Minnesota Finance Director’s Life Changed after Brain Injury
Minnesota resident Leticia Harnung led a motivated, successful life as a finance director for a congressman. She thrived on multi-tasking, financial calculations and political networking. That all changed five months ago when she was thrown from a jet ski and hit her head while on vacation in Florida. She flew home the next day, but had a bad headache. As days went by her headache cart wheeled into incoherency. Harnung’s MRI scans were sent to Dr. Gaylan Rockswold who is a chief of Neurosurgery. Rockswold concluded her brain injury was not visible and in fact said that usually is the case in the majority of concussions. Sometimes the only way a brain injury can be diagnosed is by its symptoms: personality changes, cognitive dysfunction, memory loss, loss of balance, dizziness, etc. Pat Maraciniak said the Brain Injury Association of Minnesota offers a host of resources to help brain injury victims and their families get the help and support they need. “They go home not realizing the impact a brain injury has on them and how life-changing and life-altering it is,” said Marciniak. “So they can understand what's going on. Their symptoms are explained, they're identified. They're told what they can expect,” he said. “With family, with work, with school it helps enormously. The patient feeling reassured they are not going crazy.” Rockswold said follow-up care is critical for the best chances of recovery. One of Harnung’s current challenges is constant migraines which her doctor is trying to help control. New research has found that the brain can heal itself and rewire pathways that were lost in the injury. Which gives Leticia Harnung and her family hope, but they wish more people understood how serious a concussion, known as a mild traumatic brain injury, can be.
