Open Letter to the President of the United States of America.
1/24/2020
Dear Mr. President,
Your role as a leader of the free world is the most important in the Republic, in ours….these United States and all her territories. Your role affords you the ability to maintain influence, direction, opinions, and historical precedence through each of your spoken words, deeds, and continued representation of various topics.
While I understand you are not a medical professional, nor have received any form of medical training Mr. President…you only need do a simple internet search on an internet browser of your choosing…. to read about the extensive life changing effects of Traumatic Brain Injury.
These medical facts are documented by a multitude of research/studies, medical professionals/experts, well respected organizations, survivors, and our very own Military.
Please understand, how recently, you painted an illustrative picture to the world about your seemingly misguided and uninformed statement about the lack of seriousness brain injuries cause.
Mr. President the potential life changing affects of Brain Injuries (also called Concussions by those not aware of the proper updated terminology) are VERY SERIOUS.
I was listening to your statements of ……..
[Mr. President] “No, I heard that they had headaches, and a couple of other things, but I would say, and I can report, it’s not very serious,”
[reporter asks] “So you don’t consider potential traumatic brain injury serious?”
[Mr. President] “They told me about it numerous days later, you’d have to ask Department of Defense, “I don’t consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries that I’ve seen.”
“I’ve seen what Iran has done with their roadside bombs to our troops. I’ve seen people with no legs and with no arms. I’ve seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area, that war,” Trump said.
“No, I do not consider that to be bad injuries, no,”
Mr. President, I feel it imperative to provide you with the proper information on the campaign to bring global awareness to the effects of Brain Injuries. Awareness that even the White House seems to be in much need of….. so as to represent the dire importance of presenting the consequences accurately to the masses.
The effects of Brain Injuries can be long lasting or even permanent. While recovery and rehabilitation are possible, most people with brain injuries will face life challenges that will require them to adapt and adjust to a new reality where permanent physical or mental disability, and sometimes even death are the very real SERIOUS EFFECTS of their lives after sustaining that injury (or series of injuries). Even patients who appear to fully recover after treatment and rehabilitation may have some long-term symptoms that never go away or fully resolve. These changes may cause an inability to return to their life in the same capacity that they had before their injury.
Indeed Mr. President, injuries to the body, whether visible or not visible, can be equally life changing.
The statement you gave was partially correct in as one of the many symptoms of brain injury does include “headache”…..however there is so much more.
SOME of the other changes other than headaches include an alteration in:
physical realm (sleep, hormonal, neurological, balance, nervous system, endocrine system, appetite, fatigue, etc);
an alteration in cognitive processes ( memory issues, distractability, impulsiveness, mood disorders, language, mental processing time, confusion, etc);
an alteration of senses (sight, vision, phtophobia, double vision, smell, taste, hearing, tinnitus (ringing in ears): aphasia (difficulty with talking or expressing ideas, understanding everyday language, and problems with reading and writing),
and development of PTS (post traumatic stress) and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) can also be present along with, or secondary to, the brain inury or polytrauma event(s).
[not an exhaustive list by any means]
Mr. President, despite the amazing advances in medicine, research by scientists, and active steps taken to develop treatment plans by our own Military; there are still more discoveries to be made and more work to be done.
Devotion of time and much needed funds, resources, and bipartisan support is still necessary to bring awareness and education about brain injuries to the forefront by not only you, but our other Leaders in our Government, private, and public sectors .
We must recognize this as a valuable opportunity to address this as what it actually is….a call to action about this – an International medical crisis.
We must figure out how best to treat those with Brain injuries, help them live their best lives, and be open to various methodologies and alternative sources of therapies that are allowed and covered by our insurance companies as to support the best outcomes.
Mr. President, you must know as soon as possible that despite early diagnosis and treatment of Brain Injuries, the fact remains that brain injury will be a life-changing experience for many patients.
So….in a word Sir….S E R I O U S !
HOPE for Life,
Caren Robinson – United States Citizen
Polytrauma and Brain Injury Survivor
HOPE TBI 