On Memorial Day 2009 - at the peak of his career as a physician, medical researcher, and medical center CEO - Dr Brad Berk took a bike ride that would change his life forever. To avoid an oncoming car, he swerved, fell, and broke his neck, sustaining a spinal cord injury that would leave him permanently paralysed. Hospitalised for 129 days, he was told that the first twelve months would reveal the limits of his recovery, the 'this is as good as it's gonna get for you' scenario. But that prediction proved to be untrue. Dr Berk's recovery continues to this day, and now, he has a new mission: to help others who have experienced an acute neurological injury (stroke, spinal cord injury, or traumatic brain injury). In Getting Your Brain and Body Back, he shows them, and their families, how to achieve the best possible continuous recovery. He offers hope, compassion, and understanding from a guy who's been there, plus the most up-to-date information on recovery therapies from his work as a pioneering medical researcher.
This is the definitive guide to recovery, required reading for the millions of people who suffer from neurological injury every year. Each chapter gives readers accessible information on specific topics in bite-size pieces. They learn cutting-edge ways to prevent and treat the most common medical problems; how to find, get, and pay for today's life-changing rehabilitation therapies; how to harness the power of the mind; how to build a better lifestyle; how to return to work; how to deal with anxiety and depression; how to be sexually intimate; and much more. With examples spanning Eastern and Western medicine, and the most up-to-date information on drugs and devices for restoring physical and mental function, Getting Your Brain and Body Back helps readers play a more active role in their treatment. By sharing what he's learned as a patient and as a physician (along with what the brightest minds in the field have to say), Dr Berk helps others get back to life.
