Brenda's Brainstorm & Trevor, a T Man Production 2009 - 2022

Hello and welcome to our April tale. I'm your host and storyteller, Trevor aka T Man bringing you another inspiring tale of Brenda's life. As you know, Brenda has been living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for almost 31 one years and is also a 13 year brain tumor survivor. We give you these stats as background, so you will understand were we are going with this tale.  Brenda has loved the singer, Elton John since she was 10 years old. It had always been a dream to one day see him in concert. Sometimes dreams actually come true. This particular one happened twice. We want to bring out what was going on in Brenda's life with each significant event.  11 years ago, Brenda was facing some major challenges. She had found out very recently that her mother was facing the end of life in a nursing home. Brenda would try to come and visit her most days, as the home at that time was located in close proximity to where Brenda's apartment is.  Brenda was also scheduled to attend a ...

Well hello there my fellow readers, and welcome to our March installment of this blog. I'm Trevor aka T Man, your host and golden boy. BOL I just loved saying that. It's Brain Injury Awareness Month in the United States and that is what we will be focusing on in this tale.  As you know Brenda underwent a right frontal lobe craniotomy on September 8, 2008. As a result, she now lives with an acquired brain injury. Frontal lobe syndrome is real and can be scary, because it was foreign to Brenda in the beginning of her journey. It was about a month after her procedure that things started to materialize. She was getting her stitches removed and was getting ready to have another CT scan. While the technician was trying to get her IV started to inject dye, so they could perform the CT, Brenda started crying, actually sobbing. The technician thought she was hurting Brenda, but no this was different. It was an overwhelming sense that Brenda had never experienced before. She assured the ...

Hello my fellow readers! Trevor aka T Man here with our February tale. As it will soon be Valentine's Day, we thought it appropriate to share this particular tale with you. As we continue, you will understand where we are going with this. BOL  On February 13, 2011, I was introduced as the new storyteller for Brenda's Brainstorm. Don't you just love that name? It's hard to picture it being that long, but I've enjoyed it so much.  Brenda and I became a team that day and that has never wavered. BOL Many of you thought I was real for years. It was all part of Brenda's creativity that was sparked after her brain tumor experience. Along with emotions came a real sense of wanting to illustrate how this experience truly changed her. Speaking of creativity, Brenda's mother probably held that title even more so. This is where we get into the meat of this tale. You know how I love meat. BOL Many years ago for Valentine's Day, Brenda's mother surprised her with ...

Hi it's Trevor aka T Man back after a short hiatus from our blog. We begin this new year by exploring a subject that we think is ignored far too often, self-respect. It's said that we are our own worst critic, when it comes to evaluating ourselves. If that is the case, then it could be hard to possess self-respect. Brenda is going to be celebrating another year around the sun tomorrow and this has been on her mind for over a month now. Self-respect is actually telling ourselves that we care enough to do what is right for us, even if it may ruffle a few feathers. Honestly, I don't even know what that means, as well, I'm a dog and it doesn't make sense. BOL Anyway, the way she explains it is, that having self-respect means you sometimes have to go against the grain. Again, have no idea what that means, but from what I can glean from this is to do what you feel is best for you. Self-respect does not mean that you don't care about others, but that you don't just...

Hello and welcome to our 2nd tale for November. This will be our final tale for 2021, as we are taking a break, during the holiday season. Brenda in all candor, would like the whole thing to be over. It's not a joyful time for her. She has no family to celebrate with. It's a busy time for her at work, with total exhaustion by the time she gets home and for what?  The holidays have always been challenging for Brenda. Her memories are not that happy. Not being able to participate in the Christmas concert at school, because Brenda ended up getting sick. Her immune system was already trashed as a young child. Celebrating with her parents and then having to be taken back to her apartment to spend the rest of the day alone, because she was not invited to her sister's. Imagine having that happen to you and not knowing why. Yes, this is the same sister who she has been estranged from for almost 14 years.  Brenda is done trying to figure this nonsense out, because that is simply wha...

Hello and welcome to our November tale. I'm Trevor aka T Man and storyteller of this blog now, for over 10 years.  Our subject comes from the advocate deep down inside of Brenda. She is actually referring to what is about to be shared, as righteous indignation. Part of Brenda's brain tumor journey has been living with frontal lobe syndrome, where she reacts quickly with anger or tears, when she sees someone being wronged or treated unfairly. As you know we are in the midst of a global pandemic, which has been going on for far too long. In dog years, it would be much worse. BOL Pardon me, I had to get a little humor in there, before we get to the meat of this tale. I actually would say that Brenda has a bone to pick with what is going on in relationship to access to some medications or should we say, no access because they are not available.  Here we go! As you know the Corona Virus or what is referred to as COVID-19, is having those who have contracted the virus and are likely...

Hello my fellow readers, it's Trevor aka T Man with another tale for October as promised. This one will be a difficult one to navigate and for Brenda to share, with my paws at the keyboard. BOL We are going to be exploring the subject of loss.  There are many sides of the spectrum, loss of a loved one, your health, job, etc. the list could go on and on.  Brenda knows all too well about losses she has sustained in her immediate family. Family dynamics can be tricky and I'm sure you have even dealt with situations where you are estranged from family members. Brenda always wants this blog to be real and transparent as possible. She has dealt with the estrangement of a sibling for well over a decade. It was their choice to part ways and Brenda no longer can shed tears for something she has no idea what caused this in the first place.  Brenda has even been contacted about how this sibling is doing. She has no idea. Brenda attempted to reach out to them during her mother's illn...