Chuck Clamon's Personal Journey of Traumatic Brain Injury by Leah D

LD: Chuck Clamon

201294L — 2014-10-06 17:05:34 UTC

Sgt. 1st Class Chuck Clamon sustained a traumatic brain injury during his third tour in Iraq. His platoon had a mission to escort a supply convey to a remote outpost, and a truck near Clamon was hit by the enemy. The hit caused the ammunition in the ammunition truck to go off. As the soldiers were checking the truck, the enemy ambushed them for a straight two hours. During this time, Clamon endured most of his major injuries which later caused him back pain, dizziness, blurriness, and a headache. Due to this encounter and a series of 16 previous injuries in battle, neurologists diagnosed him with a bruised brain. He has gone through lots of treatment and seeked the medical attention he needed. Though he still faces daily challenges, his family is very positive and encouraging. His prime caregiver, his wife, says that her biggest challenge is "putting [her] career on hold once again for the army," but she knows that doing this will be worth it. She finds it difficult caring for the family and taking care of the house because she says that it is something couples should do together. Clamon is aware of this and admits that the emotional challenges will be greater than the physical challenges. Clamon is a true American hero and his honor to his country is inspirational.

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2008/0825/20080825__CD26NOGOCCCLAMONTALK~p1_300.jpg

CM: Relevant Medical Information

201214 — 2014-10-07 01:15:17 UTC

After the adrenaline wore off in Clamon's body, he started to experience concussion-like symptoms. These symptoms included headaches, dizziness, and ringing in the ears.

CM: Physical Challenges Clamon faces now

201214 — 2014-10-07 01:18:53 UTC

He endures excruciating ringing in the ears that can range from bearable to intolerable pain. He quotes, "It'll go from a high pitch to a low pitch, to where it feels literally like somebody's stabbing you in the ear. It's very painful."

CM: Physical Challenges Clamon faces now

201214 — 2014-10-07 01:26:29 UTC

He receives daily headaches and migraines once or twice a week. On that same note, he also has occasional sensitivity to light.

CM: Physical Challenges Clamon faces now

201214 — 2014-10-07 01:29:21 UTC

For cognitive injury, he has severe short term memory loss. He is unable to recall doctor appointments and conversations with his wife. His inability to concentrate also is another cognitive injury.

CM: Physical Challenges Clamon faces now

201214 — 2014-10-07 01:31:14 UTC

His wife states that his blinking is significantly different, and that he twitches from time to time.

CM & LD: Reference Sticky

201214 — 2014-10-07 01:34:30 UTC

1.) http://www.traumaticbraininjuryatoz.org/Individual-Journeys/Personal-Journeys/Chuck-Clamon

2.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampus

3.) http://www.btbuddies.org.uk/about-high-grade-brain-tumours/areas-of-the-brain-and-their-functions.html

CM: Relevant Medical Information

201214 — 2014-10-07 01:39:51 UTC

The Hippocampus is the part of the brain that deals with memory and storing information. This part of the brain was damaged when Clamon suffered his injury.

CM: Relevant Image

201214 — 2014-10-07 01:41:49 UTC

Hippocampus location

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRnfiO0w0i7YVbC6O1nRPk237TLZ2oO0-B4yRMV1fYGzBGtlWAZAQ:https://confluence.crbs.ucsd.edu/download/thumbnails/33489971/hippocampus.gif%3Fversion%3D1%26modificationDate%3D1309463303000%26api%3Dv2

LD: Relevant Medical Information

201294L — 2014-10-07 03:29:44 UTC

Clamon got occupational therapy primarily for his eyes. He has blurriness, double vision, and loss of peripheral vision .

LD: Relevant Image

201294L — 2014-10-07 12:55:31 UTC

Clamon had a CT scan done on his head to see if there were any injuries. At first, the doctors could not see any injuries on the films, but later he was diagnosed with TBI.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/19237.jpg

LD: Relevant Image

201294L — 2014-10-07 19:29:49 UTC

Fort Carson is Clamon's home military base in Colorado. He is currently in the army's wounded warrior transition unit there. His job now is to heal. Once he has fully recovered, he will be medically discharged with 13 years of military service.

http://localtvkdvr.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/fort-carson.jpg

LD: Relevant Image

201294L — 2014-10-07 19:41:06 UTC

Clamon underwent a MRI on his back. Doctors view scans that look like the image below.

http://rgvpci.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Mri-Back.jpg

LD: Physical Challenges Clamon faces now

201294L — 2014-10-07 23:15:27 UTC

After time in combat, Clamon faced a case of post traumatic stress disorder. His wife is quoted saying "War changes you, if it's the first time or the fifth time."

LD: Physical Challenges Clamon faces now

201294L — 2014-10-07 23:19:40 UTC

All that Clamon wants to do is become a productive member of society like he previously was. Although he is very forgetful and endures a great amount of pain daily, he has chosen to enroll himself back into college because he wants to challenge himself since the military can no longer do that for him.

LD: Relevant Medical Information

201294L — 2014-10-07 23:37:32 UTC

Clamon has to go to physical therapy 2-3 times a week for an hour to strength his balance and walking abilities.

LD: Relevant Image

201294L — 2014-10-07 23:39:09 UTC

The cerebellum controls movement, balance, and coordination. Clamon obviously suffered injury in that part of his brain because he must now walk with a cane and seek treatment for balance.

http://www.intropsych.com/ch02_human_nervous_system/02cerebellum.jpg

LD: Relevant Image

201294L — 2014-10-07 23:57:23 UTC

The occipital lobe is primarily the visual area of the brain, which was probably damaged since he is having trouble with vision.

http://www.otivia.com/occipitallobe7.jpg