ME and My Brain Injury

[JACEM715]

Hey everyone, I am Jacem, a 23 year old female nursing student. I will receive my bachelors in May 2010. I was recommended this website by another user, "End Game RN". She has been a nurse for about 30 years now, and I have the pleasure of knowing her personally. Actually I am very excited because tomorrow she will be taking me to her hospital unit, a level 1 trauma center. Coincidentally it is the same unit I was admitted to after a car accident almost 4 years ago, which resulted in a frontal lobe brain injury. End Game RN knew before my brain injury, and it is one of the reasons she asked me to share my story.

You see, I was on the way to my fiance's house, driving my small 2 door car, when a Hummer didn't yield the left, and hit my side. (Obviously not a fair fight):lol_hitti So I was air lifted to the best trauma center in the area. They removed a hematoma from my frontal lobe, and repaired my skull and eye socket. When I woke up I was a totally different person. My family and friends gave thanks that I was alive, yet feared they had lost the real me. About a month later I left the hospital, and about 2 months later I had regained my true personality, as well as my short and long term memory.

I really give thanks that I had the support of all my family and friends. I am so appreciative to the neurosurgeon, nurses, and therapists. The only thing that really didn't help was a Neuro-rehabilitation doctor that I had. I would leave her office crying every time. She would tell me that I would never have the brain capacity to go back to school , and to choose another dream. When I signed up for my first semester she told me I was making a mistake, and that when I failed it would be difficult to regain my self esteem (yeah the one she kept tearing apart) I kind of almost thank her for that because she really gave me the motivation to prove her wrong, which I did, because not only am I back in school, but I am doing even better than I was before. I have all my family and friends support in my choice to become a nurse. I am a very lucky girl.

Sorry for the lengthy introduction. I just want everyone to understand that every dream is possible. We can all defy the greatest odds. We can NEVER let anyone push us down, and tell us we cant do it AND if they do you have to prove them wrong! :nmbrn:

I wonder if anyone has had a similar situation, and could relate to me.... I would love to hear your story...

[Ceeceenumber3]

hi jacem715,

thanks again for your story and your encouragement. i do have a question: did you get your sense of smell back? my dad also lost his sense of smell (and therefore taste) - it took some time to get him to eat again because of this. i was wondering if this is temporary due to the brain swelling. i also wonder if he'll get the hearing back in the one ear; doctors don't seem to know, so i guess really it's a time thing...

blessings to you,

ckitty

[JACEM715]

Ckitty,

no I will not get my smell back. When my skull broke it caused my cribiform plate to shatter as well. That is where the olfactory nerves are, which were very damaged. Since they do not regenerate it's impossible to get my smell back. I will tell you that I have gotten used to the lack of taste, the only problem being that I need extra sauce and and seasoning in my food. This is a little dangerous cause my sodium intake starts getting pretty high. So I have to control that.

As for the hearing, I really have no idea. Sorry.

Goodluck,

jacem715

[Koperen]

I also went to nursing school after suffering a severe closed head injury. My sequelae have been rather poor short term memory, occasional balance problems and Wernicke's aphasia when i get tired (which can be quite embarrassing). I ended up working in Rehab where I found myself in a unique position. The families of head injured patients usually have a hard time understanding what is happening. I was able to give them some idea of what their loved one was going through. It was amazing to see how often they relaxed after I had talked to them. You could see the wheels turning in their heads - "she had a brain injury and she looks fine now, maybe there is hope".

Now, about neurosurgeons - as a general rule, what jerks! They love to tell patients you'll NEVER to this, that or the other again. I heard it all the time from the patients coming into rehab. They were usually no more than a month out from their injury which is too soon to make any such sweeping pronouncements. Fortunately, the physiatrists who worked in the rehab setting didn't take the "never" approach to things.

[JACEM715]

Koperen,

It is comforting to hear of someone who has gone through a similar situation and been so successful. I hope to work in a place where my story could inspire others as well.

Also I wanted to clarify that it is the neuro-rehabilitation doctor that I had problems with. NOT my neurosurgeon. My neurosurgeon was amazing, not just with me but with all his patients and coworkers, a saint really. He always encourage me to go back to school, and told me I was a miracle.