Relationship With Parents Following TBI

Relationship With Parents Following TBI: Lori Part Ten

We talked to Lori about the her relationship with parents following TBI.  The relationship with parents following TBI for Lori was very strained as they had to treat her like a small child for her own safety.

I’m going to do this in a couple phases, so first – describe the nature of your relationship with parents following TBI in that first six months you’re home.

I guess my relationship, it was more like an infant.  I had what I call an adult crib in my parents’ home.  My bed had side walls, it had to be pulled up and I had sort of a straightjacket that they had to put on and tie me to.  It was all gentle, so that I would be safe because I used to try to crawl out of the bed.  So they had to take care of me like an infant when I first got there.

And you had no control of the rails, someone from outside the bed had to take care of it?

Yeah.  My boyfriend, he was my boyfriend then, and he worked really closely with my parents and he visited me all the time.  And I remember a lot of evenings when it was bedtime and my boyfriend was the one to pull up the bedrail and would kiss me on the cheek and leave.

And one of my happiest memories is one night my parents decided they wanted to go out to dinner or whatever, so my boyfriend was babysitting me, and nighttime came and he pulled up the bedrails but didn’t put me in my straightjacket or whatever you call it, and I said:

“Don’t I have to wear this?”

And he said no.

And I was so excited, and I said: “Does my dad know you’re not going to put this on me?”

And he said: “Yes, your dad said it’s okay.”

So I remember that kind of instance.

I don’t remember my parents feeding me.  I think from the time I moved back to my parents’ house I was always able to at least shove food into my face. I remember, I don’t remember changing my clothes.

I remember needing help to go to the bathroom and I remember embarrassment because there were times when I pooped in my bed.  I remember a time after I didn’t have to have my straightjacket in my crib, and I pooped in my bed and I found, recognized that I did that and I climbed over the walls of my bed and I crawled to the bathroom and I washed myself up and then I found the linen closet and I got fresh sheets and my mom heard me and ran upstairs and had a fit because she thought I was getting hurt, so I remember that incident.

But that’s actually a proud moment, you know, I think it made my mom happy, too.

Now that we have discussed Lori’s relationship with parents following TBI you can understand the severity of her brain injury and the long road to recovery.

Next in Part Eleven – The Little Success of Outpatient Physical Therapy