Mar 18, 2011
Brig. Gen. Richard W. Thomas, Army assistant surgeon general, force protection,
gets ready to give opening remarks as Anne Forrest and Allen Brown
stand to
welcome him.
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, March 17, 2011) -- Researchers, educators,
family advocates and survivors of traumatic brain injury testified March 16
before the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, during what was dubbed "Brain
Injury Awareness Day on Capitol Hill."
"If you're not persistent, and you
don't have it in your bone marrow, you're not going to get anything
accomplished," said Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), who co-chairs the task
force with Congressman Todd Platts (R-Pa.). Pascrell was referring to the
persistence of his task force over the past 10 years to get funding for
brain-injury research.
"This is our job. Not because there's 3.8 million
people in our country who suffer with head injuries every year, not because of
our brave wounded warriors who come back here, and now are getting the excellent
service with their families, it's because there is no progress without families
or relatives alongside and walking with us," Pascrell said.
Seven
panelists were invited to speak about the research, education and importance of
rehabilitation they've been involved with at their institutions and with their
families.
Patty Horan and her husband, Capt. Patrick Horan, received a
standing ovation when she got up to tell their story of rehab.
Patrick
suffered a gunshot wound to the left side of his head while serving in Iraq in
2007. The injury left him completely disabled. It destroyed his ability to walk,
he lost all coordination and sensation on the right side of his body and he lost
the ability to read, to write, to speak, to understand language, and it
destroyed his right visual field.
"In the early stages of rehab, I was
completely overwhelmed. His injury was so debilitating, I could not even imagine
how he could possibly recover," Patty said.
"I thought our life would be
lived in institutions, isolation, and unrealized dreams."
They began
rehabilitation five weeks after the initial injury and after about three months
the doctors told her that Pat would never be able to communicate effectively
again.
"My sister-in-law found a blog which talked about Casa Colina, a
transitional living center in Pomona, California. Our neurosurgeon supported our
decision, so we moved," Patty said.
At the center, Pat was given five
hours of therapy a day, consisting of occupational, physical, speech,
recreational and cognitive therapy, as well as community re-entry.
"Because of Pat's great strides and a fantastic case manager, we were able to
reside at this facility for an entire year. I believe this was the key element
in the miraculous recovery he has today," she said.
Over the past two
years, Pat has been receiving outpatient rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center and continues to make progress.
"This year he has regained
the function and strength of his right arm, his ability to read, write and also
his vision. Without rehab, I believe we would both be prisoners of this
injury."
Pat no longer uses a wheelchair. He can walk up to three miles
and he's able to do most activities of daily living on his own. Patty also said
he is able to keep and follow his own schedule, do basic problem solving, and
pay bills.
He's now pursuing an internship and volunteers regularly with
the Wounded Warrior Project, visiting and encouraging newly-injured
Soldiers.
"Brain injury rehabilitation has given me my husband back. It's
given us the opportunity to live a free and independent life and pursue our
dreams. For us, rehabilitation has turned this injury into a bump in the road
instead of a life in prison," Patty said.
When asked what those first few
years were like, Patrick defers to his loving advocate.
"I don't really
remember anything of those first two years, you have to ask Patty," he said.
Much research has been done on the benefits of rehabilitation, as witnessed
by some of the other panelists, including:
- Col. Jamie B. Grimes,
director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
- Kathy Helmick,
deputy director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health
and Traumatic Brain Injury
- Dr. Lisa McGuire, research team leader, Division
of Injury Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Dr. Allen
Brown, medical director and co-principle investigator for the Mayo Traumatic
Brain Injury Model System
- Dr. Keith Cicerone, director of Neuropsychology
and Rehabilitation Psychology at the JFK-Johnson Rehabilitation Institute and
New Jersey Neuroscience Institute
According to one other panelist,
however, insurance companies don't believe there's been enough research to
warrant paying for extended rehabilitation beyond community re-entry.
Anne Forrest, now a traumatic brain injury survivor and advocate, was a senior
economist at the Environmental Law Institute, before her car accident near the
Lincoln Memorial 13 years ago.
"Hospitals were afraid they wouldn't get
paid by the insurance company for more of my care. When I told them that I would
pay out of my pocket, they said they couldn't do that.
"There's a huge
gap between what insurance companies are willing to pay to get someone back to
community function and what I want, to get back working for a living," Forrest
said.