Superhero – Brain Energy Support Team

BEST Launches COVID-19 Impact Fund In Response To High Rate of Brain Injury and COVID-19

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Gloria Kraegel

Posted in BEST Updates, Community News, Press Box, Self-Care & Mindfulness, Support Groups

We know a brain injury dramatically impacts both an individual and their family. Whether it’s for the short term or for a lifetime a brain injury changes our lives in both visible and invisible ways. Now, research is showing that the COVID-19 has significant neurological consequences for the majority of those recovering from the virus.

Because of this increased need for brain injury outreach, peer support, and family education, BEST created the BEST COVID-19 Impact Fund to provide assistance for individuals and brain injury support groups in Washington State.

UC San Diego Health neurointensivist Dr. Navaz Karanjia outlines three ways by which COVID can attack the nervous system:

“One, by direct viral invasion, coming through the bloodstream or by infecting the nerves in the nose — the olfactory nerves — that are attached to the brain and crawling along them to the brain.
Two, by the body creating antibodies that attack the brain and nervous system.
And three, by causing systemic inflammation to the other organs and blood vessels that can cause blood clots to form all over the body, that may get shot up through the heart to the brain, or that may form in the brain itself.”

A small study published in the New England Journal of Medicine documented neurological symptoms in a group of COVID-19 patients. Symptoms ranged from cognitive difficulties to confusion. All were identified as signs of encephalopathy, a trend that researchers in Wuhan had noticed in coronavirus patients in China in February 2020.

In April a study conducted in China found that strokes, altered consciousness, and other neurological issues were evident in approximately 36% of COVID-19 cases. These symptoms also appeared in patients without typical COVID symptoms such as fever, respretory issues, or headaches.

A study out of Spain that was published in July studied patients between 1 March and 20 April regardless of whether or not they manifested typical symptoms. The research team found that 73% of patients with COVID-19 had cerebral ischaemia; a condition in which there is insufficient blood flow to the brain to meet metabolic demand, leading to poor oxygen supply or cerebral hypoxia and thus leads to the death of brain tissue or cerebral infarction / ischemic stroke.

The need for emotional and educational support for individuals and families navigating brain injury after fighting the devastating and long-term affects of the COVID virus is critical. Without funding support groups cannot do the outreach, provide technical support, virtual meetings, and more. In Washington State BEST has been at the forefront of peer support, education, and advocacy for the brain injury community.

We know from many years of experience that support groups, in particular, allow people with brain injury and their families to meet others who are in similar situations, gain valuable emotional support from one another, form friendships, obtain information and resources, and hear speakers discuss a variety of brain injury topics.

Unfortunately, brain injury support groups were one of the first activities in early March to shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person support groups continue to be postponed and canceled throughout Washington at a time when they are needed most.

BUT YOU CAN HELP! Your contribution ensures that individuals and families have a connection with support groups and the BEST resources available as we all navigate COVID-19 and the social and economic impact of this pandemic.

Our goal is to provide virtual support groups, online video meetings, events, webinars, resources, and valuable facilitator training just like we have been doing since March. But the truth is we cannot keep doing this valuable work without your help.

Help us meet the need by contributing to the BEST COVID-19 Impact Fund. This fund was created by the Brain Energy Support Team to provide COVID-19 assistance for individuals and brain injury support groups in Washington State.

Funding is critical to the brain injury community and BEST support as we work to restart, reopen, and help our community to heal and rebuild.

The Things That Make Me

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Administrator

Posted in Quote Of The Week

Make this Wednesday a Winning Wednesday!

Be Your Own Superhero (and a Superhero for Others)

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Kim Thompson

Posted in BEST Updates, Brain Injury Awareness, Community News, Press Box, Special Events Leave a comment

The Brain Energy Support Team (BEST) has joined Giving Tuesday (#GivingTuesday), a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide.

The BEST Giving Tuesday mission is to engage, energize and empower the brain injury community, those with other cognitive challenges, their caregivers, and their families, through support, education, and awareness.

Occurring this year on December 1, 2020, Giving Tuesday is held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (in the US) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to kick off the holiday giving season and inspire people to collaborate in improving their local communities and to give back in impactful ways to the charities and causes they support.

This year, BEST will be sharing empowerment is an extra special way using our special symbol of the superhero.

Superheroes are near and dear to our hearts, as we think our community members, their caregivers, and their families, are real-life superheroes in every sense of the word.

As the COVID-19 health crisis has upended all of our lives, especially in the disability community.

One thing we know for sure that did NOT get upended: Our super(hero) love and support for each other.

It’s more critical than ever that we take care of ourselves and each other as we manage through this challenging and unprecedented time in history.

For 2020, we are all going to strive to be our own BEST superhero, while at the same time, being a superhero to others!

It’s a win-win way to save the world!

More details to come in how you can join our cause, support the community, and be a superhero to yourself and others.

Stay tuned!

Ready to support us today? Make your superpowers known right now! Please visit our support page and learn how you can help by clicking here.

Wabi Sabi Can Be The First Step In Self-Care

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Gloria Kraegel

Posted in Self-Care & Mindfulness Leave a comment

Self-care can seem daunting. How often have we thought, I don’t have enough time? Or we think we have too much to do to take time out for ourselves. Sometimes it can even feel selfish to close the door and leave the world outside so we can be alone, even for a short time.

In this article I hope to help you slow down for just a moment and to share how the Japanese concept of wabi sabi can be the first step in a regular habit of self-care.

You may have heard of wabi-sabi in passing. Someone may have mentioned it in a video seminar you attended. You may even think it’s the green stuff that comes with sushi. Or, maybe, like me, you read about it as part of your efforts to take care of yourself during these turbulent times.

If you’re not familiar with wabi sabi, it’s a traditional Japanese concept derived from two verbs; wabu and sabu. From a Buddhist perspective, it embodies the impermanence and imperfection of life. The Japanese take it one step further to see the beauty in the imperfection. Think of it as the patina brass or silver gets over time or a garden bench after being out over the seasons.

While there isn’t a direct English translation for these words, wabi is about our inner being and experiences; inner peace, solitude, even a little nostalgia. Sabi, on the other hand, is about our experiences of the world around us as it changes; seeing the beauty of aging, fading flowers, and the change of seasons.

More than that, wabi sabi is about experiencing the imperfection of things; seeing things as they are without judgment.

After a brain injury, we often judge ourselves as “not as good as” we were before the injury. Many of us feel judged for not remembering, losing our words when our brain gets overloaded, or taking “too long” to get something done. Bringing the idea of wabi sabi to the way we see ourselves can be the first step in creating a habit of self-care.

What an empowering feeling to see ourselves as we are, embracing the beauty, and preciousness, without judging or comparing ourselves to someone or something outside of ourselves.

For today, let us accept who we are as we are. We aren’t perfect, we never were. There isn’t any right or wrong. In the spirit of wabi sabi there is only the truth of who we are in this moment without expectation of something else and without judgment.

This is self-care.

We have a worksheet you can download here that has a list of simple suggestions for daily self-care.
You can download a blank worksheet to add your own.

TOMORROW: Your Urgent Support Needed by September 30, 2020

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Kim Thompson

Posted in BEST Updates, Press Box

We are reaching out for your help.

We know that COVID-19 has touched all our lives in profound and unimaginable ways.

We know you’re worried, and we’re worried, too.

Our team knows from years of personal experience that navigating a brain injury or other cognitive challenges is hard on individuals, caregivers and families.

It’s without saying the pandemic adds more difficulty.

From having to cope with stay at home orders, to navigating online and new technology now more than ever, the pandemic has upended how we all live and work.

Those in our community have shared with us that while they are trying to stay positive, there’s still tension, anxiety, sadness, and loss. We want to continue to support our community and need your help.

For over a decade, the Brain Energy Support Team (BEST) has been an innovator in support, support groups, education and activities for our community, near and far.

As the pandemic hit, we were able to adapt online quickly with information, educational opportunities and more.

Most importantly, through out these difficult months, we have been providing valuable support for brain injury support group facilitators to continue their efforts to support the community and those who are hurting and need help.

We are deeply determined to reach out in love, care and support to make sure our community isn’t overlooked and forgotten.

Despite our hard work, efforts and intentions, it’s not enough financially.

The facts are clear.

We need your urgent support by September 30, 2020.

Following 4 easy and fast ways you can help us TODAY:

Donate.
Become a BEST Member.
Shop for Cause: Amazon or Fred Meyer; The BEST Superhero Shoppe Online; or get some BEST merch at the BEST Empowerment Superstore for yourself or others.
Ask others you know (individuals, teams, businesses, organizations) to strongly consider their support.

What’s in it for you?

Helping a large, and often overlooked, community network with the lifelines and resources that they need, in a time of great need.

And supporting a creative organization to expand their offerings and capacity to welcome and embrace more community members, and to continue to offer free and reduced-cost activities and education.

Click here to help.

There’s more: you don’t have to take our word for it. Take theirs (see graphic below).

Thank you, for your time, attention, and sense of urgency. You will make a difference as you are the difference.

How To Be Your Own BEST Superhero (Coming December 1, 2020)

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Kim Thompson

Posted in BEST Updates, Brain Injury Awareness, Caregiver Matters, Community News, Our BEST Stories, Press Box, Special Events Leave a comment