Copy of How Brain Injury CHanges Identity: What Abbey and I Share.

WHen I wrote Abbey's struggle with memory gaps, personality shifts, and the unsettling feeling of not recognizing yourself, I wasn't imagining it. I was remembering.

Surviving a brain tumor changed me in ways I didn't expect. People think recovery is about healing physically, but the truth is far more complicated. Your brain is your identify. When it's injured, you don't just recover--you rebuild.

Abbey's journey mirrors the emotional reality of brain injury suvivors.

• The frustration of forgetting simple things.

• The fear of not trusting your own mind.

• The grief of losing who you once were.The courage it takes to create a new version of yourself.

Writing her story was cathartic. It allowed me to explore the question every survivor eventually faces: Who am I now?

And the answer, both Abbey and me, is this:

Someone stronger than before.