Surviving Traumatic Brain Injury

Caregivers SPEAK OUT! . . . . . Charity Hamilton (caregiver for momma)

Caregivers  SPEAK OUT!  Charity Hamilton

(caregiver for her momma)

presented by

Donna O’Donnell Figurski

Charity Hamilton – Caregiver for her Momma

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

Charity Hamilton

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

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, USA

3. What is the brain-injury survivor’s relationship to you?

The survivor is my momma. 🙂

How old was the survivor when he/she had the brain injury? What caused your survivor’s brain injury?

My mother’s affliction is brain cancer and seizures. It was diagnosed in 2012 when she was seen after a car accident. (She didn’t remember what happened.) The hospital was going to let her leave, but we demanded a CT (computerized tomography) scan and an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), as her husband (now deceased) knew something was wrong. That’s when the cancer was found. It had apparently started as a child!

4. On what date did you begin care for your brain-injury survivor? Were you the main caregiver? Are you now? How old were you when you began care?

I became my mother’s only caregiver in 2016, as her husband helped care for her, but he recently passed due to bad health. I am now her full-time caregiver. I am 24.

5. Were you caring for anyone else at that time (e.g., children, parents, etc.)?

I have three beautiful children of my own, whom I care for.

6. Were you employed at the time of your survivor’s brain injury? If so, were you able to continue working?

I was then and am now a full-time employee.

7. Did you have any help? If so, what kind and for how long?

I had no help after my mother’s husband passed.

8. When did your support of the survivor begin (e.g., immediately – in the hospital; when the survivor returned home; etc.)?

I began care immediately after my mother was diagnosed.

9. Was your survivor in a coma? If so, what did you do during that time?

No

10. Did your survivor have rehab? If so, what kind of rehab (i.e., inpatient and/or outpatient and occupational, physical, speech, and/or other)? How long was the rehab? Where were you when your survivor was getting therapy?

My mother had no rehab.

11. What problems or disabilities of your brain-injury survivor required your care, if any?

My care was needed whenever my mother had seizures. I also helped her deal with memory loss. I assisted her with medications, and I helped her with showers.

12. How has your life changed since you became a caregiver? Is it better? Is it worse?

With everything I have on my plate, my life is complicated and very busy. Only brain-injury-caregivers truly understand.

13. What do you miss the most from pre-brain-injury life?

I miss not being so busy!

14. What do you enjoy most in p

Charity Hamilton – Caregiver for Mom, Jean Jones

ost-brain-injury life?

I enjoy talking to mom and going out and about with her.

15. What do you like least about brain injury?

I don’t like the tons of errands and feeling like the parent.

16. Has anything helped you to accept your survivor’s brain injury?

Caregiving came naturally because she’s my mother and I would never let her be alone.

17. Has your survivor’s injury affected your home life and relationships and, if so, how?

Yes. My mother’s brain injury has made home-life and relationships tough and stressful sometimes, as they don’t understand I HAVE to care for my mother – no one else will.

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

Not really. I didn’t have a social life before my mother’s diagnosis.

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

My future is nursing.

20. What advice would you offer other caregivers of brain-injury survivors? Do you have any other comments that you would like to add?

Have patience!!

(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 SPEAK OUT! Caregiver Interview Questionnaire for a copy of the questions and the release form.

(Clip Art compliments of Bing.)

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