Customer Reviews:
 polished and effective June 28, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The personal stories provide insight, compassion and humor but are over-polished in editing as if being prepared for a TV movie script. This loses a sense of real human connection with the author and her true feelings. I found myself saying "too cute" to some examples. Certainly effective in communication, but nothing in this is a "real life" documentation in the form that American audiences have come to expect in contemporary autobiographies. Still, this is the best publication on the topic of mild traumatic brain injury that conveys the day-to-day effect of even the mildest cases.
Dr. Osborn is a true teacher June 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think I now can be a better friend and cousin to Jack who recently suffered a brain injury. Reading these memoirs has jolted me out of denial. I am very grateful for the wisdom in this book.
a lifering of a book May 27, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is the definitive tell-all about head trauma.
It savages every concept of so-called professionalism
in the neuro rehab "biz." And yes, let's never forget
it is a business...Like the movie The Doctor, with William
Hurt, the expert doctor's ego is the last to fall. Ms.
Osborn admits this readily, to her credit.
Claudia found out just how much caregivers and
"pros" alike sugar coat the truth with lies, supposedly
to spare our feelings, but really because they are
unable to feel and empathize emotionally with some-
thing as unbelievably tragic as the very Loss of Self.
Or at least the appearance of it!
Don't ever believe you will lose your self if you have
a head injury, mild or severe. It is only an illusion.
There is a broad, overarching hint throughout this book
that faith in the Almighty will bring you through head
injury successfully. I suggest you dare to believe it.
TBI treatment is still scandalously poor out there, folks!
Only the truth can fix it. Don't discount the power of
nootropic smart supplements, homeopathic remedies,
hyperbaric oxygen and just eating fresh herbs and
veggies out of a home garden even years after the injury.
Starting up painting or playing an instrument can open
dormant circuits especially if they were never used
to begin with, pre-trauma. Gee, now THERE's a thought,
hunh?! The human body has a phenomenal capacity to
heal itself with just a little push start.
This book is crammed full of insights about how even
though we can become victims in a flash we can also
begin to bust out of it as we get our bearings. Please,
please read books like this to your relatives in a coma
or even if NOT mute, aphasic, or with "locked in
syndrome." It will allow them to process the emotions.
They need you to do that for them!
It starts with the Will, as the author clearly demonstrates
by literally writing her way back to life.
Claudia.... You done good, Girl!
Completely accurate account on living with short-term memory loss March 19, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Ms. Osborn is a godsend to have created this book. I am a survivor of an illness which greatly affected my short-term memory, and although it is difficult for me to remember the details of the book overall, I could 100% relate to each and every sentence as I read it. If you are friend or family to one with short-term memory loss, or if you simply wish to understand life with virtually no short-term memory, read this book. You will have a completely different outlook on life once you do.
An Instructive Read for the Head Injured, Neuro Professionals, and Caregivers. March 11, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was a well done piece that describes some of the many deficits head injured people suffer. This is particularly valuable since so little literature is available to lay persons interested in head injuries. I found myself clearly identifying with Claudia, her loss of career, and the devastating deficits caused by traumatic brain injury.
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