Davenport man recovering from traumatic brain injury – Quad-Cities Online

DAVENPORT Sept. 18, 6:45 p.m.

The date and time are not memories for Rod Becker. He learned the details after the fact.

Mr. Becker and his wife, Kathy, were walking around Vander Veer Botanical Park in Davenport only a block from their home. They were crossing Harrison Street when a car going about 35 miles per hour struck both of them

Rod Becker suffered life-threatening injuries.

I don't remember any of this," he said. "I always walked closest to the traffic, but Kathy got hit, too. I was up on the cars windshield. Kathy looked like she went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.

Mr. Becker, 55, sustained a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma. He was airlifted to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City where he was diagnosed with a skull fracture, bleeding in his brain and a blood clot.

The day after the accident, his wife, his son, Zachary, and his niece, Gillian, a nurse, heard a frank, disheartening prognosis.

The doctors said he might not ever wake from the semi-coma, he may never recover from the brain injury, or he may need months of inpatient rehabilitation and still might not gain full function," Kathy Becker recalled. It was a frightening conversation. We didnt know what to expect."

Slowly, Mr. Becker regained consciousness. The pressure on his brain from swelling gradually was reduced.

After 12 days at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, he was transferred to the inpatient rehabilitation unit at Genesis Medical Center, West Central Park, in Davenport. University of Iowa Hospitals often transfer rehabilitation patients to the inpatient rehabilitation unit, one of the largest in Iowa.

I thought I was ready to go on about the second day in rehabilitation, Mr. Becker said. I thought I was fine.

"The treatments were tough," he said. "I had no idea what was in front of me.

Mr. Becker spent 15 days in the Genesis inpatient rehabilitation program, working at least three hours per day on improving his balance, being aware of deficits and increasing his ability to engage in familiar daily tasks and work-related tasks.

After being discharged from the inpatient unit, he began extensive outpatient therapies including physical, speech therapy and occupational at Genesis Physical Therapy at Devils Glen in Bettendorf.

For three months four days a week, 6 1/2 hours a day Mr. Becker participated in the Learning Independence For Tomorrow (LIFT) program to regain cognitive skills.

It was a lot more than I expected and harder than what I had expected," Mr. Becker said. "Some days I didnt want to go at all."

Through neurofeedback treatments, powerful non-invasive rehabilitation that retrains the brain through exercises to improve function. It's a common treatment for people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Where he started (compared) to where he is today is amazing," Kathy Becker said. He would not be where he is had he not done all of the therapies.

"He wanted to be done, but his own stubbornness motivated him to keep going."

His rehabilitation included an outing to his workplace to determine his readiness to perform his duties directing 35 employees as manager of Roberts Buffet at Rhythm City Hotel and Casino. Members of his rehabilitation team also went to his workplace with him to explore what his job required on a daily basis. They looked for ways to change how he had previously completed tasks and gave him aid when he returned to work.

He had one more major motivator: He wanted to drive again. He believed driving was one of the remaining hurdles to full recovery.

It was the longest 45 minutes Ive ever spent driving a car," he said.

"She (the rehabilitation driving instructor) talked the entire time we were driving," he recalled. She was doing it on purpose ... trying to distract me and see if I was ready to safely drive again."

On Friday, Mr. Becker was honored by the Quad Cities River Bandits through the team's Home Runs for Life program.

All I can say is to get all the help you can, keep fighting and rely on the people around you to help you," Mr. Becker said. "Kathy was there for me the entire way and kept me going when I might have otherwise quit. And the people at Rhythm City have been fantastic the whole way supporting me."

The Genesis physical rehabilitation inpatient unit at Genesis Medical Center, West Central Park, serves people of all ages experiencing a physical disability and/or cognitive impairment. The 39-bed comprehensive inpatient program and the the LIFT program are accredited by CARF, the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission, for brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke and comprehensive rehab. An inter-disciplinary team of rehabilitation professionals works together to provide services individually designed for each patient's unique needs.

For more details, visit genesishealth.com/rehabilitation.

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Davenport man recovering from traumatic brain injury - Quad-Cities Online