Illinois Man Thinks It’s A Joke When He Learns He Shot A Nail Into His Brain

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Posted on 22nd January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, especially when it comes to the brain. Take the case of Dante Autullo.

Autullo was using a nail gun to put together a shed in his hometown of Orland Park, Ill., Tuesday. According to the Associated Press, he had the nail gun above his head and fired it. He thought he felt a nail fly past his ear, and in fact his common-law-wife, Gail Glaenzer, cleaned a cut on his head afterward.

But the next day Autullo, 32, felt nauseous, and went to the hospital. Imagine his surprise when doctors showed him an X-ray of his skull, which showed a 3 1/4 nail in the middle of his brain.

AP reported that at first Autullo thought the doctors were trying to pull one over on him.

“When they brought in the picture, I said to the doctor, ‘Is this a joke? Did you get that out of the doctors’ joke file?” Autullo said, according to AP.

But it was no joke. The nail was there.

Autello remained remarkably cool even after he learned that he had a nail in his head. As an ambulance took him to a second hospital for surgery, he posted his mind-blowing X-ray on Facebook, AP reported.

Autello was apparently lucky in terms of where the nail ended up in his brain, barely missing the area that controls motor function, according to AP.

Surgeons removed the nail and Autello was doing well. As one neurosurgeon explained, being shot in the head with a nail is a lot different than being shot in the head with a bullet. The nail is thin, so does minimal damage, and doesn’t explode into pieces like a bullet.

AP’s report said that surgeons removed the nail by putting a hole in Autello’s skull near each end of the nail, and then fished out the nail. Part of the skull came out, too, and that was replaced with titanium mesh, the wire service said.

I’d suggest that Autello lay off the do-it-yourself home projects for awhile.   

       

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nail-in-brain-20120121,0,5467139.story

New York Mets Great Gary Carter Has New Brain Tumors

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Posted on 19th January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

Tests have found that former New York Mets catcher Gary Carter has developed new brain tumors, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/gary-carter-fight-brain-cancer-takes-turn-worse-tumors-found-ny-mets-hall-famer-brain-article-1.1008797

Carter, who is a Hall of Famer, has been battling brain cancer. Physicians at Duke University did an MRI on him recently and found “several new spots/tumors on his brain,” Carter’s daughter Kimmy Bloomers wrote on a website Thursday, according to the News.

“Friday, my dad got two MRIs in North Palm Beach, Florida … one for his brain and one for shoulder/arm … I wish I could report the results were good …  I write these words with tears because I am so sad for my dad,” Bloomers wrote.

Last May Carter was diagnosed with four small inoperable brain tumors, and he underwent chemotherapy and radiation at Duke, according to the News. But recently his condition has deteriorated, and on Christmas he fell and damaged his rotator cuff. 

Things are so bad that Carter missed his annual charity golf tournament this week, the News reported, adding that doctors are deciding whether to continue giving him treatment. 

In an odd, or sad, twist of fate, the News pointed out that Carter has the same kind of brain tumors that killed former baseball greats such as Bobby Murcer and Tug McGraw.

  

 

Therapists Try To Find Ways To Help Married Couples Cope With TBI

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Posted on 12th January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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I’m been working on a career-capping passion project: Conducting video interviews of those who have suffered traumatic brain injury, as well as their families.

One of the sad refrains I hear again and again, and have heard throughout my many years working as a lawyer,  is that they — TBI victims and their loved ones — want things to be the way they were before the car accident or fall or surgery or bomb blast or whatever that caused their injury.

In some cases, that happens. In most, it does not. 

A few days ago it was the first anniversary of the horrendous supermarket massacre in Tucson,  where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot through the head. While Giffords has made amazing progress, it’s doubtful she will ever be the same person she once was. Yet her husband, ex-astronaut Mark Kelly, remains at her side.   

 What is their marriage like now?

The New York Times Tuesday did a fascinating story on the impact, and strain, that life-changing TBI puts on what was once marital bliss. The headline was “When Injuries To The Brain Tear At Hearts: Marriage Counseling Is Evolving To Help Couples Survive Personality Changes And Physical Challenges.” 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/health/when-injuries-to-the-brain-tear-at-hearts.html?scp=2&sq=brain%20injury&st=cse

The Times story said, “Contrary to conventional wisdom, many relationships do survive  after a spouse suffers a brain injury.”  In fact, the paper claimed that research indicates that the divorce rate was 17 percent for couples where one spouse had TBI, a statistic that’s below the national average.

But researcher and psychologist Jeffrey Kreutzer of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond put a  damper on that good news.  He told The Times that the quality of the relationships two people once had can be “seriously diminished.” Wives and husbands can feel like they are living with a stranger because of the profound impact of brain injury. 

Kreutzer is part of a group of therapists at Virginia Commonwealth who are trying to tailor marriage counseling to couples impacted by TBI.

The story offers two cases studies: One of a couple where the wife is struggling to cope with her husband’s personality changes and depression, and a second couple that seems to be adapting fairly well to the husband’s TBI.     

It circles back to what I said at the beginning of this blog, that most people with TBI will never be the same as they were before their injuries, and that the emotional tenor of their relationships will likely not stay the same.

Kreutzer’s role “means teaching uninjured spouses to forge a relationship with a profoundly changed person — and helping injured spouses to accept that they are changed people.”

The idea is to keep people looking to the future, not the past.

I wish Kreutzner and his colleagues success in their work, helping troubled couples impacted by TBI.

Jessica Joy Rees, Child Brain Tumor Blogger, Never Gave Up

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Posted on 7th January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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NEGU.

That was the goodbye that Jessica Joy Rees, 12, of Orange County,  Calif., always ended her blogs with. It is an acronym that stands for “never ever give up.” Jessica’s spirit never did give up, even after being diagnosed with several inoperable brain tumors. It’s no wonder that her middle name was “Joy.”

But on Thursday, her body gave up. Jessica passed away after a 10-month-long fight against brain cancer, according to the Associated Press.

http://news.yahoo.com/12-old-girl-blogged-cancer-fight-died-233503455.html

Jessica was a brave little girl. When she was diagosed with a brain tumor in March, she didn’t sit silently. Jessica launched a blog about her struggle with cancer. In September, doctors discovered that she had a second brain tumor.

Jessica not only wrote about her chemo and radiation treatments, she pleaded for readers to donate to pediatric cancer research. And that wasn’t all. Jessica and her parents created The NEGU Foundation, a nonprofit that raises funds for research and puts a spotlight on pediatric cancer, according to AP.

The NEGU Foundation would sell and distribute “JoyJars” to kids with cancer. They contained toys and candy, and more than 3,000 were sold and handed out in 27 states last year.

Jessica, who lived in Rancho Santa Margarita, truly became the poster child for pediatric cancer when she attended “American Idol.” She cheered on one contestant from the OC, Casey Abrams, and introduced another, Scott McCreery, who won the competition, according to AP.

Jessica’s father is a pastor, and we hope his faith takes him through this difficult time. His daughter was an angel even before she passed away.