"Horizons of Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery" tells the story of severe traumatic brain injury and a complete recovery. The book contains a complete analysis of police records of the crimes that caused the injury. It also contains all medical, surgical and therapy records to document the "before" and "after" conditions of Martha, the author's injured wife. The injury occurred when a muscle car driven by a young man impaired on marijuana went through a red light and struck the 69-year-old pedestrian.
Severe traumatic brain injury usually requires years of recovery, and Martha's took more than two years. Tom became sole caregiver after her 28 days in the hospital. Neurosurgeons and rehab physicians noted that she presented a "remarkable" recovery. To relieve high intracranial pressure, surgeons removed a hemisphere of Martha's skull and put it in the freezer. They evacuated a large intracerebral hematoma caused by the contusion where the car struck her right temporal lobe. She wore a blue helmet for five months before neurosurgeons could replace her skull bone that they held in place with titanium plates.
All during this long recovery, God helped Martha. Our Father reassured her. Tom received a poem giving them a promise and him an assignment:
"I have done what only I can do; I always do what is best.
You must do what only you can do; I leave to you the rest."
This set the pattern: Martha full recovery, and Tom her caregiver. Many friends and family prayed and helped. "