About Wake Up Brain
Launched in 2021, the purpose of Wake Up Brain is to educate the public and spread awareness around concussions by sharing my own success and struggles during my continued recovery. I have made it my life mission to create awareness because society’s views on concussion are tremendously skewed. It is important for a greater understanding around this complex injury so it can be treated appropriately.
A concussion is indeed a brain injury and can have life altering impacts on ones life. My injury has completely transformed my life and flipped it upside down. Through my continued recovery, I hope to be able to streamline the recovery process for others so that they do not have to suffer like I did. Concussion is treatable provided the correct specialists are on your team. I am not a doctor by any means and yet I believe my concussion experience makes me qualified to preach on this subject.
It was eye opening to me when I sustained my concussion of what the injury actually did to me compared to what I had thought it would do to me.
Below:
Joe’s perspective on concussion changes after meeting Lauren one month after her injury
It was also eye opening to me how the healthcare system left me feeling defeated, hopeless and without answers. The gap in the healthcare system for treatment plans was quite alarming! Once I found proper treatment, the professionals in the system who lacked proper concussion knowledge did not take the time to understand the methods that aided in my recovery which could potentially help others. That was the main catalyst for creating this website.
What started out as feelings of confusion and hopelessness, to being misunderstood by friends, family and medical professionals, ultimately led to seeing Gods grace in every part of the journey. If I wanted a successful recovery, I had to trust my gut instinct and be open minded to switch from the treatment methods that were no longer working for me and discover new ones. I developed a “not gonna give up attitude”. Through God’s providence, He led me to my A Team of doctors and concussion crew (new friends).
The journey has truly transformed and made me new. For that, I am grateful to the Lord.
Since the beginning of riding this concussion wave (shout out to Bo for coining this term. More to come in a future blog post), I found writing to be a therapeutic outlet for me. For a long time it was one of the only tasks I could tolerate too. Luckily it was one of the ways I could spill out my frustrations with the lack of knowledge in the world surrounding concussion/brain injuries. Writing was also a way for me to track my daily progress.
I celebrated the small victory’s by writing them down. This ignited hope. Even though I felt so hopeless the first 12 months of recovery, if I reflected on my progress journals, I could see I was slowly making progress. Deep down inside I had enough faith in myself and God to fight and not give up. I have hope that everyone suffering from a concussion can make a full recovery provided they receive proper care. I also have hope to one day make a full recovery. It’s proof in my progress journals that the wave I rode in the beginning of the journey is totally different than the wave I am riding now. This is progress. This is success.
I sustained my concussion on January 20, 2019. This was the start of riding the concussion wave and birth of Wake Up Brain.
Hi, I’m Lauren
I received a degree in Interpersonal Communication (B.A.) from Miami (OH) University’s School of Arts and Sciences. I hold a Level 1 & Level 2 Nutrition certification from Precision Nutrition. In addition, I also hold a Personal Training certification from the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA). I developed an interest in health and fitness during my time playing high school sports. It wasn’t until after college that I developed a true passion for my inner athlete. This inner athlete manifested itself as a competitor in the powerlifting world where I competed in a number of state and local meets. I strongly believe in the connection between a healthy mind, body, and spirit for without all three, one cannot truly function at their fullest potential.
