Surviving Adversity: A TBI Survivor’s Journey of Gratitude and Determination
Hello dear readers. Welcome to my life!
It gives me great pleasure to finally have an audience that shows genuine interest to understand me and who I can finally connect with, hopefully without any hesitation or guilt or remorse.
How do you introduce yourself to strangers? Simple, right. Just give them your name. Some recommend a short “elevator pitch” to describe yourself.
Isn’t that a tiny bit difficult for people like me?
If you met me before my brain injury, my introduction might have gone something like this “My name is Prateek Mohanty. I am a B.Tech in Electrical engineering along with a MBA in risk finance. For the last 10 yrs I have been working with a large Canadian Bank and am currently part of their Internal Audit team.”
But if you met me today, I would say “My name is Prateek Mohanty. I have a B.Tech in Electrical engineering along with a MBA in risk finance. I am Father of 3 incredible kids. Oh and I happen to be a mentally disabled person.”
What can possibly get you a “mentally disabled person” tag?
Glad that you asked.
Prateek Mohanty
More simply put – Me, and importantly me inclusive of my shortcomings, can finally feel equal here with you.
So, let me set the stage for you.
About Me
As a survivor of a medium-to-severe TBI (traumatic brain injury, more casually called ABI) five years ago, I am currently happily married with 2 daughters (6 & 4 years old) and a recently turned 11 year old Lhasa Apso dog named SiSi. I sadly caught bacterial meningitis and ventriculitis simultaneously on day 1 of a road trip to Vermont, US in the summer of 2018. My doctors at Dartmouth University in the US had given up, given the significantly increased brain pressure (ICP) and the potential and near unfixable damage it could have already caused inside my brain, and recommended pulling the plug.
Yes, I do look and sound fine now. But it’s all thanks to my determined wife, her family and friends who continue to stand by her, the doctors and ICU staff at Dartmouth University and the broader society here in Toronto, and the government of Canada, that I am alive. I am a certified mentally disabled person as per CRA and CPP which in my tiny world means that I get to spend my days with my daughters for as long as I want, as long as I can.
But let’s start off, as I believe all humans should generally do, with an introduction to all my shortcomings (without a drop of shame) due to my injury, I am:
(1) Smell blind – so I could end up wearing terribly smelly clothes or have a smelly mouth and know nothing about it,
(2) Taste blind – that along with my diabetes is a seriously deadly combo,
(3) peripherally vision impaired – but am still a determined and dedicated daily walker,
(4) partially but severely deaf – I was recently introduced to music (just imagine my joy!),
(5) balance impaired – as a result of which I have lost both my toenails,
(6) loss of long term memory – as a result of which currently am on Long Term leave of absence with my employer,
(7) and finally I have a terribly unreliable Short Term memory – as a result of which I am heavily dependent on my phone for reminders.
Add to that a pinch of chronic fatigue, a dash of sleep issues, a splash of back aches, plus a hint of medication for my being seizure prone and having type-2 diabetes.
Today’s Prateek is ready for you to enjoy!
All-in-all
… to be alive is a daily fight! Trust me.
… & at the end of a day, I sleep with just one dream: to stay alive one more day. It’s a gift that truly only I can value, and only I can appreciate.
Well, if you can relate to parts of this story, or most of it, then you might wonder why I fight daily. Well, that is entirely because you haven’t met the MONTY girls in my life. They are my beloved family, and people who unknowingly define me!
Daily Diary Available Soon
I will be keeping a daily dairy for all my readers and of course for myself. I hope you find it a valuable read!
Also
Available
Soon
What do ppl who know me, say of how they know me?
Imagine a man like me, minus LT memory, walking around and asking strangers “Do you know me? How?”. And after all kinds of responses over the years, here in the words of some of my friends n colleagues is how they know me, of me, and about me.
“My amazing super wife of 12+ yrs. For a few seconds let’s look to be in Swati’s shoes as she hears for the first time from the Doctor that he recommends pulling the plug. She, at that time on a vacation with family, that includes her Mother, a 1 yr old daughter with another child expected very soon. She had to think and think fast. The fighter inside her, thanks to her “Indian Army” upbringing knew she could do it. She would fight for his life, because importantly, her kids needed their dad by them. As a quick aside, Swati in her employee role, just happens to be a math wizard who uses maths to catch criminals in the money laundering world. She also happens to be a classically trained Odissi dancer, a very good painter and a hugely friendly, popular and social person who loves all things related to wining, dining & travelling. We happen to be blessed with a large and growing social circle, where literally every single person happens to swear by one of the above noted features that define her”.
“My 11 y.o Lhasa aapso dog, my eldest and arguably prettiest daughter – who in simple words is a dog who is hugely social (like her mom) and just happens to be on a social-mission. She has actively spent all her life converting dog haters/ hesitant dog lovers into true dog lovers! If you happen to be invited to our house, she would make sure, without any violence OR discrimination, that you would bend down to her level and Pat her smooth white hair. Now that you are smitten, it’s just a simple case of tying u up with a wet-nose-n-tongue-lick. When I met my Dartmouth ICU staff to thank them in the fall of 2019, they remembered me as SISI’s father – the only dog who had a 24*7 access permit into Dartmouth ICU… WOW! Again I don’t know how many people I have come across who know me (and Swati), in and around our neighbourhood and amongst our social circle, who know us as SISI’s parents”.
Yes now you know me. My Monty gals define me. I am blessed to have these amazingly talented girls in my life. They define me, I am known because of them. These are my life’s LINKEDIN highlights. While, what happened to me was tragic, I am grateful for this stretchiness to the last bit of my life. I would luv to be stuck to them for as long as I can.
Confabulation Talk
I recently had the pleasure of speaking at our local community event talking about confabulation.
Read my Daily Dairy,
For Free.
“In the world of self-discovery and understanding, [Author’s Name] opens a window into the intricate and often misunderstood realm of mental health through their daily diary. With unwavering courage and an unyielding commitment to destigmatize mental health conditions, [Author’s Name] offers poignant insights into the ebbs and flows of their own mental well-being. Through their introspective writing, they shed light on the profound impacts these conditions have on everyday life, inviting readers on a journey of empathy, self-reflection, and hope.”
My speech at Chris, welcome to public speaking
About the Author
The author is a survivor of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and bacterial meningitis. Despite significant health challenges, they are grateful for their family’s support and the Canadian government’s assistance, which allows them to spend time with their daughters. The author humorously lists their various impairments, including loss of smell, taste, vision, hearing, balance, and memory, along with health issues like chronic fatigue and diabetes. They emphasize the daily fight for survival and the deep appreciation for life, driven by their love for their family, especially their daughters, the “MONTY girls.