TBI and a Frozen Bag of Vegetables

JR numbs his headache pain with frozen veggies, he is particularly fond of cauliflower.

Tonight, I'm watching the finale of Lost and JR is sitting next to me in his recliner, asleep. Underneath his neck is a frozen bag of mixed vegetables. He has a major headache tonight. He always has a constant headache, usually a 3 on the 1-10 pain level used by the military and the VA. It fluctuates from a 3 to a 10. At a 3, he can tolerate the pain, go on with his daily business. When the level raises, his resistance goes down. Tonight it went up to a 10...

It is difficult of me to watch him suffer, as it is with any spouse who feels helpless when a loved one is in pain. It seems to me that there has to be a solution. We go to the VA at least once a week if not more, searching for answers and we often leave empty handed. In regards to his headaches and TBI, we often hear, "Don't worry, you'll get the claim," - a reference to the TBI disability claim that we filed last year. I wish they could understand, it's not about the money. We just want help. We just want to know that one day, JR will wake up with no headaches.

Often our posts on this blog are informative and/or light hearted. Life is not always like that. We try to focus on the positive, but sometimes this TBI/PTSD interferes. For example, today we won amazing tickets to the Dodgers at a local church bazaar. We were overjoyed because the tickets our on our 1st anniversary. And then the level 10 headache occurs and brings him down physically. We just thought we should be honest with our PTSD/TBI struggles. And don't get us wrong... it could be worse and we are thankful that JR has mild TBI, and is not a severe case. I just can't help but wonder if we sought solutions in the private medical sector, would we have better results? We can't really afford the private health care required for TBI, leaving the VA as our primary health care. We are doing Neurofeedback thanks to the generosity of our clinician Kimberly Smith (for more on that, please see our original post here) which is helping with the PTSD, but TBI may require more medical care.

We know we aren't the only ones dealing with these TBI symptoms including headaches, fatigue, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, depression, etc. We recognize these symptoms so it is a little baffling that the doctors don't seem as concerned as we feel they should be. They tell us JR has mild TBI, but have yet to offer a solution (we know there may not be one) or a recovery plan (physical, mental rehab?).

If anyone has any information on mild TBI or navigating the VA, we would love more information. I research every aspect that I can and will continue to research, ask questions, and find answers. Not only for JR, but for all the other veterans that are experiencing the same issues.

~ Nicole

Originally posted on PTSDdiary.com, 5/24/10