6.Case Management
John Simpson
Pages: 49-55
We have come to expect that when a member of a family becomes ill or has been injured in some kind of incident, that person will see a doctor. There will be some treatment in an emergency department, a stay in hospital, a course of treatment and/or surgery, and perhaps rehabilitation, after all of which life will return to normal. When there has been a relatively minor injury or an illness, we see our family doctor, who will make the appropriate referrals, again, after a period of time life will return to normal and we will carry on with school...
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7.Long-term Adjustment Following Significant Brain Injury
Mary Pepping
Pages: 56-69
Once the initial flurry of emergency room and critical care has subsided, people with significant brain injury* usually enter a period of acute hospitalization. Then they are either discharged home with some professional assistance, or are transferred for some days or weeks to an in-patient rehabilitation unit.
Generally, after consistent improvements in mobility and communication are demonstrated, brain-injured survivors return home, where they receive some amount of follow-up and out-patient rehabilitation. Over time, as the involvement of professional staff begins to taper off, survivors and their families find themselves faced with the burden and challenge of coping with lifelong residual...
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8.‘Rime’ of the Survivor
David Blanche
Pages: 70-75
What can a survivor of brain injury tell someone about this trauma? The best way to describe what it is like to have a brain injury is to introduce my constant companion since 1973 – an albatross.
‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an epic poem about a ship sailing between Africa and South America that is caught in the doldrums. The wicked old captain, the ‘ancient mariner,’ and his disgruntled crew are as restless in spirit as their ship is calm.
After several days a bird with a huge wingspan, an albatross, appears and circles...