating this story was the process - the serendipity of events as they came together as well as the discovery process in organizing all the stories collected, and I think an explanation of my technique may be useful to other story collectors.
2) The use of storytelling as a healing tool - at times, common sense healing will be forgotten in medical practices, and I feel that using storytelling is an example of that. What’s exciting is that I am beginning to see more medical literature that recognizes how storytelling is psychologically and physically beneficial. I want to take some time to review and comment on that literature.
3) How this story has been responded to and affected my experience - I have come to a strong belief in the power of story through my experiences, and I have seen many audiences respond to Who Am I, Again? in some interesting and moving ways. I feel that sharing these experiences will add to the case for the power of storytelling.
4) A script of Who Am I, Again? - the story provides the starting point for this project, so I feel it is appropriate and some people may appreciate having a copy of the script available.
5) A in-depth look at my personal experience with TBI - Who Am I, Again? is a performance piece that is meant to teach, but also to entertain. For this reason there is a limited time to present, and because of this, there are many experiences that are not discussed - some that I have never related. It is my goal to share a less refined story and once again be in touch with the raw emotions of the experience.
Now, please note, this is just a starting point. The final book might include more topics, or some might be cut - this project is still brand new, so I really don’t know, but that’s where you come in…
So what’s the blog about?
As I settled into this writing process, it occurred to me that one of the things I love most about storytelling is the interactive creation of the story, and in some way I want to have that with this Blog . While I can’t get the immediate reaction feedback that’s part of storytelling, I can get your comments on my thoughts as they grow and your responses to pieces I write. And that’s what this blog is for - I want to know what you think about this project. What do you think should be included in this book? Am I minimizing any set of experiences that I’m not aware of? Does the style of writing keep your attention?
So please, join with me in this process - share what you like or don’t like about the project, share your stories, share some time and just read along. I’m excited to begin this, and am thrilled that you’re joining me for a bit. Let’s see what happens next…
We start it simple -
I am Lethan.
I am also a brain injury survivor with a Master of Arts degree in Storytelling. Who Am I, Again? is a storytelling piece - what I call a verbal collage - that shares the experience of Brain Injury using the oral tradition.
I’ve worked and lived with this piece for more than a decade, and have had the privilege of sharing this story at events throughout America, but now feel it is time to take a look at this story in a new way. With this in mind, I’ve decided to write a book to accompany the spoken performance.
What will this book be?
I want a book that provides something more - something that doesn’t look to mimic the storytelling, but that will provide something different. It’s with that goal that I’ve started to create a list of what will be included in the book:
1) An explanation of my process in creating the Who Am I, Again? - one of the great things about creating this story was the process - the serendipity of events as they came together as well as the discovery process in organizing all the stories collected, and I think an explanation of my technique may be useful to other story collectors.
2) The use of storytelling as a healing tool - at times, common sense healing will be forgotten in medical practices, and I feel that using storytelling is an example of that. What’s exciting is that I am beginning to see more medical literature that recognizes how storytelling is psychologically and physically beneficial. I want to take some time to review and comment on that literature.
3) How this story has been responded to and affected my experience - I have come to a strong belief in the power of story through my experiences, and I have seen many audiences respond to Who Am I, Again? in some interesting and moving ways. I feel that sharing these experiences will add to the case for the power of storytelling.
4) A script of Who Am I, Again? - the story provides the starting point for this project, so I feel it is appropriate and some people may appreciate having a copy of the script available.
5) A in-depth look at my personal experience with TBI - Who Am I, Again? is a performance piece that is meant to teach, but also to entertain. For this reason there is a limited time to present, and because of this, there are many experiences that are not discussed - some that I have never related. It is my goal to share a less refined story and once again be in touch with the raw emotions of the experience.
Now, please note, this is just a starting point. The final book might include more topics, or some might be cut - this project is still brand new, so I really don’t know, but that’s where you come in…
So what’s the blog about?
As I settled into this writing process, it occurred to me that one of the things I love most about storytelling is the interactive creation of the story, and in some way I want to have that with this Blog . While I can’t get the immediate reaction feedback that’s part of storytelling, I can get your comments on my thoughts as they grow and your responses to pieces I write. And that’s what this blog is for - I want to know what you think about this project. What do you think should be included in this book? Am I minimizing any set of experiences that I’m not aware of? Does the style of writing keep your attention?
So please, join with me in this process - share what you like or don’t like about the project, share your stories, share some time and just read along. I’m excited to begin this, and am thrilled that you’re joining me for a bit. Let’s see what happens next…
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