Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is an insult to the brain caused by an external physical force.  It may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness.  It often results in an impairment of physical functioning.  These impairments may be either temporary or permanent and cause partial to total functional disability or psychosocial maladjustment.

• Every 21 seconds, someone in the U.S. suffers a brain injury.
• Brain injury disables twenty times more people than: breast cancer, AIDS, spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis combined.
• 52,000 people will die from brain injuries this year.
• 70,000 to 90,000 people will be permanently injured this year.
• Traumatic brain injury costs more than $48 billion dollars each year.
• 260,000 people will be hospitalized with a TBI this year.
• 1 out of 20 TBI persons receives appropriate medical care.

Cognitive ability is the mental process or faculty of knowing--including the ability to be aware, to have perception, to reason, to speak and to remember language, to recall and to have a memory and even to exercise proper judgment. Memory loss is a common consequence affecting TBI persons but any or all of these abilities can be affected by TBI.

Communication skills including the ability to speak, to listen, to read, to write, and even to gesture may be impaired or even lost altogether. Any or all of these functions can be affected with a TBI. It is imperative that all TBI persons receive a neuro-psychological examination to define which of these abilities may have been affected and to receive the appropriate rehabilitation for them. It is important to remember that many of these abilities may be subtly affected and not immediately apparent. Strange behavior may be the result of a mild TBI. It is also necessary for concerned family members to understand the loss of these abilities and to learn how to deal with the TBI person appropriately. Hearing and sight tests are also imperative after TBI.

Psycho-social or 'behavioral problems' are another common disability for TBI persons. These include fatigue, denial, depression, lack of motivation, agitation, restlessness, lack of emotional control, and difficulty relating to others.

Coma is a profound state of unconsciousness. It is a world of its own, a planet where lost people grope their way out of a darkness the rest of us cannot imagine. Range of motion exercises and sensory stimulation are necessary to aid in coma recovery. The Glasgow Coma Scale and the Rancho Los Amigos Scale of Cognitive Functioning are in the appendix of Acknowledged a Man.

Persistent vegetative state (PVS) is a highly provocative diagnosis because it is not a 'state' that always remains persistent.  With proper therapy, patients sometimes and often do make progressive steps through the stages of coma and come to a full conscious level.  The problem is that they cannot do this alone and must have help from outside themselves to accomplish this.  Family members are often the patients best resourse since there is a known background with the patient and he/she may be able to more readily respond to someone from his or her life before TBI. 

Organ donation is often brought up after a serious TBI. In some states, doctors have the right to declare a person ‘brain dead’ and disconnect life-saving equipment. This decision is always a difficult one that each family must decide for themselves. Correct information is needed to make an intelligent decision. One thing you must know is that some organs cannot be retrieved unless the patient’s heart is beating. For some people this does not mean dead.

Rehabilitation Therapists are the angels of the TBI world.  A neuro-psychologist, physical therapist, speech therapist and occupational therapist are all necessary to the recovery process.  Craniosacral therapy and Myofascial Release are the therapies that have proved to be the most beneficial to Nick, the man featured in ACKNOWLEDGED A MAN.  

The GLASCOW COMA SCALE can be found in the Appendix of ACKNOWLEDGED  A  MAN.

RANCH LOS AMIGOS (RLA) LEVELS OF COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING were designed to measure and track an individual's progress early in the recovery period.  They have been used as a means to develop 'level-specific' treatment interventions and strategies designed to facilitate movement from one level to another.  A RLA level is determined based on behavioral observations.  The RLA scale designates eight levels of function and can be found in the Appendix of ACKNOWLEDGED  A  MAN. 

Contact Barbara@ellpress.com with any questions or concerns.

Additional help can be found through the Brain Injury Association of the USA by visiting  www.biausa.org 

Half of all TBI injuries are caused by motor vehicles accidents.

Half of these are alcohol related.

    A lawyer who specializes in TBI is essential.

TBI will change your life forever. You need a lawyer who understands TBI to protect your rights.

Attorney John Del Buono 

860 274 9601

His son Nick suffered a TBI as a result of an assault in a YMCA.  He sued the national and local YMCA on behalf of his son.  He was able to bring his son home and became one of his caregivers.

I know what you are going through!

Call for a free consultation about your case.

     John@ellpress.com

Press Release:  Barbara Del Buono,

author of  “ACKNOWLEDGED  A  MAN”

All over America citizens donate their time and money to feed the poor and the government taxes its working citizens to help in this project. Mother Teresa became famous for taking care of the poorest of the poor.

BUT IF YOU ARE A BRAIN-INJURED PERSON, YOU CAN BE DELIBERATELY STARVED TO DEATH WITH THE COURTS APPROVAL!

This is happening in the state of Florida as I write this message. Terri Schindler Schiavo has had her feeding tube pulled so that she cannot receive nourishment to keep her alive. Can she eat! A swallow test cannot be done because the husband doesn't want it. She has money but it can't be spent on therapy for her because her husband doesn't want it.

Press Release:  Attorney John Del Buono

A Florida Probate Judge has sentenced Terri Schiavo to death by starvation beginning March 18, 2005 at the insistence of her husband in law but not in fact.  She has been in a coma for 15 years.

Connecticut General Statues 45a-436(g) concerning “Succession upon death of spouse” states: “A surviving husband or wife shall not be entitled to a statutory share, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, or an intestate share, as provided in section 45a-437, in the property of the other if such surviving spouse, without sufficient cause, abandoned the other and continued such abandonment to the time of the other’s death.” 

If Terri and Michael Schiavo were Connecticut residents instead of a Florida residents, her husband could not inherit from her estate because he abandoned her when he took on a mistress with whom he has two children.  If he could not have inherited from her, he probably would have divorced her long ago and not have accepted her conservatorship and the settlement funds would have been used to improve her health instead of his paying attorney fees to try to put Terri to death.

In a Connecticut Probate court, if Michael and his in-laws could not agree on a conservator, the Probate Judge would appoint a neutral conservator, usually an attorney.

If a convicted murderer in the first degree has the constitutional protection from cruel and unusual punishment, shouldn’t an innocent person be granted equal protection from a cruel and unusual death sentence by starvation!

Attorney John Del Buono