Being More Than A Trauma Survivor

I wrote about Harris Health as a great organization here on March 27th with great excitement. Fran and I had just gone to a studio to record a video interview for an event that was held this week: Trauma Survivors Celebration. As I wrote about Harris Health two months ago, it runs not only Ben Taub, where my life was saved, but also LBJ and dozens of clinics.

I said in that piece that I would share the edited interview. Here is the piece that they wrote for the book that was handed out at the event:

The event was fabulous! Fran and I had gone last year, and this one was a big improvement. I liked the location - Hotel ZaZa on Main Street. Better than the location was the content. I was at a table with my good friends Mike and Sharon Segal. Michael works at Ben Taub in the waiting room, providing counseling to trauma patient family and friends. He does so much more! There were two others that are in a group that he runs that were on this video that was a feature of the event. I have enjoyed getting to know Edy Barreda. His tragedy occurred exactly a year after mine. He is in the group that meets online every Monday that Mike runs. I got to meet Edy face-to-face along with his twin brother and his parents, who I had seen at one of the group meetings. Edy is a student at Rice University.

The President and CEO of Harris Health, Dr. Esmaeli Porsa, gave a welcome speech that went well. The invocation by the Ben Taub Trauma Chaplain, Jerry McNamara, moved the entire audience. The event hosts spoke about their organizations. Stephen Mora heads Ben Taub, and Future Johns heads LBJ, which is soon becoming a Level 1 trauma hospital, like Ben Taub. Houston has only two Level 1 trauma centers now. The guest speaker for the evening was Adrian Garcia, a former police officer who now is a Harris County Commissioner for Precinct 2. He passionately supports Harris Health. After the video was shared, the program included a live introduction of people that were helped by LBJ and by Ben Taub. The Trauma Medical Directors ran the show! The great part about this was that some of the caretakers were able to speak too. Jeff Baker, who is the Executive Director of Harris County Health Department Foundation wrapped up the evening. Kudos to HCHD Foundation!

Surviving my bicycling tragedy wasn't the first bad thing in my life, and there are and will be other things (hopefully not as bad!). I shared on my birthday in March a health issue that I have, bronchiectasis, describing the disease. The last time I wrote about it, I shared that I was making progress. After that first visit in early April, I went back to the clinic at Baylor on Cambridge near Old Spanish Trail for a breathing test, which went okay but not great. I wasn't surprised! The best part about that afternoon was my walk home. I love long walks, but this one was kind of cool. I walked home 4 1/2 miles from a breathing test! The best part of the best part of my day was that I walked by Ben Taub. Again, I have no memory of my 18 days there a little over two years ago due to the TBI that I suffered. I enjoyed looking at it from the outside. I went back to Dr. Barto last week and walked home again!

I wrote a book less than a year ago, Happier Than Ever. I am still happier than I have ever been, and this celebration added to my happiness. As I said in the book, my purpose for writing it was to let the loved ones of trauma victims know that they can make a big difference in the outcome. I am hopeful that this event will help do so too. I know that the professional caregivers understand the critical role that they play, and I think that this event is supportive for them. I am not the only person who appreciates all that they do every day.

I want to do more than just survive what I went through along with my family and friends, and I think I am. One of the many ways that my life has improved is that I am investing my time in friendships. Before my tragedy, I was too much of a workaholic to understand this concept or to care. I am still a workaholic, but I am enjoying the balance in my life better. My walks and the books I read give my joy, and I do share some book reviews here.

No one knows how long his or her life will last. I am adopted, so I need to understand the health of my natural parents to have a clue on how long I might live. My biological mother is in her 80s and doing well! I have been thinking that I can live to be 90, which isn't that old. If that is the way it works out, I am moving into the last third of my life in less than a year. Life has had its ups and downs, and I am sure that there will be more of both in the future.

I like what I do, but my professional focus on cannabis investing isn't what it was a few years ago. I have zero clients (advertisers) at New Cannabis Ventures, but I continue to put a great effort into it. I moved 420 Investor from my original partner to a new partner, Seeking Alpha, and really enjoy this change. Still, while the cannabis sector has some promise (potential rescheduling of cannabis that would wipe out an onerous tax that American companies pay), I am not sure that things will resurrect. I had 2000 subscribers paying me a monthly fee in 2014 briefly. Now, it's less than 100.

In the last third or so of my life, I plan to continue to work very hard. I used to plan on retiring when I was 70, but I am not so sure of this goal. My marriage to Fran in 1990 has worked out very well, and I hope to continue to be a good husband to her. I think that I was very lucky and remain so! Our kids, now adults, are developing very well, and how they do will be increasingly important to both of us. In Judaism, the sign of success in life is not the awards one receives or the money one makes. It's all about creating a good name and living on in the memory of others. As I contemplate the rest of my life, I want to build a solid memory in the minds of Shayna and Brian and Olivia. My trauma could have ended as a bad memory for my children, but it did not. Building friendships and continuing to work hard will help the memory of Alan Brochstein be a good one when I pass .