TBI Awareness Month

It's come to my attention that March is TBI awareness month. Yay! I'm not excited that such a thing exists, but I'm so very glad that programs like the Wounded Warrior Project are raising awareness. Until it beat down my door I had never even heard of Traumatic Brain Injury. Concussions are a mild form of a TBI, but repeated instances like repeated IED exposure damage the brain to the point where your memory, thought process, and decision making abilities are altered so greatly you can become a totally different person.

TBI usually has a partner in crime. In most cases if you have a TBI related illness you will also have PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's my understanding that professionals are trying to rename PTSD to alleviate the stigma of having a disorder. Our troops are returning from war in every growing numbers and struggling with these invisible wounds. And our military is failing them.

I love a man who fights this battle every day. I watched him walk out on his family and his life because he couldn't cope with the scars he carried in his mind. He will never be the same and neither will we. Few things are worse than seeing this illness tear down a strong, courageous, family devoted man. No one should ever have to experience what we went through.