Your Subtitle text
Dec 9, 2008
Dear Tracy,
First and foremost, I cannot simply send you an email without taking the time to thank you deeply enough for being there at my family's time of need.
When I knew I could be in the for the long haul while my son Brian was at Bayfront Medical Center, there sitting on a table was a bag which had a pillow and blanket I was so longing for. I began to take the pillow and blanket out of the bag only to find personal care items, educational literature and some food to sustain my needs. I could not believe my eyes. I couldn't help but cry. What a thoughtful and caring gesture from someone I had yet to know. I knew then I was not alone. What comfort I had received.
I cannot thank you enough for talking with me. I knew I was in a bad situation, but the last thing I wanted to do was lose hope. Your compassion is unlike any other. You gave me strength when I was weak; you gave me hope when I was lost; you gave me prayer when I needed it most. You have set an example for me and so many others to follow.
Faith continues to pull my husband Brian, our son Brent, and myself through. Your selfless act and kindness have touched our hearts deeply. We know our son Brian is serving a purpose in the heavens and is smiling down upon us, including you, for all that you do. It is magnificant to know that there are angels here on earth serving as well.
Thank you Tracy.
From the bottom of our hearts,
Brian, Bernadette and Brent Nichols
December 8, 2008
Tracy,
I talked to you on the phone last night about my fiancee, Doug. I called the Florida brain injury line today and left a message. I also got onto the social workers today about finding a place for him. What it all is boiling down to is the fact that he is "Medicaid pending". Once he is Medicaid approved we will have a better chance of getting him into a nursing home or rehab facility. I am hoping to get him into the West Florida rehab program. The Physical therapist from Gentiva, the home heath care program came over today and showed me a lot of things to do with him and gave me some tips like telling him the day time and who I am every day etc. I talked to his Dr this morning and got him a prescription for Adovan and hopefully that will make him calm down some and sleep at night. Thank you so much for talking to me last night, you don’t know how much that helped. I feel so alone and it was nice to talk to someone who knew what I was talking about. You don’t really understand it until it is happening to you. If you don’t mind, I would like to stay in touch with you. Please feel free to email me with any info you have and any resources you know of that may help. This is my work email and I check it daily.
Thank you so much!!!
Nichole
Nov 18, 2008
Dear Tracy,
I wish that one day I can do even more to help you out. This whole experience has opened up a whole new world to me. I never even knew what a T.B.I. was & thanks to people like you, I now have the resources I need to educate myself. And I still use my tote bag, as I take my daughter to therapies & appointments, because it carries not only my belongings, but a certain amount of comfort & support for me- knowing that there are other mother's who have gone thru all that I am. Once again, thank you so much & as God restores my life, I will be sure to support your work financially as well as prayerfully. God's Blessings be with you, Teresa Bergman
September, 2008
Dear Tracy,
We started our brain injury journey with our 46 year old son on April 26, 2008. We were out of town when we got the call that our son had been in a motorcycle accident. He was not wearing a helmet. He was taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL. When we arrived at the hospital the morning of April 27th, we did not know if he would be alive or dead. It was a very scary site to see all those tubes and wires coming out of his head and all the monitors. The doctors and nurses in ICU were fabulous. I was with my daughter-in –law when the Nurse gave us the bag. I truly want to thank you, for the tote bag that you gave Bridget. I especially liked the camera (we were told we should take pictures, so that we could see the progress), pillow and blanket (we were sleeping down stairs in chairs) and the other personal items were also appreciated. It was great to know that someone CARED!!! As you can see from the pictures of our son Keith, his recovery it is a miracle. God bless you!!!
Teena and Norm Derocher
September, 2008
Dear Mothers Against Brain Injury,
Our son Eric suffered a severe traumatic brain injury on 3/26/08 in Miami, FL, where he was going to college to become an air traffic controller. He was one semester away from graduation when in a split second our lives would change as his life hung in the balance from a car accident. We live in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, and were called by the Miami Police and told that our son was being transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition. We left for the 6 hour drive to Miami immediately.
Upon arriving in Miami, we were able to see our son for only a few seconds as the doctors and staff wheeled him into surgery for an emergency craniotomy to remove a large epidural hematoma (blood clot) from his brain. Sitting in the waiting room for hours during our son's surgery was excruciatingly painful for us; however, there was one bright spot.
Within one hour of arriving at Jackson Memorial Hospital, a social worker came to us with the most helpful, informative, and comforting, gift we could have ever hoped for. It was a simple canvas tote bag from Mothers Against Brain Injury stuffed full of much needed toiletries, snacks, blanket, pillow, and most important - helpful, easy to understand, information on TBI (traumatic brain injury). Within hours, family from Jacksonville and friends from our church in Ponte Vedra Beach started arriving at the hospital in Miami. We were suffering to the point that we could not read anything on TBI for weeks; however, Eric Jr.'s Aunt Valerie began reading the information in the tote bag immediately and read to us important information that we should know on an "as needed" basis. Without the Mothers Against Brain Injury Tote Bag, we would have been lost.
Thank you so much for being there for us and other families with this program. We truly feel that you were our personal angel sent from God on March 26, 2008.
Eric & Joy Townsend
July 15, 2008
Dear Mothers Against Brain Injuries,
Thank you so much for your bag of stuff we got. Tracy Porter came to visit us while we were with our son at the hospital. She doesn't even live near here but came all the way from Jacksonville and came in to sit with us awhile. She prayed with us too. She just let me cry and held on to me. The nurses said she was visiting the area and she wanted to offer any help she could.
I felt as though she were an angel sent here to let me know everything would get better it was just gonna take some time. I don't even know her. The bag we got had everything I needed and I didn't even know I was going to need it but thank god she told me I would need it later on. I guess I thought we were the only family going through this but she told me there were so many others that have this kind of brain trauma.
I have everything in order now so that our doctors and attorneys can help us figure out what is next. Christian is home now and going to therapy to help his balance and to get his brain back to as good as he can be. He is only 15 but he is strong and we are so glad to the hospital for letting her visit with us and give us a bag.
Thank you for everything
Beverly Johnson-Thomas
Christians mom
June 26, 2008
Dear Tracy,
Sorry it's taken me so long to write, but each day is busier than the next.
Paul is doing much better since he has been home. He goes to Brooks 3 times a week, for speech and does therapy for his right side of body, still has no use of right arm or hand, but each day he gets stronger. He has a very hard time communicating on every day names and words. He tried very hard and is a fighter so he won’t give up. He has a very long road ahead of him. Surgery to have his skull placed back to his head on July the 3rd.
I want to thank you so very much for providing us the bag "Mothers Against Brain Injury" it was and is still very helpful, the information , got me to you, and lawyers, which are working now for us. THANKS !!!! I don't know what came in more handy the toiletries snacks, pillow, or the cozy blanket, to make it through those long day at the hospital. Probably the tissue. I can't thank you enough for everything. When they gave me the bag at Shands I was crying so bad and so very tired I didn't even look at it for a week later but boy I'm glad I did.
Take care and thank you again.
God bless and keep us in your prayers.
Laura and the Geiger family
Mon, March 31, 2008
Hi Tracy, I was trying to write a letter to thank you for the tote bag. The information inside has helped my family tremendously. Our 19 year old son Justin was in a car accident Feb 23, 2008, he suffered a severe TBI. We are in day 37 and he is still in Shands at UF. I am taking one day at a time and just wanted to let you know the information booklets in that bag have helped us understand so much about these injuries and kind of what to expect. Justin is a level 2 right now on the Rancho scale. We pray everyday for just a little bit more.... and it will come in time
thank you
Pam and Chuck Drew
Mar 24, 2008
Dear Tracy,
On Feb. 03,2008 our child Carlos F Marques, (41 years old)has suffered brain damaged in an accident, was emergency surgery at Jackson Hospital because no ID with him, we had been contacted by the social worker o
n March 10, 2008, he still at JM Hospital West Wing Room 949, he is stable, but in semi-coma. We received your tote bag next day after first visit and we are getting a lot of education from your books.My wife Martha is 76 and I am almost 70.
We really appreciated your help and dedication to this project.
Thanks regards.
Carlos & Martha Marques.
Dear Tracy, Thank you so very much for all the information and help you have given us. The tote bag was such a wonderful thing to give. We used and continue to use the bag. It was also knowing and reading about other people that have gone through this before. It let me know I wasn’t alone and to keep hope and faith!
God Bless You,
Marla Stewart
Plant City, FL
July 20, 2006
Mothers Against Brain Injuries, I received my worse nightmare on 4/14/2006 around 6:00 in the evening. I was at work finishing up when the call came in that Preston my 4 year old angel was hit by a car and was being transported to Shands. My first thought was that this had to be a terrible joke, as the voice on the other end of the phone assured me this was no joke, I dropped everything and started on the most dreadful trip of my life. I arrived at Shands before Preston, as each ambulance pulled up I scanned the back wanting, waiting to see my baby, to see for myself that he was going to be ok. As my family began to arrive I could see the terror in their faces as they ran to comfort me, and then I got another blow to my heart, Preston wasn't going to be arriving in an ambulance he was being transported via Trauma One. I felt my world slipping away, I remember trying to hang on to my sanity, trying to be strong for my family, but in reality I was dying inside. He was being transported by life flight this was not good.
November 28, 2007
Dear Tracy,
I am the mother of Amanda Nicole Corrales and our story is the following:
My daughter, who is 13 months old, was sitting in her stroller with her seat belt on October 18th, 2007 at around 6:30 pm when her grandmother who was learning how to drive lost control of the car and came straight toward her, her father and brother while they were sitting on the lawn. My little boy was hit by the car but fortunately only suffered cuts on his head which required a few staples, however Amanda, my baby, was not so lucky. Her dad, trying to push her out of the way of the vehicle but she suffered a severe brain injury. She was airlifted to Miami Children's Hospital. There, the doctors after several hours of trying to control her swelling decided to do a craniotomy.
Once in PICU I received a Mothers Against Brain Injury tote bag. In my caring bag I found items that were both educational as well as practical. The literature on brain injury was detailed and it answered some of the questions that our neurosurgeons didn't have answers for. For example, my neurosurgeon is an excellent doctor but hearing the words “I do not know what the outcome is going to be” was always consistent. Also, the phrase I learned to hate "She is exactly were I want her to be". Which was what???? The books provided explained better what was possible or to be expected.
August 24, 2007
Hi. My name is April and I received one of your tote bags while my son, Finn was in the Broward Medical Center with a brain injury. Finn had been in a car accident that involved a drunk driver at 8:15pm on 8-15-07 and passed away 8-16-07 at 6:40pm. I then gave birth to my son, Parker Finn at 10:50pm the same night (8-16-07). While he was in the ICU for short while, he is now healthy and well. Because of our long stay in the hospital we made good use of all of the things that you had provided. I want to thank you very much for both the items included and the information provided. I read through the literature while I sat at Finn's bedside waiting for test results and found it very helpful. While your program looks to primarily support brain injury survivors and the rehabilitation period and my son did not have the chance to need rehabilitation I still found your organization to be a good support in my situation. We had many people ask if there was an organization that we would like donations to be made to in lieu of flowers being sent to the Memorial Service and I provided your organizations information. I hope that you receive much support to help you to continue your program. April
March 14, 2007
I have been meaning to write this for some time now. We had a trauma situation last fall, November 26, 2006, in which my son was involved in a kite boarding accident and was airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital. It was the single most horrific moment in our lives. the uncertainty coupled with the fact that we have 3 other children to care for was more than we bargained for. As we were sitting in the PICU unit, we were presented with a bag from your organization. It had in it everything we could possibly have asked for. As you said, everyone carries and hands you business cards, kind of odd but it happens. They tell you things and you can't remember them. The days run together with the nights and you forget all about yourself. You provided everything. There are no words that can begin to thank you for your kindness. Having been there, you are one of the few that can share in the feelings we experienced. The definition section of the reading really helped because there were times when I really wasn't sure what they were talking about. Your path of progression is very close to what takes place and really provided a source of comfort.
July 20, 2005
February 14, 2005 is a day I will never forget. The day started with cards, hugs, and kisses from everyone, including Josh. As he walked out of the door heading to school, I told him “I love you, son. Have a great day!” A little before noon my day changed. I received the phone call every parent fears. “Get to the hospital! Josh has been in an accident. Just get to the hospital!” were the words on the other end of the phone. My world fell apart.
Joshua, aka, Josh, who was 17, had been traveling home from school and was hit by a CSX train traveling at least 30 mph. The engine hit just behind the driver’s seat where he sat. The force pushed him down the track, flipped his car and he had be cut out.
Taken to Shand’s in Jacksonville, by air, and listed in critical condition, I was told “they have him in the back, but it doesn’t look good”.
August 1, 2007
We're so glad we can share a happy ending with you and tell you how much your tote meant to us. We all seem to feel so alone when faced with tragedy, especially involving our kids. The tote let us know we weren't in this alone, that others have known the boundless pain we were feeling. We found strength in that camaraderie. Thank you for that.
Our journey with Taylor has been the most difficult challenge we've ever faced, but we tried to always remember that his friends and ours, along with our family, felt the pain as deeply as we did.
Dear Tracy, We recently had a patient admitted to the medical intensive care unit. The patient's home was approximately seven hours north so when his wife drove down she did not have any of the basic resources she would need. She admitted that she hadn't even thought about what she would need at the hospital and had no knowledge of traumatic brain injuries prior to this accident. The thank you card I received after the patient was discharged home said, "Thank you for hooking me up with lodging...and the information from [Mothers Against Brain Injury]. I am forever grateful." The tote bags are a small token but make a huge difference in everyday lives.
Gavin Malcolm, LCSW
Coordinator, Social Services & Trauma Social Worker
North Broward Medical Center Deerfield Beach, FL
Tracy:
We've all looked through your bag here at Shands Rehab Hospital and everyone thought it was great! I also showed it at our monthly BI Support group and our participants also thought it was a wonderful idea.
Marie
Shands Rehab Hospital
HI Tracy,
We went through the tote bag at our last Heads Together Support group meeting and it received raves by our group members. We all felt that it was so wonderful and worthwhile. The caregivers thought back to when we were at the trauma centers and how much we would have loved to have had one of these "bags of hope and comfort" especially that first night.
One of the members did suggest that maybe a little portable CD player or IPOD may be nice to give comfort to the caregiver and survivor during the recovery process. Like a little escape or therapy tool. May God Bless all of you for the wonderful service you are providing to those who are endearing a life changing event in the lives of all affected by TBI.
Brenda Buchweitz
Heads Together Support Group
Melbourne, Florida
Dear Tracy,
Thanks for the share of the tote-bag. Our day-program support group, our every-other-week support group, and our monthly family support group all reviewed the items included in the bag. You guys did a fantastic job! All of the items included are equally important and come together wonderfully. Again, thanks for sharing this great tote project with us and we wish you the best of luck with this project.
Kathy Meade
Executive Director
Second Chance of Northwest Florida, Inc.
222 E Beach Drive
Panama City, FL 32401
85-769-7779
Dear Mrs. Tracy-Porter,
Thank you for your charitable contributions to the victims of Traumatic Brain Injury. As one of the busiest Trauma hospitals in the country, UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital Trauma Center, is constantly evaluating, treating, and providing neuropsychological therapeutic services to this population, and their much effected families. Upon learning of your organization and the generous tote bags delivery system, we were all moved by the organization’s compassion, thoughtfulness, and efficiency, in providing these important materials to afflicted families. Numerous family members have returned to visit our neurotrauma floor with grateful smiles & gestures, organized agendas, and overall, better prepared to face the many challenges they will likely encounter in the future. In addition, many of the patients have eventually utilized and integrated these materials into their cognitive retraining program as compensatory devices to atone for attention, memory, and organizational deficits; such a finding could not be done early enough in treatment! Finally, the helpful list of available resources has been invaluable to victims and family members of TBI, and has in many ways guided them throughout this difficult road towards recovery and community reentry. Thank you.
Rene Hernandez-Cardenache, Psy.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Chief, Neuropsychology Fellow
UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital
Ryder Trauma Center
Dear Tracy,
First and foremost, I cannot simply send you an email without taking the time to thank you deeply enough for being there at my family's time of need.
When I knew I could be in the for the long haul while my son Brian was at Bayfront Medical Center, there sitting on a table was a bag which had a pillow and blanket I was so longing for. I began to take the pillow and blanket out of the bag only to find personal care items, educational literature and some food to sustain my needs. I could not believe my eyes. I couldn't help but cry. What a thoughtful and caring gesture from someone I had yet to know. I knew then I was not alone. What comfort I had received.
I cannot thank you enough for talking with me. I knew I was in a bad situation, but the last thing I wanted to do was lose hope. Your compassion is unlike any other. You gave me strength when I was weak; you gave me hope when I was lost; you gave me prayer when I needed it most. You have set an example for me and so many others to follow.
Faith continues to pull my husband Brian, our son Brent, and myself through. Your selfless act and kindness have touched our hearts deeply. We know our son Brian is serving a purpose in the heavens and is smiling down upon us, including you, for all that you do. It is magnificant to know that there are angels here on earth serving as well.
Thank you Tracy.
From the bottom of our hearts,
Brian, Bernadette and Brent Nichols
December 8, 2008
Tracy,
I talked to you on the phone last night about my fiancee, Doug. I called the Florida brain injury line today and left a message. I also got onto the social workers today about finding a place for him. What it all is boiling down to is the fact that he is "Medicaid pending". Once he is Medicaid approved we will have a better chance of getting him into a nursing home or rehab facility. I am hoping to get him into the West Florida rehab program. The Physical therapist from Gentiva, the home heath care program came over today and showed me a lot of things to do with him and gave me some tips like telling him the day time and who I am every day etc. I talked to his Dr this morning and got him a prescription for Adovan and hopefully that will make him calm down some and sleep at night. Thank you so much for talking to me last night, you don’t know how much that helped. I feel so alone and it was nice to talk to someone who knew what I was talking about. You don’t really understand it until it is happening to you. If you don’t mind, I would like to stay in touch with you. Please feel free to email me with any info you have and any resources you know of that may help. This is my work email and I check it daily.
Thank you so much!!!
Nichole
Nov 18, 2008
Dear Tracy,
I wish that one day I can do even more to help you out. This whole experience has opened up a whole new world to me. I never even knew what a T.B.I. was & thanks to people like you, I now have the resources I need to educate myself. And I still use my tote bag, as I take my daughter to therapies & appointments, because it carries not only my belongings, but a certain amount of comfort & support for me- knowing that there are other mother's who have gone thru all that I am. Once again, thank you so much & as God restores my life, I will be sure to support your work financially as well as prayerfully. God's Blessings be with you, Teresa Bergman
September, 2008
Dear Tracy,
We started our brain injury journey with our 46 year old son on April 26, 2008. We were out of town when we got the call that our son had been in a motorcycle accident. He was not wearing a helmet. He was taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL. When we arrived at the hospital the morning of April 27th, we did not know if he would be alive or dead. It was a very scary site to see all those tubes and wires coming out of his head and all the monitors. The doctors and nurses in ICU were fabulous. I was with my daughter-in –law when the Nurse gave us the bag. I truly want to thank you, for the tote bag that you gave Bridget. I especially liked the camera (we were told we should take pictures, so that we could see the progress), pillow and blanket (we were sleeping down stairs in chairs) and the other personal items were also appreciated. It was great to know that someone CARED!!! As you can see from the pictures of our son Keith, his recovery it is a miracle. God bless you!!!
Teena and Norm Derocher
September, 2008
Dear Mothers Against Brain Injury,
Our son Eric suffered a severe traumatic brain injury on 3/26/08 in Miami, FL, where he was going to college to become an air traffic controller. He was one semester away from graduation when in a split second our lives would change as his life hung in the balance from a car accident. We live in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, and were called by the Miami Police and told that our son was being transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition. We left for the 6 hour drive to Miami immediately.
Upon arriving in Miami, we were able to see our son for only a few seconds as the doctors and staff wheeled him into surgery for an emergency craniotomy to remove a large epidural hematoma (blood clot) from his brain. Sitting in the waiting room for hours during our son's surgery was excruciatingly painful for us; however, there was one bright spot.
Within one hour of arriving at Jackson Memorial Hospital, a social worker came to us with the most helpful, informative, and comforting, gift we could have ever hoped for. It was a simple canvas tote bag from Mothers Against Brain Injury stuffed full of much needed toiletries, snacks, blanket, pillow, and most important - helpful, easy to understand, information on TBI (traumatic brain injury). Within hours, family from Jacksonville and friends from our church in Ponte Vedra Beach started arriving at the hospital in Miami. We were suffering to the point that we could not read anything on TBI for weeks; however, Eric Jr.'s Aunt Valerie began reading the information in the tote bag immediately and read to us important information that we should know on an "as needed" basis. Without the Mothers Against Brain Injury Tote Bag, we would have been lost.
Thank you so much for being there for us and other families with this program. We truly feel that you were our personal angel sent from God on March 26, 2008.
Eric & Joy Townsend
July 15, 2008
Dear Mothers Against Brain Injuries,
Thank you so much for your bag of stuff we got. Tracy Porter came to visit us while we were with our son at the hospital. She doesn't even live near here but came all the way from Jacksonville and came in to sit with us awhile. She prayed with us too. She just let me cry and held on to me. The nurses said she was visiting the area and she wanted to offer any help she could.
I felt as though she were an angel sent here to let me know everything would get better it was just gonna take some time. I don't even know her. The bag we got had everything I needed and I didn't even know I was going to need it but thank god she told me I would need it later on. I guess I thought we were the only family going through this but she told me there were so many others that have this kind of brain trauma.
I have everything in order now so that our doctors and attorneys can help us figure out what is next. Christian is home now and going to therapy to help his balance and to get his brain back to as good as he can be. He is only 15 but he is strong and we are so glad to the hospital for letting her visit with us and give us a bag.
Thank you for everything
Beverly Johnson-Thomas
Christians mom
June 26, 2008
Dear Tracy,
Sorry it's taken me so long to write, but each day is busier than the next.
Paul is doing much better since he has been home. He goes to Brooks 3 times a week, for speech and does therapy for his right side of body, still has no use of right arm or hand, but each day he gets stronger. He has a very hard time communicating on every day names and words. He tried very hard and is a fighter so he won’t give up. He has a very long road ahead of him. Surgery to have his skull placed back to his head on July the 3rd.
I want to thank you so very much for providing us the bag "Mothers Against Brain Injury" it was and is still very helpful, the information , got me to you, and lawyers, which are working now for us. THANKS !!!! I don't know what came in more handy the toiletries snacks, pillow, or the cozy blanket, to make it through those long day at the hospital. Probably the tissue. I can't thank you enough for everything. When they gave me the bag at Shands I was crying so bad and so very tired I didn't even look at it for a week later but boy I'm glad I did.
Take care and thank you again.
God bless and keep us in your prayers.
Laura and the Geiger family
Mon, March 31, 2008
Hi Tracy, I was trying to write a letter to thank you for the tote bag. The information inside has helped my family tremendously. Our 19 year old son Justin was in a car accident Feb 23, 2008, he suffered a severe TBI. We are in day 37 and he is still in Shands at UF. I am taking one day at a time and just wanted to let you know the information booklets in that bag have helped us understand so much about these injuries and kind of what to expect. Justin is a level 2 right now on the Rancho scale. We pray everyday for just a little bit more.... and it will come in time
thank you
Pam and Chuck Drew
Mar 24, 2008
Dear Tracy,
On Feb. 03,2008 our child Carlos F Marques, (41 years old)has suffered brain damaged in an accident, was emergency surgery at Jackson Hospital because no ID with him, we had been contacted by the social worker o
n March 10, 2008, he still at JM Hospital West Wing Room 949, he is stable, but in semi-coma. We received your tote bag next day after first visit and we are getting a lot of education from your books.My wife Martha is 76 and I am almost 70.
We really appreciated your help and dedication to this project.
Thanks regards.
Carlos & Martha Marques.
Dear Tracy, Thank you so very much for all the information and help you have given us. The tote bag was such a wonderful thing to give. We used and continue to use the bag. It was also knowing and reading about other people that have gone through this before. It let me know I wasn’t alone and to keep hope and faith!
God Bless You,
Marla Stewart
Plant City, FL
July 20, 2006
Mothers Against Brain Injuries, I received my worse nightmare on 4/14/2006 around 6:00 in the evening. I was at work finishing up when the call came in that Preston my 4 year old angel was hit by a car and was being transported to Shands. My first thought was that this had to be a terrible joke, as the voice on the other end of the phone assured me this was no joke, I dropped everything and started on the most dreadful trip of my life. I arrived at Shands before Preston, as each ambulance pulled up I scanned the back wanting, waiting to see my baby, to see for myself that he was going to be ok. As my family began to arrive I could see the terror in their faces as they ran to comfort me, and then I got another blow to my heart, Preston wasn't going to be arriving in an ambulance he was being transported via Trauma One. I felt my world slipping away, I remember trying to hang on to my sanity, trying to be strong for my family, but in reality I was dying inside. He was being transported by life flight this was not good.
November 28, 2007
Dear Tracy,
I am the mother of Amanda Nicole Corrales and our story is the following:
My daughter, who is 13 months old, was sitting in her stroller with her seat belt on October 18th, 2007 at around 6:30 pm when her grandmother who was learning how to drive lost control of the car and came straight toward her, her father and brother while they were sitting on the lawn. My little boy was hit by the car but fortunately only suffered cuts on his head which required a few staples, however Amanda, my baby, was not so lucky. Her dad, trying to push her out of the way of the vehicle but she suffered a severe brain injury. She was airlifted to Miami Children's Hospital. There, the doctors after several hours of trying to control her swelling decided to do a craniotomy.
Once in PICU I received a Mothers Against Brain Injury tote bag. In my caring bag I found items that were both educational as well as practical. The literature on brain injury was detailed and it answered some of the questions that our neurosurgeons didn't have answers for. For example, my neurosurgeon is an excellent doctor but hearing the words “I do not know what the outcome is going to be” was always consistent. Also, the phrase I learned to hate "She is exactly were I want her to be". Which was what???? The books provided explained better what was possible or to be expected.
August 24, 2007
Hi. My name is April and I received one of your tote bags while my son, Finn was in the Broward Medical Center with a brain injury. Finn had been in a car accident that involved a drunk driver at 8:15pm on 8-15-07 and passed away 8-16-07 at 6:40pm. I then gave birth to my son, Parker Finn at 10:50pm the same night (8-16-07). While he was in the ICU for short while, he is now healthy and well. Because of our long stay in the hospital we made good use of all of the things that you had provided. I want to thank you very much for both the items included and the information provided. I read through the literature while I sat at Finn's bedside waiting for test results and found it very helpful. While your program looks to primarily support brain injury survivors and the rehabilitation period and my son did not have the chance to need rehabilitation I still found your organization to be a good support in my situation. We had many people ask if there was an organization that we would like donations to be made to in lieu of flowers being sent to the Memorial Service and I provided your organizations information. I hope that you receive much support to help you to continue your program. April
March 14, 2007
I have been meaning to write this for some time now. We had a trauma situation last fall, November 26, 2006, in which my son was involved in a kite boarding accident and was airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital. It was the single most horrific moment in our lives. the uncertainty coupled with the fact that we have 3 other children to care for was more than we bargained for. As we were sitting in the PICU unit, we were presented with a bag from your organization. It had in it everything we could possibly have asked for. As you said, everyone carries and hands you business cards, kind of odd but it happens. They tell you things and you can't remember them. The days run together with the nights and you forget all about yourself. You provided everything. There are no words that can begin to thank you for your kindness. Having been there, you are one of the few that can share in the feelings we experienced. The definition section of the reading really helped because there were times when I really wasn't sure what they were talking about. Your path of progression is very close to what takes place and really provided a source of comfort.
July 20, 2005
February 14, 2005 is a day I will never forget. The day started with cards, hugs, and kisses from everyone, including Josh. As he walked out of the door heading to school, I told him “I love you, son. Have a great day!” A little before noon my day changed. I received the phone call every parent fears. “Get to the hospital! Josh has been in an accident. Just get to the hospital!” were the words on the other end of the phone. My world fell apart.
Joshua, aka, Josh, who was 17, had been traveling home from school and was hit by a CSX train traveling at least 30 mph. The engine hit just behind the driver’s seat where he sat. The force pushed him down the track, flipped his car and he had be cut out.
Taken to Shand’s in Jacksonville, by air, and listed in critical condition, I was told “they have him in the back, but it doesn’t look good”.
August 1, 2007
We're so glad we can share a happy ending with you and tell you how much your tote meant to us. We all seem to feel so alone when faced with tragedy, especially involving our kids. The tote let us know we weren't in this alone, that others have known the boundless pain we were feeling. We found strength in that camaraderie. Thank you for that.
Our journey with Taylor has been the most difficult challenge we've ever faced, but we tried to always remember that his friends and ours, along with our family, felt the pain as deeply as we did.
Letters from the Hospitals & Support Groups
We encourage hospital staff to share their accounts of how these tote bags helped them during the course of a family’s stay. Nurses and social workers work very closely with the families providing as much comfort and medical care to the injured person. We are told on occasion how nice it is for them to be able to hand the family hope through this very compassionate program.
September 9, 2008
Tracy, I just wanted you to know how pleased one of our patient's mothers was with the bag. Her son didn't make it, but she was so pleased with everything in the bag, said it was perfect and had helped her so much. On paper that doesn't sound like much but she had me practically in tears as she told me. I just wanted you to know that for her it was a comfort and support and much appreciated - unfortunately you don't get to hear those positive comments. Thanks for all you do! It truly makes a difference.
Thanks,
Donna L. York Trauma PI Nurse/BSCIP Coordinator Trauma Program Shands Hospital at the University of Florida
Mothers Against Brain Injury,
Your Totes of Hope are a godsend, and here is why: Families of traumatic brain injury patients are devastated and feel alone in the world. They say they are helpless and don’t know which way to turn. They often don’t eat well, if at all, and their sleep patterns are frequently disturbed. Headaches and upset stomach are common. They have many questions, but when they see someone who could answer them, they tend to forget what they were going to ask. Families of the critically ill need answers; and most of all, they need hope. Your Totes of Hope address all these issues and more. I see how effectively they help when I look into the grateful eyes of the person receiving one, and I am pleased to have a small part in helping. Keep up the good work!
Sandi Knapp, MSN, RN, CCRN Staff Nurse, SICU Shands at UF
Dear Tracy:
Thanks for coming to our hospital yesterday to provide us with an overview of your organization and the services and material you provide to families of patients. Your presentation was well received by all who attended. Your tote bags and their contents are very comprehensive and are very much appreciated by the nursing staff, rehab staff and our case managers. The resources you provide in these tote bags are very helpful for families going through a very complicated and scary process with a traumatic brain injury of a loved one. This is a great program and service…. we will be sure everyone here is aware of this program and that we take maximum advantage of all it offers to us and our patients and their families… You should be commended for your efforts and commitment to this important patient / family need.
Thanks,
Davide M. Carbone
Chief Executive Officer
St. Mary's Medical Center
Dear Tracy, We recently had a patient admitted to the medical intensive care unit. The patient's home was approximately seven hours north so when his wife drove down she did not have any of the basic resources she would need. She admitted that she hadn't even thought about what she would need at the hospital and had no knowledge of traumatic brain injuries prior to this accident. The thank you card I received after the patient was discharged home said, "Thank you for hooking me up with lodging...and the information from [Mothers Against Brain Injury]. I am forever grateful." The tote bags are a small token but make a huge difference in everyday lives.
Gavin Malcolm, LCSW
Coordinator, Social Services & Trauma Social Worker
North Broward Medical Center Deerfield Beach, FL
Tracy:
We've all looked through your bag here at Shands Rehab Hospital and everyone thought it was great! I also showed it at our monthly BI Support group and our participants also thought it was a wonderful idea.
Marie
Shands Rehab Hospital
HI Tracy,
We went through the tote bag at our last Heads Together Support group meeting and it received raves by our group members. We all felt that it was so wonderful and worthwhile. The caregivers thought back to when we were at the trauma centers and how much we would have loved to have had one of these "bags of hope and comfort" especially that first night.
One of the members did suggest that maybe a little portable CD player or IPOD may be nice to give comfort to the caregiver and survivor during the recovery process. Like a little escape or therapy tool. May God Bless all of you for the wonderful service you are providing to those who are endearing a life changing event in the lives of all affected by TBI.
Brenda Buchweitz
Heads Together Support Group
Melbourne, Florida
Dear Tracy,
Thanks for the share of the tote-bag. Our day-program support group, our every-other-week support group, and our monthly family support group all reviewed the items included in the bag. You guys did a fantastic job! All of the items included are equally important and come together wonderfully. Again, thanks for sharing this great tote project with us and we wish you the best of luck with this project.
Kathy Meade
Executive Director
Second Chance of Northwest Florida, Inc.
222 E Beach Drive
Panama City, FL 32401
85-769-7779
Dear Mrs. Tracy-Porter,
Thank you for your charitable contributions to the victims of Traumatic Brain Injury. As one of the busiest Trauma hospitals in the country, UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital Trauma Center, is constantly evaluating, treating, and providing neuropsychological therapeutic services to this population, and their much effected families. Upon learning of your organization and the generous tote bags delivery system, we were all moved by the organization’s compassion, thoughtfulness, and efficiency, in providing these important materials to afflicted families. Numerous family members have returned to visit our neurotrauma floor with grateful smiles & gestures, organized agendas, and overall, better prepared to face the many challenges they will likely encounter in the future. In addition, many of the patients have eventually utilized and integrated these materials into their cognitive retraining program as compensatory devices to atone for attention, memory, and organizational deficits; such a finding could not be done early enough in treatment! Finally, the helpful list of available resources has been invaluable to victims and family members of TBI, and has in many ways guided them throughout this difficult road towards recovery and community reentry. Thank you.
Rene Hernandez-Cardenache, Psy.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Chief, Neuropsychology Fellow
UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital
Ryder Trauma Center
