“You have a brain injury.”

Things hadn’t been right since my cycling accident months ago—constant buzzing noise in my head, a relentless and crushing headache, exhaustion without being able to sleep—but hearing those words made the room whiteout, displaced by anger, denial, fear, uncertainty and one simple question: “What does it mean?”

“It is what it is.” said the neurologist, as if explaining everything.

“WTF does THAT mean?” I was furious he didn’t offer an immediate fix or even tell me what was next.