My Father: Traumatic Brain Injury

If you ever had a conversation with someone and they ask you who you are 90 seconds from when you introduced yourself, you might be dealing with a person who has had a traumatic brain injury. My father, aka 10 second George, suffered a brain injury four years ago after surviving a motorcycle accident. A TBI is known as is a nondegenerative, noncongenital insult to the brain from an external mechanical force, possibly leading to permanent or temporary impairment of cognitive, physical, and psychosocial functions, with an associated diminished or altered state of consciousness. It wasn’t the accident that caused my dad’s TBI (traumatic brain injury). He was ready to go home for rehab for several broken ribs and toes except for experiencing …show more content…
To him, most everything he says makes sense. Unfortunately, it doesn’t because George had a tube down his throat for several days before they took him out of a coma. This did a lot of damage to his throat and most of the time, it is hard to decipher his words. It is better to guess by his demeanor then to ask twice. He will just be angered that you didn’t understand. Sometimes, you may guess he asked you a question by his tone. In this circumstance, you would say something like, “I am not sure on that, I will think about it”. Or, if he laughs at the end of his statement, you could react with a chuckle or …show more content…
Sometimes I refer to my dad as a chameleon. He could take on your mood and if you’re yelling at traffic to take it upon himself to react the same as you. Even if he gets upset for no particular reason, try to stay cheerful because sometimes he gets so deep that you can’t get him out this emotion until it ends with a door slam and you in tears. It is important to never get up and leave him or the conversation without closure by saying goodbye or telling him why and where you are going. An empty seat next to my dad seems to anger him greatly. It’s as if it is a personal insult. Finally, never talk about death. If my dad tells you about his “alive” parents that would approximately be 130 years old, are still at home, don’t question it. Last thing you want to do is make him cry. Try to remain in a sunshine and lollipops mood. Unfortunately, he is the last survivor of six siblings, both parents and two wives, so these conversations are common. It’s not lying, it compassion. Not all traumatic brain injuries are alike. Most people that suffer this great disability, go on and learn to live perfectly normal lives unlike my father. Because of his age and situation, he had suffered greater brain injury. So, if you ever happened to run into my dad, because he does “know” a lot of people, these are just a few advisements to keep the peace and help everyone be unknowingly