Neuro Note #1

TBI due to MVC: 

      In 2017, my family received a knock on our door from a police officer. The officer asked if we knew of any relatives or had any contact information for our next door neighbor. The officer could only tell us that there had been a bad wreck and that our neighbor would be transferred to a hospital. Since that night, we have been keeping up with the caring bridge website, that her sister has been updating. We soon learned that she was hit by two vehicles that were drag racing. The updates on our neighbor from the hospital were as follows: GCS score of 5, diffuse axonal injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, intraparenchymal hemorrhage, and TP fractures of C6, C7, and L3. They monitored her vital signs and started therapy five days later. There was no change in her GCS until 17 days later and it only improved to a 6 but even the slightest improvement was good news. They recommended that the family keep her stimulated so that it would help increase brain activity. They were able to get insurance to approve a switch from Memphis to one of the best rehabilitation hospitals in the nation. As far as the rehab went, they were able to get her to support herself and stand by her for balance. She was also able to do fully supported squats. She started remembering things again like what a cellphone is, how to use it and respond to yes or no questions by moving her head. After she was finished with the first rehab center (due to insurance), she was able to get into one of the best rehab centers in Memphis. This was all such great news but unfortunately many things put her back into the hospital and she was regressing. Now, just two years later, she has lost the ability to move her arms and legs. Recently, there has not been many posts about her treatment, etc. so we are not quite sure how or if she is improving. 

      I chose to use the caring bridge blog for my neighbor for this assignment because it was a very real and traumatic event. It was very sad to see something like this happen to someone who I saw almost every day. I also wanted to enhance my learning on her condition and see how it compared to what we have learned in class thus far. 

      When reading the website ,when it initially happened, I honestly had no clue what half of the diagnoses were. I learned a lot by re-reading the caring bridge website and actually looking at the terms and realizing just how bad it was for her. For example, I did not know what a GCS score of 5 meant or even what the GCS was. Each of the terms in the blog were terms that we had learned in class. I learned just how important OT/PT services were to her recovery and that they were responsible for most of her improvements. Also, seeing the impact of what the improvements meant to the family was amazing. This is why Occupational therapy plays such an important role. Even though most of the rehab they discussed on the website was very general, it made her happy and put a smile on her face. Overall, the website helped me use my knowledge learned in class and apply it to her situation. It also gave me an idea on what activities are important to focus on in rehab and at what time. For example, the brain stimulation that was recommended probably played a huge role in her improvement. I thoroughly enjoyed enhancing my learning through this. 

The website is as follows: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lisamsloan/journal/index/0/0/asc