Neuro Note #1

We have been talking about different types of TBI's (traumatic brain injuries) in class and the effects coma can have on the brain. As I was sitting in class listening to the coma lecture, I remembered a guy from college that got hit by a boat and lived to tell his story. His story does not compare to what the research says about TBI's and coma. His story is an exception to the rule. 

Tyson Ward had just finished his junior year at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga (UTC). He was spending his summer at home with his family. Something that he and his dad loved to do was compete in bass fishing competitions. They went out on the lake a few hours one night to practice, because Tyson would be competing in his first competition by himself that weekend. That night Tyson's mom got a call no mother or wife wants to get. It was about a boating accident that her son and husband had been in and they were both critical.

The blog that Tyson wrote recounts his version of the story and what family and friends told him happened. It goes into detail of what he experienced from the accident till he returned for his senior year at UTC. In his blog he describes the affects of the 99 day coma he experienced. Because he was in a coma, he lost alot of weight. He described his weight loss as a sign that his body was trying to heal. He recounts it as follows, "I was told with the kinds of injuries I had experienced, and the severity to which my injuries went, my body was losing 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day. Being in a coma isn’t just lying around in a bed all day doing nothing. A coma is a time when your brain and your body are working serious overtime trying to repair whatever has been damaged. It was explained to me in this way, your brain chooses to go into a coma when your brain is not in good enough shape to keep you in an awake/aware state and repair all your body’s injuries. Your brain is able to intelligently make the choice that your body is in no sort of shape or circumstance to where it would be getting anything positive done by being in an awake state, so your body chooses to stay in a comatose state so that your brain has more energy devoted to it to repairing itself. But when your body is in bad enough shape to make this decision, your brain is obviously going to need some serious repair, which is how doctors could look at my situation, and tell my mom that my brain was burning 2-3,000 calories a day, just trying to get itself back up and running again." I like how Tyson phrased this. From examining coma in class, I look at a person in a coma in a negative way. It is a problem that a person has and the outcome from coma is usually not good. The outcomes usually have lifelong limitations with performing ADL's. While Tyson has experienced some limitations from his TBI and coma, his description of an individual being in a coma is one that gives hope. It again proves that every TBI is different. As health professionals, we tey to standarize diagnosis. It is good to know the standard for a diagnosis, but we have to keep in mind that there may be an exception to our standard that happens every so often.

The medical staff that helped Tyson recover, were amazing. Tyson notes the dedication as faithful to him and the career they choose. This is seen in the following section from Tyson's blog, "I have been told that while I was recovering from surgery in my bed at Shepherd Center, therapists would take time to do therapies with me (it was a brain injury hospital), but they were getting the same response that the people from Select Specialty in Nashville were getting, pretty much nowhere. But they kept at it, doing their job and doing all they could day after day, to which I owe them the world if I could give it to them." They did not give up on Tyson, nor did they discount what they were doing was helping in a way that was unseen to them at the time. After he woke from coma, he had multiple therapists including occupational therapists. They helped him relearn his ADL's and IADL's. Tyson used the example of relearning to brush his teeth with his left hand. His right hand contracted while he was in a coma. He was use to doing things with his right hand, it felt weird to consider his left hand the dominant hand now. 

The biggest take away I have from reading Tyson's blog is that every diagnosis of a TBI and coma is different. As health professionals we can try to predict what will happen to better prepare an individuals family. But each brain is different and will react different ly to the trauma received. An occupational therapists job is to be faithful to a client and the goals for that person to provide the best therapy for them. 


Ward, T. (2017, April 18). I got hit by a boat. Retrieved from: http://igothitbyaboat.webstarts.com/