"Relearning How To Live"

Hi, my name is Megan Johnson. I am the 40 year old mother of fantastic young men, my 16 year old twins Luke and Max Johnson. I unfortunately suffered a Brain Injury called Wernicke Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS) on June 30th 2016.

My Brain Injury caused me to have to learn how to live again! I forgot how to walk, I forgot who in my life had died, I forgot my life! I am in the lucky 20% that somehow recover from this Brain Injury. Not that I am 100% recovered, but I am up and walking, talking AND living with my twins again in Huxley Iowa! I was addicted to opiates so to get off them I was on the methadone assistance treatment program and I did not stop drinking alcohol while taking methadone. And not eating properly caused me to have a lack of vitamin B1 in my body. My madness scramble my brain all up. 

In my twins short 16 years they have already been thru so much grief and hurt. I absolutely wish I would have handled finding their dad Chris dead and finding my own dad Ted dead better then I did! And losing my younger brother Adam to death did not help make life any easier.  I feel so embarrassed for the pain that now I've caused my twins. Max and Luke are insanely fantastic respectable young men and I am so lucky to get this fresh start with this new brain I've got!

First I was in an Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines Iowa when this all first happened. The incredible staff at Younkers Rehabilation at Iowa Methodist got me up walking again, and remembering who was who. From there I was transferred to NeuroRestorative in Carbondale Illinois. That was an inpatient rehabilitation centre that helped me work extremely hard and retaught me so incredibly much. Very patient, incredible therapists and staff.  Lastly I got transferred back to my state, Iowa, to another Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre called Community NeuroRehab. The staff there helped me to continue to recover and get ready to live with my twins again! And here we are!! All living under the same roof together! It's been a rough and crazy year, but we are all working towards what our new normal will be!!

I am still not the mother they spent their last 16 years with. My memory is non-existent, I forget everything constantly. My arms are always have a painful tingling through to my finger tips. I feel extremely anxious now, overwhelmed by anxiety. I drive myself crazy. With my twin’s hometown of Huxley we are slowly attempting to get back to life.

I am luckily out of rehab and my twins and I are finally living back in Huxley Iowa. Luke and Max had to go to Omaha Nebraska for their sophomore year in high school. They were living with my wonderful supportive mother. I caused our house and our vehicle to get sold because of my Brain Injury. We are living in an apartment now, but looking for a new house back in their hometown! Since we have been back in Huxley we have been welcome with such open, caring, supportive arms! We are all happy to be home(ish)! And I am somehow working again at Ballard High School in the lunchroom where my twins are Juniors. It is incredibly fun to be back at the high school, getting to be around all that fun young energy daily is extremely healing!

With my twins are trying their best, in the awkward teenage years, to readjust to being back in Huxley Iowa. And to live this new constantly forgetful mother they've got! I am also trying to get used to this new me, brain and body. It's crazy to have your hands and arms in a constant deep, tingly painful sleep.

Please keep my incredible loving strong twins in your thoughts and prayers. We need all the well wishes and support we can get! 

- Megan Johnson

If you would like to read more about Megan’s story, and support her and her twin boys, please consider donating to her GoFundMe