Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: My son, Jon, sustained a traumatic brain injury in June 2002 as a result of a car accident.He was 19 years old and had just completed his freshman year of college.Prior to his accident, Jon lived at home with my husband and me in northern Indiana; his older brother, Jason, was living away from home.Jon's accident changed his life forever and had a tremendous impact on our family.Jon was in a coma for almost 4 months.His injuries were substantial.He spent almost a full year as an inpatient-first in the hospital and then in rehabilitation programs in Chicago, IL, and Gallatin, TN.Jon's accident occurred in June, and I was able to spend the first several months by his side.As a teacher, I returned to my job when school began in August.I then took every Friday off from school, for the entire school year, so that I could drive 8 hours to be with Jon over long weekends when he was in Tennessee.My husband spent as much time as he could with Jon, while also juggling work and tedious tasks such as dealing with insurance and applying for Social Security and disability for Jon.All of this could have been much worse if we did not have excellent insurance.The worst part for us was not knowing how far Jon would progress, how long he would stay at each facility, and what we would face as a family once Jon was discharged.During this time, my husband and I made the decision to move from Indiana to North Carolina to be in a warmer climate and closer to family.I quit teaching, Jon was discharged, and we planned for him to live at home with us.Jon had made much progress with his recovery, but he continued to have major cognitive and memory deficits, as well as severe behavioral outbursts that we were not equipped to handle.He thus entered inpatient rehabilitation programs again, this time in Charlotte, NC, and then in Wauchula, FL.As much as I wanted to have my son at home with us, I realized that I was not equipped to be a full-time caregiver and to deal with Jon's deficits.My husband agreed, and we were fortunate to find a group home that cares for 3 men with TBI within 2 hours of where we live.Jon has lived there since 2004, and he is receiving excellent care.Jon's traumatic brain injury affected my family greatly.It put much stress on the relationship between my hus-
Source: North Carolina Medical Journal
Author: Linda Herbert
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: Duke Endowment
OpenAlex ID: W2290493582