My husband has frontal brain damage from surgery.

Dear @lanulare & all,
I have a TBI from a one block from my house, on 2012. I had different ways of the “problems”, usually physically & mentally like cutting the grass or swimming again or working at my city or playing my MC (motorcycle) and on. I’ve lost my memories like Christmas from my kids example. I lost 80% of my memory & understanding today.

#1 (1/2 a year) - I lived at the hospital and then another place of that. That learned easy places - like bathrooms, eating dinner, walking without falling down, and on.

#2 (3/4 a year) - Staying at my house and spend M-F, 6 hour a day, like playing cards & others.

#3 (5 years) - At home but another M-F, 6 hours a day working things like the money, cleaning, cooking, lifting, working in/out, “help-ing”, and on. That was, for 5 years with this. That’s gone 3-4 years ago.

That’s ended. Sure I can’t drive anymore but I’m married for the last 42-plus years - thankfully! But I worked at my church; meet older friends, trying my ability ride my guitar/music (can’t get, but trying again), cleaning up, and others.
Thx,
Greg D. @greg1956

PS: I take 3 times-a-day of meds for anti-seizure than before. Makes the last 4 years of anti-seizure - thankfully!

PSS: Be careful of people has a TBI the weakness as people gets older. I am, now, 70 years old. I’ve falling down cause I had been acccident a falling down a few years ago on my rearends. Now my balance is gone on my right foot. Falling down is to easy.

@gregd1956 You might want to try a ukelele. Only 4 strings. Chords are easier than the guitar.

😄

@triciaot and @greg1956 I just picked up the ukelele and I can attest that it is easier than the guitar. What joy it has brought me. Just remember to relax, have fun and don't worry if you cannot make all chords...some of them are tricky no matter what instrument! Joy, joy!

My son sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. He is permanently disabled and dependent on my husband and I. While he accepts his new situation, he fights to improve what he does have and explores other ways to make his life fulfilling. For an example, he does not have good breath control and his speech is very difficult to understand, so he cannot play the horn instruments he used to play (baritone, trombone, trumpet, french horn). So, he explored other musical expressions. He also has difficulty with fine-motor skills; he cannot write well or for a long time and he cannot brush his teeth. But his fine motor skills have improved with practice, so he is taking piano lessons. I would encourage all brain-injured people to explore the arts and attend concerts, art galleries/museums, garden...and take a lesson or two. The arts are magical. Always remember to take a breath, relax and just enjoy the doing, instead expecting the perfect. May your life be blessed with art!

@marialara I bought a ukulele after breast cancer treatment that gave me brain fog. It was when the medication dose was lowered and the fog mostly lifted I was so elated I got the ukulele.

I use the Ultimate Guitar app on an ipad. What I love about the app is that it will transpose all the chords up or down. So when there is a song that has one or more chords that are difficult to finger, I just hit the transpose up, or down, until I find a set of chords that are easier to play. It almost always works! The app provides chords for the guitar and almost all of them have an option to play on the ukulele. It has incredibly simplified my playing.