"We didn’t know how extensive the need was," said William Ditto, head of the Office of Disability Services for the state of New Jersey. Mr. Ditto tried to explain his position in an interview with Susan K. Livio, a reporter covering the Statehouse for nj.com. "Nobody wants to do this. My back is against the wall," he further explained.

The State of New Jersey was a leader among states providing assistance to victims of brain injury. In 2001, the state developed the Brain Injury Fund that paid for speech therapy and other needed treatments not covered by health insurance. Since 2004, about 2,200 people have been helped. That will soon change with new regulations slated to begin in the Spring.

The proposed new regulation will limit access to the program to individuals whose brain injury is the result of a direct blow to the head. If this rule had been in effect in 2004 only 900 of the 2,200 would have received treatment.

Twenty-five years ago, Michael Jankowsky tried to help a friend who had gotten into a fight. He was stabbed in the heart, and his body began shutting down. The lack of oxygen getting to his brain caused extensive cell damage. He is confined to a wheel chair, still slurs his speech and has concentration problems – not unlike millions of other brain injury victims in the United States. In addition to limiting who can receive assistance from New Jersey’s Brain Injury Fund, available services are being cut as well.

Transportation will no longer be provided. Electronics like personal alarms will no longer be covered. Many brain injury victims use personal alarms to compensate for lost memory skills. It helps them know when to go places or perform other tasks. Personal computers play a huge role for these people who have both cognitive and memory problems. (continued below)

Brain Injury Costs

Living with brain injury is expensive. In addition to a regular medical doctor, many victims must see neurologists, psychologists, endocrinologists as well as speech, physical and occupational therapists. Migraine headaches are a common complaint as is high blood pressure and vision problems. Many brain injury victims find they cannot return to work or must, at least, seek stress-free work at a flexible workplace.

Chee Chee Parker worked at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Her desk was in a direct line of the impact when the plane commandeered by terrorists hit the building. Though she suffered many injuries, she says the worst was her brain injury. She left the military and was able to find another job…for a short time. The effects of brain injury forced her out.

Others say: "I lost everything, my home, job, car all.. I have not found fiance help anywhere I get SSI and food assistance I have been in poverty since my injury." – Lynn; "I have been in such poverty since my tbi." – Hope; "I sustained my TBI on March 3, 1994 when a student knocked me unconscious. Needless to say that was the end of my teaching career." – Melba; "We learn to live in poverty." – Terry

Increasing health care costs and limited, if any, sources of income make government assistance almost a necessity. Now, those programs are going away. Congress has pretty much frittered away health insurance reform. Short of Medicare for Everyone, a single-payor system, the people you read about here would still be unable to afford insurance premiums. Yes, some qualify for Medicaid, and some qualify for SSI, but that still doesn’t provide the therapies they need to develop their lives more fully. America, we need to do something.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Health care insurance premiums are rising again, and the health insurance gurus are blaming it on rising health care costs. Well, it’s true. Health care costs in America. It really, really costs.

Regular readers of this blog may remember my wife’s $2,500 sprained, and possibly broken, ankle. That was just the visit to the emergency room and did not include the followup visit to our primary care physician and the $143 boot for her foot.

2009 is behind us now, and I can report to you that our health insurance paid absolutely nothing for our medical care last year. Nothing. Nada. Not one cent. Why? Our deductible was $2,300, and our $2,000 in bills didn’t quite make it. But we got close. This year our deductible is $100 more. And, yes, our premium went up, too. Now, our premium didn’t go up because of our health care costs to the insurance company – they didn’t pay anything last year!

Health insurance costs in California almost made me feel ashamed of complaining about my personal situation. The Los Angeles Times published a story, "Anthem Blue Cross dramatically raising rates for Californians with individual health policies" that told of exhorbitant increases of up to 39%. One couple reported their new premium will be $27,336, up from $20,184. The new amount exceeds the poverty level in California for a family of five.

Now, let’s just assume this family of two earned $4,000 per month, prior to getting laid off. They would qualify for California’s maximum unemployment benefit of $450 per week, or about $1,800 per month. To keep their health insurance would cost $2,278 per month. You don’t even need Jethro Bodine to tell you that you can’t pay $2,278 with $1,800. You could come close if you moved out of your house and ate out of garbage cans.

Is this the health care we want in America?

Health Insurance Profits

The situation with Anthem Blue Cross in California is being investigated to make certain at least 70% of the premium is being paid out in benefits. In other words, 27.3% of that 39% increase must be paid out in benefits. That leaves 11.7% for employee pay raises and profit. And exactly how much do you expect the employees are getting in pay raises? 1%, 2% if they’re good?

But that’s not all. Anthem Blue Cross of California was fined $1 million by the state. Anthem was rejecting 20% of claims and canceling policies of pregnant women and chronically ill patients. Only in California? Not on your life. In Nevada, Anthem was able to negotiate a settlement with the state for about $1 million. In Kentucky, Anthem was ordered to refund $23.7 million to seniors and disabled patients because of inaccurately processed Medicare claims. And Colorado got a $5.7 million refund for its Anthem customers.

Is this what Republicans are trying to protect?

Health care is not okay in America. Health insurance is not okay in America. The ONLY way to fix the problem is with Medicare for All, but we are running from it as hard as we can. Well, at least the politicians are running from it, and those who are blindly following the lies being paid for by the health care and health insurance industry.

Think about it. Get the facts, and tell your friends. America must do something! Oh, and you might want to read about our new American Beer Party.

Sites We Like

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Quitting smoking is not easy. To quote anyone with good sense, "It’s hard." Oh, sure, the world is filled with non-smokers who act like Bible thumpers out to change the world to their way of doing things. Bible thumpers and those who are former smokers are two examples of the most intolerant people on earth.

Can you imagine a drug treatment program where the therapist stares at you and says, "You should quit. I did. And if I can do it, anybody can." Or, perhaps the Nancy Reagan approach to drugs: look at that cigarette and just say NO.

There is a reason behind the fact that most people who try to quit smoking fail. It’s harder to quit smoking than for a teenage boy to give up sexual fantasies. The American Cancer Society says that 40% of smokers try to quit each year but only 4% to 7% succeed.

An average cigarette contains about 4,000 different chemicals, the most well known being nicotine. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued a report in 2006 that showed cigarette manufacturers have been increasing the amount of nicotine in cigarettes, thus making them even more addictive. The average increase between 1999 and 2004 was 10%. The Kool brand increased by 20%.

Nicotine, however, is not the only problem when it comes to quitting. A lot of those other chemicals help get nicotine into the blood stream faster which, of course, produces a quick "happy" feeling. One failing of nicotine patches and nicotine gum is that they don’t address the actual habit of smoking. Habits include a cigarette first thing in the morning or a cigarette with a cup of coffee or a cigarette with a beer or a cigarette following a meal. Smokers have geared themselves to smoking as part of a daily ritual.

There is, however, a solution. And it’s a solution that I began a few weeks ago.

How To Stop Smoking – Without Quitting Smoking

Let me tell you about an electric cigarette. Yeah, I know. That sounds funny, doesn’t it? My doctor laughed when I told him about it. He’d never heard of such a thing. A lot of people have heard about them, though. And there are several different kinds. That’s one reason I’m writing this. There are four-part, three-part and two-part electric cigarettes. Go for the two-part. As hard as it is to quit smoking, you want to go for the simple method and a two-part electric cigarette is simpler than the others.

A two-part electric cigarette contains a nicotine flavor capsule that looks like a cigarette filter and a lithium battery that looks like the other part of a cigarette. Flavors include tobacco, menthol, vanilla, etc. The flavor capsules also allow you to choose the amount of nicotine you need. 16 mg is available. So are 8 mg, 6 mg, 4 mg, and 0 mg. See how you can create your own step down program to get off the nicotine habit – if you want to!

You see, the nicotine is delivered in a water vapor that is astoundingly like cigarette smoke, except that the other 4,000 chemicals are missing. That’s right. All the cancer-causing stuff is gone. All the bad health stuff is gone. So you really don’t have to really quit smoking. Just quit smoking those things that are bad for you. No tar. No ash. No carbon monoxide.

Part two of this wonderful story is cost. Electric cigarettes cost a lot less than regular cigarettes. Of course, your initial cost will include a battery charger and a couple of batteries in addition to the flavor capsules. After that, the capsules are like buying a carton of cigarettes for around $15.00. Down the street at the Tobacco Discount store, cartons run nearly $50 for premium and $39 for generic brand.

So, let’s see what we have here. The electric cigarette is less expensive than real cigarettes. It has no tar, no carbon monoxide, and no cancer-causing additives, but it does allow you to get a nicotine fix. The different nicotine levels allow you to wean off the addictive drug if you want to. It sort of sounds like a win-win situation to me, and that’s why I signed up. That’s why I’m smoking an electric cigarette now.

My wife, who is allergic to smoke, has been the ultimate test. I have smoked on the sofa while sitting beside her. I have smoked in the car with her sitting beside me. She is even more amazed than I am. She can smell it, she can see the "smoke" – and it doesn’t affect her at all.

If you are a smoker in the United States and want to give up the part of smoking that’s bad for you without really giving up smoking, click on the link below for more information and to set up your account.

Stop Smoking without Stopping Smoking

If you live in the UK, use this link: Stop Smoking without Stopping Smoking – United Kingdom

If you live in South Africa, use this link: Stop Smoking without Stopping Smoking – South Africa

Webmasters: If you would like to help others learn more about this product, you can sign up here.

Senator Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas) joined a Republican coalition to defeat public option amendments offered in the Senate Finance Committee. Having long been considered by the main media as a fence-sitter on offering a public option to Americans suffering under the current health care system, she finally showed her colors on the issue, and the color is green.

A few weeks ago the Huffington Post reported that Senator Lincoln was the top recipient of campaign contributions from the health care industry this year among senators. Blue Cross Blue Shield, the dominant health care insurer in Arkansas, is among her top contributors.

Responses posted on the Green Party Watch website are indicative of why Lincoln may lost her Senate race in 2010. Susan wrote, "That almost makes me want to move to Arkansas to vote against Blanche Lincoln. What a sellout to the insurance industry." Dave said, "Wow, if I lived in Arkansas I’d totally start a ‘move to Arkansas to vote against Blanche Lincoln’ campaign. And Lynn said, "I AM from Arkansas and WON’T be voting for her next election."

In February of 2009 Michael D. Tanner, a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, testified before the Arkansas House Insurance and Commerce Committee. He said, "I understand the frustration that Arkansans feel with the problems facing our health care system. In particular, Arkansans are worried about cost and access. Simply put, health care and health insurance cost too much, and too many people, including roughly 486,000 Arkansans, 17 percent of your state’s population, lack health insurance. And the two problems are deeply entwined; cost is the number one reason why people go without health insurance."

Tanner also stated, "…the average cost of a family insurance plan in Arkansas tops $9,900…" According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2001, Arkansas had a per capita personal income (PCPI) of $22,750 which ranked 50th in the United States (including the District of Columbia) and was 75% of the national average, $30,413. According to data released by the US Census Bureau, in 2000, the median household income was $30,293 compared to the national average of $42,148. In 2001, the median income for a family of four was $47,838 compared to the national average of $63,278. For the period 1999 to 2001, the average poverty rate was 16.3% which placed it 48th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia ranked lowest to highest.

With a median income of $30,293, is there any question why Arkansans cannot afford the average cost of a family health insurance plan of $9,900? That’s at the median level. What about the 49+% of Arkansans whose income is below the median.

At a time when Arkansas needs a Senator to stand up for them, Blanche Lincoln chose to support her contributors rather than her constituents.

More About Senator Blanche Lincoln

Blanche Lincoln Opposes Public Option

Blanche Lincoln Feet to the Fire

Sen. Blanche Lincoln Co-sponsors SHOP

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas Republican?!

Blanche Lincoln Rakes in Health Care Dollars – Huffington Post 09/04/2009 – The senior Arkansas senator is also the top recipient of campaign contributions from the health industry among senators this year. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Lincoln has received $325,350 in contributions from the health industry, as of June 30. The large amount in contributions underlies a constantly shifting position by the senator on health care reform.

Monopoly Money: "Our good friend Senator Blanche Lincoln thinks it’s very dangerous for the insurance companies to have to compete with a public plan option: ‘One of our biggest concerns is that it doesn’t need to be a government plan that usurps that ability to compete in the marketplace, which I’m concerned that a totally government-run option would do,’ she said."

For more information about her political contributions, you can visit the Federal Election Commission Blanche Lincoln Page.

July 15, 2009 is a date that is burned into the memories of the families of First Lieutenant Andrew K. Kinard, USMC (Ret.) and Lieutenant Colonel Raymond T. Rivas, USAR (Ret.). Their stories intertwined with explosions of an improvised explosive device and a mortar shell. The soldiers came face-to-face on April 29, 2009 when they both testified at a Senate hearing in Washington D.C. The Hearing To Examine The Implementation Of Wounded Warrior Policies and Programs was chaired by Senator Ben Nelson.

Lt. Kinard was injured October 29, 2006 in Al Anbar Province when he stepped on an IED and lost his entire body below the hips. Seventeen days earlier, on October 12, Lt. Col. Rivas was working as a civil affairs officer at the Tallil Forward Operating Base in Iraq when it was attacked by mortar fire. He sustained a traumatic brain injury.

According to Rivas, he had previously sustained at least eight concussions and, while serving in Afghanistan, had been thrown through the windshield of a vehicle. (continued below)

Brain Injury Books at Amazon

He told the Senate subcommittee, "When I was originally injured in October of 2006 in Iraq, I was Medivac’d out of Theater and sent to Launsthul Regional Medical Center in Germany for evaluation. My memory is extremely vague about this. I was told that I spent 7 days there and convinced the Neurological staff that I was fit to return to duty. I returned to Iraq, of which I do not remember any of this, and spent approximately 10 days there. I was allowed to go out on missions to Forward Operating bases, and on mission convoys. It was then reported to my Chain of Command that my behavior was extremely ‘bizarre’ and I was referred to the Air Force Expeditionary Hospital Neurologist."

The neurologist diagnosed traumatic brain injury and Rivas was put on priority Medivac back to Launsthul Regional Medical Center in route to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, Texas. (Launsthul, you may remember, is the facility where ABC News co-anchor Bob Woodruff was sent after sustaining a brain injury from a roadside bomb.)

"What I do remember about my 1st few months at BAMC was that the system was overwhelmed with the influx of new patients. I was pretty much on my own for two to three months. I had a couple of battle‐buddies who helped me with dressing, bathing and eating, as I was not able to do any of these unassisted," Rivas said.

Colleen Rivas also testified before the Senate subcommittee. She said, "One of the issues that I feel very strongly about is the comparison being made between Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In my opinion there are profound differences between these two injuries. TBI is a physical trauma that can range from mild to severe. PTSD is an emotional trauma which can have debilitating effects. I have dealt firsthand with both of these traumas where Raymond is concerned; PTSD more so after Afghanistan which was in the form of nightmares and some depression. What we could not deal with on our own he was able to obtain help with through the VA in the form of counseling.

"The Traumatic Brain Injury has been an entirely different matter. When Raymond first returned to the U.S. he was sent to Brooke Army Medical Center. He suffered from severe headaches that painkillers and brain blocks had no affect on. In addition to the headaches, he had trouble with his balance, his depth perception, his speech, his eye to hand coordination, his memory, which included both his long‐term and short‐term and any task that involved sequencing. He was unable to go anywhere by himself because he was constantly getting lost. It took a year for him to regain his balance and depth perception.

"Now, two and a half years later, he still suffers from daily headaches, however their severity has lessened. He has regained most of his long term memory; however he still has trouble with his short‐term memory which includes misplacing items on a daily basis and constant repetition of subjects previously discussed. In addition, he cannot follow a detailed set of instructions nor can he multi‐task. His condition is frustrating for both him and our family."

After being on his own for two to three months at Brooke Army Medical Center, Rivas met his case manager. More importantly, he was contacted by the U.S. Army Special Operations
BAMC Liaison, Sergeant First Class Craig Coker. Sgt. Coker got the ball rolling, so to speak, and Rivas began to get the care he needed.

Ray was transported from BAMC to HealthSouth Riosa in San Antonio for brain injury treatment. Therapists helped improve his balance, speech, memory and other skills. His vision and hearing suffered too in the blast, yet Rivas still maintained he was not injured.

On April 21, 2008, Lt. Col. Rivas was awarded the Purple Heart. In September, 2008 he enrolled full time at the Easter Seals Hospital Brain Injury program in San Antonio to participate in their Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy program. Six months later he was able to testify at the Senate hearing.

On July 15, 2009, a party was held in Washington, D.C. to celebrate Andrew Kinard’s farewell to Washington as he prepared to leave for Harvard Law School. The loss of half of his body had been repaired to the point to could take on the difficulties of law school. That same night, Ray Rivas drove to Brooke Army Medical facility and committed suicide in the parking lot.

Two soldiers – two different kinds of injury – two exceedingly different outcomes.

Ray Rivas was one of thousands of U.S. troops returning with a brain injury, the signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His story exemplifies the problem faced by both military and civilian medical personnel when it comes to brain injury.

A few months after he arrived in San Antonio Colleen told My SA News, "We didn’t expect the seriousness with what he came back with this time."

This is where the lives of Andrew Kinard and Ray Rivas travelled separate roads. Kinard’s injury was there for everyone to see; Rivas, though, was facing life with an invisible injury. It was an injury that goes beyond physical therapy, speech therapy and cognitive therapy. Millions of brain injury victims know all too well the effects of brain injury.

An injured brain needs rest and tires very easily. Mental fatigue is the first step on the Cycle of Response, a term coined in Brain Injury Survivor’s Guide. Those living with an injured brain face the Cycle daily – jumping from a tired brain to confusion, frustration, guilt and depression. Daily headaches, like those experienced by Rivas, are common, and this multiplies each of those steps on the Cycle. No one can think straight during a severe headache. A brain injury more often than not slows thinking skills because of memory problems and a partial shutdown of the executive functions of the brain.

While Ray Rivas was being treated at HealthSouth, he was allowed to go home to his family in New Braunfels each weekend. Colleen said he would ask the same question ten to fifteen times and, each time, family members would provide the answer as if the question had not been asked before. Short term memory problems easily lead to confusion.

Brain injury victims are aware they cannot remember a name that goes with a face or what they were doing ten minutes prior or why they’re standing in the kitchen or why they are holding a pencil. Add mental fatigue and stress to short term memory loss and Rivas’ testimony before the Senate committee that he did not remember anything about those last days in Iraq becomes clear.

The confusion of not remembering leads to frustration which is exhibited in outbursts of anger or crying or both. It is a normal progression to guilt when a brain injury victim recognizes he or she has changed. A tired, confused, and frustrated brain says,"I’m not as good as I once was." The belief that a person is not as good of a father or mother or husband or wife or employee is an expression of guilt and can quickly lead to depression.

Numerous studies of brain injury have found that unchecked depression leads to separation: separation from spouse through divorce, separation from employment and, in far too many cases, separation from life through suicide.

Ray Rivas lived the life of a hero. He wanted to serve his country as best he could. He did not want someone else standing for him in the war zone. It is my hope that America remembers Lt. Col. Raymond T. Rivas as a hero in death. It is my hope that both military and civilian medical personnel learn more about treating brain injury. It is my hope that Congress will understand the necessity of providing more timely and more complete care to the tens of thousands of soldiers returning from war with an invisible injury.

Download The War That Never Ends – pdf

More Information About Brain Injury

Brain injury resources, rehab facilities, associations, support groups and more can be found at Brain-Injury-Online.com

Click here for more brain injury articles on Uncle Brice’s Blog.

Share This Article

Brain injury affects over one million families each year in the United States alone and is the Number One cause of death and disability in the world. Information available to family members is in even shorter supply than what is available to the brain injury victims.

Stress hits family members at the moment of a phone call. In my case it was, "Larry, you need to come to the hospital; there’s been a Code Blue." Upon hearing words like those, the body’s autonomic resopnse system goes into overdrive by pumping additional adrenaline and a few other chemicals that allow you to jump into action.

This fight or flight response is supposed to be temporary. It allows you to take necessary action and then it subsides as the situation comes under control. When I got off the hospital elevator at the Medical Intensive Care Unit I immediately saw family members sitting in the chaplain’s room. A second fight or flight response piled on top of the first. I was met by a doctor who said, "I don’t expect her to survive the trauma." A third dose of autonomic chemicals flooded my mind, body and soul. Like the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans, there was no opportunity for those chemicals to subside. The situation was not coming under control by any stretch of the imagination.

Beth remained in a coma for two weeks. The early days had a common phrase, "The next 24 hours will tell." Then, "the next 48 hours are crucial." The flood waters could not retreat, and stress began to build an almost impenetrable fortress within. Forget August…fast forward to September. Beth is released from the hospital and her parents bring her to a strange house with strange people living in it. She had forgotten me and our children. She slept on the couch. Actually, she slept a lot – on the couch or in the bed.

One way to reduce stress is to rest and relax. Beth was doing plenty of that. Since her brain injury was due to her lungs failing, I sat in the floor beside her as she slept…watching the rise and fall of her chest. If it didn’t rise when I thought it should, I shook her until her breathing appeared normal. I couldn’t sleep; I had to protect her. At least, that was my thinking at the time. And the stress continued to build. (continued below)

Brain Injury Books at Amazon

What an interesting couple we were at the time: a wife with a brain injury and a husband weighed down with stress. Those who have read our book know that we were not told Beth had a brain injury and that 15 months passed before we were able to get her admitted to a neuromedical facility. Not knowing what was going on in her life, complicated by migraine headaches, memory loss and cognitive difficulties, Beth became as stressed as I was…and that caused me more stress!

The Independence Thing

A primary thought on the mind of high-functioning brain injury victims is to gain more independence in their daily lives, whether they can actually do it or not. Sure, they all believe they can. And they can…with appropriate strategies that compensate for memory problems and thinking problems. Behavioral problems become more manifest through anger and cursing because they are not experiencing the independence they desire.

Family members or the family caregiver feels the stress as well. How much do I let them do? When should I step in … and get my head chewed off. Because you will get your head chewed off! Or some other part of your anatomy. For as long as we’ve been married, Beth and I have walked down the street holding hands. Oh, she did not want me holding her hand as she struggled to regain her independence. One day as she began to step off a curb in front of a car, I thrust my arm out to stop her. Her head jerked my direction, and I could see the daggers in her eyes. I had blocked her independence. She had not seen the car and, as much as she was concentrating on my interference into her life, I’m not sure she ever saw it.

Chapter Six of our book is titled Cycle of Reponse. It explains the five steps of the cycle: mental fatigue, confusion, frustration, guilt and depression as well as steps that can be taken to back away from that dreaded depression. The words are there for both the brain injury victim and the family members. Family members run up and down the cycle as well. It is essential that family caregivers guard against becoming over-stressed. Yeah, that’s easier said than done; trust me, I know.

Read more about Stress:

Stress and Stress Management Solutions

Stress Causes Physiological Changes

Types of Stress

Effects of Stress

Dealing with Stress

Stress Management with Guided Imagery

Long Term Stress Management Solutions

Additional References:

Brain Injury Guide

Brain Injury Online

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog

Brain Injury Survivor’s Guide by Larry and Beth Jameson made the Top Ten Sales list for the month of April according to book publisher Outskirts Press. A press release stated, "Outskirts Press, the fastest-growing full-service self-publishing and book marketing company, today announced its top ten best selling titles for April 2009 according to combined data from Ingram Book Wholesalers and Outskirts Press Wholesale Direct."

The Top Ten Books run through a wide range of genres from smokehouse design to day trading to lottery numbers and, even, another kind of lottery: How to Become a Man Magnet. Of course, I believe it was Jeff Foxworthy that said all a woman needed to attract a man was to show up.

Lynn Galli’s fictional Uncommon Emotions explores what happens when a woman explores her passions and emotions after being kissed by another woman.

The Top Ten Books are:

Brain Injury Books at Amazon

Additional Brain Injury Resources:

Brain Injury Guide

Brain Injury Online

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog

America’s cry for Single Payer Health Insurance as a public option falls on more and more deaf ears, a clear signal that the health care reform wanted by citizens is NOT the health care reform being considered in Washington.

There is a little town in Manitoba, Canada called Kelwood. It’s so small I could not find it on any maps. So, the best I can tell you is that it’s close to Riding Mountain National Park and the town of McCreary in southern Manitoba about 200 miles from North Dakota.

Kelwood is the home of Alana Levandoski, a singer-songwriter best known for a concert she held in Winnipeg in honor of a group of survivors from the war in the Sudan who moved to Canada. But there is another connection between Kelwood and Winnipeg that relates to the need for public option insurance in the United States.

On July 29, 2008 two young boys were visiting their grandparent’s farm just outside Kelwood. They decided to pass the time shooting targets. Twelve-year old Sam hurriedly raised his rifle to shoot at a bird, hitting himself in the head with the scope. The pain from the impact caused him to drop the gun. It fired…and put a bullet in the right side of Sam’s brain.

Sam was rushed to the hospital in Neepawa for medical treatment. From there he was transported to the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg where he underwent a four-hour surgery that began a 12-day stay at HSC. Having lost peripheral vision in his left eye in addition to the left side of his body being paralysed, numerous therapies were begun. During those twelve days, his vision returned and the paralysis went away.

Sam is now re-learning parts of his life affected by brain injury. I contacted Sam’s mother, Jodi, and asked a simple question: "What sort of financial costs did you have with Sam’s incident?" Remember, this is Canada. Yet, I thought that everything provided to Sam couldn’t be free like we’ve been told about the Canadian public health care system. There was the hospital in Neepawa, then the hospital in Winnipeg. There was the brain surgery. There were the numerous therapies.

Jodi responded, "Here in Canada we pay for medicare thru our taxes so there hasn’t been any financial issues for us since the accident."

Can you imagine how much that would cost in the United States? Can you imagine how much the deductible and co-pay would be if you had insurance? And that doesn’t count the monthly health insurance premiums paid for the coverage? Even the single payer health insurance option wanted by most Americans would not be totally paid for by taxes and, yet, our national leaders seem to have forsaken those positions to become followers of the health insurance industry and its lobbyists.

Shame on them. (continued below)

Others Speak About Public Option Health Insurance

Single Payer Health Care Plan On The Table – Talk Radio News Service – Single payer health care supporters held a hearing yesterday at the Committee of Education and Labor to testify on the need for health care reform. Those who testified to the committee was U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Geri Jenkins …

Frances Anderton: Don't Diss Single Payer Health Care If You Haven … – I feel pity for a person who does not know what it is like to go to a doctor and have the first question be, “what’s wrong?” instead of, “who’s your insurance carrier?”

Single payer health care: big breakthroughs, interview with Rep … – Less than a month after 13 single payer advocates were arrested protesting the exclusion of single payer, it is at the table in both Houses, making progress while the multi-payer pro-insurance reform is faltering.

Related Articles on Uncle Brice’s Blog

Single Payer Health Insurance for America

Medical Bankruptcy Shows Broken Health Care

Sen. Blanche Lincoln Co-sponsors SHOP

Brain injury blogs provide a great deal of current information about the number one cause of death and disabilty in the world. Jane H. of Seattle, Washington writes one of my favorites. After having two brain injuries three years apart, Jane describe herself as being like Swiss cheese: the block is still sharp but has holes.

The story featured in the photo, Something like "AAADD", is one that millions of people can relate to, not just persons living with brain injury. Here’s a short excerpt.

"Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D – Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

"I decided to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the hall table. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trash can under the table, and notice that the trash can is full.

"So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first. But then I think, since I’m going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

"I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the bottle of juice that I had been drinking. …"

You can read the rest of this story on Jane’s blog by clicking this link: Something like "AAADD"

Brain Injury Books at Amazon

Another entertaining and informative article by Jane is entitled, "This Too Shall Pass." Here’s an excerpt:.

"I feel so very confused as to who I am, who I am not, and who I should be, and who I can be. I want to know where the brain holes are so I can avoid them. I want something like a map to a mine field. I want to know exactly what is not working. I want to know exactly what I need to avoid. I want to know what I can do, and do well." …

" look normal. I seem normal. Not only to my friends but to me too! I keep expecting myself to be normal just as they do. The confusing thing is that often I am “normal” and sometimes I am not." …

"Another thing that is frightening or confusing to me about all of this is that I TRULY do not know what I can do and what I can’t. Now as I am learning more about TBIs I am also seeing how many compensatory techniques I have already developed. The compensatory techniques are a good thing. I am not knocking them. They are also part of the silver lining that I have talked about in previous posts. But all the compensatory techniques I am now identifying are also pointing to the number and depth of holes that currently exist. What I need to do is develop more compensatory techniques but first, as I explained above, I have to find and define the holes." Read the complete articleby clicking this link: This Too Shall Pass

Medical bankruptcy has become a part of the health care debate, partly due to a recent report by by Harvard researchers. The report, itself, has a good share of debate about its numbers. They stated that medical problems caused 62% of all personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. in 2007.

Of course the aginners jumped in with both feet and their normal pompous attitude. (If you haven’t read earlier posts I should explain that aginners are folks who are against just about anything that’s good for all the people.) One of ‘em wrote, "So, where do we draw the line between ‘medical bankruptcy’ and financial irresponsibility? If someone has a 8 month emergency fund and has been maxing out their 401k and is insured for medical and disability, it’s hard to figure a way that any illness would drive them to bankruptcy."

Now, let me ask you this? Are you financially responsible because you, like that writer, have an 8-month financial emergency fund? Have you maxed your 401K contributions? Do you have full coverage medical and disability insurance? I’m assuming he thinks raiding your retirement fund that lost 40% of its value last year is a good thing? Now I’m sorta under the impression that people file bankruptcy to protect their future, not devastate it.

I’d recommend you look at the charts and statistics developed by the Kaiser Foundation and others about health insurance costs. You can find those charts in the article titled, Sen. Blanche Lincoln Co-sponsors SHOP.

Did you notice that health insurance premiums, and I’m talking about what your employer holds out of your pay, rose to $280 per month in 2008? It was only $135 per month for family coverage in 2000. I called ol’ Jethro Bodine to do some cipherin’ on this ’cause he knows all those guzintahs and such. He figured for a long spell and came back to say the employee portion of health insurance more than doubled during the Bush Administration years.

Did you notice that gasoline prices have risen during those same years? On January 3, 2000, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $1.26. On June 1, 2009, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was $2.50 and that, folks, is within a hair of being doubled.

Okay, everybody raise your hand whose salary doubled during those eight years! Even if you got cost-of-living increases based on the inflation rate, health care costs were rising at double the inflation rate. (continued below)

What will YOU do – or – What WOULD you do?

Many employers are now moving to Consumer Directed Health (CDH) insurance. A person I talked to who wishes to remain anonymous was laid off in 2008, unemployed for 8 months, and eventually found a job with a salary that was $12,000 less than the former position. The new company offered CDH plans. The new plan is not terribly expensive by today’s standards: $125 a month. It pays 80% of most procedures after a $2,300 deductible, and it does not cover dental. So, in addition to the $125.00 per month for the health insurance premium, this employee also puts $75.00 monthly into a Health Savings Account.

Now, this person did have 8 months of emergency funds available when coupled with the $850 unemployment income available after paying COBRA insurance premiums of $750.00 monthly. Only $25,000 of savings had to be used to keep all bills paid.

Let’s think about this person’s situation today. Savings is $25,000 less than it was. Paycheck contributions to health care costs are $200 monthly from a salary that is $1,000 less each month. The $2,300 annual deductible is offset partially by the $900 going into the health savings account. What if something happened now to this person or a family member?

Now, what about the millions of people currently unemployed, uninsured or underinsured? The Harvard researchers were surprised to learn that 78% of those who filed a medically-related bankruptcy had health insurance and that included 60.3% who had private insurance.

What would you do if faced with this situation? Would aginners be calling you irresponsible?

It’s Time for Change

No citizen of the greatest nation on earth should be forced into bankruptcy because of medical costs. Yet, when it comes to health care, the United States of America is not considered to be the greatest nation on earth. It’s not even listed in the Top Ten, and barely listed in the Top Twenty. The government, founded in part to promote the general welfare of its citizens, does not provide for a healthy citizen population.

Single Payer Health Insurance should be an option for all Americans. But it’s not even being considered at this time. The health insurance industry, like the banking industry, is getting its way in Congress. Yes, it’s time for change. It’s time for single payer health insurance. It may be time to replace Congress with people who care.

Public Citizen: Medical bankruptcy study highlights need for … – Public Citizen: Medical bankruptcy study highlights need for single-payer. Statement of Sidney Wolfe, M.D., Director, Health Research Group at Public Citizen Published on Jun 4, 2009 – 6:16:50 AM …

NOW! Blog » Medical Bankruptcy – Time to update that statistic – Bankruptcy is a personal tragedy, of course. But it’s also an economic catastrophe. How do we expect to get out of our economic crisis is health care costs are keeping hardworking Americans down like that? …

The Domino Effect: Medical Bills Bring People to Bankruptcy … – I passed one of the well-known images of Los Angeles’ homeless population today en route to work: a shopping cart laden with plastic bags, taut with.