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Kelly Buttiglieri of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts speak with Joyce and Mike about the impact that Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can have one someone’s life. Being knocked on the head — on the playing field, in a car accident, in a fall, or by any other means — presents a bruising or injury to the brain that needs to be taken very seriously and treated promptly and appropriately. When seniors fall, they may experience TBI.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), a form of acquired brain injury, occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. TBI can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue. Symptoms of a TBI can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the extent of the damage to the brain. A person with a mild TBI may remain conscious or may experience a loss of consciousness for a few seconds or minutes.
Other symptoms of mild TBI include headache, confusion, lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision or tired eyes, ringing in the ears, bad taste in the mouth, fatigue or lethargy, a change in sleep patterns, behavioral or mood changes, and trouble with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking. A person with a moderate or severe TBI may show these same symptoms, but may also have a headache that gets worse or does not go away, repeated vomiting or nausea, convulsions or seizures, an inability to awaken from sleep, dilation of one or both pupils of the eyes, slurred speech, weakness or numbness in the extremities, loss of coordination, and increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation.
You will find additional medical information on the National Institutes of Health Brain Injury Information Page: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/tbi.htm
For more information see http://www.biama.org On this website there are many moving stories and videos in their series, the Faces of Brain Injury.
The book mentioned during the show is “CRASH!: a mother, a son, and the journey from grief to gratitude,” by Carolyn Roy-Bornstein. http://carolynroybornstein.com/memoir/
