The Stark Family

Hello everyone!

It sure has been a long time since the last blog entry. Things have been very busy. It has been an entire year since the last ABI Walk:

http://stark-family.com/2008/03/23/tym%E2%80%99s-recovery-day-184/

Tym has been attending Coastline College for almost 1 year now. He continues to make great progress and is doing most everything on his own, needing very little help with anything. Tym’s speech and comprehension have improved greatly. Most people that have never met him before swear that he couldn’t have had a brain injury because he seems perfectly normal. Tym still loves to golf, and plays about twice a week.

I can’t write everything here (ok won’t). So if you want to catch up with Tym and family, come out and walk with us at the end of the month.

ABI Walk Information:

The 3rd Annual Walk for Brain Injury Awareness will be held at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley from 8am to 12pm on Saturday, March 28th. It’s about a 3-mile walk and dogs are welcome!

Location: Mile Square Park
16801 Euclid Ave, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Map: http://www.coastline.edu/walkforabi/directions.cfm
Check in time: 8:00 am
Walk Start Time: 9:00 am

You can register online here:

http://www.coastline.edu/walkforabi/registration.cfm

If you are planning on walking with us, please RSVP to tym_stark@yahoo.com by Friday March 13 and sign up using the team name “Tym Stark”.

Day 32 - Tuesday 10/23/07

Monday (10/22) we visited the 3rd and final post-acute rehab center under consideration for Tym’s care. Post-acute means care given after the care he is currently receiving. Acute care, like at the rehab center, is generally given to get a patient back to self-sustaining mode, but not necessarily independent.

Post-acute care on the other hand has the specific goal of getting patients back into their home, and mostly independent. All brain-injury patients are expected to require some level of oversight. Like I mentioned, we visited 3 centers, all in the Southern California area. We feel now that we have a pretty good idea of what each center can offer. As a family, we have to decide where Tym will have the best benefit.

Family plays a big part in neurological rehabilitation, so having Tym close will both be easier on the family and be more comforting for Tym. It may also motivate him to make a faster recovery. On the flip side, the center with the most experience, and the most thorough program, is not nearly as close. The insurance carriers negotiate care based on days, not on cost, so coverage/price are not an issue. Each center is conducting its evaluation to see if they will recommend Tym for treatment.

I provide these links only if you are interested more in knowing about Post-Acute care. Please do not feel that you have to evaluate or make a decision about this.

Southern California Post-Acute Rehab Centers

Casa Colina - http://www.casacolina.org/

CNS - http://www.neuroskills.com/

Winways/Solutions - http://www.winwaysrehab.com/

I have not kept you up to date on the diagnosis that the doctors have come up with. Many of you ask what caused the cardiac arrest/event (not heart attack). The doctors cannot tell for sure, as there are no signs of any heart damage/deficiencies. The heart went into a cardiac arrhythmia known as a ventricular fibrillation. This is where the heart does not work in a “pumping” rhythmic fashion. This could be due to any number of circumstances, but when you are doing an extreme activity such as a marathon, your body is put under many stresses. One possible explanation is a lack of electrolytes which in combination with the stresses of a marathon, made the brain’s signals to the heart fail.

As a result of the cardiac arrhythmia Tym’s brain, heart and lungs stopped functioning. The CPR that was performed (thanks to our heroes) sustained Tym’s life until the EMTs arrived with the defibrillator. The defibrillator shocked Tym’s heart back into a regular beat. As a result of having to be on CPR for an extended period (~13 minutes) there was a lack of adequate oxygen for Tym’s brain. During CPR there is a reduced amount of oxygen in the breaths as well as a reduced blood circulation. Both of these contribute to Anoxic Brain Injury (ABI). 

More information on the cardiac arrhythmia can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_arrhythmia

Common questions and answers regarding Anoxic Brain Injuries:
http://dreamwater.org/souls2/anoxic1d.htm