Surviving Traumatic Brain Injury

Survivors SPEAK OUT!  . . . . . Lee Staniland

by

Donna O’Donnell Figurski

Lee Staniland –
TBI Survivor

1. What is your name? (last name optional)

Lee (Liana) Staniland

2. Where do you live? (city and/or state and/or country) Email (optional)

Oxnard, California, USA     leechar101@gmail.com

3. When did you have your TBI? At what age?

Age 25

4. How did your TBI occur?

A horse took me under a tree.

5. When did you (or someone) first realize you had a problem?

My husband came home and found me unconscious under the tree in our pasture.

6. What kind of emergency treatment, if any, did you have?

My husband took me to the Emergency Room. They sent me to another hospital.

7. Were you in a coma?

Yes

If so, how long?

I was in a coma six weeks.

8. Did you do rehab?

Yes. I did rehab for a while.

What kind of rehab (i.e., inpatient or outpatient and occupational and/or physical and/or speech and/or other)?

I did rehab both as an inpatient and an outpatient.

How long were you in rehab?

I had rehab for a month. Then I got impatient with the drive to get there, so I quit and did my own rehab.

9. What problems or disabilities, if any, resulted from your TBI
(e.g., balance, perception, personality, etc.)?

I have issues with balance and memory.

10. How has your life changed? Is it better? Is it worse?

I think my life mostly changed for the better. I’m a better and nicer person.

11. What do you miss the most from your pre-TBI life?

Nothing

12. What do you enjoy most in your post-TBI life?

I got back most of my old self, so I can do most everything.

13. What do you like least about your TBI?

The fatigue

14. Has anything helped you to accept your TBI?

I was blessed that my mind just let me accept the new me.

15. Has your injury affected your home life and relationships and, if so, how?

I don’t let people push me around. I divorced my husband whom I was married to when the accident happened, and I married a more accepting man.

16. Has your social life been altered or changed and, if so, how?

I am a morning person, so when it starts getting dark, I fade.

17. Who is your main caregiver?

I am my own caregiver.

Do you understand what it takes to be a caregiver?

Yes

18. What are your future plans? What do you expect/hope to be doing ten years from now?

I’m 62 now, and I am just going to take life easy.

19. Are you able to provide a helpful hint that may have taken you a long time to learn, but which you wished you had known earlier? If so, please state what it is to potentially help other TBI survivors with your specific kind of TBI.

NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!

20. What advice would you offer to other TBI survivors? Do you have any other comments that you would like to add?

I’m adding my story to this so that you can understand better. Over 20 years ago, six other couples started the Brain Injury Support Group. It is now a non-profit organization called The Brain Injury Center of Ventura County. I was even the president for a while. I drew our logo, and I have taken many photos for them. My message is to get involved. Thanks!

You can learn more about Lee in her Guest Blog article called, “What I Remember” on my blog, Surviving Traumatic Brain Injury.

Thank you, Lee, for taking part in this interview. I hope that your experience will offer some

Lee Staniland
TBI Survivor

hope, comfort, and inspiration to my readers.

(Disclaimer: The views or opinions in this post are solely that of the interviewee.)

If you would like to be a part of the SPEAK OUT! project, please go to TBI Survivor Interview Questionnaire for a copy of the questions and the release form.

(Photos compliments of Lee.)