Patients, researchers share information about concussion injuries, treatment – The Columbus Dispatch

JoAnne Viviano The Columbus Dispatch @JoAnneViviano

Rosemarie Bauer used to work nine hours a day at her online jewelry business. Today, she manages only about three hours a week.

Everything changed in October, when the 62-year-old suffered a brain injury after being hit from behind by an SUV while walking her dog in her New Albany neighborhood.

"I am still on my journey back," she said. "I still have sensitivity to light and sound, my sense of taste is not good. I still have occasional dizziness, I sometimes have unprovoked crying and sadness, I cannot drive. I sometimes question myself."

Bauer shared her story this week at the Ohio Concussion Summit, which was sponsored by the OhioHealth Rehabilitation Hospital and the Brian Injury Association of Ohio. The event, held at the Fawcett Center at Ohio State University, was attended by nurses, social workers, physical, occupational and speech therapists and others.

John Corrigan, director of the Ohio Brian Injury Program, said 100,000 Ohioans suffer traumatic brain injuries each year and that 1.8 million adults in the state have had at least one traumatic brain injury causing unconsciousness. As many as 750,000, he said, are at risk of disability.

At the summit, Corrigan detailed the Ohio Brian Injury Program's 14-month-old strategic plan, which runs through 2020. Goals are to increase reliable data about concussions; better train people studying to become health care and social service providers in concussion protocol; implement new procedures to recognize concussions in certain areas, such as education and behavioral health; and increase awareness among the public and policymakers.

Concussions and more severe brain injuries, Corrigan said, cause damage to the front of the brain, which is responsible for such things as judgment, delayed gratification, memory, attention and concentration.

He said the entire community benefits from raising awareness and providing appropriate treatment.

"What happens for many who've had a traumatic brain injury, particularly if it's undiagnosed, is we dont realize that some of these behaviors like having poor impulse control or making bad decisions, not being able to pursue our goals occur because of the injury," he said.

"But if we take that into account, if we know it's there if we put in different supports then you can turn a failure into a success."

Also speaking at the event was 20-year-old Erin Adams of Worthington, who experienced several concussions as a soccer player, her first when she was 11, two more in car crashes and one when she bumped her head against a cement wall.

Sometimes, the Ohio State University sophomore has had to spend hours in the dark. She's had to miss classes because of headaches and fatigue. There have been times when she feels confusion, fogginess, sadness, depression, irritability, memory loss and loss of appetite.

Getting back to normal is difficult, Adams said, especially because concussion victims appear unhurt.

"Recovery is a very slow process and takes a lot of positivity and strength because there is nothing enjoyable about being physically able to do anything but mentally being confined to your symptoms," she said.

Still, both she and Bauer are confident they will fully recover.

Bauer is hopeful this will happen for her by Oct. 20, the one year anniversary of her injury.

"But if it takes longer, and I know that it could, then so be it," Bauer said. "I have great faith that in the end I will recover 100 percent."

jviviano@dispatch.com

@JoAnneViviano

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Patients, researchers share information about concussion injuries, treatment - The Columbus Dispatch