RT Kathy Kroll Featured in Article
Patient Credits Music, Caregivers with his Recovery from Serious Brain Injury
August 21, 2007
“The Heart of Health Care” is a recurring series that looks inside hospitals for the human hearts that keep them beating.
Listening to Ted Brackett sing and play guitar, it’s hard to imagine that less than two years ago he was in a hospital fighting for his life. Brackett, who was a special education teacher at Bonny Eagle High School in Standish, ME, fell several feet off a ladder while painting his house.
He was taken to the Maine Medical Center’s emergency department, where he was diagnosed with life- threatening injuries: a severe brain injury and multiple rib fractures. He had poor comprehension, insomnia and developed aspiration pneumonia. Therapy gradually helped to stabilize his condition.
Seventeen days after the injury, Brackett transferred to New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland where he took the first steps toward recovery. For the next month, he received intense inpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy.
Brackett can only recall the last two weeks of his stay at New England Rehabilitation. He cites the dedication of his nurses, the care exhibited by a volunteer who sat with him during his sleepless nights and the speech language pathologist who helped him eat every day during his lunch.
When Brackett was discharged in October 2005, he was able to walk with supervision, and was eating full meals. He still needed supervision and occasional assistance with many activities of daily living, but he was home. The next step was to participate in New England Rehabilitation Hospital’s outpatient therapy programs.
Hindered by mood changes, agitation, memory lapses and a loss of attention, he realized that he would not be able to teach in a classroom and it was devastating for him. “The lowest, lowest point in my life was when I was told I could never teach in a classroom again,” Brackett said.
Over the next 14 months he worked very hard with his physical, occupational and speech therapists to help develop the ability to retain and organize information. He learned to tap into the skills that he needs to help him function today from his educational background. “I explain to people that all my knowledge is still in my brain, but it has to by-pass the areas that were damaged,” Brackett said. “My short term memory is starting to grow as I learn methods of retention.”
The challenges can be depressing. “If I could educate other brain injury patients about one thing, it would be about depression and that multi-disciplined therapy is the only answer,” he said. “The therapists at New England Rehab taught me, worked with me and pushed me to go that extra step. As hard as some sessions were, when I left New England Rehab, I would say, ‘thank you!’”
His recreational therapist, Kathy Kroll, also played a big role in helping him deal with his depression. “Some days she and I would just talk,” Brackett said. “I could scream with frustration and anger. I could be sad. She was always there for me and listened.”
The hospital recently presented Kroll with its “Caregiver of the Year” award for her contributions to patient care. Hospital CEO Amy Morse called Kroll an “integral part of our inpatient and outpatient programs.”
During one of their sessions, Kroll discovered Beckett’s love of music. He sang with the Downeasters Barbershop Chorus for 25 years and in his church choir. He played guitar in his college days and was in a folk music group.
Brackett dusted off the guitar that sat untouched in the family room for the last 20 years and started music lessons with his therapist. He began singing folk songs and playing guitar in one of the outpatient therapy rooms.
Brackett recently "graduated" from New England Rehab’s physical, occupational and speech language pathology programs. He is a member of New England Rehab’s own "Mariachi Singers," who sing to patients during the holidays. He drives a car now, and plans to learn how to kayak. Brackett manages his day's activities with the guidance and support of his wife Carol. And he’s teaching again, volunteering to tutor patients at New England Rehab.
This article is excerpted from the “success stories” section of the New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland’s Web site, http://www.nerhp.org,/ and is reprinted with the hospital’s permission.
This article 1st appeared in the August 20, 2007 issue of AHA News
August 21, 2007
“The Heart of Health Care” is a recurring series that looks inside hospitals for the human hearts that keep them beating.
Listening to Ted Brackett sing and play guitar, it’s hard to imagine that less than two years ago he was in a hospital fighting for his life. Brackett, who was a special education teacher at Bonny Eagle High School in Standish, ME, fell several feet off a ladder while painting his house.
He was taken to the Maine Medical Center’s emergency department, where he was diagnosed with life- threatening injuries: a severe brain injury and multiple rib fractures. He had poor comprehension, insomnia and developed aspiration pneumonia. Therapy gradually helped to stabilize his condition.
Seventeen days after the injury, Brackett transferred to New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland where he took the first steps toward recovery. For the next month, he received intense inpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy.
Brackett can only recall the last two weeks of his stay at New England Rehabilitation. He cites the dedication of his nurses, the care exhibited by a volunteer who sat with him during his sleepless nights and the speech language pathologist who helped him eat every day during his lunch.
When Brackett was discharged in October 2005, he was able to walk with supervision, and was eating full meals. He still needed supervision and occasional assistance with many activities of daily living, but he was home. The next step was to participate in New England Rehabilitation Hospital’s outpatient therapy programs.
Hindered by mood changes, agitation, memory lapses and a loss of attention, he realized that he would not be able to teach in a classroom and it was devastating for him. “The lowest, lowest point in my life was when I was told I could never teach in a classroom again,” Brackett said.
Over the next 14 months he worked very hard with his physical, occupational and speech therapists to help develop the ability to retain and organize information. He learned to tap into the skills that he needs to help him function today from his educational background. “I explain to people that all my knowledge is still in my brain, but it has to by-pass the areas that were damaged,” Brackett said. “My short term memory is starting to grow as I learn methods of retention.”
The challenges can be depressing. “If I could educate other brain injury patients about one thing, it would be about depression and that multi-disciplined therapy is the only answer,” he said. “The therapists at New England Rehab taught me, worked with me and pushed me to go that extra step. As hard as some sessions were, when I left New England Rehab, I would say, ‘thank you!’”
His recreational therapist, Kathy Kroll, also played a big role in helping him deal with his depression. “Some days she and I would just talk,” Brackett said. “I could scream with frustration and anger. I could be sad. She was always there for me and listened.”
The hospital recently presented Kroll with its “Caregiver of the Year” award for her contributions to patient care. Hospital CEO Amy Morse called Kroll an “integral part of our inpatient and outpatient programs.”
During one of their sessions, Kroll discovered Beckett’s love of music. He sang with the Downeasters Barbershop Chorus for 25 years and in his church choir. He played guitar in his college days and was in a folk music group.
Brackett dusted off the guitar that sat untouched in the family room for the last 20 years and started music lessons with his therapist. He began singing folk songs and playing guitar in one of the outpatient therapy rooms.
Brackett recently "graduated" from New England Rehab’s physical, occupational and speech language pathology programs. He is a member of New England Rehab’s own "Mariachi Singers," who sing to patients during the holidays. He drives a car now, and plans to learn how to kayak. Brackett manages his day's activities with the guidance and support of his wife Carol. And he’s teaching again, volunteering to tutor patients at New England Rehab.
This article is excerpted from the “success stories” section of the New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland’s Web site, http://www.nerhp.org,/ and is reprinted with the hospital’s permission.
This article 1st appeared in the August 20, 2007 issue of AHA News
posted by Hoosier RT | 8:20 AM
2 Comments:
Hi,
This is jee,He drives a car now, and plans to learn how to kayak. Brackett manages his day's activities with the guidance.
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jee
Maine Drug Addiction
Nice post about the recovery from brain injury by Music..........
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simmons
http://www.christian-drug-rehab.org
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