TBI Lecture

In the future, I would love to work with people who have suffered from acquired brain injuries. The brain's complexity fascinates me; I'm very interested in learning more about how brain injuries and occupational therapy are tied together. There were a few things in today's lecture that were very surprising to me. I didn't realize that one-third of all injury-related deaths in the United States are related to traumatic brain injuries. It also surprised me that falls and not car accidents were the top cause of TBI's. When I was in sixth grade I was kicked in the face with a soccer ball so hard that it knocked me unconscious. I couldn't see colors for a few hours after that. My doctors gave me an eye patch to wear for a day and told me that I should be fine but shouldn't play soccer for a few days. It was the state tournament, so naturally I played the next day anyways. (I didn't play very well.) Two days later I woke up in the middle of the night feeling very nauseous. At the peak of my nauseousness I would pass out, my mom would gently shake me awake and I immediately threw up as I regained consciousness. This happened about eight times before I went to the ER and they gave me fluids. I have trouble recalling words, names, and things that happened in the past more than other people, but I'm not sure if this is related to my head injury or not. Regardless, I'm glad that my injury was not as bad as it could've been.