Brain, Heal Thyself: A Caregiver's New Approach to Recovery from Stroke, Aneurism, and Traumatic Brain Injury

203 Pages·2006·1.3 MB·English

by  Madonna Siles

This book demonstrates one practical application of an emerging truth in the
healing arts—that creating a positively energized home environment is an
important aspect in recovery from any disorder, including brain trauma.
—Nikki Marie Welch, M.D., M.D.(H), Sedona, Arizona
This book is a page-turner. The author's humor and vivid writing drew me in
immediately. I had to keep reading until I found out how these women, using
their life experiences, made the impossible real.
—Suzanne Zuercher, clinical psychologist and author of two books:
Enneagram
Spirituality and Enneagram

Brain, Heal Thyself is a compelling tale of resiliency and grace. Siles relates
her experiences with honesty and humor, offering substantive insights to
professionals, caregivers, and stroke victims themselves. Eve's ongoing
recovery, which I've been privileged to witness, is testimony to the power and
dignity of the human spirit. An inspiring, encouraging work.
—Thea Jarvis, Eve's college roommate and author of The Gift of
Grandparenting
Brain, Heal Thyself is a well-written, engaging story of devotion, tenacity and
a miraculous recovery from devastating trauma.
—Thomas W. Phelan, Ph.D., author of
1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline
for Children 2–12

Copyright © 2006
by Madonna Siles
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work in any form
whatsoever, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief
passages in connection with a review.

Cover design by Steve Amarillo Cover art © Jupitermedia Corporation. All
rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Siles, Madonna.

Brain, heal thyself : a caregiver's new approach to recovery from stroke,
aneurysm, and traumatic brain injuries / Madonna Siles.
p. cm.
Summary: “Part memoir, part recovery manual, Brain, Heal Thyself is a
guidebook for unexpected caregivers. Siles recounts moment-by-moment the
journey of her friend Eve's near-fatal aneurysm to ER to rehab center to at-
home care and, finally, to recovery. Includes visualizations and subliminal
methods for invoking the power of emotions and the subconscious mind in the
healing process”--Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57174-476-2 (5 1/2 x 8 1/2 tp : alk. paper) 1. Cerebrovascular
disease--Patients--Rehabilitation. 2. Cerebrovascular disease--Patients--
Biography. 3. Aneurysms--Patients--Rehabilitation. 4. Aneurysms--Patients--
Biography. 5. Brain--Wounds and injuries--Alternative treatment. 6.
Caregivers. I. Title.
RC388.5.S49 2006
362.196'810092--dc22
2005037766
ISBN 1-57174-476-2
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed on acid-free paper in Canada
www.redwheelweiser.com
www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter
To my parents, Mary and Steve,
who gave me the good life . . .
and to my A.A. friends and sponsors
who taught me how to live it
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword, by Peggy Savides, R.N
Preface
Introduction
Part One: All Aboard the Merry-Go-Round of Medical Care
1. The Brain Bomb Explodes
2. No Extraordinary Measures
3. In a Fog
4. Coma—Prognosis Unknown
5. “Vegetable”
6. Seek, Knock, Ask
7. Farewell and Good Luck
8. Twelve Days . . . but Who's Counting
9. Go, Lions
10. Piece of Cake
11. Merry Christmas!
12. Happy New Year?
Part Two: Riding the Roller Coaster to Recovery
Introduction
13. In Search of Serenity
14. Exploring the Subconscious
15. A Meeting of the Minds
16. A Program of Action
17. Follow the Bouncing Ball
18. Typical One-Day Plan
19. A Dream Come True
20. Pass It On
21: Commentary by Lawrence J. Beuret, M.D.
Acknowledgments
Without the 12-Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, Eve and I would
never have met. Now, how much fun would that have been? Thanks, Eve, for
sharing the past 12 years with me as we “trudge the road of happy destiny.”
In addition, I have relied on the feedback of friends and experts while
writing this book. Thank you, Valerie Samuelson and Peggy Savides, R.N., for
your invaluable input at every stage of this book. Special thanks to Kevin
Beuret, who edited the final manuscript.
My gratitude extends to my commentators and cheerleaders, including:
Fran Holdren, Jennifer Berns, Gloria Muczynski, Chrissy Shults, Jean Handel-
Bailey, Fran Corn, Karen Piwowarski, Patricia Fanella-DeVito, Gina Ward,
Thea Jarvis, Cathy Causby, Paul Savides, Neil O'Shea, Deborah Fleck, Tania
Seymour, Sara Sgarlat, Mark Knoblauch, Carol Morgan, Ph.D., and Sue
Powers, R.N.
I am also forever grateful for the support of my friends Merle, the late
(great) Roger Ketelsen, and Patricia Moeller, who lost her battle with cancer a
year ago. I miss Roger and Pat very much. There are many others who helped
Eve and me on the road to recovery in many different ways. They include:
Yolanda, Ginny, Arlene and Jim Smith, Penny and Ron Latko, Alex and Lynn,
Carlie Koss, Chuck Kaleta, Norm and Doris, Jim Berns, Eileen, G. J., Greg,
Dan Rubino, Carolyn Halenza, Laura, Marion, Mary, Auntie Simone, Tony
Costanza, Bruce Shivley, Alice Grippe, Carol Stevenson, Peg, Laurie, Diana,
Kathy White, and Nikki Welch, M.D. We thank you.
We are indebted to the health professionals who went beyond their
professional calling to help Eve and to support me.
Special thanks to Max Ots, M.D.; Tracy Bielinski, R.N.; Mary Vietzke,
R.N.; Sharon Prosser, B.S.W.; Julie Feld, M.S.W.; Patti Seeman, C.O.T.A.;
Leo Grieben, M.D.; Karen Butler, M.D.; and Bonnie Davis. Many others were
there with kind acts or encouraging words when we needed them. If I had
known I was going to write a book, I would have recorded all their names.
You know who you are. We thank you, one and all. May God bless you.
Foreword
In 1987, my eight-year-old daughter experienced a serious brain injury
when she was hit by a car. In 1995, the teenaged son of friends sustained a
head injury when he was a backseat passenger in a car that went off the road
and rolled several times. Most recently, another family's son, a 21-year-old
soldier in the U.S. Army in Iraq, incurred serious brain damage when a
roadside bomb blew up his vehicle.
A litany of tragedies, yes, and each was followed by a lengthy and
expensive hospitalization. When these patients finally went home, another
trauma occurred, but this time it did not happen to the patients. It happened to
the caregivers. They were suddenly thrust into the role of caregivers to a
brain-injured person. Totally unprepared and armed only with love and an
urgent desire to “bring them back,” they took over where hospital
rehabilitation left off.
When my daughter came home from the hospital, many people commented
that our family was lucky because I was a registered nurse. They implied that
my professional training had equipped me with the knowledge and skills to
manage recovery at home. Nothing could have been further from the truth!
The fact is, nobody is really prepared to care for someone with a brain
injury or stroke. It would have been great to have a set of instructions or a
rehabilitation formula to follow, but instead almost everything we were told or
read contained the qualifier: “Every brain injury is different.”
Thankfully, in Brain, Heal Thyself, Ms. Siles invites us to look for the
similarities between her case and ours. She proceeds to apply the universal
rules of nonverbal, subconscious communication to her brain-recovery
situation and asks us to do the same. Then she surprises us by employing
advertising strategies as rehabilitation motivational tools and 12-Step program
concepts to facilitate the two-way communication process. It certainly appears
that these positive methods work much better than the cajoling, controlling,
bribing, and browbeating we were often reduced to when we got frustrated.
In the years that our daughter was recovering, there were few support
services available for brain injuries, and even fewer for the caregivers. Then,
as now, we searched for answers in self-help materials. At last we have found
what we were looking for—creative rehabilitation ideas, inspiration to
develop our own new methods, and recovery hope without unrealistic
expectations—in my friend's book, Brain, Heal Thyself.
—Peggy Savides, R.N.