A lapse of the moment

[Ted Meloy]

Dear Friend of the association,

Trapped !!! How do I get out? Unable to make my body respond to thoughts. This was the my first awareness after “coming to” from my 10 week comma. I was too awed by my helpless condition to attach any significance to what the future might hold.

Hi, my name is John Doe. Utterly helpless and totally dependent on others is where I found myself. I was at a loss. I had become one of the 14,000 Missourians that experience Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) every year. An automobile accident caused my duress but bicycle accidents, firearms, shaken baby syndrome, assault, workplace injuries and many other incidents can happen to any person.

When a brain injury happens to a person, their lives are forever and permanently changed. The family and those close to them are changed also. We here at the Brain Injury Association of Missouri want to make these changes more bearable. We are committed to developing and improving programs and services for individuals with brain injury. …Although I made rapid recovery regarding motor skills and speech I was still coming up short when I considered acceptance by my own standards. I constantly stayed offended by my apparent lack of progress in thought as it related to my peers experience of life. My dilemma was how could my thoughts create actions that had no revulsion to them…We want to assist survivors in building their self confidence, meeting new challenges and gaining a renewed sense of independence. We stay abreast of all current treatments and are asking that you partner with us to continue assisting in bringing these valuable services to survivors and their families. We need your gifts and contributions. Please consider joining are Points of light giving club. If you can’t join at this time please consider increasing your donation, if even by just a little. Every bit helps !!

The enormity of walking down stairs without the guardrail, what a task!! To feel assured that your foot would not stumble as you made your way down the stairs. By the grace of God you make it and you just pray for a repeat performance.

Although I made rapid recovery regarding motor skills and speech I was still coming up short when I considered acceptance by my own standards. I constantly stayed offended by my apparent lack of progress in thought as it related to my peers experience of life. My dilemma was how could my thoughts bring about actions that had no prejudice to them. Specifically, were my actions totally outlandish because of my Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or was the manner in which I perceived things askew due to the effects of the TBI ? Whichever it was, the actions of my thoughts did not always measure up to casual acceptance by others. Often, I would find myself questioning the sincerity of others acceptance. Always, my self esteem would waver when I started to compare my insides with others outsides.

This is why The Donald Danforth Jr. Wilderness retreat came into being. This is a week long getaway in the outdoors for survivors and their families. Here, activities take place that are designed to bolster a survivors “can do” attitude and let their self esteem fourish. This is the only activity where the Brain Injury Association of Missouri gets any kind of state funding. We get a small grant from Head Injury Advisory Council. This helps assure that Missouri’s only head injury camp stays around. We are not a United Way agency, hence most of all our funds are from private donations and fellows like yourself.

I was one of the more fortunate survivors of TBI. My demon slipped in the backdoor of my recovery and reared its ugly head in my recovering behavior. My perception of outside stimuli created disparity for my senses. The result of this was I may have been considered odd by those outside my circle of friends. TBI can be very bold in addition to insidious, as it was in my case. TBI can take an individuals entire being and alter it in ways that would cause the brave to shudder. Pre TBI and post TBI can be as starkly different as night and day. A once physically and mentally superb person could very easily be a wheel chair bound invalid post TBI.

We here at the Brain Injury Association of Missouri feel a personal kinship with all these survivors. No matter how severe the post TBI is. We would like all survivors to have as fair a shot at life as possible. Currently, with the help of trauma survivors like yourself, we are providing

v A toll free help line that that provides yearly support and resource information to over 1,500 individuals.

v The Donald Danforth Jr. Wilderness Retreat.

v Over twenty statewide support groups for discussion, resolution of issues and numerous recreation opportunities for survivors.

v Localized and statewide education and training programs.

v Prevention programs and advocacy efforts working to prevent all preventable brain injuries among children and adults.

This year alone more people will suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) than the combined number of those afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis, Spinal Cord Injury, HIV/AIDS and breast cancer.

The reality of the situation is that since we have so many afflicted on a continual basis with TBI, we need your help and partnership to provide all these services. We get no funds from United Way Agencies and only a small grant from the State’s Head Injury Advisory Council so that the Donald Danforth, Jr Wilderness Retreat can continue.

Walking without thinking about every step. What progress !! The world was starting to gel with some certainty and while absolute ease was a way off, less trauma in living daily became more of the norm.The Missouri Chapter of the Brian Injury Association has and continues to help survivors on an ongoing basis. We request that you seriously consider partnering with us in preventing and treating TBI. Any little bit would help immensely.

Thank you,