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The TBI Chatroom |
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Hi!, my name is Daniel Semeniuk I'm 18 years old and I live in Chalk River, Ontario, Canada. I'm presently recovering from a TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury and would like to tell you my story. On May 09, 1997 four of my friends and I had gone bowling and after the game went to Burger King for a snack. From there we were going to my girlfriends house to watch a movie. As we were leaving Burger King to cross the highway my friends car was hit broadside by a pickup truck. My girlfriend and I were sitting in the back seat and my other three friends were in the front. They had to use the Jaws Of Life to get one of my friends and I out of the car. Both of us were sitting on the side of the impact. When they finally got us out they took us to the local Deep River Hospital. Three of us were seriously hurt, my girlfriend, my best friend and I. The driver of the car and another friend managed to escape with only minor injuries. With the seriousness of our injuries they stabilized us and then rushed us to the Civic Hospital in Ottawa. My friend and I both had serious head injuries and it didn't look good. After what seemed to be forever my parents were told that I had a serious injury to my brain stem along with some injury to my brain which had twisted inside my skull from the force of the accident. I also had a punctured lung, fractured pelvis and some lacerations to my face. They were told that things were very serious and to expect that I may not make it through the night. My best friend although he had no other injuries had much more severe head injuries and was also not expected to survive the night. My girlfriend had cracked ribs, a punctured lung and had suffered a seizure from the accident. She recovered from her injuries and was release after about a weeks time. My friend and I were both in deep comas. After three days my best friend passed away due to his injuries and my parents were told that I had only about a 10% chance of recovering from my coma. I remained in a coma for four months at the Civic Hospital and my family was with me the whole time. They read to me, they talked to me, massaged me, whatever they could do to stimulate me. After a while my eyes would be open but my response was almost nil. They then showed me pictures, movies anything familiar to provide stimulation. There were countless trips outside for stimulation. Although my family could see what they thought were small improvements, the doctors were only looking for the major "classic signs of recovery". They continually gave my family little to hope for and after about three months had basically given up hope for me. My family and friends all prayed daily for me and I firmly believe that all the prayers made a true difference in my outcome. After almost four months, plans were made to have me sent closer to home. The doctors once again gave me no hope for any recovery and told my parents to expect that I would remain in a coma for the remainder of my days. I was transferred to my local Deep River hospital to await placement to a Long Term Care facility. Four days after my transfer, in the first week of September I came out of my coma. When I awoke I was scared. Where was I what happened. I couldn't walk, talk and could barely move my arms and legs. My left elbow was partially contracted and my right wrist was so badly contracted that my palm could almost touch my wrist. My long term memory was still intact but my short term memory was in some trouble. My road to recovery was not going to be an easy one. I stayed at the Deep River hospital for almost two months and the gains I made in my recovery were very remarkable. I began to make sounds and was gradually starting to talk. I went from feeding tube to eating solid foods in just a couple of weeks. The staff at the hospital were great and because it was the first kind of case in their history they just couldn't do enough for me. I was finally accepted at a rehab facility at St. Vincent's Hospital in Ottawa where I spent four months in my road to recovery. At the end of February I was able to come home to stay. Here I still have physiotherapy four times a week, speech and occupational therapy. My speech is still slow and monotone but getting better slowly. I'm walking with the aid of a walker now and I'm able to take small steps without any help at all. My balance here is still a problem. I'm starting to write again but its quite slow and tedious. I'm left with a tremor in my left arm which gives me lots of control problems. I hope this will eventually subside. My short term memory has improved a lot but I still need to write down things to help me out. I have someone tutoring me in math right now to get me back up to speed here. I need only four more credits to complete my Grade 13 and graduate in High School. I'm going back to school this September and hope to be able to continue my studies. This won't be easy and it's going to take a lot of effort. I would like to meet anyone out there who can give me some helpful suggestions in my recovery, schooling or just to be friends. If you've had a brain injury and have some suggestions, or a story to tell I'd love to hear from you.Before my accident I was fully involved in sports. I played inter league hockey, skied and raced till I was twelve. I enjoyed playing ball at all levels and played roller hockey as well. I enjoyed football and fooled around with basketball at times and enjoyed swimming as well. I hope to get back at most of these activities as time allows, but at the moment I'm told that any sports early on in my recovery would be too dangerous for me to try. I've also tried my skills at water color painting and I enjoy writing poems and short stories. Some of my latest poems have been quite a hit with family and friends and I'm presently hoping to have one of my poems published, if things go well. With my limited physical dexterity at the moment I'm not able to do any of the sports as of yet, so I'm presently focused on my computer right now. I like the Internet, especially the chat line. I enjoy playing computer games. NHL 98 is one of my favorites at the moment. My favorite hockey team is the Toronto Maple Leafs and my favorite players being Felix Potvin and Mats Sundin. I got to meet most of the Leafs at a game in Ottawa in February 1998 and have quite a few pictures and autographs from that meeting. I even got Felix to autogragh my Maple Leafs jersey which is now hanging in my room. I like the Blue Jays for baseball and the Argonaugts for football so you can kind of say I'm Toronto all the way. I enjoy working out with my gym equipment as much as I can. I have a total fitness machine, exercise bike, treadmill, rowing machine and an ab-toner exerciser.
If you're interested in any of my hobbies, have any questions, or would just like to drop me a line, please send email to: dansem@mail.intranet.com