Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Deborah Brandon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Deborah, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I am a brain injury survivor. I have a rare disease—clusters of malformed blood vessels (cavernomas) are scattered throughout my brain. Two of them bled, wreaking havoc on my life. The only known treatment to prevent future bleeds is to remove the bleeders surgically–I underwent three brain surgeries. Brain injury includes concussion, blunt force trauma to the head, stroke, both hemorrhagic and ischemic, and any other cause of damage to the brain.
As I progressed through my own journey through recovery, it occurred to me that through my own story, I could help other brain injury survivors, their caregivers and loved ones struggling with the impact of brain injury on their lives. I also came to the realization that, unfortunately, many aspects of brain injury are not well understood, not only by the general public, but also by a large proportion of the brain injury community, such as brain injury survivors, their loved ones, and surprisingly, by many within the medical community, including the neuro-community. I wanted to raise awareness of the impact of brain injury through my own story.

Deborah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born in England and grew up in Israel. At the age of 24 I moved to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. In mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University. Several years after I graduated, I joined the mathematical sciences faculty at Carnegie Mellon.
Throughout my life, I’ve been a maker, knitting, crocheting, felting, embroidery, weaving, etc. The main components of my identity included wife, mother, mathematician, teacher, and textile artist. After my brain bleeds I lost much of my identity. Because of my neurological deficits, my parenting skills suffered, I couldn’t teach, my mathematical ability came into question, and my making skills became inaccessible to me.
At the age of forty-seven, when my kids were thirteen and fifteen, I suffered devastating brain bleeds. A few months later, in the hopes of reclaiming my place in the world, I underwent three brain surgeries. Though many in the brain injury community believe that survivors will fully recover and reclaim their place in the world, there is no full recovery from severe injury.
The surgeries left me with several neuro-deficits. While I was in-patient rehab and later at home, I struggled to regain my balance, strength, and stamina. I worked hard to surmount my cognitive disabilities. Crippling headaches plagued my days. I also had to contend with severe depression and suicide ideation. Fortunately, I’m as stubborn as they come and despite frustration and tears, I persevered and learned coping mechanisms and compensation techniques.
Relearning textile skills served me well–I regained fine motor skills and focus. I played brain games on a Nintendo DS and pored over high school and college textbooks to reclaim my title as mathematician.
I managed to relearn mathematics and returned to the classroom a year after my surgeries. In the process, my teaching skills improved, in part because of my own struggles relearning the material, but also because, having had to ask for help and sharing my vulnerabilities with others, my social skills improved–I connected better with my students. In addition, as my brain rewired, my thinking style became more diverse and I became better able to address the students various processing skills. I used to enjoy teaching, but now it became a passion.
In order to understand the enormity of my experience, I started writing about it. At first it was for me, but I quickly realized that other brain injury survivors might benefit from my story. As I wrote, the project grew. I wanted to reach the genera public. To do so, I needed to improve my writing. Because of the bloody brain, as I refer to it, I was unable to attend writing classes and workshops. Instead, I worked one-on-one with a writing coach. She transformed me from an eh-journal writer, to an award winning author.
All in all, I don’t regret the bloody brain. I wouldn’t want to repeat the experience, but I’m happy with where it brought me. The gains far outweigh the losses. My life is harder but much fuller. My injury gifted me with a passion for teaching and writing, as well as a deep interest in ethnic textiles. It also transformed me from a painfully shy introvert to and eager extrovert. My brain injury enriched my life beyond compare. Also, I’m a more authentic version of myself. I’m much more self aware, more compassionate. I take more joy in life—I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Due to my brain bleeds and subsequent brain surgeries, my ability to think sequentially was damaged. My memory was affected as well, as was my processing speed. I also exhibited ADD-like symptoms.
After I returned home from hospital, I was incapable of helping my daughter with her high school algebra homework. I had to face the fact that my days as a mathematician might be over. But I couldn’t let go of my identity as a mathematician.
To improve my sequential thinking style, I played with the bop-it and the Simon. It took me several weeks before I got through the first level. Next, I needed to relearn arithmetic, including the multiplication tables. To do that, I played brain games on my son’s Nintendo DS.
Finally, feeling that I’d remastered arithmetic, I pored over a college algebra book, working my way through each example and every exercise. Next, I moved on to relearn calculus. By the end of my first year into my recovery, I felt ready to resume my role as a math teacher. My first year back into the classroom was challenging—neuro-fatigue and daily headaches often compromised my ability to function at an acceptable (to me) level.
During my first year back in the classroom I was full of self doubt, constantly questioning my ability to teach–I suffered from a bad case of impostor syndrome. I kept quiet about my disabilities. During the summer between my first and second years back to teaching, I recovered sufficiently that I was more confident in my self. On the first day of the next academic year, I entered the classroom with my head held high.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

When I first returned home from hospital, I felt broken and lost. I felt as if I’d been dropped into an alien landscape without a guide or compass. I searched high and low for resources that could help me on my path to recovery. But I found nothing that addressed my difficulties. Some of the resources were too medical. Many books were written by caregivers who had no grasp of the inner struggle faced by survivors. And those few that were written by survivors focused mostly on the traumatic event that led to their injury. There was little to no information about ongoing recovery. I needed a view from the inside. I needed anecdotes that would help me figure out how to proceed and where to go.
It occurred to me that if I write about my experiences, it could fill that unfortunate gap in the available resources. As the scope of my project grew my writing improved. The end result was my award winning book, “But My Brain Had Other Ideas: A Memoir of Recovery from Brain Injury.”
I am currently writing a “sequel” about living with brain injury (as opposed to my story of recovery from brain injury), and how it changed my perception of the world. In addition, I am co-authoring a book with Donna O’Donnell Figurski (author of “Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver’s Tale.”)
Our book is about the parallel journeys of survivors and caregivers. It is common for both survivors and caregivers to feel isolated and alone. I believe that both these books will help alleviate that feeling. And, of course, both books will continue raising awareness about brain injury.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://debbrandon.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deb_brandon1/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/

Image Credits

Cindy Lair
Brendan Sullivan
Sarah Hrusa
Joyce Miller