Where Have All The Brain Injury Rehab Doctors Gone?
People living with traumatic brain injuries require unique medical treatment. I am discovering that this highly specialized care is very limited and I personally have only been able to find it within large cities. I sustained a traumatic brain injury in the summer of 2008, in a car crash that killed my husband on the New York State Throughway. I was in a coma for six weeks and spent another six weeks relearning how to walk, talk, read and write.
When I was discharged from the hospital, I returned to live with my father in Western North Carolina. My family researched the best rehabilitative options in the area and that led me to Dr. Edgardo Diez, a physical medicine and brain injury rehabilitation physician at CarePartners Rehabilitation Center here in Asheville, NC. I began seeing Dr. Diez in addition to my Primary Care physician, and he oversaw my care on a monthly basis, helping me regain a sense of self. I remained Dr. Diez's patient for the next two years before he supported my desire to return to independent living in New York City. It wasn't until years later that I learned my father had been hoping Dr. Diez would encourage me to stay in the area but Dr. Diez recognized all of my improvements, and motivated me to take this big step forward.
When I returned to the Blue Ridge Mountains a few years ago, there was no one else I considered to oversee my continued brain injury care. I called Dr. Diez's office after so many years hoping he would remember me, and my appointment was scheduled for the week I moved back. We have developed a special friendship and I used to tease him that he was never allowed to retire without giving me a year's notice. My fears were realized abruptly earlier this year when his secretary called and said he would no longer be seeing outpatients at CarePartners. She helped me secure one last appointment with him where I learned that no replacement had been found, leaving a huge void within the outpatient brain injury community here in the mountains.
I do not know where my friends and I will go, or who we will turn to for medical support and guidance. Those of us living with brain injuries are a small population who require specialized care and not all physicians are capable of addressing our concerns and issues. I now serve on the Brain Injury Advisory Council and I try to advocate on behalf of this important cause whenever I can. I was recently contacted by my Primary Care physician's office who was as confused as I am about the "TBI Follow Up Referral" they received. My PC is wonderful and I value him for much of my medical care, but he has no experience or training in the specific needs of the brain injury population. I am lucky because my Primary Care physician sounds willing to help me find a replacement for Dr. Diez. He located two possible options for me: the Peace Center Rehab in South Carolina or the Raleigh area. Neither of those work well for someone who is not comfortable driving great distances.
Unfortunately, not everyone living with a brain injury has access to this kind of help. Who is going to assist them in finding a new brain injury rehabilitation doctor? Without this professional support, many brain injury survivors will be facing their health challenges alone. We need more brain injury rehabilitation doctors now!