Lee Woodruff wrote an article published in the 7/12/2009 Daily Herald titled "Can Brains Be Saved?" In January of 2006, Lee's husband, Bob, was injured by a roadside bomb while he was covering the war in Iraq for ABC news. Shrapnel was embedded in his face, neck, back, and his skull was shattered. Doctors didn't think he would be able to walk or regain his mental function. His healing would be confined to the first two years, which was more than I was told. I was told my healing would stop after about a year of my injury. Bob then spent 36 days in a coma. He then devoted himself to his recovery and rehabilitation, and he is now back on air as a journalist for ABC News.
Scientist now believe that the brain can heal for much longer than originally expected. Bob's speech continues to get more fluid every day, even though its been 3 1/2 years since the bomb. People who I don't see on a daily basis will often comment on my improvement, saying that my balance and movement is getting better or that my speech is improving. I sure hope the healing process isn't done after 4 years because I still have a rough voice and I get dizzy when I look up! or lay flat on my back.
Mrs. Woodruff says that they're doing more "person-centered therapy" to help individuals recover. They use the individual's goals, strengths, hobbies, interests, and occupation in therapy. When I think back to my initial therapy, I don't remember anything "person-centered" except my physical therapist took me to ride a horse about a month and a half after my injury. Personally, I felt like that was more a reward for the hell I had been through and because my parents had given that hospital an arm and a leg and they deserved some special things. Something more special than a living daughter! Cognitive therapy is used to help patients relearn their abilities or develop strategies to make up for their losses. Thats what I was trying to do by putting the dish right next to the door so I would remember to take it on my way out. I learned that strategy doesn't work! When Bob is having a hard time remembering a word, he goes through the alphabet to see if a certain letter will trigger the word, and I'm going to try that one. This article also mentions the use of blackberries (or any cell phone) to help with keeping track of the time and compensate for the loss of organizational skills and that really has helped me the most. I programed it into my phone to remind me to get those papers for church that I had been stepping over for a month. That worked!! That blackberry does everything for me.
It talks about maybe counting to 10 when you're feeling overwhelmed. I should try that. I've always kind of been a stress case and now things are just worse.
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Have you read Bob and Lee Woodruff's book? The first one they wrote was 7 months after his injury, called In An Instant. I heard she has a second book out there now but I can't remember the name. The first was a very good book, but I could read between the lines knowing what they were really going through at 7 months. Kind of unrealistic. But still a moving story, very well written. I suggest it to everyone.
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