It's a
club no one wants to be part of. Ever.
Tessie
Norris of Fairhope joined the club when a family member suffered a
brain injury.
“It's 7
a.m. to 8 p.m. and after that you are up every two hours to turn
the patient. I am …
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It's a
club no one wants to be part of. Ever.
Tessie
Norris of Fairhope joined the club when a family member suffered a
brain injury.
“It's 7
a.m. to 8 p.m. and after that you are up every two hours to turn
the patient. I am so glad I found this support group. It has helped
me through all this,” Norris said.
The
support group is the Traumatic Brain Injury support group in
Baldwin County. The group, which is for people who have suffered a
traumatic brain injury or their caregivers meets at 10 a.m. the
first Thursday of the month at the Thomas Hospital annex in Daphne.
There are a variety of speakers on topics of interest to TBI
survivors and families. Call 251-479-8611 or 251-626-6337 for
information.
There is
help statewide through the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation
Services.
“We are
funded through the Impaired Driver Fund,” said Teresa Roberts, a
resource coordinator for the ADRS. “Our mission is to improve the
quality of life for those who have TBI and their
families.
In
general, TBI is the result of outside trauma to the brain. It is
different from a stroke. It can result from a fall, a car accident,
an assault, or being shaken. The list of potential injury is almost
endless. One cause of concern to Barbara Tan of the ADRS is the
number of service members who have suffered head trauma
“It
affects everyone from infant to elderly,” said Roberts.
Because
brain tissue does not grow back, there is no “cure” for a brain
injury. Other parts of the brain have to take on the roles of parts
of the injured brain. Sometimes, that is not possible. Sometimes
memory is lost, and the patient has to find new ways of coping with
the world. Several of the caregivers interviewed for this story
said that the personality of the loved one had changed.
“None of
them is the same,” said Joy Peters of Daphne. “The families are not
the same, either.”
The
purpose of the Baldwin TBI group is to help families deal with the
situation, let them know they are not alone, and to connect the
injured person with the right medical and therapy to regain
function.
“It's
much better than it used to be,” said Freda Heppner of Daphne, a
caregiver. She says she found the group through Peters. Heppner
described a day where she gets up at 5:30 a.m. and the day ends at
10:30 p.m.
“What I
found is that (the injured person) really needs to get help being
back out in public,” said Roberts.
That can
be hard, says Norris.
“The
support person knows (what the injured person wants) but he or she
can't express that to doctors and other people,”said
Norris.
So why
do family members become caregivers?
“You
figure you can do a better job than anyone else can,” said Norris
“But you need help and you don't know who to contact. But, there
are so many resources all about in the community.”
