Hello. My name is Dawn Corbelli.
My family means everything to me. We have been through so much in the past 14 years since one second in time changed our lives forever. That date was Feb. 13, 2008, and I cannot remember most of it, but the difficulty and pain our family has suffered since then, I don’t forget.
When I was 39 and my daughter, Veronica, was 15 and had her driver’s permit, we got into a near fatal car accident on an ordinary day on our way to Walmart. Her blood pressure was 52/0 when the emergency vehicles arrived. We both sustained traumatic brain injuries (tbi’s). Hers is severe and mine is moderate. One thing I have learned is that when a person in the family is injured like this, it is not only about the person, or in our case people, injured, it is about the whole family. Everyone’s life changes. Everyone is affected. And it causes everyone pain.
My husband thought he would lose both of us that day. What made it worse after they rushed Veronica into emergency surgery and my husband went to the desk to ask about her, they told him they didn’t have anyone there by that name. He was beside himself and didn’t understand how that could be since he followed the ambulance to the hospital. They must have spelled her name wrong or something because after searching, they finally found her and told him she was there. Veronica spent 3 months in the hospital, two weeks in a coma and the rest on the rehab floor. She arrived on the rehab floor in a vegetative state and after some days we were approached and told we should find a nursing home for Veronica as she would likely remain in a vegetative state. I was on the rehab floor at that time and of all the things I don’t remember, I still remember that and how terrified I was. Even in the hospital for the three weeks I was there, I sobbed endlessly for the future Veronica dreamed of and wouldn’t get to have. I am shaking as I write this. The thought of it still devastates me.
I ended up with six breaks in my pelvis and nine staples in my head. I lost my memory except for snippets for seven weeks. My husband dreaded every moment. He had to remind me almost every day what happened to us and why we were there. Veronica had a sheared brain stem, a severely bruised frontal lobe, two broken hips, eight fractures in her pelvis, a broken left ankle, and a paralyzed left side.
Our deep faith in the Lord carried us through. Veronica’s every small improvement was worthy of celebrating. They were slow and few at first, but we didn’t care. Honestly, we were just glad Veronica was with us. My insides are all jumbled and nervous as I think so closely about those early times. Here we are 14 years later, with many residual deficits from our injuries. Veronica has far surpassed any hope or expectation anyone had for her. Even her neuropsychologist cannot believe how far she has come. We are elated with her progress. She lives at home, cannot work or drive, and we recently obtained guardianship of her. But by golly, she is here, high functioning, and is she a character!
I will be sharing details about our deficits and many ways we have learned to manage them over the years. Because we have learned to manage many of them well, our lives have become much easier on a daily basis. Time. Time is what we all need to adjust. And it does get easier once we have a routine and know more of what to expect from each day. The beginning is grueling, sad, and can feel so hopeless. I will be using this blog with the hope that even one person will benefit from the information I share. I want to give you hope, because there is hope if you don’t set your expectations too high, appreciate what you have been given, and lean on the Lord if that is what you believe in. Brain injured people may sustain their injuries in different ways, but the journey after is often similar.
Now that you know some of what our whole family has faced, in the future I will be sharing our progress, updates on family, and ongoing struggles. I didn’t previously, but will now, let you know I not only have a TBI, I also have bipolar disorder. There is so much out there to educate the brain injured and mentally ill, and their families, caregivers, and friends; I will occasionally be sharing helpful resources.
I truly hope you will join me in the near future. You will see lots of useful, educational, and sometimes entertaining information. I would also like you to know I have published a book titled
A Miracle a Day, One Day at a Time: Hope After Traumatic Brain Injury
By Dawn Corbelli
Have a beautiful blessed day!
Dawn Corbelli 