By Richard Senelick, M.D. & Karla Dougherty
Second Edition (2001)
Richard Senelick directs the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Institute in San Antonio, Texas. Karla Dougherty is the senior writer for HealthSouth Press. Together, they have written a book that—in our opinion—is the best single source of brain injury information for families. If you’re going to read only one book, this should be that book. (Note: This book addresses only traumatic brain injuries, not other types, such as strokes.)
Living with Brain Injury answers most of the questions asked by those new to brain injury. It’s easy to read (with one exception) and can be digested in small portions. This is important because this book should be read by families—as soon as possible—after their loved one is injured.
When I first picked up Living with a Brain Injury a few days after Jessica’s accident, I found much of Chapter 1, “An Anatomy Lesson,” rough going. I’m not sure any writer could explain the complex operations of the brain in a manner that is understood easily by traumatized family members. I quickly moved on to the other more accessible chapters.
Chapters 2-4 describe what happens to the brain when it’s injured and the types and degrees of brain injury. Chapter 5 introduces the diagnostic and predictive tools used by medical personnel to treat survivors. When you finish these chapters, you’ll be well-versed in the most important brain injury lingo.
When Jessica’s doctors told me she would be changed forever by her brain injury, I turned to Chapters 6-8, which describe, in lay language, the most common physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms suffered by survivors.
Chapter 9, "How to Pick the Right Rehabilitation Hospital," by itself is worth the cost of the book. In it, Senelick and Dougherty list fifteen components that every rehabilitation program should include. But, after a recent rereading of Living with Brain Injury, Jessica wonders—in this era of managed care—if any rehab facility can effectively provide all of these services and not go broke. Buyer beware of false or overly ambitious advertising.
Weeks after Jessica's injury, when she was emerging from her coma, confused and in pain, I was close to losing hope that the Jessica I loved would ever return. Throughout Living with Brain Injury, Senelick and Dougherty assure their readers that people recover well from a brain injury every day. Chapters 10 and 11 write about the rehabilitation personnel and processes that will help your survivor recover as well as possible. Chapter 12 provides even more hope in its description of the amazing ability of the brain to rewire itself around damaged areas.
Returning home from the hospital presents new challenges to both survivors and caregivers. The final two chapters address these issues.
Throughout Living with a Brain Injury, the authors use sidebars to personalize and illustrate the information provided. However, they can be disruptive to some readers, especially survivors using this book to help them make sense of their new world. Jessica found the sidebars confusing as she tried to move between them and the text. Survivors might want to skip the sidebars on first reading.
My only gripe with this valuable resource—and it's a minor one—is that it lacks a glossary. We hope the authors are working on the third edition.