TBI Army Wife

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been defined as a signature wound of war. What many people don’t realize is that TBI is a leading cause of injury-related death and disability in the United States. In 2010, as many as 2.5 million people sustained a TBI resulting in emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, or deaths 1. TBI doesn’t discriminate by age, race, sex, ethnicity or education. It can happen to anyone. Some groups may be at a higher risk of sustaining a TBI. That is the main reason why, when we discuss this topic, we tend to think of the military and veterans. National data doesn’t include the approximate 357K TBIs reported among service members and veterans. This number sounds alarming, but even more alarming is the coexistence or comorbidities of other conditions resulting from the exposure to war, like posttraumatic stress (PTS) and chronic pain. Without proper rehabilitation, this cluster of conditions make it even worse for the person to perform well in thei...

Last week we celebrated "Thanksgiving Day". While many people were navigating the stores to find sales we were having a wonderful time in Atlanta. We went to Atlanta for the wedding of Erika Porter, my husband's best friend and his Platoon Leader while in Iraq. She was in the same mission when my husband was wounded. She is a wonderful friend and we enjoyed every minute of the Thanksgiving and wedding day. We met her wonderful family to include all the generations, from grandchildren to great-granparents. They are all from Atlanta and they all welcomed us as part of their family. My husband and I also met two wonderful professionals and human beings, committed to help others, especially those with traumatic brain injury. I cannot compete with my husband's eloquent description of Dr. Rachel Lacy and Tracy Quantum so please go to www.tbiwarriors.blogspot.com and read it for yourself. My husband became in contact with them but not in a ordinary way, it was special and ev...

Today was a beautiful sunny day in El Paso, TX. Hope your day (wherever you are) was beautiful and that you are enjoying the start of the new season. I was thinking today about the Seasons and how each one is characterized by different events in nature and weather. The same way the journey of healing is characterized by different phases that we as caregivers need to be aware. These are the stages of healing. STAGE I - DENIAL STAGE II - BLAME / HELPLESSNESS STAGE III - WAITING STAGE IV - WORKING on my problem Stage IVa - Making a New Choice Stage IVb - Evaluating the New Choice Stage V - RESOLVING ISSUES As caregivers we should be knowleageable about these stages to be ahead of the game and know what to do when your loved one experience any of them. I truly believe that knowledge is power and may sound like a cliché but the reality is that the more knowledge we have, the better prepared we will be to overcome obstacles. It sounds easy but it may not be as easy as it sounds. Most of the ...

Dear friends, I just started the blog and I am amazed how many people have been writing to me and expressing their support. To ALL of you THANK YOU! During this year, many things have happened, good and not so good. Last year I was accepted to a PhD program and I was very excited to start this new journey in my career but on the other hand my husband was deploying for the third time in the past 5 years. I had so many mixed emotions, things to celebrate but not next to the one I love. Well, my husband left on May 3, 2009 and our anniversary was May 29th so again we missed another important day. I cared when we missed Christmas, anniversaries, birthdays etc. but like everything in the military is all about adapting and overcoming. I love the military life, I feel very proud of being an army wife, it is just something that I cannot describe. When my husband was wounded on June 29, 2009 I felt so worried because I wasn't sure how he was and I remembered that when he called me the first...