Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath
by Michael Paul Mason
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Book Summary Information
Author: Michael Paul MasonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-04-28
ISBN: 0374531951
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Book Reviews of Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath
Book Review: "Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath" Does Exactly as it Promises.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath" comes through on all of its promises, telling the heartbreaking stories of brain injury survivors, describing the difficulties in finding adequate care and adjusting back to `life as usual.' The stories are told from the vantage point of a brain injury case manager who travels the country, meets with people on the receiving end of traumatic brain injuries, and acts as an advocate for their treatment and recovery. From the cases resulting from natural causes, to those caused by disastrous sports injuries, to the full recoveries, and the patients still toiling in the endless circles of confusion and pain: Michael Mason covers it all and opens your eyes to the daily reality of living with a traumatic brain injury.
Mason, a brain injury case manager, paints his life as a man who is forever in his car -- fighting constantly to get brain injury survivors into rehabilitation facilities capable of managing the catastrophic effects yielded by such injuries. "Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath" is an intimate look into the stories heard from the survivors and families of survivors outlining the utter lack of resources available and the hardships in obtaining care for a condition that affects 1.4 million USAmericans each year. The book tells the story of 12 brain injury survivors coming from all walks of life: athletes, children, and soldiers. Soon after beginning you'll see just how unforgiving brain injuries are as the survivors tell stories of severe epilepsy, unraveling families, and diminishing careers. And with each story bits of science are strewn about, mentioning the dangers of swelling in closed head injuries and describing the effects of axonal shearing. At the core, however, each story is a tragedy. Mr. Mason is careful to remind the reader that each survivor led a radically different life prior to their injury and feels stifled by the limitations placed upon them by their damaged brain.
Style:
The style of the book is nearly autobiographical. Mason tells not only the story from the vantage point of the survivor, but also offers up his own first-person encounters with (near) brain injury and his personal stories that attach him to the people he works with. The book is not written as a dry medical record; the subjects are people rather than patients and their tales are stories not medical charts filled with scientific jargon.
Examples and Opinions (spoiler alert):
The story of Mellissa Felteau was one that struck me as particularly extraordinary. Melissa suffered a traumatic brain injury after a winter car crash and, even after treatment, the former public relations director found herself unable to remember names or write complete sentences. The changes led a self-described "healthy northern girl" to withdraw from friendships and step down from her managerial position. However, in a moment of clarity Melissa realized that comparing herself to her preinjury self was not worthwhile and began focusing her energy on living with her deficits. Melissa slowly regained abilities to interact with friends and has even started research programs applying mindfulness-based therapy on brain injury survivors. Her successes reflect the necessity for brain injury survivors to accept a new view of life post-injury and while there will, invariably, need to be changes made to their lifestyles, functionality and success are viable options despite deficits caused by an injury.
Another story demonstrating the potential severity of a brain injury is that of Doug Bearden, who was convinced he was dead. The Bearden family noticed Doug had been acting strangely (olfactory hallucinations, confusion, etc) but let it go without much regard. Later, Doug went missing and was hospitalized after being found sleeping under bushes. It was determined that Doug was suffering from herpes encephalitis, a viral infection of the central nervous system usually caused by herpes simplex virus 1. The damage done by the infection to Doug's brain left him impulsive and overcome with the belief that he had died no matter how many times he was told otherwise. The bizarre effects of Doug's injury serve as an example of how varied and all encompassing the effects of traumatic brain injuries can be--a theme explored on several occasions throughout the book.
Access to Quality Care:
Another theme carried throughout the book is the difficulty survivors have procuring sufficient treatment for their injuries. It is brought to the reader's attention in nearly every chapter that not only is the recovery process long and arduous, but it is also incredibly expensive. It seems that an integral part of every story recounted is not only the fight to finance rehabilitation services, but also to merely gain access to suitable rehabilitation centers. Mason points out early on that over 90% of the beds at specialty brain injury rehabilitation centers are occupied at any time, further decreasing the chances of a survivor receiving the care they need. Also noted by Mason is that a traumatic brain injury will cost over four million dollars to treat over a lifetime, creating an enormous financial burden on the families of traumatic brain injury survivors.
Quotes from "Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath":
"Traumatic brain injury strikes with the concussive ferocity of a bomb; woe to those near its epicenter."
"We come to realize we are whole, no matter the deficits, and that there is more right with us than there is wrong. To really embrace that is transformative."
"Daniel's brain injury forced Shane to devote and inordinate amount of time challenging Nebraska's health and human services system. He likened it to taking on a full-time job on top of the one he already had..."
Summary:
In "Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath" Mason demonstrates an amazing ability to humanize the survivors of traumatic brain injuries and allow the reader to relate to people and their families who have suffered an innumerable loss, often with little assistance during the recovery process. He takes the stories that often go unheard and tells them eloquently, while simultaneously advocating for better treatment options to be made available to survivors of traumatic brain injury. I would recommend the book to anyone looking to be amazed by the complexity and fragility of the human mind (and doubly to anyone looking for inspiration to wear a helmet.)
Summary of Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath
Head Cases takes us into the dark side of the brain in an astonishing sequence of stories, at once true and strange, from the world of brain damage. Michael Paul Mason is one of an elite group of experts who coordinate care in the complicated aftermath of tragic injuries that can last a lifetime. On the road with Mason, we encounter survivors of brain injuries as they struggle to map and make sense of the new worlds they inhabit.
Underlying each of these survivors? stories is an exploration of the brain and its mysteries. When injured, the brain must figure out how to heal itself, reorganizing its physiology in order to do the job. Mason gives us a series of vivid glimpses into brain science, the last frontier of medicine, and we come away in awe of the miracles of the brain?s workings and astonished at the fragility of the brain and the sense of self, life, and order that resides there. Head Cases ?[achieves] through sympathy and curiosity insight like that which pulses through genuine literature? (The New York Sun); it is at once illuminating and deeply affecting.
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