TBI Chatroom & Homepage, brain Injury, TBI, ABI, closed head injury, survivors & caregivers

The TBI Chatroom
and Homepage

Lynda Brown
On July 29, 1997 my two daughters, my husband and I were involved in a very serious motor vehicle accident. My husband was driving and as we impacted head on with an overturned transport his face hit the steering wheel. The bridge of his nose took most of the hit and his face was fractured in places. His skull was fractured and eyes pushed apart slightly, cerebral spinal was draining through his nose. I was in the front and hit the dashboard with my sternum fracturing it, and sustaining a whiplash and associated soft tissue injuries. My daughter Rebecca (15) directly behind me received a fractured and compressed vertebra at Lumbar 2 and a broken finger on her left hand. My daughter Melissa(18) who was asleep at impact sustained the worst injuries. A fractured and dislocated vertebra at Lumbar3, abdominal tearing of her small intestine and artery, and a closed head injury. The description of her brain injury was hemmorhaging at the left brain stem and pons as well as some frontal impact. She had a Glasgow Coma score of 5. My husband was conscious for some time at the accident scene, eventually convulsing and becoming unconscious. Rebecca and I were conscious at the accident scene. Melissa was stabilized and after emergency abdominal surgery was placed in an induced coma . Four days after the accident my husband's face had initial surgery to improve the position of the eyes and reconstruct his cheek bones,nose and repair part of his forehead. During the eight days that he was hospitalized it was obvious to me that he wasn't competent. I was unfamiliar with the appropriate medical person to assess this and missed the opportunity to have him looked at pertaining to a possible injury to his brain.

Rebecca was sent to a children's hospital and her back was set in a special body cast as an alternative to surgery.Some abdominal discomfort was watched.

Melissa had a spinal fusion surgery done on the fifth day post accident. After this procedure she was slowly allowed to regain consciousness. Over the next five days problems arose with the sodium and potassium levels in her body and brain and she was not coherent. The combination of medication for pain and post operative treatment gave us a very confused picture of her state. With some help and support from family I requested that she be taken off morphine and placed in a quieter environment and she gradually began to respond to questions and make some attempts at conversation. I was relieved to see that she could speak but at the same time very worried about all that she had to regain. It took a great deal of patience and strength and support to teach her how to do everything from swallowing to walking.(with a special back brace) She was very child-like and innocent. After twelve weeks spent in two different hospitals she was discharged and returned home where her father had been taking care of her sister. Rebecca had her cast.removed and replaced with a brace .

We have survived the ups and downs associated with a trauma such as this, just barely.

The best result is that after a year of recovery and continuing therapy Melissa has been able to attend the University that she had been accepted by and hopefully will reach her potential. She has continued to have therapy along with a reduced first year course load and is doing well academically. We had to relocate her to off campus housing do to the stress and distractions that it caused.She is older and younger than her peers, if this can be understood. Her experience has given her a different perspective than most twenty year olds.She has trouble having fun. We have had to provide her with a lot of support both physically and emotionally.

I wish that life had been easier for the rest of us, our injuries are still being looked at Rebecca had a spinal fusion operation in September 1998. She had to deal with another interrupted school year and limited sport activities. We are currently having her assessed for a possible brain injury. She has had memory, concentration and associated problems that continue to worsen. My husband began a new job in September of 1997 , limping with a badly sprained ankle (undiagnosed in hospital) and had two surgeries to try and improve his eyesight and sinuses.He has no sense of smell and a palsied muscle in one eye. He will always have a problem with double vision when fatiqued and works constantly to compensate for this to do everyday things. He is noticably unemotional and fatigued and has recently had a sleep study which shows how little sleep he gets at night. It is currently suggested that he undergo some assessment to have a better picture of how he could be helped . I have experienced seizure-like events in my sleep and have been tested to show some irregularities in the left side of my brain. A CT scan showed nothing so I'm having testing as well.

Now it is obvious why I have spoken about more than Melissa. There are , as I have learned many ways that an injury to the brain can show itself. In Melissa's case as you will understand the resourses are available to deal with the whole case . The rest of us must be our own advocates and be able to clearly communicate what we perceive as problems. I've learned a great deal and it continues....