My Life After Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury occurs when a person is hit in the head with a blunt force. This significant force to the head can happen playing recreational sports, on the playground, being in a car or motorcycle accident, falling down at home and your head impacting something, a blast or explosion. Traumatic brain injuries are also the leading cause of fatality rate and disability, especially in children, young adults and elderly. TBI is a devastating condition that affects millions of people nationwide, because it can affect the nervous system permanently, it also messes with the neurological, musculoskeletal, cognitive and much more. TBI force a family to deal with not just the physical disability, with the behavioral and emotional roller

Simultaneously, The Decline of my grandmother’s health after suffering a stroke led to a substantial need for assistance in an array of activities in her daily living. As a Certified Nursing Assistant, I Provided her with direct care and support throughout her recovery process. Therefore leading to, the observation of her OT sessions which eventually led to my deep interest, heightened appreciation, and new inspiration to change my course of study and career focus in the field of Occupational Therapy. Going forward, I began gaining volunteer experience At the Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Center, where I observed specialist in hand therapy, lymphedema, brain and spinal cord injuries. The experience was emotionally rewarding because I followed the gradual progression of patients, I learned about their stories and what brought them to the center. Volunteering was an Enriching Experience I had a hand in the therapy experience for the patient, and I got to observe Amazing people across all levels in the healthcare

Many years ago there wasn’t a lot of services for individuals with brain injury before the Waivers. Before the Waivers many individuals was left to live in nursing homes. Working with people who have been oppressed, or alienated, a person must have sensitivity when communicating and understanding the importance of other people culture and values. At the Hickok Center for Brain Injury when I communicate with individuals I have to be

Imagine one day your are totally isolated from your friends and even some of your family for several months. The sight of light brings instant pain to your head and you begin to go through life with a constant migraine and no way to help make it go away. The sports and activities you have played your whole life, you can no longer play due to the symptoms of your injury. These are just a few of the repercussions student Lily Winton had after her tubing accident the summer of her Junior year of high school that caused her to have her third and very serious concussion.

It became very clear to me the role of Occupational Therapist in changing people’s mind about people with disabilities. There are many people with severe disabilities, however I feel as if, the society also chose to see what they can’t do and miss to see how capable they truly are. People often give up right away and most of the time hopelessness tend to takes over and blinds us from the possibilities of getting back into our feet and live the life we want. Julia Tavalaro’s story taught me that patience and persistence can a long way. Both occupational therapists on these short stories did not give up on helping their patients improve their daily lives. They work harder than their patients to find practical and realistic approaches to not only enhance the quality of their patients life, but also to boost self-worth and dignity. Reading success stories just like these fuels my desire to become occupational therapist. As a person who has so much love and passion for life, I want others to love theirs as

Over the past four years I have seen more doctors than an average person would see in their lifetime. From endocrinologists to neurosurgeons, I have tirelessly sought medical help to overcome multiple traumatic brain injuries I incurred as an early teen. Prior to these head injuries I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do with my life or what my future would encompass. The outlook I had on life prior to my head injuries has drastically changed through the course of my recovery. Although my road to recovery has been filled with hardships, disappointments, and pain, I have found a new direction filled with opportunity to advocate on behalf of others.

The rehabilitation for people with traumatic brain injury is put into three different stages for medical care (Ross 40). These three stages are: inpatient, community integration, and lifetime of care. Each person’s rehabilitation process is different with the way they go through care. The healing process can last for months, or sometimes years. Those that go through the rehabilitation program function better than those that don’t. The two major goals are relearning and compensation.

An expanding area of occupational therapy (OT) practice that I have considerable interest in is the rehabilitation of veterans who have suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The field of occupational therapy made considerable advances and experienced a boom in theory advancement internationally following World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War when servicemen were returning with considerable physical and cognitive disabilities (Peloquin & Punwar, 2000). Unable to financially contribute to their households, as well as socially readapt, veterans were in need of professionals who could provide new avenues of productivity, as well as strategies for daily

Brain injury is a general term referring to any injury to the brain. Brain injury is stimulated by a number of factors such as bike and a car accident, assault, as fall, or a blow to the head, but these example of brain injuries which occur in nature. They are types of brain injuries such as, the brain injury that occur after birth, the traumatic brain injury (TBI) which is caused by an object such as stabbing or gun shots entering the brain causing widespread damage (Brain Injury Support(BIS), 2015; Volpe,2012). Apart from these types of brain injuries, the brain can be damaged due to lack of enough oxygen to the brain as a result to heart attack, internal bleeding like a stroke (ABI, 2015; Volpe, 2012). ABI (acquired brain injury) rehabilitation is an agency that specialises in rehabilitation after a traumatic brain injury and a stroke. But this paper will focus on brain injury only because it is an area of interest. Max Cavit is the manager director of ABI who came to an agreement with ACC to develop rehabilitation service in New Zealand (NZ), Max 's ideas evolve around how people living with brain injury were mostly garaged without access to rehabilitation service in 1996 NZ (ABI, 2015). After fifteen years, ABI has stood alone with its own facilities in Auckland and Wellington. ABI has about 200 medical specialist across all regions, and these specialists have a background whether in nursing or therapy, but they all have experience across all ages

A traumatic brain injury also known as a TBI is an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects educational performance. The term applies to mild, moderate, or severe, open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas. (Florida Dept. of Education 2015) Although I have never met anyone with a brain injury, I wanted to learn more about it and what they go through to get a better perspective. One of my favorite movies is 50 First Dates with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. He meets a girl who had been in a car accident with her father years before and suffers from memory loss. Every day she re-lives her day the same as before and every night it’s almost like her short term memory has been erased. She only remembers what happened right before her accident. Until she meets a man who changes all of that. As the movie goes on, they fall in love and every day she wakes up to watch a video to show what her life is like now. During the movie she meets a man named “10 second Tom” who could only remember things for 10 seconds. It really opened my eyes to how blessed we are to remember the little things. A TBI can affect everyone differently. It can cause you to lose short term memory, long term, affect other parts of your body, and you might not

Traumatic brain injury, also called acquired brain injury or simply head injury, is a result of a sudden blow to the head when an external force is applied causing a disruption of the physiological stability of the brain locally. It can also occur when an object pierces the skull and enters the brain tissue and when elevation in the intracranial pressure occurs and potentially dramatic changes in the blood flow within and to the brain. These changes may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness. Traumatic brain injury is a nondegenerative, noncongential defect in which there may be permanent or temporary impairments to cognition, physical, and psychosocial functions.

“Broken crayons still color,” is my all-time favorite quote. Throughout everyone’s life, there has been situations where they have felt broken or second guessed whether they could keep going. Everyone deserves to overcome any limitation or barrier restraining them from reaching their fullest potential. Being an Occupational Therapist means being patient, open-minded, and optimistic. People tend to take things for granted as they get so wrapped up in their surroundings and in the people around then. We all should take a step back and imagine how different our lives would be if we couldn’t eat independently, get dressed without help, or even bathe alone. My grandmother, who raised my sisters and I, has endured multiple strokes. Before, she has

A traumatic brain injury, often referred to as TBI, occurs when an acute, intense amount of force from outside the cranium causes a traumatic injury to the brain. Traumatic brain injuries pose potentially unlimited post-trauma hurdles and impediments to both the patient and their family. One of the more difficult potential impediments to be faced in the wake of a traumatic brain injury is the development of a new psychiatric disorder. In fact, the prevalence of psychiatric disorders is three times more likely in patients who have suffered a traumatic brain injury than those who have not (Garcia, 2001, Para 2). There have been numerous studies into the correlation between traumatic brain injuries and the development of new psychiatric disorders; however, the link between the two is still

Over the past few years, my experiences have enhanced the quality of my life and prepared me for my future. Each event has taught me responsibility and has brought me closer to making the commitment of potentially becoming an occupational therapist. I became interested in the field of occupational therapy when my best friend was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease back in 2010 and was sent to a rehabilitation center to see an occupational therapist. Going into this rehabilitation center with my best friend, I was unaware to what occupational therapy was and how it would benefit her in any way. As I observed the occupational therapist work with my best friend, I became fascinated with the different types of techniques there are to rehabilitate

I chose Meagan Kobielski M.S., OTR/L to interview for my paper. I chose her because she is an Occupational Therapist and I hope to be that profession someday. By choosing her allows me to explore more into the Occupational Therapy profession. Meagan graduated from Utica College with her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. She spent her freshman and sophomore year at University of Buffalo studying Occupational Therapy. It took her five years to complete. Most classes she took to complete her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree consisted of psychology, math, kinesiology, biological sciences, and neuroscience. In high school she job shadowed a variety of different professions, Scientific Research, English Teacher, Chiropractor, and Occupational Therapist. She then determined that Occupational Therapy was the profession she wanted to purse.