TBI: Shaken But Not Stirred

I have a "closed head injury", the more appropriate medical term is traumatic brain injury (TBI) and I have lived with it since 1991. I rarely tell anyone about my injury for fear people will look at me differently or think I am crazy or emotionally unbalanced. Think of your brain in a bowl of gelatin. Just as gelatin is solid but not a hard fixed object so is the brain, soft and custard-like in consistency. Composed of millions of fine nerve fibers, the brain floats in cerebral-spinal fluid within the hard, bony skull. A sudden blow to the bowl holding the gelatin will cause the gelatin to quiver back and forth. Watch closely and you will see the gelatin twist and stretch and change its form. Imagine that happening to your brain when your head suddenly hits a stationary object, especially when the head has rotational movement during this trauma. Just like the gelatin, your brain inside your skull goes back and forth, slapping against your skull. The brain mass itself twists. Every year, approximately 1.4 million people expereince a TBI, according to the Brain Injury Association of American in 2007. Approximately 1 million head injured people are treated in a hospital emergency room. Of that number, approximately 230,000 people are hospitalized for TBI and survive while 50,0000 die. An even larger number of brain trauma injured people go undiagnosed. This misdiagnosis occurs becasuse the tissue damage is microscopic. Half of these traumatic brain injuries result from transportation accidents involving cars, pedestrians, and motorcycles. In fact, vehicular accidents are the major cause of TBI for people under 75 years of age. Conversely for people over the age of 75, simple falls are the primary cause of their TBI. About 20 percent of closed head injuries are caused by violence such as firearms, physical assaults, military conflicts and child abuse. Finally three percent come from sports injuries. I am one of the thousands who was released from the hospital emergency room because nothing showed up on an x-ray. I had all the symtoms. I knew something was wrong. Friends and family thought I was just "a little off" or "a bit crazy." I knew better and persevered to prove it to them. This is my story of the little woman who overcame the challenges connected to TBI to make a difference and to once again become a multi-million dollar producing agent and return as the mother my children lost. If you think you can do something, then you will succeed. You must have the desire to succeed. If you or someone you know struggles with TBI, this story will speak to you. If you have ever attempted to take on government or professional organizations, or the legal system to generate significant change, this story will speak to you. If as a child you delighted in the children's story, "The Little Engine That Could" or if you read that story to your children or your grandchildren and delight in its simple message, then my story is for you.