Living with Traumatic Brain Injury

This is my story as told to me by my family and friends because I can’t remember it. I am a correction officer with the state of New York. The day of my accident was my day off. But I had told a fellow officer that I would work for them because it was opening day of shotgun season. My life changed that night. I worked the 4-12 midnight and on my way home, on the thruway, there was an accident in front of me. Apparently as I tried to slow down, I hit “black ice”. I hit the right guard rail first spun around and hit the left guard rail. I was driving a 2005 Ford Focus that was totalled. I hit my head on something in my car. I don’t recall anything that night, actually I can’t remember Oct. Nov or Dec. My accident happened on Nov.18, 2007. It was so bad they had to use the jaws of life to get me out of my car and had to close the thruway down for Mercy Flight to land and take me to the hospital ECMC. The doctors put me in an induced coma to keep my brain from swelling. They also put “pressure readers” in my head to measure my brain pressure. I was also on a respirator for a week. They didn’t think I was going to make it. The NY State Police had come to my house to tell my kids at 3am. I have two sons one 21 and the other 15. I have no husband, he took off 15 and a half years ago.

I was in ICU for a few weeks and I guess I was coming out of the coma, because they moved me to another floor. And that is were my recovery went into full swing.

I had to learn how to walk, talk, feed myself and everything else all over again. I did everything they told me to do so I could go home. I was in the hospital for 6 weeks. My doctor told me to change jobs. So I worked twice as hard to get back. I used a wheelchair for awhile and then a quad cane. I could barely walk up my stairs when I got home. My girlfriend of 10 months took a month off from her work to take care of me. I went to speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy I still do PT, but now I went back to work, got a new car and I walk without a limp. My whole left side was paralyzed because I hit the right side of my head and got a, according to my doctor, a severe traumatic brain injury. My balance and memory have a lot to be desired but other than that I am about 75% back. I don’t how much better I will be, but I am happy to be alive and so are my kids, family and my girlfriend.

I must have been dead for a few seconds, because I saw my mother who told me to go back. My mom passed away Nov 4, 1999. She is my guardian angel. If I can make it anyone can or almost anyone. Don’t despair. You can make it. They never thought I would walk again or talk again and here I am today writing this for anyone to read to give hope to other TBI people.