What Impact Will Moderate or Severe TBI Have on a Person's Life?

Dearest Rebecca,
Oh, the heart of a mother. We love our children with our whole hearts and do everything in our power to nourish them, guide them and help them to grow into responsible, productive and compassionate people...then along comes life, which forces us to deal with the most unimaginable circumstances. My heart and prayers go out to you, for I have experienced your pain.

Perhaps my words can be those of encouragement and hope.
When my daughter was only 6 years of age, she was a passenger in my friend's car when they were hit head-on by a drunk driver. She was knocked out immediately and had bleeds throughout her entire brain....she remained in an induced coma for nearly three weeks. She received a treatment which basically froze her brain (neuro cryogenics), and when they brought her out of the coma, she faced many challenges for many years. She had to learn how to walk, talk and feed herself again.

She tired easily, had difficulty focusing in school, and for a time, she had a rough time with friendships. She suffered terribly with headaches and vomiting for 10 more years after the accident. (She had some intestinal injuries that were diagnosed and then she had surgery to repair/remove some damaged and scarred intestine, so she no longer has to deal with the vomiting).

While in school, it took her longer to complete assignments and tests in class, so the school gave her extra time. She struggled with school, but she did it anyway. I encourage you to take your son to a Junior College and have him sit down with a counselor and plan out the courses he needs to take for his Associates Degree. Regardless of what he wants to do (or not do at this time in his life), this degree is the foundation of ALL careers, and the classes are the same regardless of your career choice.

Because of his head injury, you can get a note from your Physician and sign him up at college through the DSPS office and he will get "1st Pick" of courses!!! This is HUGE because there are waiting lists a mile long for most classes.

Regardless of how he's feeling, if he has a headache, or if he's angry, teach him to be a successful person by overcoming his adversities in life. It's hard to watch your kids suffer, I know.

We did this for our daughter, and she didn't always like her classes, or professors, or the school, but we didn't give her a choice. She received her list of classes from her counselor, and as she finished her classes she checked them off one by one! This helped her to "feel" successful, but more importantly, she was learning to deal with life and her circumstances!

Because she went to Junior College she didn't need to take the ACT or SAT...which was a great relief to her. When she was in her final semester at the Junior college, we helped her select a 4-year college (she still didn't know what she wanted to do, and didn't until her last quarter at the 4-year college). She ended up with 2 Bachelor's degrees! She's now 25 and volunteers in the missionary field.
She didn't want to, but she learned how.

Challenge the denial and reapply.

I’m so sad reading this post. 1.5 yrs later and symptoms are incredible. Sometimes when people say “well thank God you’re alive,” I question if there’s a God and why he kept me here just to suffer: broken back, neck, and TBI are just the most severe injuries. I want to be alone most of the time and issues and isolate. Stay strong

I understand its been 20 years since someone tried to kill me on my job was pistol whipped & left for dead ...I am just now getting help by a neurologist ...Its such a scary feeling to know my thinking is so off ....Anxiety ptsd forgetting words i know what it is like a " table " but just cannot say the word ..Getting help now because my memory is getting worse .I I have a hard time making friends & havent been able to work since then.

You need to get a referral to a neurologist and get an evaluation. If you are having trouble breathing or swallowing make sure an MRI is done which shows the brain stem better than a CT.

I'm 35, when I was 30 maybe 31, I rolled my pickup off a fifteen-foot embankment, don't remember how I got out of the truck, I don't remember a lot after that for about a day or two. I have had a lower back condition since 06, was on oxy, muscle relaxers and such, got addicted, abused them, never had any problems, but for some reason that I can't remember I cut down to the doc recommend amount. Sometime after that I had my first overdose, friend called 911, good as new, a little bit after that, had my second, wife at the time did CPR, called 911, all good, sometime later,3rd, same thing,but for the 4th overdose, wife didn't do CPR,didn't call 911,left me on the floor,some hours later I awoke,couldn't hear anything but a loud ring,couldn't even hear myself scream for help I was in so much pain, started to recover hearing and pain started to subside, some of my hair fell out though, sometime later I had no option but to shoot my dog of 13years. The PTSD from that I am still battling, started drinking heavily,but through the grace of GOD was able to come off all my meds, I didn't have any pain anymore,then one night standing in front of my sink, I blacked out and fell into the bathtub hitting my neck on the tub and head on the wall. Since the truck accident I've been subtlety but getting worse, and I admittedly have been denying that.

I don't remember being places but my friends say I was there with them. My wife kept telling me I said things I don't remember saying, acted differently, all the same things as everyone else.

This all came to a head last Saturday. I drove from my house to coffee shop that is pretty far away with two occupants. They said I was not acting like myself. I only remember bits and pieces and woke up in my bed barely remembering anything.

Please believe me when I say I feel like I'm going insane. Until last night I've never heard of a MTBI but I'm right there with you.

I'm seeking help, I'm researching and investigating. I finally know I'm not crazy. We are not crazy.

You should see a neurological chiropractor. I can totally relate with you and mine has helped me so much.

I understand how you feel. I was in a car accident 30 years ago and received severe head trauma. In some ways it seemed like my life stopped there. Nothing is easy anymore, and no one knows what I’m going through. By looking at me you’d never guess I had such an injury. I have a good job and make decent money, but I could’ve excelled so much more without this injury.

Yes, this happened to a good friend’s cousin. He was 17 had a brain injury while playing football. He committed suicide several months later after exhibiting similar symptoms. Similarly, however, for myself, radiologists missed bleeding in my brain on both a CT and MRI. A neurologist checked my MRI results and discovered multiple bleed sites and a shear injury. Finding a good neurologist is what kept me off the street and out of the graveyard.

My son also felt sick for months prior to his suicide at age 16. I attribute this to depression on some level, boys and men show it differently than girls and women. To me, he didn't seem depressed, but the doctors all said he was fine. I know it bothered him greatly. Anyway, sorry for your lost. Stay strong, talk about him, talk about suicide.

Are you doing okay?? How is your son??

Hi Joshua!

I'm not sure where you are located/living, but I would suggest finding an outpatient TBI program if you are still experiencing any long-lasting symptoms since those injuries. As medicine advances, we are beginning to understand better how to treat concussions/mild TBIs. My husband has a VERY similar story to yours. He was the "hard hitter" in football through high school, and had two instances of being knocked unconscious on the field. He only sought medical attention once, but they didn't do much for him. Now, 8 years later, he has short term memory problems, depression, can't read (the words move around on the page, and his vision is blurry around the edges of the page), he has trouble talking (will forget what he was talking about mid-sentence), and can't stay asleep. We JUST attended our first appointment at HCMC's Outpatient TBI clinic in Minnesota, and we were blown away by the care he received! The clinic has neurology, optometry, clinical psychology, occupational therapy, and speech therapy in one clinic-all keeping track of your progress and working together to get you back to functioning as normal as possible.

If you're not able to attend a clinic like this, or you're not ready, check out @mollyparkerpt on instagram and read some of the strategies and things she has to say. I hope you find the support and help that you're looking for! Going in sooner rather than later will produce better recovery results in the long-run.

:)

I WAS 24 WHEN THIS HAPPENED, NOW IM 26 11/25/18.I had a SEVERE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (STBI) in the key west, lost my debit card, went up some stair’s and leaped over and rail the cobblestone 15 feet from where I was. Still recovering, going to speech tomorrow, really helps me out a lot. Most of my injuries were in my frontal lobe of my brain, Trouble focusing,, I’m taking METHELPHENIDATE 36 mg (some thing as RITILIN) and I have had a GRAND MA SEIZURE, Taking 1000 mg of LEVETIRACETAM (KEPPRA) I am taking METHELPHENIDATE 36 for focusing. Still have to go back to school and get my degree.

I have this same problem. I was a straight A student. Then I was hit by a man, driving, with severe dementia. I went from top student to drop out. I can't remember who/what I have read let alone larger facts. It sucks

I experienced TBI in 2015. Was hospitalised for a month. Convalesced at home for several more before returning to work. However cognitively I still struggle with reading books. I often lose the thread of what I’m reading. Anyone else have the same problem?

I suffered a severe skull fracture (split 3 mm at the point of contact) and a severe TBI many years ago on my bicycle due to someone's dog, and I was not wearing a helmet. A tremendous amount of damage was done to my body overall, and I was legally blind, totally deaf on the right, had no short term memory, had a BP 45/40, severed the nerves for smell and test, had frequent seizures and had little sense of touch with damaged fine motor skills. Plus, three w At the time, I was in my senior year of college, and all I knew was I had to go back. This had pros and cons, and I was forced to drop to 9 credits. Being in senior level science classes was a strain which contributed to my failing health. When the brain is swelled to 3x the capacity of the skull, the pain is excruciating which few people understand. At the end of 9 months, the skull was closed, but the brain was nowhere near healed. I had to take basic tests for English, Math and something else. I failed all of them and was told by the person administering the test that I would never again excel academically, and I should face it that I would never again excel at anything. I walked up to his desk, put my hands on it, leaned within an inch of his face and said, "Watch me!". This stunned my mother who said through tears, "What happened? She used to be so nice." The doctor's response was, "Your daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury, and she will never again be the person she once was." No truer words have been spoken. I became irritated very easily. Interestingly, although I failed basic tests, I had passed all of my courses in both semesters with a straight 'B' average with little eyesight, hearing and memory. How was this possible? In addition, I struggled with understanding the human language and speaking upon occasions. I would say it took a good 3 years for the pain to calm down and to operate at a somewhat normal function. Staying in college during that time was critical to the brain for building new neural synapses, and I'm glad I did it. It was absolutely agonizing physically, and my
BP would drop even lower. There is no miracle cure for severe TBIs. Many years later, the pain can still be overwhelming especially if there are significant changes in air pressure due to storm systems. My eyesight never returned to the glorious 10/10 it was prior to the accident, and my right eye sees close up while my left eye sees distance. I am still partially deaf in the right ear , and if there is a lot of noise in an area, I am nearly entirely deaf. The seizures are still present, but I have learned how to control them. My fine motor skills improved somewhat, but at times I still struggle with simple things like holding a pen. If my brain is very irritated from lack of sleep (which is common), I still have minor bouts with understanding and speaking the human language. I've been left with a tremendous amount of damage, but I'm still alive and have worked through it. It probably took a good 10 years for the pain to subside considerably and for me to function well on my own. The best advice I can give any of you is: Give it time. Yes; it is very frustrating, and there were no brain trauma centers when I obtained my injury. The neurologists weren't overly helpful, and I'm hoping things have gotten better since then. No matter how much you want it, you are not going to heal overnight. When you notice you are struggling, ease up a little. Otherwise, you will just be creating major frustration for yourselves. Been there done that. I wish I could take away your pain in your agony, but I cannot. I can only offer you advice based on my recovery.