The 2nd TBI - My parent's version of events. (4th Post)
By age 10, I was madly in love with climbing trees. The best part of the climb was to be able to reach the top of a tree. From my perch, in the treetops, I could enjoy the surrounding vistas and daydream with the clouds. Also, I felt totally safe and content in the arms of a tree. I would spend hours exploring and enjoying a tree. My mom once told me, if she could not find me in our house she would just look outside to the nearest trees and there I would among them. My first tree adventure was in the backyard of our house. Near the middle of the yard stood a 30-foot orchard apple tree. An orchard apple tree does not have thorns like wild apple trees. And its leaves are so soft and downy to the touch. Our orchard apple tree yielded juicy red apples. When the apples were in season and ripe I would climb to the middle of the tree and shake the branches. Apples fell to the ground. i gathered the apples in big straw baskets. My mom would magically transform the apples into delicious pies.
In 1960, at age 10, I suffered a 2nd Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) to the exact same area of my forehead - which had been impacted by the first TBI at age 5. As in the 1950s concussions were still an overlooked and undertreated medical event. The only visible evidence of my first TBI at age 5 is a small horizontal scar in the middle of my forehead. The 2nd TBI left a larger visible reminder; a long vertical scar that starts at the top of my forehead and ends at the bridge of my nose. To this very day, I still wonder what are the odds of 2 TBI’s in the same location? I should be so lucky with lottery tickets.
As with the first TBI, I have episodic amnesia concerning the day of the event. I regained consciousness 2 days after the TBI occurred. I opened my eyes, I was laying in my bed, my head was aching so I place my right hand on my forehead, unexpectedly felt a huge thick gauze bandage, panic surged through my body, and I screamed “WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!!!
My parents appeared at my bedroom door. Once I was calmer my parents told me I had fallen and had a forehead wound. They explained what happened. We began the day with a trip to Luray Caverns in Luray Virginia which is 2 hours from where we lived in Arlington, Virginia. Given the drive, we decided to make a day of it. First, we toured the Caverns. Afterward, we went to a picnic area in the mountains surrounding the town of Luray to have a late lunch. After I finished eating I announced my plan to go find a tree to climb.
My older and younger sisters did not go with me. Mary said she would join me. Mary was the daughter of a family friend. Mary was a guest at our home for the summer. My parents said Mary was the only person who witnessed my fall from the tree. They informed me of information Mary had shared with them. Mary said she and I climbed to the top of a tree. We were sitting on separate branches. However, both our feet were positioned on the same single branch below us. The branch broke. I fell along with the descending branch. Mary did not fall. She climbed down the tree.
My parents heard my screams and said they somehow knew it was me. All the people at the picnic site heard me. Everyone ran in the direction of my terror-filled voice. They found me lying face down on the ground. My forehead was resting on a small pile of rocks. Then an unforeseen blessing occurred. A doctor and his family were at the picnic area. The doctor had a first aid kit. He cleaned and bandaged my head as best he could. He told my parents I needed surgery. He said to take me to the local hospital in Luray. He told my father to carry me down the mountain.
During my surgery, a doctor came out of the operating room to speak to my parents. He said he saw evidence of an earlier forehead wound. He asked for the cause of the wound. My parents told him about my forehead injury at age 5. He then asked my mother to come into the operating room. He said they needed to keep me talking during surgery. He said I was mostly unresponsive to the medical team. He thought my mother’s familiar voice might help. In the operating room, mom and I talked throughout my surgery. After post-op, the doctor said I could travel. My parents converted the back area of our station wagon into a make-shift bed. We drove the 2 hours back. I do not remember the past two days after the injury. My parents told me I had been talking to them, eating meals, and sitting up in bed. The doctor told them, they needed to watch me for a year for grand mal seizures. If no seizures occured that meant I was fine. Also, my parents hoped sooner or later I would remember what actually caused my fall. My parents asked me to let them know if I remembered anything at all about the fall. They also informed me Mary would be leaving us next week to go stay with her uncle and aunt.
I never did have a grand mal seizure. Everyone said I was fine. However, in addition to the challenging changes after the first TBI occurred - I began to experience even more challenges. In 2019, when I was finally diagnosed with TBI, the neurologist ordered a seizure test. The results were inconclusive. Consequently, the test will be repeated in the future. My parents are deceased. After the TBI diagnosis, I talked at length with my younger sister as to what she remembered about my fall from the tree. She said “ I have even fewer memories of that day than you have - I know though there is no way you fell out of that tree - I think Mary pushed you. Witnesses of traumatic events may experience what is known as secondary trauma. Perhaps my sister has so few memories of that fateful day due to secondary trauma. Maybe I will never know how it came to pass I fell from a tree. I do though really wish I knew.
I do though have fragmented memories about that day and many days after.