Help For Heroes

Help for Heroes was started in 2007, to raise money for the construction of a swimming pool, at Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court for injured members of the British Armed Forces.

This 85 acre facility was purchased after World War II using donations collected by Royal Air Force Pilots and Crews Fund. It was the Headquarters for Canadian Forces during World War II.

Help for Heroes raised £8 million for the swimming pool at Headley Court, and will open The Help for Heroes Rehabilitation Complex this year. (2010)

Please donate to Help for Heroes, which is not connected to any political organization.

Headway

Headway, “the charity that works to improve life after brain injury,” wants:

To promote understanding of all aspects of brain injury and to provide information, support and services to people with a brain injury, their families and carers.

Since traumatic brain injuries are the signature injuries of current wars, both charities support the same people.

Please donate to Headway. It uses contributions to provide vital services to brain injury survivors and their families.

Where Was Bear Grylls?

Bear Grylls, as I previously noted, has been filming the fifth season of Man vs. Wild, in Russia, Australia, and an unnamed desert island.

Bear Grylls is amazing because he participated in this event, with his wife, Shara, and oldest sons, Jesse, 8, and Marmaduke, 7, on his “day off“ between Russia and Australia.

Bear Grylls had a personal reason for appearing at this event:

When I had an injury when I was in the army I ended up in Headley Court which is the military rehabilitation place. Now they are seeing 100 soldiers a month passing through there who have lost limbs or arms. They do extraordinary work and I try to do as much as I can for them through various expeditions and supporting local events.

That’s why Bear Grylls is amazing!

Ready for more bad news? A recently–published study by Toronto’s Centre for Research on Inner City Health, shows that traumatic brain injuries cause homelessness.

In 2004 and 2005, they interviewed 904 people at homeless shelters, and meal programs, and found that 53% had traumatic brain injuries. Worse, is that 70% of those injuries occurred, before the person became homeless.

Stephen Hwang, co–author of The effect of traumatic brain injury on the health of homeless people cautiously said:

“I think that this article doesn’t make the link definitively, but it is hypothesis generating. It raises a possibility which has not been discussed by researchers before.”

In a recent interview, co–author Angela Conatonio, said traumatic brain injuries, are the leading cause of death, among people under 45 in Canada, and added:

“Cognitive rehab [may be beneficial to those who have suffered traumatic brain injuries] for example, or they might benefit from some assisted technology, such as help with their memory”

The Worst Part

If it took Dr. Conatonio three years to figure out that homeless people, with a TBI “might benefit” from “help with their memory” — how long it will take for Canada to actually help these people?

Photo

Photo of woman, is by Spirited Angel from her Toronto Life collection.

On August 22^nd, the Department of Labor launched America’s Heroes at Work which focuses on the challenges, faced by these injured veterans, when they look for a job. Neil Romano, Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy, said:

“An initiative like this is terribly important, because if you’re going to have one in five veterans coming home with this, they’re just not people we can afford to forget or lose”

Romano said DOL spent $500,000 developing this impressive site.

Visit: www.americasheroesatwork.gov

Where Has My Blog Been?

My traumatic brain injury (TBI) has affected me in many ways, but the top two areas are:

1. Short–term memory
2. Impulse control

Computers solve the first problem, because once you type something. you don’t have to remember it anymore.

Impulse control is different. You have no idea, how many times I have pressed “Send” when I should have pressed “Cancel.“

What Did You Do Now?

Although I am over 50 years old, I still get excited like a little boy. That is fine, when I am writing about New York Giants, or Bear Grylls, but problematic, when something annoys me – like budget cuts for Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center while America spends $4,658,686,000 for the Iraq Freedom Fund.

It gets worse when I write late at night, when I should be sleeping.

My friends are used to this, and I have heard, “What did you do now?” more times than I care to (or can) remember.

I used to drink when I got annoyed, and make things much worse, but as you can see from the photo, I am on the wagon now.

Get to the point!

I was tired, angry, and writing about politics, when I accidentally confused an urban legend with a fact.

I apologized to a representative of the individual involved, and removed my blog a few minutes later, and waited for the idiotic post to go away.

How Big Is Google’s Cache?

The post is gone, and I missed blogging, so I have returned. I will avoid writing about politics in the future, except for legislation related to traumatic brain injuries, or if Michael Strahan runs for President.

Michael Strahan for President

Why Strahan? He is a proven leader, will probably retire, and he knows as much about defense as anybody.

The new categories are:

Bear Grylls

In its original incarnation, before it was edited, Man vs. Wild was the best television show I ever saw. It was incredible! I became hooked after my first episode. The Discovery Channel exploited my weakness with daily reruns, which began to interfere with my life. I just could not stop watching Bear Grylls.

When I was not watching Man vs. Wild, I spent far too much time surfing the Web to learn more about Bear Grylls. I became an even bigger fan of Grylls, after visiting his blog, and viewing the prominently displayed photos of his wife and child. I thought, “Wow!” — this guy travels all over the world, probably has groupies on several continents, yet he remains a loyal husband, and devoted Dad. What a nice fellow!

I became an even bigger fan, after reading about his 1996 parachuting accident, which fractured his spine in three places. I was once badly injured in a car accident, and did not walk for a year, so I know what it is life to recover from a devastating injury. I can walk without a limp today, and even run, primarily because I had a great surgeon, Fred L. Allman, Jr., but also because I went to physical therapy almost every day. Dr. Allman, and his staff, could restore your mobility, but only if you cooperated with them and “joined the program.” They also made sure that patients who showed up for the painful process, saw happened to the delinquents too. “No pain, no gain” is really true.

However, recovery is much more than being able to walk. I drove a 1986 Chevette about forty miles to reach Dr. Allman, the last few in Atlanta (big city) traffic. I initially had to drive with a very heavy hip–to–ankle cast on my right leg. My Chevette had a floor shifter in the middle, so I had to drape my plaster–casted right leg over the hump, and drive with my left leg. On my second trip to PT, my little Chevette was hit in the passenger door, and I never wanted to drive again. Jayne said, “You better get over it, because I’m not driving you.” So I was back on the road, with a dented passenger door, the following day.

In 1996, Bear Grylls broke his back in three places, when his parachute malfunctioned while skydiving. In 2007, Bear Grylls stars on a television show, where he jumps out of plane at the beginning of each episode. Bear Grylls has recovered mentally, as well as physically, and what could be better than that?

After watching Grylls, I began working out again, and eating healthier food too. I got into my best shape in a decade. I wrote more about Bear Grylls, after Man vs. Wild went off the air. Writing filled the time, which I used to spend watching Man vs. Wild reruns.

I was extremely disappointed that Bear Grylls did not make a public apology after he was caught lying. In case you missed it, Bear Grylls’s only response, came several weeks later, on his blog:

Re: the recent press accusations of motels and stagings in the show that have been doing the rounds, all I can say is they don’t always tell the full story, but that’s life and part of being in the public eye I guess.

My opinion of Bear Grylls as a human being, has dropped considerably, because of the way he lied, and misrepresented himself. The new, unexpurgated, version of Man vs. Wild, is disappointing too.

During one episode, (Scotland?) Bear Grylls discusses the large population of rabbits in the area, and creates a trap out of his shoelace and a few twigs, hoping to catch one to eat. Later in that episode, Bear Grylls pulls a large rabbit out of his incredibly brilliant trap, and cooks it, for a sumptuous meal.

It was great! Imagine if you were out in the wilderness, would you be able to catch a rabbit, using only a shoelace and a few twigs? Would you be able to dine on rabbit, and sleep in one of those incredible shelters that Bear Grylls constructs of branches and vines?

Of course not! But I believed that Bear Grylls could do it, and that is what made him so special.

I will write more about Bear Grylls. Man vs. Wild is still pretty good, but it is no longer the greatest television show I have ever watched.

Learning

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.
—Henry Ford

Learning is comprised of the former “Blogging” and “Tech” categories. I am planning to take Sun’s Web Component Developer, certification exam in a few months, and this is where I will to write about it.

I also want to write more about blogging, perhaps the details of the Where Did My Brain Go? makeover.

Musings

Musings is where you can find my “real” writing. It is also a good place for you to write something too. Just keep it clean.

Note: Although I do not have a PICS rating, Where Did My Brain Go? contains no foul language, or salacious content. My children can read anything on Where Did My Brain Go? and your children can too.

News

I moved everything about Bear Grylls, the NY Giants, and TBI to their respective categories, which makes Where Did My Brain Go? much easier to navigate.

NY Giants

As a lifelong fan of the The New York Football Giants, I simply had to write something, when they finally won a game. Now I think the New York Giants will win Super Bowl LXI, let’s see.

According to Google, I am the only person on the Web who says that The New York Giants will win Super Bowl XLII.

The Giants only have to win another thirteen games in a row to reach The Super Bowl!

Go Giants!

T B I

TBI is an acronym for Traumatic Brain Injury.
I suffered a TBI in 1986, from a car accident. I am constantly amazed, at the incredible ignorance of physicians, when it comes to diagnosing and treating a TBI. For example, I did not know that I had a brain injury until 1998, twelve years later, and I was married to a physician at the time of the accident!

I did not (knowingly) meet others with traumatic brain injuries, until 2005, when I attended my first meeting of a brain injury support group, at Cardinal Hill Hospital, here in Lexington, Kentucky.

I became inquisitive after the meeting, and decided to learn more about traumatic brain injuries. First, I learned that TBI is known as “the signature injury” of the Iraq war. Basically, the number of soldiers with traumatic brain injuries increases, as the quality of body armor, and Kevlar helmets improves. America’s body armor and Kevlar helmets save more lives than ever. Unfortunately, many of those soldiers, who survive with their bodies intact, are left with scrambled eggs for a brain.

This research led to two more questions:

1. Who is treating these soldiers?
2. How is Congress helping?

You can find answers to those questions in my TBI section.

I am taking a break from writing about traumatic brain injuries for awhile.

More Categories?

Please let me know if you would like me to add content about a specific subject, or know a better way to organize Where Did My Brain Go?

The program was announced by Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich, and Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.

The New York Times, in Screening for Brain Injury Is Set for Illinois Veterans, by Libby Sander, quoted Dr. Felise S. Zollman, medical director of the brain injury program at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, who described the program:

“The mandatory screening would consist of a written questionnaire, an assessment by a medical professional, and a professional interpretation of the results. Service members believed to show symptoms of a brain injury would be referred for assessment and further treatment at a veterans’ center.”

In Illinois Unveils Mental Health Services for Returning Guardsmen, Veterans, by Donna Miles, reporting for American Forces Press Service, quoted Dr. Samuel Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, who explained why mandatory testing is necessary:

“We’ve got these post-deployment questionnaires that you fill out when you leave theater.

When I left Iraq, I filled out a questionnaire that said: ‘Were you near an (improvised explosive device) that went off? Are you having trouble sleeping? Are you having trouble controlling your feelings?’ And so forth, and so on.

A lot of people check ‘no’ because they want to get home.

[Questionnaires have been retooled so that] even if they check ‘yes,’ they’re going to get home and get the care when they get home, he said, adding that this will help promote more honest responses.”

The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, says that:

In prior conflicts, TBI was present in at least 14–20% of surviving combat casualties; preliminary information from the current conflict in the Middle East suggests that this number is now much higher.

It is about time that someone is taking some steps to identify this problem.