ABOUT THE ALTERED BRAIN

The Altered Brain is an educational resource made by me, Jarrod Flowers. I am a retired primary school teacher who has spent the last seven years trying to rebuild my brain after falling 3 metres, which resulted in a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain. Initially, I would fall asleep after reading a paragraph of words on a page, and then there were different types of headaches that followed every word I read, and then I would have no memory of anything that I would read. Having a conversation with anyone was terrifying, yet I always loved it because I love socialising. I couldn’t remember much when people spoke to me, and running water has left me in bursts of laughter because it tickles so much, due to my insane skin sensitivity. I spent the majority of my time resting for like 6 years because I was too exhausted to do anything, but not tired enough to sleep. This was because my brain needed to rest for that period of time, and a dark, quiet environment was what my brain needed.

I have spent the last seven years just working with different professionals to seek as much advice as I can on rehabilitating my brain. I used to be a year 3 teacher, so what I used to do as a teacher was to teach kids how to understand different things. After my injury, I wanted to understand how to fix my brain and at the start of this journey, I couldn’t even recall a simple paragraph that I would read. If I was reading a book and it closed, I would have no idea where was up to, because I couldn’t remember. So I would estimate where I thought I was and start reading again. After a short while of reading, I might recognise that I had read it. I have read whole chapters and only on the last page, something clicks and I remember that I had read this whole chapter – it just took me reading most of it again to remember. Then add in insane headaches from bright lights and noise, to thinking. Any noise would make me so irritated and exhaust me. So, I just did this for years and substituted socialising with reading books about the mind and the brain and how they work.

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For the first year, I spent the majority of my time in bed because I was too exhausted to do anything except lie down. A Neurologist diagnosed me with Post Concussion Syndrome, I tried a few medications for the headaches, and I spent a lot of time in Facebook support groups, talking to others who had been living with a brain injury. They helped me understand what this type of injury really was, as I slowly watched my life as I knew it fall away. I wasn’t able to do basic things, let alone socialise or return to work. I started to keep track of what I did each day, started to read lots of books one sentence at a time, and spent many hours each day lying down and focusing on my breathing because my brain couldn’t do anything else.

After a year, I moved out of my mum’s house into a unit and regained that sweet sense of independence again. I did my first neuropsychological assessment that resulted in a mild cognitive disorder with an adjustment disorder, which explained the anxiety that I never used to have, crazy mood swings, and pain that only rest helped. Being 28 and living with what felt like mild dementia was not an easy thing, but it lit a fire inside of me to get my brain back. I continued to talk to others who had acquired brain injuries, and read some interesting books written by different experts. I worked with a great team of doctors, physio’s, psychologists, occupational therapists, and others. Managing pain and fatigue was done by keeping track of what I did every day and prioritising rest.

After two years, I found a neuro optometrist who decreased the headaches with glasses and six months of vision therapy. I spent my time doing vision exercises, neck exercises, everyday jobs, reading books and making notes, keeping track about what I did, and socialising when I could. The progress was slow, but with time and by keeping notes, it was evident that my brain was rewiring its neural pathways to be able to do things that I wanted to do again.

After three years, I did another neuropsych test and it revealed the same level of impairment with my brain. I wasn’t able to return to teaching and became totally and permanently disabled as a teacher, leaving me medically retired at 30. The journey of seeking out help continued, alongside trial and error as I learnt how to build a new life with this new brain.

This website is filled with resources that I have created because they helped me so much. I wish I had access to this website in the early days of life after a brain injury, which is why I have this website.