My TBI Story

“TBI My Story”

By Sweet Candy

Who Am I:

At the age of 29 years old I joined the military for the first time. I went to Basic, 

AIT, then my first duty station was in the Desert. I was an 88M which is a truck driver. For the next couple of days I will share my story on how I got TBI which stands for “Traumatic Brain Injury.” I am doing this in hopes to reach out to my brother sister in arms and let them know they are not alone. To others understand that TBI can come at you in any traumatic incident that has to do with your head.

The Start:

While in Operation Desert Shield/Storm, on our way back from a mission, I was forced to go to the ER. I was in a 5 ton truck at the time. We just drove 2-3 days with no sleep and all I wanted to do was get some sleep. While getting out of the truck, I lost my grip on the handle and fell on the hard pack sand. When I came too, I was in the ER with the doctor asking me questions. I had no idea what was going on. I ended up with passing out, having a concussion, and fractured the right radial head in my right arm. They sent me back to my unit. That was when the blackout spells began. Later I would be diagnosed with seizures. Still no diagnosis of TBI! I Had to go back to the ER a few days later as I could barely move my arm. Actually the first time, they said my arm was just sprained. Then when I went back, I was told I was gonna be shipped back to the States since I could not get a gas mask on. No one wanted to deal with the acknowledging I had TBI as it wasn't a result of getting in a major vehicle accident. Nor was it a result of being hit with an IED. So it wasn't till 9/20/2011 that I was given the official diagnosis of TBI by Dr. Scott Fairchild in Melbourne, FL. I was sent to see him by Garren and Kim Cone fromwww.avetproject.org Dr. Fairchild is a former military officer who truly cares for those when he was in the military as well as for us Veterans. And he also realized that many with TBI and PTSD were being wrongly diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and losing their benefits. Here is his link for those who need to be seen.http://baytreebehavioralhealth.com/fairchild_scott.php

My Loss:

I have also recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Between having TBI, PTSD, and Alzheimer's, my life has changed so much from the person I was when I came into the military. I use to get told all the time I was a walking phone book. All you have to do was ask me a person's name and I could tell you from the top of my head their address and phone number. Most times I could even tell you their birthdays all from memory. Amazing how good my memory was and how bad it has gotten. For instance, I know my way around places and never needed a map, or a GPS. I knew how to read a map before I went into the military. Now I cannot find my way around town where I have lived for years. And places I have been to a week before, I find myself getting lost trying to find it if I do so depending on my memory. I have to use the GPS just to drive around in my own town. I have to write daily notes on things I gotta do for each day, or I forget. I have a note app on my phone which makes it easier than having sticky notes all over the place. I have something on my mind to do, go from the room I am in to the room I need to be in and then forget why I went in there. And there are people in my life that I could not remember I knew them before the military. There are times I do things, and do not remember doing them.

My Methods:

The few ways or methods I use to beat it (rather use the word deal with it) is like I said above, I use a phone app with sticky notes on it. I also use a GPS wherever I go. I don't trust it to my memory anymore. I will see where is I am suppose to go then Google an address. Then put it in my GPS. I do get frustrated as this was not the person I was prior to the military. I had a 2 year college degree. The way I help others to so called beat the system is to pass on the information that was given to me, as well as be there for them and help them fight their battle with them. We are all battle buddies. We may not like each other and be best of friends. We may not agree with each other’s politics. But we took an oath. And we also promised to leave no man behind. And that includes when we get out of the military. Our brothers and sisters are fighting a battle with the system. We need to do all that we can to help each other and strengthen each other with knowledge. – Sweet Candy