Marilyn Martone's Blog, page 13
February 22, 2012
Anniversary Day
Today's the 14th anniversary of Michelle's accident. She begins every day by thanking God that she is alive and conscious. We are so grateful to still have her.
February 16, 2012
February 4, 2012
Review of Book
Thought you might enjoy reading this review of Over the Waterfall. http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=13233&o=39699
January 18, 2012
Restructuring Health Care
Just finished reading Daniel Callahan's book, False Hopes.I found these sentences very pertinent for those of us caring for someone with a disability. "At the same time, the pursuit of cure and the saving of life – the overwhelming priority given to the reduction of mortality – has meant a terrible neglect of the chronically ill, those who cannot be cured and who, over a long period of time, will die from their disease, or who will spend a life disabled as a result of it. Perhaps we have found the burden of personal care, the demands of patience and compassion, too high. The caring function of medicine, once its center, has been displaced to the sidelines. It is not a major source of money, prestige, or research awards." (p. 78)
January 9, 2012
Dr. Weill on Twitter
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand." another great Chinese proverb!
January 4, 2012
TBI Resources
Many of you have been coming to my web page for traumatic brain injury resources. If you check my articles, presentations and my book you will also find many helpful tidbits there. On pages 149-150 0f the book there is a short checklist of things to do.
December 27, 2011
Home from Iraq
Christmas was wonderful but the icing on the cake was that around 7pm the doorbell rang and there was Janetta's (Michelle's aide) daughter, Samantha, and her friend Anthony who had just returned from Iraq. It's one thing to hear about the troop withdrawal but it's quite another thing to find two soldiers on your front porch. Thank you President Obama.
December 15, 2011
TBI Recovery Can Occur Years After Initial Injury
Current thinking on TBI is that most of the recovery will occur the first six months post injury. Michelle made some unbelievable progress this week both cognitively and physically and it is almost 14 years since she was hit by a car. There is still much we don't know about the brain.
December 5, 2011
Talk on My Book
I gave a talk last Wednesday to members of Common Cause on Long Island. This is a support group for persons who are recovering from traumatic brain injury. My talk focused on elements I discuss in my book, Over the Waterfall, as to how these individuals not only need to recover from their injury but then need to counter many cultural aspects of society that stigmatize them. I stressed the importance of advocacy.
