How to overcome Traumatic Brain Injury

In February 2007 my daughter was a Senior in High School and enlisted but not sworn in yet in the Marines. A car accident changed her dreams of becoming a Marine by leaving her with severe traumatic brain injury. The most important part of brain injury recovery is memories, people they know, familiar smells and sounds and exposure to everything. It is like starting over from birth. But it can be done!

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Love
• Prayer partners
• Patience
• Rest
• Faith

1. 
    
   Athina now

   Of course the body injuries healed to a certain extent; but there were issues with her right side. It postured (a term the Dr. uses for the leg stretching out straight with the foot pointing like a ballarina and locking and the arm draws up like a clam shell and locks.) This was worked on by the Physical Therapists and over the 3 months we were there they got her to walking without the aide of any equipment. The Dr. said her body acted like a stroke victim but she had not had a stroke. Well, something new for them to research. It has been two years now and here are some things we have done to help her with SHORT TERM MEMORY damage:

2. WHILE IN THE HOSPITAL REHAB:
   Laptop computer for her to access her MYSPACE! This was her connection with her LIFE. She would tire easily because of the excitement. But reconnecting with her friends was very very important. They were teens without transportation so MySpace was the only way to visit. Pictures! Another device for reconnecting.
   
   Getting her out of her room, eventually out to the wonderful little sitting area in the front of the hospital was very good for her brain stimulation. I lost 30 lbs from wheeling her all over that massive hospital: to the second floor to Wendy's for a milkshake etc. To the dining room to watch tv and the fish tank. Any kind of brain stimulation is good. We would sit outside when the weather permitted and have a coca cola and do word search puzzles until it was time to go in. We would talk about past fun times and what we would do in the future. Now understand that she would not remember doing this when we got back to the room, but do not let that discourage you. Just keep doing it. A year later we went to the hospital and passed by the sitting area and she said "we used to sit there, didn't we?" So don't give up. REPETITION IS YOUR BEST FORM OF TEACHING THE MEMORY.
   
   Seeing the same people everyday is key to remembering new people. She would remember her nurses that would come in often to check on her or to say hi. She remembered ones she spent time with. She still remembers them today.

3. We immediately met with the High School and had a meeting over the phone with her Dr. at UNC about how to teach her. They needed to know what her limitations were. This was the hardest for everyone because the school systems are equipped to handle a disabled child/person if they are physically handicapped. If they are blind, deaf, missing arms or legs, in a wheel chair, even retarded they are equipped for that. But she had no handicaps except short term memory. So basically it came down to "classroom" (taking notes and getting written handouts from the teachers) "homework" (was not hard because she had time and quietness to read and re-read her assignment and eventually get the answers down)was given to her as a written document.
   TESTING: This was her main issue/handicap. Testing, we found, had to be in multiple choice or true/false format. She could recognize the right answer if she saw it. Essay questions were harder but she found that she had to rely on previous knowledge from the classes she had taken before.

4. IMPORTANT THINGS. She remembers Important things. Now those important things may not be important to you...but for some reason they will be for them.
   NOTES NOTES NOTES: Invest in 3M company that produces sticky notes because you will be spending a lot of money on them. For the first year and even today (but not as much) sticky notes are everywhere in my house, in my car, in and on books and computers. She has progressed to remembering to check the calender on her bedroom wall for information. She remembers now to brush her teeth, where her clothes are etc. Which brings us to step 5.

5. 
    
   Buffalo are very uncommon in NC so she remembers seeing them, to this day!

   ROUTINE: Having a repetitious schedule is important because everything, every activity that is on that schedule will become a 'past' memory.
   She is in College now and the tricks she learned in High School to work around her short term memory loss is being added to in College.
   
   There are many ways around this particular brain damage handicap:
   Audio seems to connect better than verbal or written in her memory.
   Audio books, CD's etc.
   Pay attention to what they remember because it will give you a key into helping them.
   Make sure they have a goal to work toward. A reason to get up in the morning.
   We are still learning ways to get around her problems and I will enter them as we go on this article. So please bookmark this page and check back periodically for updates.

Tips & Warnings

• WHAT NOT TO DO:
• Don't change their surroundings. Don't put their clothes away. Let them do it.
• Don't work for them. Let them do things for themselves. Give them their independence.
• Don't show frustration, it is very defeating.
• Don't leave them in one room for extended periods, get them outside.
• Don't remind them that they won't remember. You don't know that. I am constantly surprised at the things she remembers.