Traumatic Brain Injury Talk (1 Viewer)

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That's great news, Ed!!

I can see the improvement in everything you write and in your willingness to let the bad fall by the wayside and concentrate on the good.

You have made enormous strides in the past year and it has been a distinct pleasure for us to be able to lend a shoulder now and again!!

You have a home here on the Highway and I hope to actually meet you one day!!

All the best, my friend!!
 
pngunme said:
I can see the improvement in everything you write and in your willingness to let the bad fall by the wayside and concentrate on the good.

You have made enormous strides in the past year and it has been a distinct pleasure for us to be able to lend a shoulder now and again!!
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A supportive situation versus a hostile situation makes an enormous difference. My counselor noted that all that happened in the club was tougher on me than Iraq, I commented that I had support over there. I think it's also that I went over there healthier than I was in the club, because of TBI.
 
A supportive situation makes a huge difference for anyone... You should never have to suffer hostility in endeavors you do for fun... Like 4x4 Clubs.

Leave those clowns in your dust!!
 
I recently spent a week on the trail with veterans and their friends and family, it went well. I was riding with someone, so I didn't get overloaded. At one of the camps I was talking to the girlfriend of a former Marine with three tours. I told her her boyfriend and I did the same thing. I explained that I asked him something, and gave him some information he asked for, and no response. Then a while later.....and she finished my sentence "he came back and answered you". I said "yes.... he had to focus on what he was doing". She said yeah, I learned to just walk away and he'll come back when he can. I told her I recognized what was happening. I explained the treatment I went through in speech therapy, and the progress I saw from it.

I also explained how disciplinary action was taken against me in a former club for that, she looked surprised and alarmed. We also had more conversations in the following days, involving one or two other people. They wanted to know what happened in that club, I explained it. I explained the difficulties I've had on the trail when I've taken my truck, because so much is going on. I did this to see if I would be compatable. I believe I will be, even though the level of difficulty I have seems to be beyond what they've seen. This group is 8-10 hours from the trailhead, so I'm likely to only wheel with them once a year. Something to look forward to though.
 
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pngunme said:
That's great news, Ed!!

Glad you had such positive experiences!!
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Me too. I've had mostly positive experiences, it's unfortunate for all involved in the situation in that other club.

I had another positive experience this Monday-Wednesday, I was volunteering with the Forest Service doing trail work on a trail that burned last year. The sawyer that rode with me has cuncussion syndrome, I think that's what he called it. We discussed it while driving up the trail the last day, it sounds very similar to what I experience. He's not a veteran, and we didn't discuss what caused his injury. That's okay. We alternately told our symptoms/difficulties, but were telling the same story. There were 8-10 of us, it varied from day to day. It was a good no drama experience.
 
Found this stuff last night.
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This one really struck me. Not all points, but there are a few I really relate to.
Fourteen Things People Affected by Traumatic Brain Injury Wish Others Understood

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I looked back through this, 3, 5, 10, 11 & 13 fit me the most. Except for a thing or two in 3, 5 & 13, but the rest is valid and needed mentioning. Reading this brought up strong feelings, because it's so close to home, and because of people rejecting these things in the past. I like eleven the best.
 
BTW March is Brain Injury Awareness Month.
 
I read this at the F.S. Adopt A Trail meeting last Wednesday, the room erupted into applause when I finished. I went outside and had people come up thanking me for doing that, that it helped them understand it better. When the Ranger came out, he said "Ed you were AWESOME!". And then he told me about all the positive comments he got about what I shared. Of course, I'm told the knuckleheads from the other club were over there rolling their eyes. The one that pushed all that the hardest came out shortly after I got outside, looking pissed off, and left. Seems we made them the odd man out. They may never get it, at least we can educate the rest of the people.


We're starting a new 4WD squad called Mountain Warriors, it's one of several squads within Our Heroes Dreams. A non profit organization founded ten or twelve years ago by a veteran that was wounded in Iraq, the organization uses donations to help veterans. Last year they took 136 veterans off the streets and put them into apartments, they also do suicide awareness rides, five day veteran retreats, and they have the squads to get veterans out doing something. The other squads are Archery, community projects, Emergency Response, Honor Guard, and Women Warriors. Mountain Warriors will be another avenue for veterans to be productive and hang around with other veterans, we will also be raising awareness of some of the difficulties veterans go through.

I have a condition called Traumatic Brain Injury, the way the doctors described it is, pathways are damaged in the brain, a message is traveling through the brain and , the bridge is out. It finds a way around, but it takes longer, and is draining. It takes me longer to process information, and it's very difficult with distractions, especially under pressure. And sometimes I may have to step away to be able to think clearly, or won't be able to speak even if I wanted to. If my rig breaks and five people come up to help, that's the worst thing that can happen. I can't function in that situation, I "can" function with one person. It will still be very difficult though, I'm also in extreme pain when this happens.

I've done speech therapy to help with this, a year and a half starting in 2012, and I'm about a year back into it now. The first time I called it multi tasking from Hell. I have seen direct results from it, when I'm overwhelmed now I can sometimes tell people that I can't think with them talking, barely. I can also go into stores and let the employees help me find something, I couldn't do that before. I had to focus on one thing, talking to someone would be two things. Another example, last year I went through Dusy with a veterans group from San Diego. A guy with three tours Marine Corps walked by, I gave him some information he wanted one time, asked him a question another time. No response. I was talking to his girlfriend later, and told her what happened, and that "a while later"... and she finished my sentence saying "he came back and answered you". She was right, and I had recognized what was happening. I do the same thing, it's so hard to retain anything that I can't get distracted or it could be a week before I remember again. And often I can only do one thing at a time anyway.

If all this wasn't tough enough on it's own, I've had people go in a direction I didn't expect. They say there's nothing wrong with me and I'm just being rude, and because of this belief they continued to push me when overwhelmed, taking the pain and difficulty level to unbearable, and I had to get away from them. If you see someone that won't leave me alone in those situations, please make them stop, even if you have to physically remove them. That's how abusive it is. The normal reaction of someone who can see what's going on is to cringe at the pain and difficulty I'm experiencing, this shows how off base some are. These people also thought I was going to get violent, that's not even an option I consider. I'm already overwhelmed, getting violent would be many times worse. I have a need to reduce stress, not increase it. Fortunately it's uncommon for people to go in that direction, most are respectful of my difficulties, and there are no problems. However there is a disproportionate number of people in the OHV volunteer community that cause those problems. Overall in my life it's rarely a problem.

Traumatic Brain Injury is the signature Injury from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, I've ran across quite a few veterans with it. I had a head injury in 89, but the cognitive testing didn't show deficiencies. After I got back from Iraq in 05 I had very strong TBI symptoms, and after cognitive testing I was diagnosed with TBI. In 08 the doctor asked many questions about what happened in Iraq to cause it, and entered into my records that it was at Camp Fallujah in November 04. That was the only blast close enough to leave me disoriented. Our convoy was bunched up getting out the gate. I was rear gunner and about to pull on my last glove when it happened, next thing I know my glove had been blown out of reach. I had to climb up out of the gunners hole to reach it, and the truck right in front of us had all the water bottles in a storage box ruptured from the concussion. As the Brain is also mostly water, the doctors find it very significant.

I was in a club that labeled my inability to think at the level they expected, and inability to speak sometimes, as "repeated discourteous behavior", and put me on member in poor standing over it. They refused to talk to the VA Speech Pathologist and find out what was actually happening, and generally made things many times worse than they needed to be by backing up the pushy people, instead of making them be respectful of my challenges. That was some of the toughest stuff I've been through. Mountain Warriors won't be tolerating that behavior. If someone can't respond to you, please leave them alone.

It's likely Mountain Warriors will have others with Brain Injury as well, this is why I wanted to help clubs we might rub elbows with understand the situation. Many veterans have the same difficulties, like my example of the Marine above. However most of them are baffled and alarmed at the way things have been twisted around on me. There are some you may know that might help you with it too, Bartman and Dave Adams have been able to see on their own what's going on all along. And about a year ago JR talked with my VA readjustment counselor, and she validated what I've been saying from the beginning. She said JR wasn't doubting anything, he just wanted to know how he could help me. I think validating what I'm saying and educating people is the best way forward, so we won't have someone make things unbearable for me, or another veteran, then get really mad thinking that "we" were the ones that did something to them. I'm asking the clubs and trail chairmen to help make things go smoother in the future by spreading accurate information on this subject. If any of you want to talk to the VA people that help me, I will set it up. We need to put the misunderstandings behind us.

I will be staying in Hill Hoppers also, they're pretty understanding people. Hill Hoppers had already seen the difficulties I have back in 2011 when I helped them install a toilet at Ershim, and they were understanding and accommodating. One of them took the group ahead when he saw that I was having a hard time diagnosing a fuel problem on my truck with distractions. And there were no hard feelings, that's the kind of harmony I'd like to see in the 4WD community.

The biggest reason I wanted to do this is so I won't be pushed to the point that the pain and difficulty is unbearable, I really don't want to go through that again. There are some people that refuse to stop doing that, no matter how many times I tell them what's happening. If enough people are educated on the subject, maybe someone will be around that will stop them. And again this isn't just for me, it can also help others with Brain Injury.
 
Uncle served in korea. He was laying down communication line and stepped on a bouncing betty land mine. It exploded at head head height. He panicked and stepped on another mine and that one exploded and took out a chunk of his skull. Other uncle served in Marines. My dad was Marine reserves. I served in USAF Special Operations as a helicopter crew chief. I meet vetrans with PTSD at the American Lake Va hospital frequently. Some of the stories are pretty sad.
 
@Big Ed

Ed,

I've seen a number of reviews and interviews about the book/movie, "Thank you for your service".

The writer, David Finkel, says his intent, in writing this book, was to present the story in such a way that those who have never seen combat, never experienced PTSD, never experienced TBI, could gain insight into exactly what people like you go through, upon returning to a 'normal life'.

Writers often dislike the way their book is turned into a movie, but David Vinkel is "very pleased with how Jason Hall (director) turned his book into a movie, without losing the intent of his book".

I spent a third of my life in the Air Force, in service to our country, but I was sent to Libya instead of Vietnam... I never served in combat, so I never saw or experienced the things combat veterans saw/experienced... And my only experiences with PTSD and TBI are secondhand... So, I have no way to judge just how realistic this book & movie are...

If this book/movie is true to experiences such as your's and enough people read/see them, perhaps the other 99% will gain a bit of insight and other returning combat vets won't have to endure the kind of crap you went through.

But, there will always be those who don't serve and don't care to try to understand anything more than that they feel they are superior to those who do serve.

At any rate, I've spent (coming up on ;)) my whole life trying to understand the actions of my WWII combat-wounded veteran Father and, if you or any other combat veteran read this book, or watch this movie, I would appreciate a personal review of it... Especially by those of you with PTSD and/or TBI... How realistic is it?

Here's some links/trailers...

thank you for your service - Google Search

Thanks!!
 
Being that I stopped watching TV three years ago, I don't know anything about this. Very interested though, i'll search. Thanks for posting.
 
Found a review.

Thank You for Your Service: Life After War is Hell

Edit: Add some of the text from the link.

More of a character piece than a story-driven one, Thank You for Your Service effectively captures the mundane reality of its characters’ post-war lives; painting an unvarnished portrait of the plight of soldiers upon their return home, to a world that has moved on without them and a military support system that is frequently inattentive to their post-combat needs. The film is best during the quieter scenes that focus on its characters’ day to day problems (learning to open up emotionally, cutting through military red tape to receive their benefits ), as well as the one on one exchanges between them. Thank You for Your Serviceultimately adheres to narrative conventions in order to give its story more structure, making its dramatic plot turns and third act resolution easier to predict along the way. This softens the emotional impact of the film’s reveals and more intense moments, but also provides a satisfying (if formulaic) arc for its protagonists and their respective narrative threads.
 
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Sounds like a valiant attempt at recognizing and acknowledging the difficulties... But, doesn't sound like a movie that the close-minded set would be willing to watch.

I'm glad you found your way, Ed... And glad you created a better caliber of club!!
 
pngunme said:
See, there's a lot of caring, understanding people out there, Ed!!

... And a few assholes.

We don't need the assholes in our lives.
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yes..I care about people with disabilities. We are not immortal, we will die some day and along the way we can experience a disability including a traumatic brain injury. I often talk to PTSD patients at the VA. I remember one young man, perhaps 22 years old was sitting next to me in a employment office. he had former gunfire injury to his arms. I asked him why he was there...he said "To heal" he had zero emotions, just looked stone cold no expression. Another vet I met and interviewed at a park almost made me cry. He was hit by a mine or some other munition that made him a paraplegic. It screwed up his brain because he could not speak correctly. He also had limited movement of his arms. Another soldier could not speak properly and stepped on a ied and launched him into the air. The frustrating thing about a TBI is is can be more debilitating then losing a arm or a leg. Depression and anxiety is also another thing that can be triggered by some one who is aged, or from trauma. The sad thing is this kind of disability suffer from often and causes lack of sleep.
 
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