Never Give Up with Curtis Anderson
Show Notes:
The road to recovery after a serious brain injury is a long and winding one, requiring much patience and determination. Joining us on the show today to talk about his experience of slow and steady progress over the last two decades is Curtis Anderson. Curtis suffered serious brain trauma in 2002 while bull riding, and was subsequently entered into a medically induced coma. We hear from Curtis about never giving up hope, and his journey to regaining physical mobility. After his initial injury, Curtis spent a year in therapy relearning many of his most fundamental physical functions, including walking. Speech also proved to be a challenge and he talks about the vital steps in regaining his abilities and confidence. Our guest also explains the length of time it took for him to use his left arm properly and the dedication needed to stay committed to the process for over ten years! These days Curtis is on a mission to provide others with hope and inspiration for their own challenges, and his message of positivity and possibility is truly uplifting. Listen in with us today to hear it all!
Key Points From This Episode:
The specifics of Curtis' injury and the pre-existing conditions that made it worse.
Curtis' rehabilitation process and the small steps he began with.
The long line of progress that continues after the initial period in healthcare.
Slow recovery and the extended timeline of improvement that Curtis experienced with his left arm.
Curtis' thoughts on the importance of accessibility and infrastructure to support injuries and disabilities.
Balancing the value of asking for help with a commitment to keep trying.
The patience needed from the people around someone relearning to speak.
Curtis' feelings towards bull riding these days and his continued involvement in the sport.
The sports and activities that Curtis focuses on these days!
Advice to young survivors from Curtis; attending therapy, listening to the body, and patience
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Transcript - Click to Read
[INTRO]
[00:00:04] BP: Hi. I’m your host, Bella Paige. Welcome to the Post Concussion Podcast; all about life after experiencing a concussion. Help us make the invisible injury become visible.
[DISCLAIMER]
[00:00:22] BP: The Post Concussion Podcast is strictly an information podcast about concussions and post-concussion syndrome. It does not provide, nor substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician, or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice, or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast. The opinions expressed in this podcast are simply intended to spark discussion about concussions and post-concussion syndrome.
[EPISODE]
[00:01:03] BP: Welcome to today's episode of the Post Concussion Podcast with myself, Bella Paige, and today's guest, Curtis Anderson. Curtis suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2002 while bull riding at the Ponoka Stampede. After being put in a medically induced coma, he never gave up hope, as he worked to regain his physical mobility. He spent a week short of a year in therapy, learning how to walk, talk, regain the use of his left arm, and basic life skills. Still making progress in his recovery, his new mission in life is to instill hope and provide inspiration for others, recovering from a life altering event is possible. Welcome to the show, Curtis.
[00:01:47] CA: Thank you, Bella and thank you for having me on.
[00:01:49] BP: So, to start, do you want to tell everyone a bit about the day of your injury?
[00:01:53] CA: Oh, it was June 27, 2002. I was at the Ponoka Stampede, and I lost my balance and my head smashed the bull’s head twice. I was rushed to the UV hospital, I spent three weeks in a drug induced coma. But Bella, like two weeks before my accident, I had a severe concussion. So, my brain was already injured to a certain degree and the two hits I took at Ponoka took it over the edge. So, I'm living proof of what can happen when you go back too soon, without letting your brain heal from the first concussion and your brain is most susceptible in the first two weeks.
[00:02:37] BP: Yeah, for sure it is I also ignored a lot of rules with the whole concussion thing. I was also, when you got your injury, wasn't so pushed like it is today to take that break, even today it isn't pushed enough.
[00:02:52] CA: Bella, when I got hurt there's only two guys in Western Canada that wore helmets while riding and now there's probably over 95%. And like you said, people are a lot more aware of concussions.
[00:03:05] BP: Yeah, that's a huge difference for sure. And that helmet is essential, especially when you think of bull riding. Wow. Amazing how so much time for changes like that to occur. Do you remember anything about the day of your injury or when do you start remembering things?
[00:03:22] CA: The last thing that I remember, was setting my rope on the bull. And the next thing that I remember was the ambulance ride from the university over to the Glenrose, and that was three weeks later after I came out of that drug induced coma.
[00:03:39] BP: Okay, then, you had woken up and then you went into rehab. So, do you want to share the steps of how that rehab process went in the first year and then after that?
[00:03:49] CA: When I first started, it took two nurses to get me out of bed and they have pushed my chair to therapy. In physiotherapy, the therapist walked alongside me for an hour a day teaching me how to walk, step by step and via cane, left foot then right, and there would be an assistant walking behind me with a chair so I could take a break once in a while. And with my left arm, one of the first things they got me to do is toss beanbags from the edge of a table to fail or trying to keep my balance. And with speech, well, for the first couple of weeks, I wrote everything down in a scribbler to communicate. But then I started pronouncing vowels, putting vowels into words, and words into sentences.
[00:04:39] BP: Yeah, that's amazing. It's the amount of therapy that goes into the rehab after a brain injury. People don't always realize; the little steps matter, the day you get to take a few more steps than the day before and then that's how you get better and being able to keep pushing through every single day, because it's different for everybody.
[00:05:01] CA: And I mean, for the first 13 years, I kept the list of things I could do with my left arm, or two arms. And it took me 10 years before I could touch each finger to my thumb on my left hand. That would take average Joe, three seconds, or a few seconds anyways.
[00:05:23] BP: It's amazing, even 10 years like, it's great to hear how the progress continues. I know a lot of people that suffer a brain injury or stroke related type trauma, and after that, it seems like you'll never improve more, because it slows down, did you find your progression slowed a lot after a certain point?
[00:05:43] CA: I guess that's one thing is I always – I mean, that first year, it's just like a snowball effect, so much is happening. But I've been, I guess, fortunate that my recovery has kept going and that's the true test of any recovery is when you go home, and you're no longer on a schedule. I mean, you don't have to be at physio at 10, or occupational at 11, you just have to take it upon yourself, how much time and dedication you're going to put into it. And I mean, everyone's recovery is different.
[00:06:22] BP: Yeah, it's really important, it's really hard to motivate yourself, I find people are experiencing that right now. While we’re recording, we're in the middle of COVID lockdown, again, where I am. And you're have to get yourself up to go to work or get yourself up to do your schoolwork. And if you don't have that class to go to or that office to go to, even little things like that are hard, let alone therapy that you have to put on yourself if you want to improve. So, it's really important that you kept going.
[00:06:53] CA: I live near a farm and you're always, I guess, busy and active and that's something I guess I always had something to do. So, you're keeping active.
[00:07:07] BP: Yeah, it's important. It’s important for everybody. So, a lot of the time when you do brain injury recovery, a lot of the time in the news articles and the stats as you were talking, a after two years, everything slows down, and you're done. So, what are your thoughts on that?
[00:07:25] CA: Well, you know, one stat they say is after two years, that's as good. Two year, you're just getting started and the biggest thing with recovery is you will keep getting better, as long as you want to and that's the bottom line.
[00:07:42] BP: For sure. I really like that. And it does take a lot of time to get better. Two years is not enough, even for a non-traumatic brain injury. And just like a concussion, which is still a very severe injury, it takes a lot more than two years for everything to go back to whatever new normal.
[00:08:00] CA: It took 10 years for things to really get going with my left arm. Up until then, it was pretty slow. But it seemed like the 10-year mark, things took off.
[00:08:10] BP: Well, that's amazing. Thank you for sharing. So, as we talked earlier, before the recording, we mentioned that your disability with access issues in certain areas like stairways, having a railing on one side, you would have to go up and down backwards. So, do you have any recommendations for places to improve their accessibility or what others who have disabilities should try to just accept it or how they should handle those types of situations?
[00:08:41] CA: Well, I really recommend any public building to have a railing on each side of the stairs, because it was eight years before I could use that left railing again. And like you said, a lot of the times, I went down the stairs backwards, just like hanging on to the railing. If there was no railing, I'd be stuck at the top or bottom if there wasn't someone to go up and down with me. And I mean, not only for just survivors, but say the elderly, it's very safe to have a railing on each side.
For survivors that get in that situation, don't be scared to ask anyone for help because they will help you up and down the stairs, no problem. And if you are there's no one there, take your time. If you're going to try do it yourself, going up there's a lot easier than coming down.
[00:09:36] BP: Asking for help. That's huge. It's really hard to ask for help. I find anybody to that step of asking for help with a lot of vulnerability and admitting that maybe you need that help with something. How did you find that? Were you really comfortable with asking for help at the beginning or did you have to take your time to get there?
[00:09:57] CA: Well, I guess there's a couple steps. Already in the beginning, you have to ask for help. But then, when you're doing stuff, people are always trying to do it for you. One thing as a survivor, you could take too much help, you got to try and do it yourself. Because if you don't try, you won't get better 9 times out of 10, you're going to be alone anyways, you better do it while there's someone there. And I mean, certain situations are different. But yeah, there's definitely a fine line. I remember one time someone kept pushing, pushing, pushing, I basically said, “If I wanted your help, I'd asked for it.”
[00:10:36] BP: No, that’s a good – sometimes, we don't want that help, and that's totally fine, too, if you want to try to do things on your own. Or, like you said, if you don't try, how will you ever know, and that is a huge thing as well. If you don't try it out, then it's just going to be a mystery, and then you might overthink about it. So, it's worth the shot, and even if it might go wrong.
One of the biggest parts of recovery, which is more, more important to a lot of people than the physical effects that also happen, is the learning how to speak. So, relearning how to speak, a lot of people here probably don't know the process, but it's very long, and it's difficult. And it starts with from making vowel sounds to short words, to full words to sentences, and it takes a lot of time to learn all those tools again. And also, learning how to use the tools alone when you're out of therapy would be a whole another job. So, in speaking with an individual who may take a moment, to bring up a word, or have a bit of trouble pronouncing it, what do you think that best action is, as a friend?
[00:11:46] CA: Give them as much time as they need, and don't try to finish their sentence, like just just give them time. And eventually, they're going to say. That’s one thing, I guess, whether you're doing something or you're trying to get a word. As a survivor, there's so much satisfaction, and being proud of being able to do something for the first time. It's hard to explain, but it's a very proud feeling when you're able to do something for the first time you couldn't do since the accident.
[00:12:18] BP: Yeah, I love that. It's great advice to give someone the chance, right? We don't want to speak for other people. And even if it does take them an extra minute, what's the rush? Right?
[00:12:30] CA: Yeah. And Bella, in your recovery, did you ever have people try to speak for you? Or say there's someone behind the counter, and they're asking the question, and they don't look at you to ask the question. They will look at the person beside you?
[00:12:47] BP: I luckily didn't have a lot of that other than when my friends are more just laugh at the point or they wouldn't really realize. When I couldn't come up with the word, it was more I couldn't think of it and my brain would go blank about what we were speaking with, immediately. We'd be in the middle of a conversation. I just go, “Whoa, like, it's all gone. What are we talking about?”
But no, I luckily didn't have that. But that's a huge issue as well, when people address someone else. A lot of the time I had them address my parents instead. But I was the one going through it and I understood it's good to get my parents’ opinion as they might see things that I'm not realizing. But you should also be addressing me as the patient because I'm the one living with this.
[00:13:33] CA: I remember one time when I got home and I was with the worker, we went to the swimming pool in the nearby and there was a lady behind the counter. We're going to set up a schedule and she asked my worker what hours I wanted to go, like I guess she figured I couldn't answer the question. And then I remember when I talked to my worker later, I said, “Well, that bugged me.” I said, “I'm full well capable of answering my own answers.”
[00:14:01] BP: Yeah, for sure. So, everyone, you can find Curtis on Instagram, @curtisanderson6, and find a lot of his motivational poems on there. And you can also find the link in today's show notes. But with that, we're going to take a break, but make sure you stay tuned to hear how and what Curtis is up to today.
[BREAK]
[00:14:25] BP: Want to create awareness for concussions? Want to support our podcast and website? Buy awareness clothing today on postconcussioninc.com and get 10% off using ListenIn and be sure to take Post Concussion Inc. in your photos. We'd love to see them.
[EPISODE CONTINUED]
[00:14:51] BP: Welcome back to the Post Concussion Podcast with myself, Bella Paige, and today's guest, Curtis Anderson.
So, we're going to get back into it with Curtis. And to start, because Curtis' accident was bull riding, I'm really curious what your current opinion is on bull riding?
[00:15:12] CA: Oh, I still like bull riding quite a bit. There are like bull riding events here in Alberta. I've spoke at lots of them. And then I get to share my message with the crowd. But then I talked to the guys one on one, and let them know like I'm living proof to severity of repeated concussions and just letting guys know not to go back too soon. And just take your time because it's better to take a few more weeks off than keep going back to soon. Maybe, one day, you don't come back in any sport.
[00:15:43] BP: Yeah, exactly. I'm the same way. I'm really passionate about showjumping, still think it's an amazing sport. I wish I knew and listened more to my body about taking that break. I think that's great that you're going back to those events and educating the community about how you need to take that break, because you can end up like, “I can't ride a horse right now. I need the break permanently now”, at least for a few years hopefully, that's it. But I didn't do that. I didn't take the few weeks off or the few months that would have allowed me to continue. And it's really important that we make that aware to athletes to take that break, so that you can continue other than pushing through it and ignoring those symptoms. Because a lot of the time it ends up a lot worse. So, yourself, where are you at today? Are you able to be active?
[00:16:34] CA: Yeah, I can say in the winter times, I go skating quite a bit and I curl in a cup of bonspiels. And then I started a bike ride a while ago, and I wanted to ride across Canada on my stationary bike and I just kept track of the miles I've gone on my calendar. And I started out in Vancouver and I've gone 2,126.9 miles in 82 days. So, I'm on the east side of Toronto about 20 miles. The best I'd get was 19.1 miles an hour. And riding a stationary bike, the oxygen gets deeper into your brain, so you create two to three times the amount of basically new brain cells. So, it is very good and it helps with brain function and repair. So, as survivors, it's a good exercise.
[00:17:32] BP: That's amazing. I don't bike very well. So, that's awesome. I got knee injuries from riding horses, so it doesn't go the best. But I was trying to figure out where you were. So, that's really far. That's awesome. And it's a great, it's a good goal to set yourself going every day while you hop on that bike. So, how does that work? How well is your function in your left arm now then for biking?
[00:17:56] CA: Oh, Bella, it’s just a stationary bike. So, I just do it in my porch.
[00:18:00] BP: Yeah, but do you have to hold on or do you have anything set up on it differently?
[00:18:05] CA: Actually, I'm pretty lucky I can ride the bike now, with no handlebars and my eyes closed to challenge my balance that much more.
[00:18:14] BP: Yeah, I know, that's awesome. I had someone the other day, we did a recording and he has a special — whole system set up on to make it a little easier for him to bike which is amazing. Because there's things like that that exist. And I think it's important for people to reach out and get them when they need them. Do you have any advice for young survivors whose injuries has a similar severity and less?
[00:18:41] CA: Go to all your therapies and listen to your body. If you're tired, you're tired, and your brain will tell you and you need to listen. The best medicine is rest and water. The bottom line is you don't get better sitting on the couch. To keep challenging yourself and to try your hardest, every day. I wrote an anagram for the word grit and it's getting a chance to recovery and recovery is in your own hands. Take one day at a time and make each day count.
[00:19:20] BP: That's amazing. I like it. That's really good way to put it. I think you have had so much to say and everything that you've said has been so insightful and inspiring to a lot of survivors out there. Is there anything else you would like to add before ending today's episode?
[00:19:38] CA: Well, determination, dedication, try, grit, courage, confidence, commitment, resilience, tenacity, perseverance, optimism, strength and the most important, patience, is a choice until it is the only choice that you have. And us, all the survivors out there, I mean, that's the only choice we have and hope everyone a good recovery and to keep fighting.
[00:20:10] BP: Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Curtis, for joining us today and sharing a bit of your story and instilling hope in our listeners.
[OUTRO]
[00:20:21] BP: Has your life been affected by concussions? Join our podcast by getting in touch. Thank you so much for listening to the Post Concussion Podcast. Be sure to help us educate the world about the reality of concussions, by giving us a share. To learn more, don't forget to subscribe.
[END]
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