Bunny's Garden |
Bunny's Story How I Got A Brain Injury On May 2, 1997 I was in a freak accident. I was helping to supervise a late-night afterschool activity, and by accident, I was hit by a six foot tall ball (Earthball) and ended up striking my head against the wall and then the gym floor. The immediate results were that I received a basilar skull fracture, a ruptured left ear drum and a concussion. I was out initially for about 5 minutes and then was repeatedly going in and out of conciousness for several hours. I was home from the hospital in 7 hours and mostly slept for the next few days. I was told that no brain damage had been done, even with the fracture, and that my hearing would return in 10 days and I would be just fine. Well, it is now just about a year and all is not fine. I am not complaining though as I feel very blessed to be doing as well as I amas I have found many that have had a basilar skull fracture and have gone into a coma. I am convinced that the difference was the immediate prayer by the students and staff that were in the gym that night. It was a Christian school that I worked at. These faithful people refused to go home from the hospital until they were assured that I would be fine, some 2-3 hours later. I would be amiss to not mention my wonderful and faithful husband. He has never once complained about the extra duties that he has taken on, including being the big "bread winner", cooking and for the first 4 months, laundry, grocery shopping. He has provided incredible moral support. I really think that he understands my injury better than I do. The problems that I have and am facing are many and diverse. Some things have started to get better, such as my vision, although not perfect but well enough that I can drive again (took 8.5 months). My hearing improved for a while and I can live with what I now have. I have discovered the mixed-blessing of impared smell - especially while driving and coming across a dead skunk ;) - the family dog enjoys the downside more as he has discovered a taste for cajun food ;) (I can't smell things burning in the oven). Cognatively, I have learned many coping skills, have learned where my limitations are. I suspect that in time these too will improve. Emotionally, things are not too bad. There are fewer bad days as time wears on and I become more accustomed to the "new" me. I see my most challanging problems are autonomical disfunctions that I have. Many of the "auto" things in my body have been wacked out of line. I experience problems with heart rate, heart rhythm, breathing, digestion, blood sugar and body temperature. All of these problems are new since I "banged" my head. Fortunately, these problems are not too common. Unfortunately because they are not too common, many doctors are not willing to validate them and associate them with my accident. Especially worker's compensation. So my biggest battle in the next while will be researching these things and trying to find a way to provide proof. Ultimately, I would like to become a pro-ponate of raising global awareness to the often devistating and life altering results of even a "simple" concussion. My father was involved in a serious car accident on Sept.1, 1988. At that time my father and I switched roles as his brain injury was very severe. Anything above death is a bonus. So brain injuries were not really new to our family, but due to a general lack of information and education, we did not realize the seriousness of a concussion, also known as a "mild" brain injury. You can often
find me at TBIChat - http://tbichat.org/chat.htm If you need more help on getting to chat email me at bunny@tbichat.org or sryall@oocities.com or email sagasha (who started TBIChat in the first place) sagasha@tbichat.org
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