Getting Your Brain and Body Back: Everything You Need to Know after Spinal Cord Injury, Stroke, or Traumatic Brain Injury

An essential and accessible resource for anyone who has experienced an acute neurological injury (ANI), including these three different types of injuries: spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and stroke, all of which share many of the same disabilities that respond to the same therapies and treatments. It is unique in that it was written from the perspective of a doctor who is also a spinal cord injury-survivor. The author, Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D. was left permanently paralyzed after a cycling accident. He is the founder and Director of the University of Rochester Neurorestoration Institute. Moving from initial injury through recovery to leading your best life, the book is packed with information that will allow patients and their families to have more meaningful and useful conversations with their clinicians and therapy team about how to face the serious and usually sudden challenges presented by ANI. Anyone who has tried to process the sometimes bewildering array of information presented in a consultation with a health care provider will appreciate the book’s comprehensive approach. Dr. Berk challenges the discouraging and daunting prediction that the first twelve months after an ANI reveal the limits of a possible neurological recovery. However, he underscores the importance and urgency of immediately putting together a solid treatment plan for the year following the injury, particularly addressing mental health needs, because a sound mind is essential to a functional recovery. Explanations of the physical aspects of ANI are presented clearly in layperson’s terms and accompanying diagrams/illustrations are helpful and easy to read. The book includes an extensive list of resources for further reading and reference. Dr. Berk’s volume, which can be read in about half a day, will also be invaluable for family members, care givers, loved ones, and health care workers. It belongs in every public library and in every bookstore’s health and wellness section. This inspiring, positive, candid, and empowering book offers great doses of hope and is a guide to “leading your best life as an ANI survivor”—including the possibility of restoring function. Thank you to The Experiment and NetGalley for providing me early access to this important book in exchange for an honest review.

A beautifully written guide and memoir. Would recommend to anyone with neurological illness or family members.

This book was written by a doctor that has a wide-range of experience with the healthcare system, both from the perspective of a patient and of a doctor. His patient experience is not your typical one. It was due to a traumatic bicycle accident that left him paralyzed. He endured trauma that most of us will never encounter. He found a way to not only survive, but to thrive. This book will guide you through intensive health issues, as well as give you invaluable advice on how to work with the healthcare system, and to help it work for you and your loved ones. It is helpful to everyone, not only those with a spinal cord injury. I found very useful information that I could not have found anywhere else. You can tell that this was a carefully thought out book that provides so much insight and information. A must read for anyone that would like to learn how to manage your and your loved ones health, and navigate the healthcare system. Thank you, Dr. Berk, for taking the time and energy to share your knowledge and insight, and for sharing your personal experiences. It is such an encouragement to anyone that is facing health issues, from something that might be considered minor to something major.

This book is courageously written from the heart. The author recounts the fateful day of his spinal cord injury, which I am sure was not easy. He selflessly moves through the book offering sage advice and personal struggles which he overcomes. I found this book to be well written, practical, sensitive, and very thorough. A must have book for anyone struggling with a spinal cord injury - both young and old alike!

Dr. Berk has lived this book. From the time of his bicycle accident in 2009, which left him a quadriplegic, Dr. Berk has been on an incredible journey harnessing the power of resilience and perseverance to find is way back to a meaningful and fulfilling life. The book begins with the very first and most critical issue patients and their families face, the loss of the life they knew. Throughout the book Dr. Berk addresses the ways in which a patients physical and emotional health are entwined such that one cannot be separated from the other. Each chapter offers the most current evidenced based information about what a patient and their family need to know and how this knowledge works to overcome the hopeless and helplessness that can interfere or even halt their recovery. Dr. Berk addresses many of the topics often not addressed in books like this, including the challenges of dealing with insurance, in and out-patient health care systems, as well as the how to find your way back to emotional and sexual intimacy. This is a must read for patients and families dealing with the trauma of an acute neurological injury

This book is a must read for anyone who has suffered a spinal cord injury, a stroke or traumatic brain injury. It is easy to read, easy to comprehend, and easy to remember. The Everything You Must Know sections at the end of each chapter are especially helpful. The book is thorough and comprehensive, but easy to digest. Dr. Berk’s compassionate approach to providing information and to sharing his own struggles, will be appreciated by anyone who is going through the same challenges. Although the book was written primarily for the injured, it is helpful and applicable to loved ones and caregivers. Even friends can benefit from reading this book. You may gain a better understanding of what your injured friend went through, is going through, and may go through, than you will get any other way. The tips about living life to its fullest can be meaningful for anyone as well. I finally understand why to practice gratitude and mindfulness, and how to do it. I recommend this book without reservation.

Dr. Berk is an excellent writer that shares his journey and advice for others facing the the psychological and logistical aspects of SCIs and TBIs. The content is an engaging must-read for anyone with a neurological injury or anyone who has a friend, family or colleague on their own journey to adapt. He closes with a helpful look at the future therapies that modern science may provide.

This Book is for All Who Have Experienced an ANI, Their Families And Friends. (ANI). I am a survivor of two (stroke ANIs) which began one month before Dr. Berk's accident. I and my advocate could have used his book! The last time Dr. Berk and I met, he was a paraplegic in a wheelchair and he could barely move his left hand. To see his recent progress and new life, I suggest looking up Dr. Berk's interviews with reporters in the Rochester NY area and actually see his remarkable progress. I have sent the videos to a dozen people and have encouraged them to get his book. His improvements are only the beginning. Today, Dr. Berk is the founder and Director of the University of Rochester Neurological Neurorestoration Institute which has enjoyed great support from the public. Therefore, the future is assured and we will see many more MIRACLES! Normand Poisson