Excerpt from 'Roller Coaster Ride With Brain Injury (For Loved Ones)'

Introduction

"'Roller Coaster Ride With Brain Injury (For Loved Ones)' has been written as a result of my partner's serious motorcycle accident. When I realized how difficult it was to get information on brain injuries or on how family members can help their brain-injured loved ones, I knew there was a need for something to be written. There seemed to be very little that was readily available for those close to the injured person in learning how to deal with the monumental changes in both the injured person's life and those of his family and friends."

"I found it was also sometimes difficult to get any extensive information from the doctors or nurses. This was partly because at the beginning very little seemed to be known about the severity of his injury or what the result of his injury would be. Further, I became aware that the more questions I asked, the more variety of answers I received. Each person I talked to seemed to have a different opinion on both his injury as well as his recovery prognosis.

By writing this book about our situation, I hope to help others in a similar situation realize they are not alone. There will be progress and although it appears to be slow - brain injury progress is often two steps forward and one step back - it will happen."

Our First Day In Hell

"Unable to stop the floodgate of tears, I cried the whole way to the hospital, praying that Larry would be alive. Karen, the Social Worker, met me in the Emergency and led me to a Family Room. "They are stabilizing him and then he'll be going for a CT scan. I'll let you know when you can see him."

With no one to talk to, my only company was the terrifying images that plagued my thoughts. I could not control my flood of tears and no matter how many times I brushed them aside, they continued to fall. It was like trying to contain water in a bag made of cloth. The half hour or so I sat alone in the room with my brain alternating between mush and the horrible imagines that cascaded through my head, my usually calm nature did not hold up very well."