NOTICE: HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! Enjoy the INDY 500!!! Words to Ponder ***Once a person succeeds he/she will see the world, but if a person fails to succeed he/she will fail to see. Anonymous ***Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in & washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside & scoops out all the yucky stuff--including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then, God carves you a new smiling face & puts His light inside you to shine for all the world. Anonymous ***The world is full of suffering; it is also full of overcoming it. Helen Keller ***A wise man does as he sees with the best outcome. A foolish man does as he feels with no feeling of outcome. Anonymous ***He which sows sparingly will reap sparingly and he that sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9.6 ***This is to be achieved: man must evolve for all human conflict a method…which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. Martin Luther King, Jr. ***An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have…the older she gets, the more interested he is in her. Agatha Christie ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Meeting April 16th, 2007 Recap of the Brain Injury Association of North Central Indiana. Russ Ragland Welcomed everyone to the beautiful spring evening & gorgeous sunset. The Meeting Opened at 7:15PM with a prayer by Chaplain Rev. Jim Tucker. The Guest Speakers for the evening were Past President Mark Poreman & his bride, Vicki. Mark & Vicki were married Dec. 2006 & are currently residing in Colorado. The two are primary associates in an inclusive one stop mental & spiritual health spa business named, Life Heath Source One. The company includes Licensed Doctors, Counselors, Homeopathic items, Organically grown plants & foods, as well as, nature & eco friendly products for all types of people & ages. The company has over a thousand products located at Life Source One, 2961 29th Street, Greeley, CO 80631. For more info: http://lifesourceone.com & click on one of the photos on the home page or Ph: 970-381-7011. Mark & Vicki have tentative plans of returning to Kokomo & surrounding areas in the fall of 2007. We hope they will be available to join us for our annual fall picnic (time & place to be announce at a later date). The Meeting Continued with a group discussion of symptoms & difficulties synonymous with brain injury. The group contributed with suggestions & ideas of medication or treatment. One of the common problems was: dealing with lack of sleep & its actual drain on the body. This is an important topic for anyone, but lack of sleep consequences are compounded due to brain injury. (More info about this in two months.) The Meeting Closed with a buffet style dinner with several types of cakes for dessert. The next meeting will be May 20th, 2007 7:00PM at Regional Health Systems-West, 829 Dixon Road, Kokomo, IN 46902 . ## ------------------------------------------------------------------- April/May 2007 by Rev. Jim Fellowship, friendship, & being connected with each other is the lifeblood of our existence. For us, too often our desire is to withdraw to our private space. What we need most is what we only receive when we are together. Planning events where food is provided & enjoyed helps us to be motivated to renew old bonds of friendship & understanding. We relax easily to discover new levels of bonding, one with another (and enjoy great food at the same time. Spring is a time to renew our efforts to make that time to be together. We know we are always missing people who are unable to be with us. The more we know about each other-the easier our struggles can become when shared with our brothers & sisters. Come out even as the May flowers do & join us at our next meeting. Email your thoughts & questions to: jltucker@insightbb.com Emergency Phone # 765-675-6370 ____________________________________________ The ANNUAL CONFERENCE sponsored by the Indiana Brain Injury Assoc, will be OCTOBER 11 & 12, 2007 INDIANAPOLIS, IN! For info call: 317-356-7722 or (toll free)866-854-4246 or www.biausa.org/Indiana ____________________________________________ HOT NEWS---From Indiana Brain Assoc. State Office! Monthly TBI Grant News: Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS) was awarded with a 3 year TBI grant, in April 2006 as the lead agency, while the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) performs the financial management of the grant. Subcontractors of the grant include the BIAI and Luther Consulting. Last month, BIAI asked individuals to watch for the brain injury survivor and caregiver survey. Ten pilot surveys have been distributed to a variety of locations in Indiana. These pilot surveys will be completed anonymously and returned to Luther Consulting. Piloting a survey allows individuals to complete a draft of the survey and to provide feedback regarding its format, content, length, etc. Following this pilot, the survey may be modified; a final version will be mailed to thousands of individuals. Each month the BIAI E-News will provide you with updates regarding when to expect your survey. Remember, by completing the survey you offer information to guide the development of a State Action Plan; a plan designed to improve the availability, acceptability, accessibility, affordability, & appropriateness of care for those who have sustained a brain injury, & their caregivers who reside in Indiana. ## ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Patriotic News Life Transformed is a company that provides education & resources to war wounded & their caregivers through private or corporate entities or donations. Life Transformed is a non-profit company that increases awareness for long term needs of Military, Air Force, & Navy personnel, & families. Life Transformed will support them as they re-enter the civilian sector by providing training & education for an easier transition, both physically & mentally into the workforce. A Caregiver & wounded soldier will be trained & credited for positions so they can re-enter the workforce. Life Transformed is a foundation that encourages private & public sectors to actively participate in the transformation of a wounded warrior & family to a civilian professional. Who is a "Caregiver?" A caregiver of wounded can be a spouse, fiancé, parent or a brother, sister, aunt or uncle. When a soldier is wounded, his whole family is impacted. Although grants are wonderful, soldiers & their families must begin to prepare for a transition to civilian life. They must develop a skill & find a job flexible to allow for the recovery process. This can take years, as well as vitally needed. financial support for the future. That’s where we come in. Caregivers often give up current employment or schooling in order to care for their war wounded. Life Transformed brings training, certification & work for home or office based opportunities for soldiers & their caregivers to equip them for their new life. For more info: 254-213-0179 or 703-286-7648 http://lifetransformed.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- You can feel summer is almost here… You can almost hear the sounds of summer with & motorcycles, barking dogs, & children laughing…the smell of backyard barbecues, fresh cut grass, & fresh flowers…the touch of warm sunshine, sand & outdoor swimming pools…the sight of green trees, joggers & the birds of Indiana…summer is the time to suit up in full armor (compete motorcycle leathers & gear), summer shorts or baseball uniforms & helmets. Don’t forget almost all recreation activities include a helmet! 1. Are Helmets So Important? YES! Wearing a helmet can reduce or stop a serious Head Injury or Brain Injury. Brain injury effects more people than breast cancer, yet it is rarely discussed. During a fall the impact energy is absorbed ONE time by the helmet. A regulation helmet will take the impact RATHER than head & brain. The foam inside the helmet will crush to absorb the impact ONCE. So you need to replace the helmet whether signs are visible on it or not. 2. Are all helmets the same? No. According to government standards There are different helmets for different activities. Go to www.csc/gov or call: 1-800-638-2772 for a chart the activities, the type of helmet needed & the application of each helmet. 3. Are there helmets for more than one activity? YES. There are a helmets that can be worn for different activities: bicycling, roller or in-line skates or a scooter. 4. Are there times a helmet shouldn’t be worn? YES. Take off the helmet before playing at the playground or climbing a tree. The helmet chin strap can get caught, causing a risk of strangulation. 5. Are there ways to make a helmet fit perfectly? YES. It must be comfortable & snug. It should be level on your head, not tilted or pulled to low on the forehead. It should not move front to back, side to side, or fall off. 6. Are brain injured in need of a helmet since damage has already been done to the brain? YES ! Further damage can be done to the brain or an injury to a different part of the brain. After the impact there could be further damage to speech, behavior, coping, or learning. See: August ‘06, November ‘06, February ‘07, or March’07 for specific behaviors affected by brain injury! ## --------------------------------------------------------------------- Indy 500 Hugs (Cookies) by Peggy Porman 1 Package Hershey’s Huggs Chocolates 1 Cup of Margarine, softened ½ Cup Powdered Sugar (set aside) 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 2 ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour ¼ tsp. Salt ¾ Cup Toasted Almonds-bottom of this column Heat oven to 400 Degrees. 1. Set aside ½ Cup Powdered Sugar in a medium size bowl. 2.Remove wrappers from chocolate pieces. In a large mixer bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar & vanilla until well blended. 3.Stir together flour & salt. Gradually add to butter mix (step 1.). Beat until well blended then add nuts. Bend well. 4.Mold approximately 1Tbs. Size dough around each of the chocolate pieces & cover the chocolate piece completely. Place on a greased cookie sheet or use plain PAM spray. 5.Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool slightly & then roll into the powdered sugar that you set aside in the beginning. NOW, let the cookie you just rolled in the powder sugar cool completely. Before serving, roll again in the powder sugar if you like. ***(To toast almonds, heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds in a thin layer in a baking pan & bake 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally till almonds are golden brown. Let the almonds cool before using in any recipe. ## ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Patriotic News Living Life as a Loving Marine Wife by Erica Auster, Proud Wife of a United States Marine I am the wife of a severely injured Iraq Vet. My husband is Sgt. Charles Auster of the United States Marine Corps, & he suffers from a Traumatic Brain Injury. This is part one of many in a series. How the brain injury happened? His injury is the result of a suicide vehicular bombing in Al Amariyah, Iraq. The initial report on my husband’s post injury was that he had a “concussion” proved false. Charles was transported from Al Amariyah to Baghdad, and then airlifted to Germany. After landing in Germany an emergency craniotomy was preformed to relieve pressure from my husbands’ brain. As a result of the blast my husband is missing a large portion of skull on the right side of his head and suffers fractures to his left temporal lobe region. It has been nearly 2 years since his injury & he is just beginning treatment for his TBI. Since the date of his injury my husband has suffered from short term memory loss, damage to executive functioning & other cognitive damages from the blast. His traumatic brain injury combined with PTSD has caused multiple problems for which we had to seek further treatment. All in all Charles is doing well & learning to cope with his injuries. This has been a very difficult time for all of us but we have managed to pull together & fight our way through. Charles is currently receiving treatment for his Traumatic Brain Injury & PTSD at National Naval Medical Center. The brain injury has changed him, of course, but he will always be a hero in my eyes. End of Part I. See future issues for more from Erica. ________________________________________________ NEW BRAIN INJURY ASSOCIATION DIRECTORIES & GENERAL INFO PACKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT MONTHLY MEETINGS! Also, email addresses are: www.biausa.org/Indiana; http://braininjury4u.blogspot.com/ ________________________________________________