Brain Injury

Who hasn't had a rough day? What if that 'rough day' ended up spanning the course of years? And, it was invisible to others? Hannah's life was going great. She was a stylist with high profile clients in Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and Miami. Her talk show host career was taking off, but in one split second, everything changed. She was in a serious auto accident, left with a traumatic brain injury - and post-concussion syndrome, which results in threatening depression.

In Concussion Rescue, Dr. Kabran Chapek shares the programs and protocols that he uses at the Amen Clinics to put patients on the pathway to healing from traumatic brain injury. From general assessment using sophisticated tools (SPECT imaging, MRIs, and CAT scans) to very specific blood tests (out-of-balance lab values in blood can point to symptoms of brain injury and may explain why the brain is not healing), Dr. Chapek guides listeners to getting the proper medical care.

Annie Liontas suffered multiple concussions in her thirties. In Sex with a Brain Injury, she writes about what it means to be one of the “walking wounded,” facing her fear, her rage, her physical suffering, and the effects of head trauma on her marriage and other relationships. Forced to reckon with her own queer mother’s battle with addiction, Liontas finds echoes in their pain. Liontas weaves history, philosophy, and personal accounts to interrogate and expand representations of mental health, ability, and disability—particularly in relation to women and the LGBT community.

To Root and to Rise is a powerful resource for anyone living with a traumatic brain injury, post-concussion syndrome, stroke, brain tumor, or other brain trauma, for family caregivers and friends of brain injury survivors, for brain injury support groups, and for medical and neuro-rehabilitation professionals.

A traumatic brain injury is a life-changing event, affecting an individual's lifestyle, ability to work, relationships - even personality. A severe blow to the head results in acute and, often, lasting symptoms. People with brain injury benefit from understanding, patience, and assistance in recovering their bearings and functioning to their full abilities. Neuropsychiatrists Drs. Vani Rao and Sandeep Vaishnavi - experts in helping people heal after head trauma - explain how traumatic brain injury, whether mild, moderate, or severe, affects the brain.

In Sex in the Brain, Amee Baird explores memorable cases of brain injuries and disease that have effected significant changes in sexual behavior and reveals what these exceptional stories have to say about human sexuality. Each chapter includes striking personal accounts, many from individuals Baird has met in her clinical practice, of unexpected changes in sexuality. Until now these fascinating, frightening, and funny stories have been hidden in medical journals or untold outside of the clinical setting. This book offers unique insight into how the brain controls sex life.

In January 1996, a van speeding through a red light ended the life Kara Swanson had known. She suddenly joined the two million Americans who suffer brain injury each year. It was like being thrust into a foreign country with no map, no way to speak the language, no directions home. Written with laugh-out-loud humor, candor, and technical input from medical and legal professionals, I'll Carry the Fork! offers inspiration and practical help to anyone dealing with the aftermath of brain injury. Because, as Kara says, "Sometimes when your life ends, you don't actually die."

 The Concussion Repair Manual is created as a user’s guide for those suffering after head traumas and those who support them. It is one-part “textbook”, packed with the leading research on medical technologies for healing the injured brain, and one-part “workbook”, offering a step-by-step method for making and tracking a personalized recovery regimen. 

After an accident that left him permanently paralyzed over ten years ago, Dr. Bradford Berk made it his mission to help others recover from acute neurological injury (ANI). As the founder and director of the University of Rochester Neurorestoration Institute, he brings his abundant experience in working with patients and making his own ongoing recovery to Getting Your Brain and Body Back, the most up-to-date guide for survivors of spinal cord injury (SCI), stroke, and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Lost in My Mind is a stunning memoir describing Kelly Bouldin Darmofal's journey from adolescent girl to special education teacher, wife and mother - despite severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Spanning three decades, Kelly's journey is unique in its focus on TBI education in America (or lack thereof).

Now, in his most powerful and important book yet, Game Change, Ken Dryden tells the riveting story of one player’s life, examines the intersection between science and sport, and expertly documents the progression of the game of hockey—where it began, how it got to where it is, where it can go from here and, just as exciting to play and watch, how it can get there.

Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children—Lucy, Charlie, and nine-month-old Linus.

When a 200-pound glass partition fell on Donna Fado Ivery's head resulting in brain injury, disability, and chronic pain, she could no longer count on walking, speaking, or thinking. How would she care for her infant, her preschooler, her husband, and herself? How would she continue to serve as pastor? With humor and humility, this inspirational memoir speaks to Donna’s struggle through medical, social, and church prejudice with the abiding support of family and the Holy Spirit.

When PhD candidate Sarah Vallance is thrown from a horse and suffers a jarring blow to the head, she believes she walks away unscathed. The next morning, things take a sharp turn as she’s quickly led from work to the emergency room. By the end of the week, a neurologist delivers a devastating prognosis: Sarah suffered a traumatic brain injury that has caused her IQ to plummet, with no hope of recovery. Her brain has irrevocably changed.

On an uncharacteristically warm February day in Texas, a young couple sets off in search of a new adventure. The quiet, isolated woods of the resort offer the perfect setting for a romantic weekend for two. They challenge each other to an ATV ride and start off energized, excited, and ready to explore. The adventure that follows, however, is not what they anticipated. After crossing several cattle guards successfully, Donna Valentino attempts to navigate another - only to crash into an almost invisible chain.

Akasha demystifies the alternative healing modalities that will help you recover from a traumatic brain injury and move out of the space of PTSD into a calmer, more peaceful existence. The extraordinary journey the book takes you on through the chaotic experience of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury will touch your heart and inspire you to believe in yourself and what you are capable of. It is put in terms easy to understand how the modalities work, and what they do for you. This is a great guide book for those unfamiliar with alternative healing. 

When her husband, Alan, is injured in a speedboat accident, Cathy Crimmins reluctantly assumes the role of caregiver and learns to cope with the person he has become. No longer the man who loved obscure Japanese cinema and wry humor, Crimmins’ husband has emerged from the accident a childlike and unpredictable replica of his former self with a short attention span and a penchant for inane cartoons. Where Is the Mango Princess? is a breathtaking account that explores the very nature of personality - and the complexities of the heart.

In 2002, while on a training run in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Raul, in preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon, author Kristin Abello was struck by a car. As a result, she sustained a traumatic brain injury and other physical traumas. The initial consensus was that she wasn’t going to survive. In Sunrise, she tells her story of faith, love, hope, and healing from TBI. While a love story, it is also the true story of her fight for survival. She and Raul were a young couple in love when the catastrophic car accident nearly pulled them apart.

The remarkable story of an ordinary man who was transformed when a traumatic injury left him with an extraordinary gift. No one sees the world as Jason Padgett does. Water pours from the faucet in crystalline patterns, numbers call to mind distinct geometric shapes, and intricate fractal patterns emerge from the movement of tree branches, revealing the intrinsic mathematical designs hidden in the objects around us. Yet Padgett wasn’t born this way. Twelve years ago, he had never made it past pre-algebra. But a violent mugging forever altered the way his brain works.

Life entails inevitable challenges. To surmount these battles, we each seek for various mechanisms. This particular audiobook on dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is developed for those who are struggling with borderline personality disorder (BPD), depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders. It will also be a great resource for those who have loved ones beset by the same issues.