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Brain Injury Awareness Month
1.7 million Americans sustain a brain injury each year, according to the Brain Injury Association of America. Brain injuries don't discriminate. They can happen at any time.
Diane Boehme was in a car accident back in December.
"About three weeks ago is all I remember," Boehme said.
Diane said there are even some people she has met, but she doesn't know who they are. The experience has been a challenge.
"I still have some scars on my hand," Boehme said. "My left foot is still broke. So, I can't do anything with that. For about four more weeks, we are not doing anything with that."
While she waits for her body to physically heal, she spends some of her days here, at Independence Square at Memorial Medical Center. It's brain therapy. On this day, it's sequencing.
"We look at their ability to walk and get around," Dr. David Gelber from Memorial Medical Center said. "Their ability to do personal cares. Their ability to speak and think. If there are deficits in those areas, then the therapists design a treatment program to help improve those patients' limitations to help them get back to normal activities as soon as possible."
Gelber said there is some research aimed at helping patients recover from brain injuries and specific therapy techniques that might help the brain repair better or faster. Often times, those with brain injuries have issues with swallowing, thinking, and speech. With that, patients can sometimes become irritable. So teaching family members how to deal with that is important.
"I think our understanding of the process has improved,"Liz Reef from Memorial Medical Center said. "It has gotten better. We see better outcomes."
Reef is a speech pathologist at Memorial. She said there is a lot of research happening now with attention and looking at the functional MRIs with brain injuries. If you know someone with a brain injury, her advice is to do some research into what the person's deficits are, so you are more understanding.
A state representative has introduced a bill that she thinks will help limit brain injuries, at least for high school athletes. It would limit the number of tackling football practices. Football coaches and the IHSA, however, are against it, saying limiting those practices will make things worse. They say that's because coaches won't be able to teach proper tackling techniques as much.
Brain Injury Awareness Month
1.7 million Americans sustain a brain injury each year, according to the Brain Injury Association of America. Brain injuries don't discriminate. They can happen at any time.
Diane Boehme was in a car accident back in December.
"About three weeks ago is all I remember," Boehme said.
Diane said there are even some people she has met, but she doesn't know who they are. The experience has been a challenge.
"I still have some scars on my hand," Boehme said. "My left foot is still broke. So, I can't do anything with that. For about four more weeks, we are not doing anything with that."
While she waits for her body to physically heal, she spends some of her days here, at Independence Square at Memorial Medical Center. It's brain therapy. On this day, it's sequencing.
"We look at their ability to walk and get around," Dr. David Gelber from Memorial Medical Center said. "Their ability to do personal cares. Their ability to speak and think. If there are deficits in those areas, then the therapists design a treatment program to help improve those patients' limitations to help them get back to normal activities as soon as possible."
Gelber said there is some research aimed at helping patients recover from brain injuries and specific therapy techniques that might help the brain repair better or faster. Often times, those with brain injuries have issues with swallowing, thinking, and speech. With that, patients can sometimes become irritable. So teaching family members how to deal with that is important.
"I think our understanding of the process has improved,"Liz Reef from Memorial Medical Center said. "It has gotten better. We see better outcomes."
Reef is a speech pathologist at Memorial. She said there is a lot of research happening now with attention and looking at the functional MRIs with brain injuries. If you know someone with a brain injury, her advice is to do some research into what the person's deficits are, so you are more understanding.
A state representative has introduced a bill that she thinks will help limit brain injuries, at least for high school athletes. It would limit the number of tackling football practices. Football coaches and the IHSA, however, are against it, saying limiting those practices will make things worse. They say that's because coaches won't be able to teach proper tackling techniques as much.
