March 18--Craig Turner never fully recovered from surgery he had in 1975 to remove a tumor from his brain.
His mother, Bette Turner, said the tumor was in an important part of his brain near his pituitary gland, and between the operation and follow-up radiation therapy, Craig lost some of his ability to speak.
He's had several surgeries since the original operation in 1975, and today, at 47, he still has problems with his speech.
"His speech has declined gradually over the years, but he's still alive and well," Bette said Friday, when I talked to her about the fact that March is Brain Injury Awareness Month.
Bette said she is a member of the Brain Injury Support Group of Reading and Berks County. It meets on the first Saturday of the month in the cafeteria of Health South Rehab Hospital on Route 10, Cumru Township.
When I hear brain injury I think of a blow to the head someone suffers in a car accident, fall or even from an assault or gunshot wound. But brain injuries can also be caused by diseases like cancer or by a stroke.
Brain injuries can be as complex and diverse as the brain itself, said Dr. Heather M. Nissley, a rehabilitation neuropsychologist at RPS Psychology at the Reading Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Wyomissing.
"Your brain is highly organized and networked," Nissley said. "You can hurt specific areas of the brain or hurt networks within the brain."
For example, though your eyes are in the front of your head, the parts of your brain that interpret the signals from your optic nerves are in the rear of your brain. So a blow to the back of the head could cause vision problems and even blindness.
Brain injury has been in the news a lot lately. It's being called concussion, but that's just another word for a mild brain injury.
"I think there is a lot more awareness today, more public attention to brain injury because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," Nissley said.
She also pointed to the gunshot wound suffered by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat shot in the head during a public appearance in her district.
"People could see how she moved through the recovery process," she said.
When I saw Gabby Giffords return to the floor of Congress I was inspired.
I was also saddened when I thought about the lost potential. I got the same feeling when I talked to Bette about Craig. About how a bullet can strike a talented young legislator, or how cancer can strike a 10-year-old boy, and how the brain trauma can alter the course of their lives forever.
Brain injury is a tricky thing.
Some people get better. Some learn to cope with what they have left.
Either way, as Bette said, they're still alive and well.
In Kelly's Korner, Dan Kelly writes about the people and personalities that make Berks County special. Contact him 610-371-5040 or dkelly@ readingeagle.com.
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