Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

News Friday, October 5, 2012 Brain Injury and Stroke Support Group Education and discussion group for individuals with a brain tumor, brain injury, or stroke, as well as their family and friends. From 6-7:30 p.m. second Tuesday of the month. Group held at Catholic Medical Center. For more information and to register, call Bob Vieira, LICSW, at 663-6662. Im a Survivor This group is geared towards those who have completed or are finishing treatment for cancer. Family members are also welcome. From 4-5 p.m. the last Wednesday of the month at Norris Cotton Cancer Center 87 McGregor St. Call Jane Pinard, LICSW at 629-8683 the day of the group to ensure that the session is being held that day. Living with Cancer Education and support for patients, their loved ones and caregivers, facing the daily challenges of living with cancer. From 3-4 p.m. the second Wednesday of the month at Norris Cotton Cancer Center 87 McGregor St. Call Jane Pinard, LICSW at 629-8683 the day of the group to ensure that the session is being held that day. Phone support groups The Norris Cotton Cancer Center offers several telephone support groups, including Caring for Someone with Cancer, Living Beyond Breast … Continue reading →

From a helmet swallowed as a pill to binoculars that provide automatic eye exams, out-of-the-box thinking may help prevent traumatic brain injury in U.S. warfighters. The mildest form of such injury, known as a concussion, is a problem familiar with sports fans. But military medical experts often refer to traumatic brain injury, or TBI, as the signature injury from Afghanistan and Iraq. In September, the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs combined more than $100 million to fund two new consortia, one aimed partly at improving diagnosis and treatment of TBI. Here are six promising TBI-related technologies they might consider, under development by U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC). Head gear in a pill? Can neuroprotective drugs improve the outcome following acute brain trauma? NNZ- 2566 is just such a pill. According to USAMRMC and its partners, a fighter could swallow such a pill before the risk of head trauma even crops up. The drug would protect the neurological tissue in the event of a blow to the head. Beyond protection from initial injury, a drug that could stimulate or improve neuronal healing and repair could also help reduce long-term damage. An analog of a naturally occurring small-molecule … Continue reading →

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/10/ap-fort-campbell-seeks-hlep-addressing-ptsd-tbi-100212/ By Kristin M. Hall - The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday Oct 2, 2012 20:26:54 EDT FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. Fort Campbell is reaching out to the medical community in Kentucky to help address the challenges of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury among returning service members and veterans. Experts from the militarys top behavioral health and brain injury research agencies came to the Army installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line Tuesday to teach civilian behavioral health professionals about the militarys current research and treatments into the invisible wounds that have become prevalent among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Col. Paul R. Cordts, the commander of Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Ky., noted that President Obama issued an executive order in August that directed ways to improve mental health care for troops within the military and veterans under the Department of Veterans Affairs. We cannot do this alone on Fort Campbell, Cordts said. We depend on the community and we need your help in addressing these issues, especially around our mental health services. Faced with rising suicide rates, the Army and Fort Campbell held suicide prevention and awareness training for … Continue reading →

Johnson Rehabilitation Institute again named among best facilities in nation BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer Arlen Ray (r), clinical manager and physical therapist at the Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison, works on the knee of Louise Ventrella of Westfield. PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff EDISON A knee replacement, a brain injury, or a stroke can be a scary ordeal. It changes your life and changes the way you do things, said Louise Ventrella, of Westfield, who had knee-replacement surgery in July. Marci Gietter, assistant administrator at the Johnson Rehabilitation Institute (JRI), said that basically life is interrupted, with such occurrences, especially with braintrauma patients. I have seen all ages, whether it was a dirt-biking or diving incident, she said. A lot of our older patients have brain injuries, as well [as other medical issues]. For Ventrella, her journey started six years ago. She had two partial knee replacements then, and on July 26, she had a full left-knee replacement at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. She began as an in-patient at JRI and is down to a once-a-week session with physical therapist Arlen Ray. Louise Ventrella uses one of the exercise stations at the Johnson Rehabilitation … Continue reading →

Less than a month after suffering a traumatic brain injury while herding cattle, Lane Allred, 18, of Thatcher was released from treatment in Tucson and has returned home. Lane is the son of Graham County Sheriff P.J. Allred. Lane was injured in the late afternoon of Sept. 7 when he was apparently bucked from his horse while herding cattle on Paddy's River Road. The area is near the Deer Creek turnoff of Bonita/Klondyke Road at the base of the Galiuro Mountain Range. Lane lost consciousness and was flown to the University Medical Center-University Campus in Tucson, where he remained in a coma for eight days, according to Allred. After the swelling of his brain subsided and Lane came out of his coma, he was transferred to a HealthSouth rehabilitative hospital located behind the Tucson Medical Center on Sept. 21. HealthSouth hospitals provide a higher level of inpatient rehabilitative care to those who are recovering from serious conditions, including neurological disorders, pulmonary conditions, brain and spinal cord injuries and amputations. Lane's condition continued to improve at a startling rate, and soon he was walking and talking on his own. His quick recovery amazed his health providers, and they decided he was … Continue reading →

Floridas federally-designated disability rights advocacy group sued one of the countrys largest brain-injury centers, alleging the facility is blocking its efforts to probe complaints of recent patient mistreatment. The Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation prevented an investigator from interviewing witnesses and from visiting locations on campus where alleged abuse occurred, according to the lawsuit, filed by Disability Rights Florida in U.S. District Court in Tampa. One investigator was asked to leave the Wauchula, Florida facility, the advocacy group said in the lawsuit. One complaint involved a patient who was allegedly improperly restrained. The second concerns an allegation of two staffers physically abusing a patient. Both incidents occurred within the past week or so, said Sylvia Smith, a spokeswoman for Disability Rights Florida. The institute has always allowed the disability group immediate and unlimited access to investigate abuse charges, said Jay Adams, an attorney for the brain-injury facility, in an e-mailed statement. He said the center cooperates fully with the group and with state regulators and it is unfortunate that they have filed this unsubstantiated complaint rather than focusing their resources and efforts on the health and well- being of Floridas disabled. Bloomberg's Investigation: Instead of providing care, Florida brain center … Continue reading →

Published: Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 12:01 a.m. The Lynnwood resident visited his friend, Colton Wilson, 21, in a hospital room shortly after he fell off his skateboard and hit his head. Tardif, 31, spoke with Wilson's mother and older sister. Then he got to work. "I'm a big energy person and I felt their energy," Tardiff said. "I called a couple of friends and asked, 'What are we able to do?'" In August, he founded The Colton Can Foundation to raise money for Wilson's recovery. With the help of other volunteers, Tardif last month held The Colton Can Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Day at The Jet Bar and Grill in Mill Creek. The event included a concert by "American Idol" winner Kris Allen and other artists. It brought in a crowd of more than 400 people and raised about $18,000. "We had a great time and it was exactly what we wanted it to be," Tardif said. "It really honored Colton." Wilson is now out of the hospital and working toward recovery at a skilled nursing facility in Northgate. As a South Whidbey High School baseball player, Wilson battled bone cancer and used his wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation in … Continue reading →

Published: Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 12:01 a.m. The Lynnwood resident visited his friend, Colton Wilson, 21, in a hospital room shortly after he fell off his skateboard and hit his head. Tardif, 31, spoke with Wilson's mother and older sister. Then he got to work. "I'm a big energy person and I felt their energy," Tardiff said. "I called a couple of friends and asked, 'What are we able to do?'" In August, he founded The Colton Can Foundation to raise money for Wilson's recovery. With the help of other volunteers, Tardif last month held The Colton Can Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Day at The Jet Bar and Grill in Mill Creek. The event included a concert by "American Idol" winner Kris Allen and other artists. It brought in a crowd of more than 400 people and raised about $18,000. "We had a great time and it was exactly what we wanted it to be," Tardif said. "It really honored Colton." Wilson is now out of the hospital and working toward recovery at a skilled nursing facility in Northgate. As a South Whidbey High School baseball player, Wilson battled bone cancer and used his wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation in … Continue reading →

After coming home from Iraq, Ray Rivas life had become a grind of rehab and chronic pain from a brain injury. On that morning in July 2009, he told his wife he hadnt slept the night before the headaches that had plagued him since a mortar shell exploded near him three years earlier often robbed him of sleep. But Colleen Rivas said her husband was in good spirits as he drove away from their New Braunfels home. He left with a doughnut in his hand and a smile on his face, she said. Instead of going to his vocational rehab session at Easter Seals in San Antonio, the 53-year-old Army Reserve lieutenant colonel drove to Brooke Army Medical Center and overdosed on sleeping pills in a parking lot. A suicide note was found with his body. I was totally caught off guard, Colleen Rivas said. Three years later, Im still shocked at what he did. A drumbeat of media attention has accompanied the toll of active-duty suicides, along with a stack of official reports with titles like Losing the Battle: The Challenge of Military Suicide and growing alarm from the Department of Defense and Congress. Military suicides jumped about 50 … Continue reading →

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injuries are a form of acquired brain injury in which a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. This can occur when an individuals head suddenly and violently hits an object, such as can happen in car accidents, or if something pierces the scull and damages the brain tissue. Not all brain injuries are caused by trauma to a persons head and some are the result of brain bleeds, known as hemorrhages. Around half of patients with a severe brain injury will need surgery to repair ruptured blood vessels known as hematomas, or bruised brain tissue called contusions. However, the severity of the brain injury can vary significantly, depending on how much damage to the brain occurred. SYMPTOMS: There are some symptoms associated with traumatic brain injuries ranging from mild, moderate, to severe: Mild traumatic brain injuriesmay cause headaches, blurred vision, ringing in the ears, a bad taste in the mouth, behavioral or mood changes, and trouble with memory, attention, concentration, and thinking. People with a mild traumatic brain injury also normally do not lose consciousness at the time of the injury, or if they do, only for a few minutes. Moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries … Continue reading →