Covid-19, brain injury and me: diary of an ABI survivor - Part 9

Covid-19 notes from a small English island

How do you cope through Covid-19 when you’re alone on a small English island, living life with a brain injury? 

It is uncertain times for brain injury survivor, Anne Ricketts as each new day dawns in the coronavirus pandemic.

But the Krysalis team are in close contact with her – and her loveable Labrador, Summer – as she reports on her progress from her island home via her new ‘live’ blog series, here.

Part 9 - A healthy dose of help 

To say I’ve felt concerned about when I will be able to get groceries would be an understatement.

Like many of us, I’ve been finding it impossible to secure delivery slots. I had a shopping list ready for almost two weeks at one point and was checking multiple times every day for a slot.

Luckily, I restocked my store cupboard before lockdown.

I honestly didn’t think I would need to use it, possibly for months to come, but that I had the sense to do this still astounds me.

   I think this may be the first time I have thought ahead since I fell on my head and suffered a traumatic brain injury nearly twenty years ago. Well done me!   

Providence surely played a hand in this, however.

If I hadn’t heard about lockdown on the news and my daughter’s freezer hadn’t broken down, I would have continued doing what long-term isolated people do – I would have stayed indoors oblivious of what was happening.

Going out freezer shopping with my daughter and her husband was a shock.

Not only had all the local electrical suppliers been stripped of freezers but, as we all now know, so too were the shelves in all the other shops.

So when I did manage to get fresh fruit, meat and vegetables, I was quick to cook these up for the freezer for the days ahead.

Here’s to health!

I made some delicious fruits tarts because I was worried about how I would keep up my fruit intake.

I fried off the apples and pears in butter, placed them in gluten-free cases and made a blueberry jelly to go over the top with vegetarian ‘gelatine’ and a dash of agave syrup.

Worried about how they would defrost, I have been putting them in the oven to heat and, ten minutes later, have a delicious fruit treat!

   There was a point where I only had one lonely lettuce left in the fridge!   

I was laughing over the fence with my neighbour about it and saying I wasn’t sure what to eat it with as one lettuce doesn’t really make a salad.

She kindly offered me a few cherry tomatoes and I ended up with salad and gluten free pasta in a jar of tomato sauce.

I felt a mixture of gratitude accompanied by reservations about eating processed food.

Usually I do everything I can to avoid eating anything I haven’t made myself and although the ingredients on this jar of tomato sauce were all natural, I wasn’t happy about having salt and sugar.

   The last thing I want to do is to become lax in my diet because I know how essential excellent nutrition is to my health.   

With my under-lying conditions. I notice changes in my body very quickly and after only a few days of eating differently I noticed an increase in my fatigue and other symptoms.

When I ran out of fresh vegetables, I had to resort to the tinned variety and a little can of corn was salt free and went down nicely with my homemade cottage pie.

I usually have a variety of vegetables with my dinner, but I felt conscious of using too much from the store cupboard at once.

   I realised that I had started to ration myself! In desperation, I finally understood I need to start thinking outside the box.   

After chatting with my daughter, I telephoned my local farm shop.

(If trees weren’t in the way, I would be able to see the shop from my home-office window across the fields. I have no idea why I hadn’t thought of this before!)

The farm shop arranged a delivery for me and I will place other orders to top up. I am so grateful that I know I can get food in without having to go out.

But there are so many people far worse off than I am.

Spread the support

My inboxes have been filled by people living with brain injury looking for help and advice. Thankfully, they are reaching out when they get stuck.

So far, I haven’t had anyone else contact me directly about trying to get food in, but I am sure those people are out there.

I know my friend, Jim’s freezer is getting low. I spoke to him about enlisting the help of Age UK. He assures me he isn’t ready for that yet, but I don’t think it will be long.

   Over the last ten years, I have watched the number of people living with brain injury escalate massively on social media.   

There are a lot more online support groups and information for people now and, hence, increased ways to reach each other.

Many of the calls for help I have received from those in the brain injury community have been about changes in routine.

For some, this has resulted in feelings of boredom and loss of motivation.

For others, the outcomes are more serious, resulting in changes in mood and behaviour which people are struggling to deal with.

To help alleviate boredom, I have been recommending the 'over 200 stay at home activities for brain injury survivors and their families' article - People love this and the feedback has been very positive!

Living with a brain injury can make it incredibly hard to be inventive.

When routines change, difficulties with processing can make it difficult to see anything but the problem you are faced with.

A huge thank you to Krysalis for producing this vital document!

Another amazingly useful ‘tool’ in my helping box has been the Krysalis Public Resources page, here: https://www.krysalisconsultancy.co.uk/public-resources

People have been in touch, letting me know that they have struggled to understand the changes themselves or to let me know that they are having difficulty with helping a loved one understand.

Again, the feedback has been filled with gratitude that this information is available.

Further reading

What the experts say - stress and anxiety advice for brain injury survivors during the Covid-19 pandemic. Turn off the news, engage with nature, practice mindfulness, stick to a routine, suss your stressors ...

More resources to help brain injury survivors and their families during Covid-19 here: Krysalis public resources

Over 200 stay at home activities for brain injury survivors and their families ...

Twenty apps to boost brain injury rehabilitation ...

Covid-19 Brain injury and me - Diary of an ABI survivor ...

And so much more on our exclusive talking heads blog ...