Lisa Heath posted images of the damage from her golf cart accident and added, “I was unconscious for 10 minutes, they thought I was dead.”
She claims she will never feel normal even though the scars and bruises have completely healed.
“It’s constant, and you feel it beating in your head,” Heath continued.
Heath believed her slight concussion would go away on its own when her doctor made the diagnosis.
“I didn’t learn I had a traumatic brain injury until two and a half years later,” Heath stated.
Her life was being destroyed by the persistent migraines, mood fluctuations, and memory loss that she and Heath, along with other patients, had become accustomed to. More often than you might imagine, TBIs occur.
The yearly traumatic brain injury (TBI) rate is estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be 2.5 million. In the United States, TBIs caused about 69,000 deaths in 2021.
Patients may not be aware of the prevalence of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), but neurologist Dr. Syed Asad reports seeing numerous patients, including Heath, who were ignorant that they had a TBI.
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According to Asad, “the classification system is relatively old and if you don’t lose consciousness or either lose consciousness for less than 30 minutes,” then it’s classified as a moderate brain damage.
Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), which account for the majority of TBI deaths and injuries in adults and children ages one to 44.
TBIs range from mild concussions to severe injuries that put a patient in a coma and can cause significant harm if left untreated.
“Essentially, when you’re classified as a mild brain injury, and then that word mild is what leads to people dismissing it or telling the individual that you will be fine while it was a serious injury and not realize there could be serious consequences,” Asad told.
Heath’s long-term effects do not manifest as physical impairments. Rather, she will live the rest of her life on medicine to help with basic brain processes and emotional regulation.
“We talk about veterans and how they come back with these injuries but we don’t talk about the everyday person like me. I look completely normal but yet I suffer,” Heath stated.
By alerting others about how devastating even a small injury can get, Heath is using her experience as an author and brain health champion.
She is sharing her story to encourage others to wear helmets or to treat concussions carefully in order to stop further harm from occurring to one of the body’s most important organs. Heath went on to say that regardless of the type of accident, anyone can experience it.
In addition to writing “Life of Lisa: Overcoming Adversity with Love and Laughter,” Heath has poured her life experience into the book and says she is already working on a second one that will delve even deeper into the lessons she has learned from living with a traumatic brain injury.
