School helping to raise money to fight brain injuries
Each weekend thousands of people take to the streets of our communities, walking and running to raise money for charities. Every one of them has found a cause to believe in, a bit of hope through helping. And every one of them has a reason for being there.This weekend, families from Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School in Aurora will join with runners in supporting the Nick Kot Charity, which raises money for research into and awareness of traumatic brain injury.For several years, the organization sponsored its annual fundraising run at the elementary school. This year, organizers agreed to partner with the school's PTA, sharing responsibility as well as the proceeds.While the event will continue to support the Nick Kot Charity's cause, it also will be part of the school's monthlong focus on health and wellness and will help fund the assemblies, teacher grants and other programs of the PTA, said Meredith Sonez, who is coordinating the race for the PTA.The cause is one Sonez feels a personal connection to as well. Her stepfather, Joseph Dent, recently suffered a brain injury while vacationing in Jamaica. Today, he describes his experience.
Sunny skies and sandy beaches are the last memory I have of Jamaica 15 months ago.
We were enjoying a weeklong vacation when suddenly I could no longer tolerate the sunlight due to an unrelenting headache. With two days remaining before our flight home, I stayed in the hotel room with the drapes drawn.
Somehow I got from the hotel onto the plane. As the plane reached cruising altitude, my headache reached excruciating levels.
Mercifully, I remember little of this.
My wife, a nurse, knew getting me out of Jamaica (a country sorely in need of basic health care) and into a hospital was paramount. After assessing my situation, my wife decided that although I needed a wheelchair to deplane and get through customs, she would refuse an ambulance in Chicago and would attempt to get me into our parked car and get as close to our home in Wisconsin as possible.
She drove me from O'Hare to Racine and straight to an ER. It was determined I had suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding between the brain and skull). It was so severe that it shifted my brain to the left. I never lost consciousness and was able to speak and walk, not exhibiting any of the typical signs of traumatic brain injury.
The ER physician felt that I should be transferred to another hospital to receive appropriate treatment. An ambulance was called to transport me the 20 miles to Milwaukee. My situation was critical, but it wasn't an emergency.
I underwent a craniotomy 48 hours later. My skull was cut open, the blood removed and the scalp reattached with 47 staples.
I returned home 10 days later. My condition suddenly deteriorated and I was readmitted with a persistent bleeding in the brain. This time, a burr hole was drilled through my skull and the blood siphoned out with a tube.
I was home for seven days before returning to the hospital for a third time. This time I had suffered a minor stroke. My wife recognized the symptoms of a stroke (disorientation, lopsided gait) and got me to the hospital within an hour. I received excellent medical care and suffer no physical effects of the craniotomy or stroke.
Mentally, I have immediate short-term memory loss. I compensate for this by using electronic and hard copy calendars and reminders. My wife challenges me and cuts me little slack when I slip up and #8220;forget an event!
What caused this to happen? Could it have been the blood thinner, coumadin, that I had used successfully for 12 years? Possibly the new van at work where repeatedly I hit my head? Or, was it the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville slide in Jamaica, where I hit the water hard? All of these? A combination? No one knows for sure.
Medically, we have so much to learn about traumatic brain injury. I was one of the fortunate ones to suffer TBI with little residual affects, and it is for that reason I choose to participate in the Got Running on the Brain? 5K Oct. 16 in an effort to support research, education and awareness of TBI.
If you go
<p>What: Got Running on the Brain? 5K</p>
<p>Why: To benefit the Nick Kot Charity for Traumatic Brain Injury and the Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School PTA</p>
<p>When: Registration from 7:45 to 8:15 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 16; race begins at 9 a.m.</p>
<p>Where: Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary, 2721 Stonebridge Blvd., Aurora</p>
<p>Cost: $29</p>
<p>Details: 100-yard Tiger Run available for children</p>
<p>Info: brooks.ipsd.org; click on 5K Race Info</p>