Brian Macmanus

It took me a while to accept that I had a brain injury. When you're at the beginning of your recovery you're on all sorts of medications that can make you feel 6 feet tall and bulletproof. But after a while it became clear that I needed help. My brain was using so much energy just to get through the day that I was becoming fatigued. I went to the ISIS rehab centre who encouraged me to contact Brain Injury Association Otago. I had a few conversations on the phone at first and then they started sending me invites to different meetups and speaking events.

They taught me how to become aware of my fatigue. I've learned how to break my work down into bite sized tasks and what I can outsource. At first, I took on too much and I'd keep losing track of what I was supposed to be doing. It took some time for me to work out when I needed to stop and rest. My wife is pretty good at recognising the signs and my grandchildren know when grandad needs a rest. When my voice gets husky and my eyes go cloudy, those are two of the signs. If I start missing words when I'm speaking I just tell people that my brain needs a moment to catch up. It can be a bit like a computer with a frozen screen because too many tabs are open.

So it can be a challenge to teach tips and strategies to people with brain injuries because we can't take in a lot of information at once. But it's not all pamphlets and seminars, I also learn a lot from listening to others at our support meetups. Sometimes someone will open up a subject and everyone will start sharing their experiences and it's really interesting. I think I'm pretty lucky when I hear about some of the problems others are facing. It sure makes you realise just how differently each of us experience our brain injury and how no two are the same.

"... I just tell people that my brain needs a moment to catch up. It can be a bit like a computer with a frozen screen because too many tabs are open.'