As of September of last year, my husband has a Traumatic Brain Injury.......
By MyLinnsLynn
@MyLinnsLynn (292)
United States
4 responses
@ruby222 (4847)
•
18 Mar 08
Hi Lynn..no you arent the only one by far!!
A year ago my husband had a series of unexplained collapses,the cause still hasnt been identified as yet.
But we have undergone a dramatic change within our life.
He was a workaholic..now sadly he cant work..it has swept his confidence away.Therefore I feel I have to be the strength within us now.
But I must say as time has gone by things have improved,and thank god we still have each other.
@MyLinnsLynn (292)
• United States
18 Mar 08
Thank you so much Ruby for letting me know I'm not the only one...and I hope my post didn't sound rude or disrespectful..it's just that as you'd said, it does cause a dramatic change within our lives. My husband can't work anymore either and he was the one that had the college degree and the awesome paying job and I have been a housewife for years...now he does get Disability and we do get some for our daughter too, but I'm struggling with the idea of leaving him in someone elses hands as I have to go to work at some point so that I can have medical insurance and he cannot ever be left alone as he has brain damage and very severe panic and anxiety attacks..he's also deaf in one ear and severely hard of hearing in the other (even with a hearing aid for the ear that is not totally deaf) as a result of the brain damage. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to respond...thanks also for letting me know that as time goes by, there's hope that things will get better.
Bless you and your husband, Ruby...take care.
1 person likes this
@aretha (2538)
• United States
18 Mar 08
no your not alone at all and it does change everything. its very hard to deal with sometimes but we get through it some how.
my husband was told he had it after he came home from iraq and with that and the ptsd it hard and i know what you mean by feeling alone. its easy to find people online that have the same problems and it is good to know that your not the only one but people in your everyday life have no idea. thats one of the things i miss about my husband being in the army,i had a close friend taht was going through the same thing and its nice to know your not alone but here at home no one gets it.
1 person likes this
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
19 Mar 08
While I can't even begin to imagine what you've gone through and have yet ahead to come, I hope that you will be able to find good friends online and offline and help your family get back to enjoying life the way you once did. You are a very strong person to go through something like that, so I hope you are aware of that even when you do feel alone.
Have you tried support groups? People always think they are so hokey or cheesy or not for them, but I can say from experience if you're willing to try it with an open mind you might find some help through that - other people to relate to and such. Here is one site I found online, it may or may not be of help...
http://www.headinjury.com/linktbisup.htm
Another thing that might help is writing about your experiences - start a blog on blogger or submit articles to places like associatedcontent.com.
There may even be a good number of dicsussion boards online that could be of help - I will keep you & your family in my prayers :)
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
19 Mar 08
I am very sorry for you husband and accept my prayers. I have not been through something like that but I can understand that it would make big changes in your family. I did go through colon cancer with my deceased husband and it was traumatic for awhile but he recovered and lived another ten years. The big thing for hime and for me too was getting used to have a colostomy and having to wear a bag to catch his body discharges.this he had to get used to and the skin around the opening was apt to become irritated also. Are there any groups of people who have TBI or have family members with it who you may join for some help and someone who is going through it to share their concerns and help you through this so you will not be alone.You might ask your doctor or your local hospital as they usually know about these special groups.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
19 Mar 08
I am totally serious about there being a TBI group of some sort in your area as it would help both of you and you would know you are not alone. When I was diagnosed with diabetes I found a group just for diabetes with a diabetes trained nurse to run it and it helped me so much as I saw other people coping with my same problems. so you need the same kind of group only slanted for TBI's only so you can meet others in the same fix and gain help and company too. good luck and my best wishes.
