Are thinking exercises and brain games useful for TBI recovery?

She’s the one of the three who is part Satan. A cute one.

The photo on my profile is one I took myself with my phone at the hospital. I wasn’t doing too well. I was also pretty infamous as the patient with blue hair. And two black eyes.

I fell on November 28, 2018. Black ice on a walking path was the culprit. I didn’t take an ambulance ride because I didn’t want a huge bill.
Friends took me to the ER the next day.

In the ER, lots of doctors came in. I had many scans. The doctors said I was lucky I wasn’t dead. I had broken all the bones in one ear, which is pretty hard to do. Two bleeds, concussion plus TBI. In the hospital 2 1/2 days. Sent to old folks home to transition. Cut loose from there after a week. No suggestions for what to do for myself. The MN Brain Injury Alliance sent me some info, I went to one meeting, and found out about the Mayo study and was thrilled to be accepted!

As the bills pile up, I go to the specialists recommended by Roger at MNBIA. I filed a lawsuit against the management company and the condo board. Just settled in July of this year, my attorney sent $$$$ to my debtors and of the $10,000 award, I got $1,000 from the settlement. Recently I got $4,000 back, because Medicare goofed up. (,!!!) what I have now is permanent. No sense of smell, too. At least the crystals in my ear went back where they were supposed to be.

Sorry if this is TMI, but I did edit a lot out!

What a creative and beautiful work around.

That is too cute. She just wants to help. May I ask you if it is okay, how long ago was your brain injury?

I love jigsaw puzzles too. Hard to do with 1 cat needing to destroy things. It’s just how she is.

I started doing jigsaw puzzles. It is fun and also keeps me focused. I also started baking again which I love. At first, I would mix up the recipes and forget what ingredients I had added or not added or end up in another room altogether forgetting what I was suppose to be doing. This would just make me frustrated and irritated. I finally came up with an assembly line method where I move the ingredients to the other side of the kitchen as I add them. I can now make two different kinds of cookies at once without making a mistake. It challenges my brain by keeping me focused and also helps my memory I think.

In addition to quilting (I like the patterns that use a lot of math) I try the daily crossword puzzle in the paper. The former can still be frustrating but I am almost back to my old level on the latter. I have also done the free courses on Corsera. I'm about 2 years, 4 months after my injury. I am lucky to be as good as I am but am still hoping for more improvement.

My real life problem solving. I have way more mental problems than physical, and I like being able to have a small victory now and then. Winter ❄️ Storm warnings just posted.eek.

The first photo is my very clumsy stab at returning to counted cross stitch. It took some time for me to realize what was happening. The second photo is from when I substituted seed beads and it’s going great. I’m wearing out faster these days. I’m surrounded by stress that no one will be able relieve for me.

I tried to add to this conversation a few days ago, but touched the wrong thing on my tablet and POOF it was gone! I decided that frustration was something I didn't need any more of, so I went outside to do things on my 'to do' list.
My OT recommended Lumosity to challenge my brain, which I did for a while. I soon figured out that I did better if I actually read the instructions on how to pay the games rather than just diving in and figuring them out gave me much better scores, But I am a guy, and that coupled with the endless emails to buy it, I was driven past my tolerance level. I now do Sudoku and MS Solitaire. They help get my brain in gear before I go out and face the day.
My real challenges are the projects I find myself doing in the yard, garage or house each day. Like finding the rocks that will fit together properly to complete my retaining walls, engineering a system to capture and use rain water for my drip irrigation system in my vegetable garden. These are the things that are real challenges and bring the greatest rewards when you are able to get them to work. When I need to rest from these projects, I come inside, sit in my recliner and start one of the afore mentioned games. After about a half hour, I wake up, finish the game and then go back out to work.

colleen;
I do seed beading and the beads are the same size as the squares in my fabric. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it's a good idea.