“It’s required emergency brain surgery. I was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. I woke up in that hospital bed and hear the beeping noise, the heart rate monitor going off, like beep, what happened, what happened, what happened? Well, you had a second brain surgery. We got the blockage, but you’re back in the hospital. You had to have emergency brain surgery. So everything I’d been working for a year was taken away from me. Like the carpet was ripped underneath my legs.”

In this episode, Nick speaks with Dan MacQueen, who had to re-learn how to walk, talk, and smile after a traumatic brain injury in 2014. What he found out along the way might surprise you, there is nothing like a brain hemorrhage to refocus the mind!

What to listen for:

The story about how Dan had to recover from two brain surgeries in less than two years

How having a brain injury, and recovering, can really set your sights on what is important in life

The difficult and uphill battle Dan endured to recover from his brain surgeries and what it’s meant to his life and those he speaks with

The silver lining of two brain surgeries and a layoff leading to a speaking career

“I had a brain hemorrhage in 2014. What had been happening was I was having these headaches that were getting really bad over the course of a few weeks and I was taking painkillers like candy for them.“

What seemed like a migraine and a misdiagnosis led to a near-death experience

Find out what was causing the insane amount of pressure built up in his brain

How one minute he was having bad headaches and several minutes later was told he needed to go in for emergency brain surgery

How he needed to relearn how to walk, talk and smile again

“I woke up, my mom, dad, and brother around the bed. I’m trying to speak but I can’t talk because I had a tracheotomy removed and I couldn’t, it took me a few months to get my voice box back. So I pointed to my brother and I go, you, give me a pen and paper. I wrote down, get me out of here. And I showed him. Yeah man, make it happen.”

Imagine being so confused and the battle within your mindset and overall attitude not being sure where you are or what’s going on or how you’re going to recover or IF you will recover

Dan was unsure of what happened and had a long road ahead of him

How Dan dealt with being told “the life that you knew of before is now gone”

How it took Dan about a month to come to terms with what happened and what the road ahead would look like

“Every day I wake up, I’m better than yesterday. I’m trying to be better than yesterday. I’m trying to be intentional in my vibe, the way I present myself, the way I show up for work, and everything like this. I’m intentionally going after what I want. And it’s not easy for people to hear, look, you gotta accept it, but that’s how you get through this stuff.”

How he felt about his path to recovery and the progress he made that ultimately was reverted by another brain surgery

What happened to him that led to his mom finding him unconscious on his floor

How he managed his mindset after the second surgery knowing that he wasn’t going to get the same help he had gotten before

How he managed losing his job and how long it took him to make a career shift

About Dan MacQueen:

Dan had to re-learn how to walk, talk, and smile after a traumatic brain injury in 2014. What he found out along the way might surprise you, there is nothing like a brain hemorrhage to refocus the mind!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/macqueendan/

https://www.instagram.com/macqueendan/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvetrjnuZDZ66QRTiJtt6mw

https://twitter.com/macqueendan

https://www.macqueendan.com/

Resources:

Check out Episode #13 “Why not choose to be joyful” about dealing with a loss, managing your mindset after being thrust into a tough situation

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