A Knock On The Noggen!

It is amazing how little things in life come along that change everything about you.  In October, 2010, several of us made a mission trip to the Amazon Jungle in Peru.  We go back into a neat little village called Shiringamazu.  I have truly fallen in love with the people of that village.  We had made this trip for three years at that time and it was getting easier and easier, both because of familiarity and because of the Peruvian government fixing the roads.  But at the same time, the trucks we were using to get into this village were getting older.  That particular trip, we changed trucks three different times because of breakdowns!

As we were nearing the end of the trip, we had changed from a four wheel drive truck to a van.  We were on the last leg of the journey coming out of the jungle.  The driver of the van missed seeing a speed bump.  In a second, he slammed on the breaks and then hit the speed bump at a fast speed.  I was sitting with Glenda in the second seat of the van behind the driver with no seat belts. When he slammed on the breaks, it pitched me forward and when he hit the bump it threw me upwards and I hit the side of my head on one of the support ribs in the ceiling of the van.  It momentarily knocked me out and I dropped like a ton of bricks.  I was out for only a moment, but the damage was done.

In the incident, the driver had blown out a tire on the van.  When I came to, we got out of the van and I walked around on the road and took some pictures of the scenery.  I didn't think anything was wrong.
Later I developed a headache that wouldn't go away.  When I got back to the states, I made an appointment with my doctor.  She took xrays and said nothing seemed to be broken or out place. Within a day or two the headache went away, and I continued on with life.

Six months later, on a Sunday in May, 2011, things begin to unravel.  Dizziness and a major headache set in and by the end of the week I ended up in the hospital in fairly serious condition.  I went through some major depression, horrific headaches and extreme personality changes.  I was sleeping eighteen hours a day and miserable.  And, I was making life miserable for everyone around me.  I ended up seeing three different neurologists and going through phyical therapy until Workman's Comp said they would not pay the bill.  Over a period of time I thought we had worked through the problems and because of the high expense, cancelled up coming therapy sessions.

Sometime in the last six months things began to go down hill again.  I was experiencing a general fogginess that I couldn't work through.  I would come into work and often times leave within an hour of getting there.  I was sleeping more and more.  The changes that were happening recently were so subtle that I didn't put together what was wrong.

In March, Glenda had two sister die withing days of each other.  On the second weekend of March we made a trip to St Louis for their funerals.  The stress was terrible!  I began to experience times when I couldn't move or talk.  It was almost like some kind of seizures.  My family wanted me to go to the hospital, but I refused to go. I made it throught the weekend with the help of the family around me.  It was a terrible weekend in every way!

When we got home, I scheduled an appointment with my Neurologist again.  I was told that I had experienced a seveere brain injury and that I would need to take more physical therapy.  He said that with time the brain would heal and I would recover, but things would get worse before getting better. And they did!

When I would stress my brain with the therapy I was taking, it would shut down completely.  I could feel it come on and it was just like my battery went dead.  I couldn't move, talk or do anything I was told to do.  I was aware of people around me but couldn't respond in anyway.  It would last from seconds to minutes and was probably the most scary thing I have ever gone through in my life.  When these times were over, I literally would come home and sleep for the rest of the day.  Fortunately, the first time it happened I was at therapy and the therapist was able to help me get through it.  She also instructed us what to do if it were to happen at home, which it did several times.

Anyhow, to make a long story shorter, I am recovering.  I am feeling so much better.  I am now able to walk and stand without falling on my face!  The fogginess is pretty much gone and I feel like a new person.  Many have commented on Facebook and asked questions about what is going on with me.  I hope this update gives you some idea of what we have been going through for the last several months. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.