Weird Wonderful Brain

01/09/2025

What an absolute fantastic day we had exploring La Malbaie during a home exchange. Our highlight was L’Acropole des Draveurs, a nature walk in close proximity to our exchange.

Love how this type of exchange allows us to discover magical places from all around the world which we would perhaps not be able to do otherwise. Our hosts were also super helpful in recommending the best spots!

If you aren’t familiar with , I’d highly recommend looking into it.

❤️

10/05/2025

What a privilege to be the maman of our 3 boys. Pretty spoiled this morning with an amazing breakfast in bed!

Thank you Maxim and 🥰🥰

13/03/2025

📣 Big shout-out to a person that walked besides me and supported me with getting back into fitness following brain injury!

I was 4 years past brain injury when I found the motivation to start re-introducing exercise in a way that would be sustainable. At the start of the journey, lifting 3 or 4 kgs would trigger ALL my symptoms, often having to wait after a class for the brain to recover enough to get me back home. And today, here I am confidently lifting 12.5kgs, without experiencing any symptoms and feeling fit and strong again!

As I mark the 500 classes milestones, I cannot go without acknowledging the guidance and awesome support of the wonderful at in getting me to where I am today. She helped me tweak my mindset and approach exercise differently, adapted movements, kept me motivated and helped me progress at a pace that was just right for the good old brain to follow suit.

She knew I could be my own worst enemy often wanting to push too much too quickly 🫣. But under her guidance, she gently pulled me back when needed or pushed me forward when ready, never making me feel inadequate.

Attending Briar’s classes also allowed me to start creating new connections and to feel like I was part of a community again. Little by little, I started to feel like I belonged somewhere again - which has been pivotal to supporting my then declining mental health. The community she has created is absolutely incredible. Although each person are on their own fitness journey, I felt supported by everyone which warrants a big 🫶 to all my fellow DCPA gym goers. Other special shout-out to for carrying the torch in the 5:30 am classes when baby #1 and #2 joined the DCPA family.

It might seem like a small thing for some, but given the trajectory I was on at the time, joining this community has literally changed the course of my life post brain injury. Briar, I’ll be forever grateful and you should be SUPER PROUD of all you have achieved so far.

Here’s to many more classes, laughs, early mornings, sweaty evening classes, sore muscles, failed attempts at breaking records but also physical and mental wins!

19/02/2025

Narrowing down the pictures to only but a few has been an incredibly hard exercise and definitely does not do justice to how the whole experience made us feel…but gotta start somewhere right!

Following are pictures of some of the memorable moments we shared while climbing Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. I definitely hope to be in a position to go back one day as I’m sure we’ve only had time to explore a fraction of this breathtaking scenery.

Once we started our way up to the landing (the last 0.5miles), my phone was actually tuckered for the majority of the time in my pocket…I was on high alert from the treacherous and steep pathway and rallying my nerves to remain calm in front of the kids…but man oh man, in the inside, there were times when I was “sh*t scared” while in awe of the scenery. Proof that conflicting emotions can cohabit.

11/01/2025

I’ve come to the conclusion that there are lots of different rocks in Utah, but this is my rock.

As we started 2025 on a high surrounded by family and new adventures, 2025 didn’t wait too long to remind us that it would also come with new challenges.

My rock reminded me that we will be ok no matter what gets thrown our way, to take time to pause, regroup, don’t compromise on my self-worth and find new ways to thrive.

Just as some of the very tricky paths we explored recently, all I can do for now is to stay calm and take things one step at a time.




What sort of start to 2025 did you have?

16/12/2024

A very timely conversation to tune into as the silly season is already upon us.

Thanks to AphasiaNZ for this wonderful collaboration.

Join Veronique Theberge from Weird Wonderful Brain sharing insights around mental health, aphasia and the "silly" (Christmas) season.Veronique chats with Mel...

06/07/2024

How times flies…and how quickly life can turn itself on its head…

Last night I was celebrating another milestone…seeing my first born getting ready to celebrate his first school ball. It was a very cool and exciting moment.

This morning, I woke up to a message acknowledging the passing of a dear friend of mine from back home. 45 is way too young 😢

Next thought that came to mind was how hard it would have been to accept that you wouldn’t be able to witness so many dear moments and milestones that your kids and family will be likely to experience.

I really do believe that you are never really gone…you keep on living in memories, lives you’ve touched, positive influence you have had on others and the love you have shared.

Today, was a reminder once again of the fragility of life…cherish every moment, live and love, laugh a lot and explore the world until your heart is content…those are all things I will remember from you my dear friend.

Until we meet again

🕊️

19/06/2024

June is aphasia awareness month. If you’d like to read some tips, have a look at the blog I wrote a while back: https://www.weirdwonderfulbrain.com/post/aphasia-communication-tips

19/05/2024

Jake has been really interested in photography lately so we got our old D40 DSLR out and ourselves out for a bit of fun.

Kids pick things up so quickly. I was really struggling to get my head around quite a few things…too many buttons and a lingo I’m not familiar with.

I really get frustrated when I don’t understand something easily and learning new things takes so much more time and concentration since brain injury.

I found myself being a bit of a passenger tagging along on the ride while trying to figure out the lingo and settings.

One step at a time and until I feel more confident, just gotta focus on enjoying the journey.

15/04/2024

Ah…managing neurofatigue…I have come a long but I vividly remember the days too.

How is neurofatigue impacting your day to day and helps you manage it?

Read the blog here: https://www.weirdwonderfulbrain.com/post/neuro-fatigue-after-brain-injury

29/02/2024

Knowing our limit after brain injury…well here is a million dollar question right? Although the threshold and some of the associated triggers are likely to vary for each individual, there are some common blocks we can build on when trying to answer this question. In this blog, I’ll try to explor...

03/02/2024

The morning awaits…aphasia on at 7:30 am means it could be a LOONG day.

Did I mention how much aphasia sucks?

The brain is slow…very slow! Finding the motivation to move about is hard but it’s often when you need to do it most to avoid spiraling down. So I follow the crew to the beach.

The cold plunge in the ocean seems to have helped a bit…for a short period of time anyway. Aphasia creeps back in, a sign my brain battery is way too low 🪫

So for now, I’m off for an afternoon rest so I can try to recharge.

You win some, you lose some…sometimes that’s how it goes when you live with a wonky brain.