Laura Schmidt

Hi friends & family, I got hurt in June 2010 on a gentle, non-technical mountain bike descent around 20mph. My front tire unexpectedly slipped off a small, wet root sending me directly onto my cheekbone--a part of my skull unprotected by my helmet. I was knocked out & don't remember 20 min.surrounding the crash, though I eventually rode back to our campsite w/o trouble.Severe post concussive symptoms a week later (despite a clear CT scan) earned me the prize of a MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury) and the start of a long journey...Here you'll find details of my journey (or ordeal, depending on when you catch me. ;) If some of these entries seem long, feel free to skim and grab whatever tidbits would be helpful to you or someone in your life. I've done my best to be concise, but there's a lot to share and composing these is cognitively tedious (but good practice). I've learned that sharing the details of my largely invisible, isolating experience with you, my community of support, helps ease the emotional challenge of what this truly has been for me.  Sure, it has given me life-changing lessons and discoveries for which I'm grateful, but it's still hard--I can't soften that. Your presence, support and interest have helped pull me through. Thanks for reading and I pray for the protection over all our brains!

warmly,Laura

P.S. And please know I'm not soliciting any money from you! Caringbridge is a free service and it appears they solicit donations from all of us, an effort completely independent from me!  I'm just happy to be connected to you and that you're interested in my recovery updates. So, know there is no obligation to give any money--just read! ;)