By Dorothy Gronwell, Philip Wrightson, and Peter Waddel
Second Edition (1998)
If you’re like me, one family guide is not enough. Head Injury: The Facts, published by Oxford University Press, is another family guide well worth your time and money. Don't be put off by the 1998 publication date, the unfamiliar spellings (the authors are New Zealanders), or the use of the obsolete term “head injury” rather than “brain injury.” This book is packed with useful information and complements Living with Brain Injury nicely. We recommend that you read both books.
Throughout Head Injury: The Facts, the authors effectively thread case histories of three very different survivors: a daredevil, academically challenged 11-year-old boy; a 20-year-old heavy-drinking, carpenter’s apprentice; and a 42-year-old super-mom, juggling a demanding career and a family.
The book opens with an easy-to-read, informative tutorial on what happens to the brain when it’s injured and the different types of brain injury.
In Chapter 3, the reader is walked through the stages of hospital treatment. The chapter ends with a brief discussion of the different degrees of brain injury.
Chapter 4 talks about what happens after the hospital. Some patients with mild to moderate injuries go home, perhaps, with a plan for outpatient rehabilitation. Patients with moderate to severe injuries move to inpatient rehabilitation, which is addressed briefly.
Chapter 5 describes the typical, long-lasting cognitive, emotional and behavioral sequelae of a brain injury. Chapter 6 follows with a discussion of the physical impairments caused by a brain injury. The chapter also addresses language and communication problems, sensory deficits, and stress.
Chapter 7 is a series of short, but instructive, descriptions of the special needs of particular groups of survivors—small children, school-age children, the elderly, the psychiatric patient, the substance abuser, women, parents, partners, and survivors of mild brain injuries.
Chapter 8 addresses the unanswerable questions: when will he wake up, when will he walk and talk, when will he leave the hospital, and how much will he recover. If you’re reading this review, you probably already are well acquainted with your doctors’ typical and increasingly frustrating response to many of your questions, "We’ll just have to wait and see." This chapter does a nice job of explaining why doctors are unable to give definitive answers to these questions
Chapter 9 covers returning to work and school. It provides useful pointers for making this big step more successful. Many people living with a brain injury are never able to return to work or school. If this is your situation, the book’s authors have a few suggestions for you too.
After speaking with many survivors and caregivers, we’ve been surprised to learn that far too many longtime survivors are still struggling mightily. Chapter 10 addresses many of the issues that can impede a successful recovery. The chapter ends with a few words on the survivor's altered family, social, and work situation.
Head Injury: The Facts covers a lot of topics. Some areas are mentioned only briefly. But the reader will finish the book with a good, overall picture of the likely problems they and their survivor will encounter.