Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath
Farrar, Straus and Giroux - Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release date: 2008-04-01
Hardcover
Author: Michael Paul Mason
Popular Science, Popular medicine, Science: General Issues, Neuroanatomy, Neurology (Specific Aspects), Medical, Psychology, Neuropsychology, Neuroscience, Psychology / Neuropsychology, Science / General, Brain, Brain Injuries, Case studies, Patients, Personal Narratives, Rehabilitation, United States, Wounds and injuries
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Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath
Date undefinedHead Cases is an entertaining and eye-opening account of brain injuries. Michael Paul Mason provides the horrific truths of treatment and care of traumatic brain injuries through insightful stories and brief lessons in neuroscience. Mason's simple, conversational style allows the reader to follow along in his work as a brain injury case manager jumping from city to city. Head Cases presents the grim reality of traumatic brain injury and does a great job of highlighting the fact that sufficient treatment options are almost nonexistent. Unlike many scientific accounts that are difficult to follow, Head Cases is written using conversational language that makes each story intriguing and makes it a difficult book to put down. With each story comes horrifying thoughts of just how delicate the human brain is and how easily just "a tap on the head" can affect any of us.
Head Cases introduces the reader to Michael Paul Mason, a brain injury case manager, and the stories of some of his clients. As a case manager, one of only dozens in his profession, Mason aids patients struggling with life after a brain injury when hospital resources and insurance have been depleted. He reveals that while ninety thousand victims require extended stay in a rehabilitation clinic, only a few thousand openings are available. Constantly traveling to new cases across the United States, Mason revisits cases through short stories of some of his most interesting experiences with traumatic brain injury, which include a woman who no longer has a memory and a man who can no longer cry. The reader enters into Mason's life at home (or lack their of) and how it has been affected by his work. His stories convey the hardships and frustrations of trying to live a normal life after a traumatic brain injury.
Style
Head Cases is presented in documentary like fashion. The reader is provided with the background of Mason's life and work, the life and stories of victims and their families, and the life of brain injury care takers. The book reads just as you may expect to see on the Discovery Channel. Mason presents the hard facts about insufficient health care for patients, how he finds and helps victims, the stories of the victims, and finally a short explanation of how the brain is being affected. However, Mason's plain diction and informal style make the book pleasant for anyone to read. The reader feels like he is tagging along as Mason travels from case to case.
The Stories of Injury
I was fascinated by each of the stories of traumatic brain injury and its aftermath. Each near death experience puts the reader on the edge of his seat, and leaves him fascinated by the aftermath. Mason does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the lives of the victims as they are now, then piecing together their life-changing, catastrophic events. Mason describes working with victims like Cheyenne Emerick. After being introduced to Cheyenne's new lifestyle of coping with seizures and poverty caused by his brain injury, the reader is taken back to the day when he endured his terrible snowboarding accident.
Life After Injury
In addition to the stories of brain injury, Mason provides accounts of life in rehabilitation clinics. I was interested to learn about the lives of the caretakers and the steps taken to ensure a patient's well being. Mason describes how arriving in a clinic puts the patient in "a completely different world without realizing it." Any "externality" can be a catalyst for unpredictable behavior to a brain injury victim. I was fascinated by the unorthodox mechanisms discovered, often through trial and error, to help a patient feel comfortable (for one patient, wearing raingear indoors).
Mechanisms of the Occurrences
I enjoyed Mason's brief explanations of what affects the aftermath had on the brain as well as his quick neuroanatomy lessons. In each case, Mason describes what part of the brain was affected, how it was affected, and how it in turn affected the body. The lessons are concise and informative to the reader without being overly scientific.
Quotes
"The severely brain injured are not getting the treatment they need - they're getting mistreated through neglect, misplacement, and isolation."
"... we both know that brain injuries cannot be managed any more than a thunderstorm can be managed. They can be endured, accepted, and integrated, but not managed."
"I will tell them the real scenario, the one that nobody else has explained to them, and I will sit and watch as their smiles collapse and their eyes lift to the ceiling and turn red."
Conclusion
Mason provides his experiences of witnessing the impacts brain injuries bring to the lives of their victims. His simple, documentary-like style makes Head Cases an enthralling and informative insight to brain injury. Mason provides interesting stories of cases, coping with the aftermath, and insight as to how the brain works. I highly recommend Head Cases for anyone seeking information about brain injury or just looking for an entertaining book. Sit back and let Michael Paul Mason regale you with his experiences, and you will be amazed by the delicacy and wonders of the human brain.
Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath
Date undefinedThis book provokes thought and inspires compassion. Mason presents and courts the "big questions" of what, if anything, we are without our "minds" and "brains," but (mercifully) the book does not appear to be aligned with a particular viewpoint. The book is beautifully written and brings to life each of the injured persons, before and after. With luck, this work will serve not only as sound qualitative literature but also as part of the growing impetus to address traumatic brain injury.
Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath
Date undefinedThis is a frightening and sobering book, the kind you cannot put down at least till you reach the end of each chapter. Concisely written yet full of telling details,Michael takes us on his journey through the inadequacies of our ability to care for brain injured patients and he shares the saga of these survivors of TBI just when we are getting more by the thousands from Iraq. If we are going to appreciate the sacrifices of these soldiers and know what they need, and face, this book is a must read.
