Pedaling to get life back after head injury
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CONCUSSIONS
Familiarize yourself with what to do for what may seem like mild concussion. Most symptoms are not long-term, but in the event of trauma, this is uncertain.
Symptoms within two weeks:
● Tiredness - Get rest; your brain is dictating this.
● Poor concentration - Again rest. Restart a project later.
● Irritability - Recognize it and try to relax.
● Dizziness - Inner ear may be affected and condition is usually short-term.
● Clumsiness - Take special care in dangerous situations, such as crossing the street.
● Eye problems - Bright light is more glaring. Get expert help if this doesn't clear up.
● Headache - It's natural. Work within limits of fatigue.
If symptoms don't disappear:
● Seek professional help after two weeks: See a doctor, a psychologist and a social worker.
● Organize help: Get help with money and family problems. Counseling may be necessary to alleviate depression.
● Organize a daily routine: Use frequent rest and gradually increase.
● Learn to explain your injury: Friends, employers and workmates must realize there is a reason for your symptoms.
Source: Medic & Family Health Guide
THE LONG ROAD BACK
With no concise diagnosis of severe head trauma, Lee Katterman's recovery had to rely on cognitive therapy. The therapy was directed toward creating correct neuropaths in the brain again. "The first two years are critical," he says.
His therapy consisted of:
Relearning to read - He could recognize the basic alphabet, so it was not a complete blank sheet. Picture books helped.
Relearning to write - Writing cursive was and is still difficult; he had to concentrate on printing.
Doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles - The brain needed work, repetition and creativity.
Relearning to drive - Recalling things through exercise that were once rote and refamiliarizing brain patterns.
Refamiliarizing living patterns - Example: He had no knowledge post-accident of a cooking hobby.
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From Calculus III to a first- grade level of learning was the traumatic aftermath of Lee Katterman's freak bicycle accident nine years ago.
Becoming a successful Tucson businessman today is the result of a long and painful road back.
"I owned a bicycle shop (R&R Bicycles, Ina and Thornydale roads) at the time and was just taking a bike from the store to the office and riding through the parking lot," Katterman, 32, says. "When I jumped a curb the fork of the (mountain bike) fell away and I landed on my head."
The trauma to the brain's frontal lobe was so severe, spinal fluid dripped from Katterman's ears, his wife, Jene, recalls. "When he'd move, his brain would sit on his skull, so we had to be very careful."
Katterman was sent home from a hospital emergency room that night instead of being hospitalized, Jene says, something that aggravated his immediate condition.
"Then weird things started to happen," Katterman says. "I couldn't remember things. I couldn't remember people I knew well. I had had a photographic memory and I would go out of the house now doing things like forgetting my pants."
An aspiring engineer and Pima Community College student at the time, Katterman had to give up his beloved math forever and now has to use a calculator for everything. He also has to put his entire day's agenda into a Palm Pilot. With cognitive therapy, he had to go back to a basic first-grade level to learn to read and write and it was years before he could drive a car again.
But this didn't stop him from reinventing his life with nothing going for him but his will, which fortunately no brain injury could touch. A few years later, he helped organized the popular 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo fall bicycle event, and today, he is a successful real estate agent.
"He would get frustrated and do things like pull the phone out of the wall," Jene says. "His brain waves were not connecting, and he couldn't remember how to accomplish something. Handling everyday life was the hardest thing, but we had to be patient. We just knew we had to rise to the occasion."
Katterman says his personality is changed now to the point he is still easygoing but more of a "cut-and-dry, get-things-done guy," which he admits helps him in a cutthroat business.
Inspiration?
"It was my wife," he says, "and my son. He was 3 at the time of the accident. One of the few things I remembered clearly was his birth, when they cut the umbilical cord. He was something to live for."
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