CHARITABLE PARTNER
JOANNA LUND
MEET LoveYourBrain Retreat Participant
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n 2014, JoAnna was riding her bicycle home to work on a grad school application. Two blocks from her home in Minneapolis, a car hit her and threw her into a parked vehicle. When police arrived on the scene they declared it a fatal accident. Fortunately, the paramedics arrived and deemed her “salvageable,” rushing her to HCMC where she underwent emergency surgery. The doctors performed a craniotomy to evacuate the blood, and put the skull back into place. It would be a few days before she had any memory of waking back up, and she would spend two and a half weeks in the hospital. JoAnna wrestled with denial and thought she was ok, so her mom took her home to rural Wisconsin to convalesce. Her sister came to visit with her newborn and JoAnna couldn’t help but laugh. “We were both bald, had no teeth, and napped all day,” said JoAnna, since she lost a few teeth in the accident and got her head shaved from surgery. In her denial, she decided she was ready to go back to work as a community organizer. About 10 months in she realized she needed to take some time away from work. She ended up taking two years off from regular full time employment and did some volunteering and part-time work. Right before this break, she attended her first LoveYourBrain Retreat in Vermont. At an out-patient PT appointment, her therapist mentioned that an olympic athlete was at the hospital talking about his organization. This athlete ended up being Kevin Pearce and his brother, Adam. JoAnna called it “Brain Camp” and admits that the first year she still felt a lot of denial, refused to take rest breaks, and
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over-committed to things. When she went back the following year, she made a lot more peace with her injury. Even fellow camp-mates noticed the change in her attitude. She attended the Retreat as a survivor for three years, and then helped as a facilitator at the Retreat the fourth year. “It was really gratifying, a really special experience,” she said. Some of the activities included group discussions, nutrition education, mindfulness and meditation, gentle yoga, and open socializing time. The facilitators schedule a lot of rest periods, as most survivors get easily overstimulated or fatigued. Since her Retreat experience, JoAnna has also done mindfulness training with LoveYourBrain and enjoys helping others on their brain injury journey. She added, “When I can show up, I will. But when I can’t, I can’t,” which is a testimonial as to how far she came in her recovery since the early days of denial. When asked what she wants others to understand about brain injury, she stated,
“When people with brain injury advocate for themselves, believe them, trust them, and help them get what they need for self-care. It’s hard to advocate for yourself, and when you’re shot down it makes it even harder to advocate for yourself in the future.” JoAnna now works full time in hunger relief (since 2017) and has learned how to find balance and energy to take care of herself and her injury. LoveYourBrain Retreats are located in beautiful natural environments. The five-day holistic health Retreats offer immersion into self-care and community connection. They focus on their core pillars: mindfulness, movement, community, and nutrition to promote personal growth and healing. Survivors can attend at no cost, but they are encouraged to help in fundraising with a suggested goal of $1,000 (the true cost of each participant per Retreat). Participants are responsible for their travel expenses, but lodging, food, and activities are all provided. TO LEARN MORE VISIT: www.loveyourbrain.com/retreat +
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