Brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder devastate many lives each and every year. PTSD and brain injury do share numerous symptoms and numerous strategies for overcoming or, at least, dealing with the changes that come.

A military wife writes, "He got hurt over there,but copes. He is now out too. He says he will finally seek help, but I dont know where to turn. He is not the same man, he drinks constantly, is always angry and withdrawn, is mean and distant…"

Another writes, "I didnt meet my husband until he was already back. However there are days that I dont feel like I know him at all! There are days that his PTSD is so bad its like he gets lost somewhere in the shuffle. … I have to remind myself that he is not who he used to be and this is who he is now." (continued below)

Larry and Beth Jameson, authors of Brain Injury Survivor’s Guide, received the following email. "I emailed you a few weeks ago about my husband who is a year post injury. He is definitely getting better, but I get concerned about all the ups and downs. When he is particularly tired (which can last for days), he is more confused. This morning he was going to take a shower, but instead of doing so he put two pairs of pants on (one over the other). Once I convinced him of what he needed to do, he ended up taking a shower in his underwear and couldn’t figure out why that wasn’t right.

"He usually doesn’t have this much trouble. He sometimes forgets which clothes are his clean ones and which are his dirty one, but that is usually it. The only thing I can figure is that he is tired, and it gets frustrating because I think he is getting better and then he goes backwards. He seems to get real tired and then he is like a completely different person. And he is tired a lot of the time."

Another email summed it up this way. "I suffered a brain injury about 39 and half years ago. I have had horrible things come out of this. I need support badly!"

Help is Needed

No one prepares to have a brain injury. Because each brain is different prior to such an injury, the help needed varies from person to person. The medical community needs far more information, and the health insurance industry rarely provides for the needs of a brain injury patient.

Another lady wrote to Larry and Beth. "I just want to say thank you. My father fell ill with Acute Viral Encephalitis on April 24th of this year. It has been quite a battle dealing with insurance issues. He is a retired Marine and even after further years of dedication to our government via civil service, Tricare has denied his coverage for cognitive therapy. My father has always been a pillar for our family and we have all suffered an extreme loss in losing a husband, father, son, and brother. Thank you most for giving us hope, especially the hope my mom has gotten from your book. We are a family that is spread throughout the country, leaving her as my dad’s primary caretaker. To hear the hope and resolve in her voice after discovering your website and then book has given me a sense of hope for her and my dad that I have formerly struggled with. So, thank you for giving hope to my father, my mother, and my family. You are both a blessing to this world."

More Brain Injury Information

Larry and Beth Jameson have a mission in life: to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites with 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. A longtime friend of Beth wrote, "I have loved Beth since we met in I think fourth grade, and her blog reminds me again why. The blog is one of the things that makes your site so special, her personality coming through, and she frames the realities in ways that communicate the good, the bad, and the hard. I can only imagine what hope she gives people and what a lifeline your site must be to so many."

"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.

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

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Maj. Steven Hutchison, 60, of Scottsdale, Arizona, died May 10, in Basrah of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Al Farr, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

We salute Major Hutchinson as a true American hero, not because he was killed in combat nor because he wore a military uniform. Steven Hutchinson is a patriot. After 9/11 he wanted to re-enlist in the military to further serve his country. He had previously served in Vietnam. But Hutchinson’s wife protested, and he did not re-enlist. According to his brother, Richard, Hutchinson’s wife died and a little part of Steven died, too.

At age 59 he re-enlisted in 2007. He had to pull some strings to do that.

By federal law (10 U.S.C., 505), the minimum age for enlistment in the United States Military is 17 (with parental consent) and the maximum age is 35 (Note: Congress changed this to age 42 in 2006). However, DOD policy allows the individual services to specify the maximum age of enlistment based upon their own unique requirements. However, someone with prior service like Major Hutchinson, can get an age waiver.

About older recuits, Col. Donald Bartholomew, U.S. Army Recruiting Command Assistant Chief of Staff, G5, said, "Experience has shown that older recruits who can meet the physical demands of Army service generally make excellent soldiers. They are mature, motivated, loyal and patriotic, and bring with them a wealth of skills and experience to our Army." (continued below)

Major Steven Hutchinson is a hero for all Americans. Though most citizens now oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and want them brought to an end, Steven Hutchinson is a man we can admire. Patriotism burned within him after the World Trade Center was destroyed but he followed the wishes of his wife. He was, and is, a man’s man.

It is sad, however, that America reached the point where a 59-year old could re-enlist in the military. When I first learned of Major Hutchinson, the 1967 Buffalo Springfield song For What It’s Worth immediately leapt into my mind.

There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear

They can sing it far better than I can write it.

We salute, again, Major Hutchinson for what he has done for his country. We plead, again, with our nation’s leaders to bring these wars to an end. As of Thursday, May 14, 2009, at least 4,295 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Others pay tribute to Major Hutchinson as well.

War On Terror News: RIP Major Hutchison – Maj. Steven Hutchison, 60, of Scottsdale, Ariz., died May 10, in Basrah of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Al Farr, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, …

HolyCoast.com: 60-Year Old Hero – An Associated Press database of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that Maj. Steven Hutchison, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is the oldest member of any service branch killed since the wars broke out. His brother said Hutchison …

Thank You Major Hutchison « Infidels Paradise – This man, Major Steven Hutchison had already sacrificed for his country in the Vietnam war yet was compelled to join the Army again after 9/11. At the age of 59 years old he still felt he had not sacrificed or given enough for this …

Brain injury is the number one cause of death and disability in the world. It is also one of the most difficult medical problems to deal with since everyone’s brain is different prior to such an injury. Brain injury affects different people in different ways.

The three most common issues are memory problems, cognitive problems and behavioral problems. These lead, as you might expect, to other problems such as mental fatigue, confusion, frustration, guilt and depression.

Think about this. Who would know how much of a memory problem you have? Who would know how a memory problem has affected you? Imagine yourself sitting in a doctors office and saying, "I am having problems with my memory." The doctor asks, "What sort of problems?" Your immediate response would probably be, "I don’t know; I can’t remember." People who have sustained a brain injury face this type of situation every moment of every day.

Family members and others who are living successfully with brain injury are, perhaps, the best ones to help. Professional brain injury rehabilitation normally lasts only a few months even though the brain injury lasts a lifetime. It is very probable that a person who was intelligent before sustaining a brain injury is equally intelligent after such an injury. Cognitive problems, though, cause the person to think more slowly because the brain in processing information more slowly. Thus, when taking a timed IQ test, such a person will inevitably score lower.

Many brain injury survivors see themselves on a new mission in life: to help others who are living with brain injury. There are many, many blogs and social sites dedicated to brain injury victims and their families. Below you will find the beginning of an ever-growing list of these sites.

Brain Injury Books at Amazon

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is maintained weekly by Beth Jameson who sustained an anoxic brain injury in August 1990. After she woke up from her medically-induced coma, Beth did not remember being married or that she had two children. She did not remember how to apply makeup nor did she know how to cook.

Beth and her husband spent months learning about brain injury, memory strategies, cognitive strategies and how to deal with her behavioral changes. She began a life of debilitating migraine headaches that hit every six days just like clockwork and forced her into bed for 48 hours each time. Returning to her job seemed like an impossible dream, and brain injury specialists told her that she might never be able to return. Strategy after strategy was developed about how to perform her job duties. She did return and, eventually, earned a promotion to Strategic Sourcing Analyst at a Fortune 500 company. Her blog receives many visitors every day.

We Are TBI is a social media site for brain injury victims and their family members. The site is similar to Facebook with different communities (groups) and the ability to add friends with whom you can interact. There are Walls to write on and many discussions where people ask questions or simply share information about brain injury legislation, research or daily living strategies.

One person said, "I have met a good bit of folks since I’ve discovered the T.B.I. sites. Everyone I’ve met has different stories; but, one thing definitely in common and that is their amazing strength to overcome adversity and come up on the other side fighting with vengence to get control again. And no matter what obstacle is thrown in their paths they just hike up their skirts or trousers and keep on truckin’!! That is darn inspiring to me."

The Brain Tree is a fairly new social media site for brain injury victims and those who support them. Pam created this site in honor of Dorothy Kay, a brain injury survivor from Kansas who now lives in New York City.

Dorothy was in her first semester of college she was walking home one evening when a drunk driver hit her with his pick-up truck. With a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) she was given a 7% chance of moderate recovery, but that did not stop her.
Since then she has graduated, worked abroad, organized international festivals, and much more. She beat the odds, but she doesn’t just want to beat them; she wants to change them.

Many more brain injury blogs, social networks and websites will be added.