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When I woke up, I didn’t know what to think! I’ll explain but let me start by telling you what happened to me.

One night I came home from work and I was hungry. I didn’t own a microwave at that time so I heated up some food on the stove. I lay down while the food was heating and I fell asleep, though I didn’t mean to. I don’t know how much time went by but I woke up and realized that the house was smoky. I got up and walked to the kitchen and I saw the flames - my kitchen was on fire!

At that point I attempted to call the fire department but I was overcome by the smoke and I passed out and all the while I was inhaling the smoke and fumes from the fire. I went into a coma and when the firefighters came I was taken to the hospital. While I was still in the coma I was transferred to an acute care hospital and that is where I woke up. I was in the coma for over two weeks.

I grew up in the city in a close family. My dad worked for the transit system and my mom was a home attendant. I have a brother and sister and a large extended family.

I had a good life. I worked as a payroll administrator and I was at my last job for over two years, prior to that I was a payroll clerk and bookkeeper at another company for seventeen years.

When I woke up in the hospital, I looked around and I thought “where am I and how did I get here?” I got up out of the bed and I remember that I walked to the nurses station and I asked them where I was and how I got there? The nurses spoke with me and then they took me and helped me back to bed.

The next thing I remember was my dad coming to visit me and he told me what had happened. My reaction was one of shock - I didn’t remember the incident or what had happened. A number of family and friends came to see me and told me the same story. I was very curious about how I ended up where I was because I couldn’t remember and eventually I realized that I now had a problem with my memory because of the coma, especially my short-term memory so I always asked a lot of questions about my experience.

My long-term memory is very good; however, I remember everything, including events that happened years go, up until my injury. I can still remember things like peoples phone numbers.

I was very lucky, I was rescued quickly and I was not burned in the fire and I have no physical issues but cognitively I had problems.

Chavonne with Jean Faichney, MS OTR/L.

It was a long road for me from the hospital, and trying to survive and live before I came to Northeast Center - it was hard.

I’ve learned a lot here. After breakfast every day I get my mental book where I keep track of what time everything is, where it is, when it is and how it is! This has helped me a lot. Being organized keeps me on an even keel so I know when and where to get things done. I also try to memorize names to the best of my ability so I know my counselors and therapists. Anita, my occupational therapist helped me to learn how to do this.

Physical therapy has also helped me to get strong. I practice walking and I can walk up and down stairs with my therapist. That helps me when I go to Peter's dance class - I get down with the rock and roll sound - ‘shake your booty!’ (Kellie laughs).

All my classes at Northeast Center helped me to get this far - people told me I could do it and I started thinking that I could. Something else that has helped me is my belief in the Lord - if you can believe in the Lord you can believe in yourself also. One morning I said a prayer and from then on I knew that I could make it. It took me a long time to convince myself that I was doing good, much less making it but when I knew I was going to be leaving and going to an apartment, then I knew that I was going to be fine.

I came to Northeast Center after the hospital. My dad brought me here and I cried the entire trip. My dad told me that I needed help and that this was best place and they would help me get to where I needed to be so I could go back to my previous life. I’ve always been independent and lived by myself, traveled and worked. It was a big transition for me to be away from my normal home life, but I quickly came around. I saw what was offered and I said to myself that I needed to start working to get better so I went to classes at the Center and started working on myself.

I had occupational therapy and speech which were important for my rehabilitation, and the classes offered in the brain injury program at Northeast Center helped me to learn to organize myself. I got a lot out of the Preview and Plan class. Other classes I took were Cognitive Remediation, Well-Being, and Social Skills. The Special Educators who teach the classes at Northeast Center helped me in my recovery and I learned a lot of compensatory tools from them that I use every day.

One area I worked hard at is improving my memory and using strategies to help me remember. I started using a daily planner and I also use a Palm Pilot to stay organized. I enter notes all the time, what I did during the day, or if someone called me, I also make a daily schedule for myself so I always have a reference to go to. The Palm Pilot is good for a week and than it automatically erases, but the notebook planner I can use long-term so I can always go back and track what I did and those notes help me to remember fully.

The staff here like the Educators, Nurses and others - pushed me and motivated me to continue to work hard and improve myself. Gerry Brooks (Director of Brain Injury Programs) was a great help and I especially appreciate Jean Faichney, my OT who worked very hard with me. It was Jean that suggested the Palm Pilot which as I said is very a very helpful tool. Jean also taught me the way to write notes so that I can continue to stay organized.

I also became very involved in the community at Northeast Center I have been very active and made a lot of new friends. I was even elected President of our Resident Council!

On Friday they have a Street Festival here at the Center with live music. I started going every week and I just listened to the music. One day Rick Soshenksy and Peter Bass who do the Music Programs here asked me if I wanted to sing so I started singing in the music groups with the band made up of Resident-Neighbors. We played a lot and once we even went out to a local place called the Muddy Cup, myself along with a group of Resident-Neighbors performed there and we got a great response! We had a wonderful time and I enjoyed it.

I’m leaving soon and I am very excited to return to the community. I am going to miss the people here - both staff and Resident-Neighbors but I plan to come back and visit.

I am going to live in an apartment in the city. I’m looking forward to it - fixing it up, decorating and making it my own place. I’m going to be getting services from the New York State TBI Waiver when I return home. I eventually plan on returning to work.

If someone went through what I have I would tell them to come to the Northeast Center - it’s a very helpful place with a comfortable atmosphere and the people that work here worked to make a difference for me.