Post by clarencebunsen on Mar 26, 2009 21:58:31 GMT -5
This was sent to me by my youngest sister from her company's newsletter. She offered this as a warning and encouragement to other parents.
(She also sent me a reassurance on Sunday that her house was fine unless the Red River rose to 44 feet, 3 feet above the highest level ever recorded. Tonight's prediction is a crest of 43 feet)
Maryann Buckner describes her 4-year-old son’s “fall off the back of the couch onto the carpet-covered concrete slab” in the lower level of the Buckner home as the scariest moment of her life. She is a customer service specialist in the DME Contact Center at NAS.
When Max started vomiting after paramedics checked him out, the Buckners took him to the ER. He underwent CT scans and was under observation before being released. Maryann stood guard over him all night to make sure he was still breathing.
The next day, Max’s huge hematoma (ruptured blood vessel) and vomiting landed him back in the doctor’s office. Tests revealed there was no bleeding in Max’s brain and the doctor sent Max home, saying he would do another CT scan if Max didn’t
improve.
Maryann’s gut feeling was to request another scan, but Max’s condition improved the next day. Two years later, she learned Max did have bleeding in the brain. As a result, he has learning deficits. He can take information in, but his brain doesn’t
access it in the correct order, she explains. March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month. Every 23 seconds, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs. Each year, 1.5 million Americans sustain a TBI. Sadly, at least 80,000 people suffer from a long-term disability as a result, according to the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA).
The Mayo Clinic web site says, “Traumatic brain injury is usually the result of a sudden, violent blow to the head—which launches the brain on a collision course with the inside of the skull. This collision can bruise the brain, tear nerve fibers and cause
bleeding.”
Brain injury affects people of all ages. Brain injuries can result from shaken-baby syndrome, when a baby is violently shaken, or from blows to the head during sports or play. Fifteen percent to 25 percent of soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan
have TBI from concussions, physical injury or blast exposure. Not all brain injury is connected to a blow to the head. Brain injury can occur from a stroke.
Males are more likely than females to have a TBI. Children up to age 4, young people ages 15-19 and adults older than age 75 are at greatest risk for falls, the leading cause of brain injury.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates about 5.3 million Americans have a long-term need or lifelong need for help to perform daily-living activities, such as bathing, eating, dressing and toileting. Estimated lifetime costs of
brain injury, including medical costs and lost productivity, totaled $60 billion in 2000.
Before working in NAS Financial Recoupment, Maxine Fagerland worked with the head-injured population. “I feel they fall through the cracks of society because so often they look like nothing is wrong, so they don't end up with the services that are
needed,” she writes in an e-mail.
People with brain injuries are often compulsive and/or obsessive, which can make it difficult for them to be in a family setting, Maxine said. In addition, they have trouble multitasking and have problems with exhaustion.
TBI can cause epilepsy and put people at risk for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease as well as other age-related brain disorders, according to the CDC.
A mother’s advice
“Be your child's advocate and demand more testing if your gut tells you something is wrong,” Maryann says. “Don't always rely on your doctor’s advice. You know your child the best.”
(She also sent me a reassurance on Sunday that her house was fine unless the Red River rose to 44 feet, 3 feet above the highest level ever recorded. Tonight's prediction is a crest of 43 feet)
Maryann Buckner describes her 4-year-old son’s “fall off the back of the couch onto the carpet-covered concrete slab” in the lower level of the Buckner home as the scariest moment of her life. She is a customer service specialist in the DME Contact Center at NAS.
When Max started vomiting after paramedics checked him out, the Buckners took him to the ER. He underwent CT scans and was under observation before being released. Maryann stood guard over him all night to make sure he was still breathing.
The next day, Max’s huge hematoma (ruptured blood vessel) and vomiting landed him back in the doctor’s office. Tests revealed there was no bleeding in Max’s brain and the doctor sent Max home, saying he would do another CT scan if Max didn’t
improve.
Maryann’s gut feeling was to request another scan, but Max’s condition improved the next day. Two years later, she learned Max did have bleeding in the brain. As a result, he has learning deficits. He can take information in, but his brain doesn’t
access it in the correct order, she explains. March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month. Every 23 seconds, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs. Each year, 1.5 million Americans sustain a TBI. Sadly, at least 80,000 people suffer from a long-term disability as a result, according to the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA).
The Mayo Clinic web site says, “Traumatic brain injury is usually the result of a sudden, violent blow to the head—which launches the brain on a collision course with the inside of the skull. This collision can bruise the brain, tear nerve fibers and cause
bleeding.”
Brain injury affects people of all ages. Brain injuries can result from shaken-baby syndrome, when a baby is violently shaken, or from blows to the head during sports or play. Fifteen percent to 25 percent of soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan
have TBI from concussions, physical injury or blast exposure. Not all brain injury is connected to a blow to the head. Brain injury can occur from a stroke.
Males are more likely than females to have a TBI. Children up to age 4, young people ages 15-19 and adults older than age 75 are at greatest risk for falls, the leading cause of brain injury.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates about 5.3 million Americans have a long-term need or lifelong need for help to perform daily-living activities, such as bathing, eating, dressing and toileting. Estimated lifetime costs of
brain injury, including medical costs and lost productivity, totaled $60 billion in 2000.
Before working in NAS Financial Recoupment, Maxine Fagerland worked with the head-injured population. “I feel they fall through the cracks of society because so often they look like nothing is wrong, so they don't end up with the services that are
needed,” she writes in an e-mail.
People with brain injuries are often compulsive and/or obsessive, which can make it difficult for them to be in a family setting, Maxine said. In addition, they have trouble multitasking and have problems with exhaustion.
TBI can cause epilepsy and put people at risk for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease as well as other age-related brain disorders, according to the CDC.
A mother’s advice
“Be your child's advocate and demand more testing if your gut tells you something is wrong,” Maryann says. “Don't always rely on your doctor’s advice. You know your child the best.”
