Site search
sponsored by
Home
News
ENLARGE
Logger
Roseburg resident and logger Stacy Cheney, 37, suffered a brain injury after he was hit in the head by a tree last summer. An aluminum hard hat saved his life, but he now finds himself more emotional and prone to tearing up, as a result of the trauma to his brain.
|
ENLARGE
|
Thinking
As his wife, Lisa, looks on, Stacy Cheney struggles briefly while trying to remember the answer to a question he read at Mercy Institute of Rehabilitation in Roseburg recently.
|
|
ENLARGE
|
Chess battle
Werner Hinojosa plays chess with Paul Smith each week. Hinojosa, who suffers from brain injuries sustained in 1980, plays against Smith, who has cerebral palsy. Smith points to his piece and its accompanying move, and Hinojosa moves it for him.
|
|
ENLARGE
|
Braided
When needed, Werner Hinojosa uses a braided loop around his neck to hold up his damaged left arm. Hinojosa’s brain injury left him with memory and speech problems and physical symptoms like an almost useless left arm.
<b>Photo by ANDY BRONSON</b> <hr> <i>'Try folding a sheet with one arm. Try putting a book into a bookcase, hanging a picture with one arm ... any mundane thing is a little bit harder.' <b>Warner Hinojosa. Azalea resident</b><hr> |
|
ENLARGE
|
Lifesaver
Displaying the aluminum hard hat that saved his life, Stacy Cheney looks by all accounts unharmed. But the Roseburg resident suffers from brain trauma as a result of the accident while working at his job as a logger.
|
Stacy Cheney suffered a life-altering brain injury last July when he was struck by a log while logging the Burnt Mountain area off Coos Bay Wagon Road near Tenmile.
Azalea resident Warner Hinojosa was struck by a pickup while riding his bicycle in 1980. He has been crippled, mentally and physically, ever since.
Though their accidents bear no relation to one another and occurred more than two decades apart, both men suffer remarkably similar symptoms: impaired memories, reduced problem-solving abilities, and a marked inability to do tasks they once took for granted.
Traumatic brain injuries afflict 1.5 million Americans every year, killing approximately 50,000, according to the Brain Injury Association of America Web site.
Douglas County has seen its own share of victims, as Cheney, Hinojosa and others can attest. However, coping with head trauma in this area presents its own challenges.
Many local victims in remote parts of Douglas County struggle to get the services they need because public transportation is virtually nonexistent. Also, a lack of public awareness has allowed some victims to fall through the cracks of established social service networks, according to the Umpqua Valley disAbilities Network.
The Roseburg nonprofit group hopes to change all that, however. The group obtained a grant to study whether transportation, health, housing, employment and other needs were being met for brain injury survivors in the rural corners of the county. A focus group will work to plug any gaps that are found.
<b>FELLED LOGGER</b>
Serious injuries are not uncommon in the logging profession, as Cheney readily admits.
On July 12, the Roseburg man was preparing a load of logs to be hauled up the hillside when one broke loose from the rock bluff above him. It slid down, hit the load in front of him, and swung around like a baseball bat before smacking him in the head.
The force of the blow was strong enough to dent his aluminum hard hat, throwing him several feet into the air.
"Nobody seen it. Nobody knew where it came from," Cheney said. "They said I never had a chance."
Azalea resident Warner Hinojosa was struck by a pickup while riding his bicycle in 1980. He has been crippled, mentally and physically, ever since.
Though their accidents bear no relation to one another and occurred more than two decades apart, both men suffer remarkably similar symptoms: impaired memories, reduced problem-solving abilities, and a marked inability to do tasks they once took for granted.
Traumatic brain injuries afflict 1.5 million Americans every year, killing approximately 50,000, according to the Brain Injury Association of America Web site.
Douglas County has seen its own share of victims, as Cheney, Hinojosa and others can attest. However, coping with head trauma in this area presents its own challenges.
Many local victims in remote parts of Douglas County struggle to get the services they need because public transportation is virtually nonexistent. Also, a lack of public awareness has allowed some victims to fall through the cracks of established social service networks, according to the Umpqua Valley disAbilities Network.
The Roseburg nonprofit group hopes to change all that, however. The group obtained a grant to study whether transportation, health, housing, employment and other needs were being met for brain injury survivors in the rural corners of the county. A focus group will work to plug any gaps that are found.
<b>FELLED LOGGER</b>
Serious injuries are not uncommon in the logging profession, as Cheney readily admits.
On July 12, the Roseburg man was preparing a load of logs to be hauled up the hillside when one broke loose from the rock bluff above him. It slid down, hit the load in front of him, and swung around like a baseball bat before smacking him in the head.
The force of the blow was strong enough to dent his aluminum hard hat, throwing him several feet into the air.
"Nobody seen it. Nobody knew where it came from," Cheney said. "They said I never had a chance."
As the 40-foot log continued down the hill, one of its limbs snagged Cheney and dragged him downhill for almost 40 feet.
His co-workers thought he was dead at first, until he stood up and tried to walk away from the accident. His legs buckled underneath him, however, and he was hauled uphill on a stretcher to an ambulance.
"The people at the emergency room told my wife ... that I was probably not going to survive," Cheney said. "I've been accused of being hard-headed ... It just amazed me that it didn't knock my eyes out of my head."
Cheney, 37, was flown first to Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, then to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland. He remembered nothing of the accident when he woke up on his couch six days later.
Memory lapses now are common for him, sometimes leaving him unable to recall things that happened just minutes before. His personality also has changed. A tough-minded, plain-spoken logger for almost 20 years, Cheney cries easily now, sometimes for no reason.
His co-workers thought he was dead at first, until he stood up and tried to walk away from the accident. His legs buckled underneath him, however, and he was hauled uphill on a stretcher to an ambulance.
"The people at the emergency room told my wife ... that I was probably not going to survive," Cheney said. "I've been accused of being hard-headed ... It just amazed me that it didn't knock my eyes out of my head."
Cheney, 37, was flown first to Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, then to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland. He remembered nothing of the accident when he woke up on his couch six days later.
Memory lapses now are common for him, sometimes leaving him unable to recall things that happened just minutes before. His personality also has changed. A tough-minded, plain-spoken logger for almost 20 years, Cheney cries easily now, sometimes for no reason.
"The crying part has been really hard for me because I've never been emotional," Cheney said. "I'll just sometimes start crying, for what particular reason I'm not sure."
<b>MENDING THE MIND</b>
A traumatic brain injury is defined as an injury caused by an external physical force that results in impaired cognitive or physical functioning. It also may cause a disturbance in behavioral or emotional functioning, according to the Brain Injury Association.
These injuries can range in seriousness from a mere concussion to a gunshot wound. Cheney's injury falls somewhere in between, although more tests are needed before doctors know exactly how serious his injuries are.
His doctor told him he has a cyst on his brain, which may need to be removed surgically.
So far Cheney has taken two neuropsychic evaluations, where some of the tests consisted of sorting numbers and letters in his head as they are read aloud to him, copying pictures and then drawing them from memory, and putting the mixed-up elements of a story into their proper places. The first test was more than four hours long.
"My brain was just overwhelmed with what it was trying to do and it just frustrated me," Cheney said. "There were things that they were asking me to do that I could have done before I was injured. I know I could."
He will not know the results of the tests for several weeks. In the meantime, he continues to see his doctors and he is working with John Holing, a rehabilitation therapist at Umpqua Valley Nursing and Rehab Center in Roseburg who treats victims of stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease and other cerebrovascular conditions.
"Some people are injured so badly that they are never able to return to normal life. They may have lost their vision, their ability to follow directions or understand," Holing said. "Most of our patients seem to return to some kind of normal life, (though) maybe not full-time gainful employment."
Cheney's memory problems are among the most common symptoms Holing encounters.
He said it is critical that rehabilitation takes place immediately after the accident in a structured environment. That means a place where patients can retrain their brains to perform certain functions without external distractions.
Part of Holing's therapy consists of teaching patients how to use a day planner again, how to shop, catch the bus, and perform other everyday activities.
Cheney's rehabilitation regimen also includes physical therapy for the pelvic, shoulder and jaw injuries he sustained in the accident.
<b>MENDING THE MIND</b>
A traumatic brain injury is defined as an injury caused by an external physical force that results in impaired cognitive or physical functioning. It also may cause a disturbance in behavioral or emotional functioning, according to the Brain Injury Association.
These injuries can range in seriousness from a mere concussion to a gunshot wound. Cheney's injury falls somewhere in between, although more tests are needed before doctors know exactly how serious his injuries are.
His doctor told him he has a cyst on his brain, which may need to be removed surgically.
So far Cheney has taken two neuropsychic evaluations, where some of the tests consisted of sorting numbers and letters in his head as they are read aloud to him, copying pictures and then drawing them from memory, and putting the mixed-up elements of a story into their proper places. The first test was more than four hours long.
"My brain was just overwhelmed with what it was trying to do and it just frustrated me," Cheney said. "There were things that they were asking me to do that I could have done before I was injured. I know I could."
He will not know the results of the tests for several weeks. In the meantime, he continues to see his doctors and he is working with John Holing, a rehabilitation therapist at Umpqua Valley Nursing and Rehab Center in Roseburg who treats victims of stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease and other cerebrovascular conditions.
"Some people are injured so badly that they are never able to return to normal life. They may have lost their vision, their ability to follow directions or understand," Holing said. "Most of our patients seem to return to some kind of normal life, (though) maybe not full-time gainful employment."
Cheney's memory problems are among the most common symptoms Holing encounters.
He said it is critical that rehabilitation takes place immediately after the accident in a structured environment. That means a place where patients can retrain their brains to perform certain functions without external distractions.
Part of Holing's therapy consists of teaching patients how to use a day planner again, how to shop, catch the bus, and perform other everyday activities.
Cheney's rehabilitation regimen also includes physical therapy for the pelvic, shoulder and jaw injuries he sustained in the accident.
Services for survivors
• Umpqua Valley disAbilities Network hosts a free support group meeting for survivors of traumatic brain injury and their families. The meeting is held at noon on the second Monday of each month at 419 N.E. Winchester St. in Roseburg. <i>For more information, call 672-6336.</i>
• Those interested in participating in a group focused on improving services to brain injury survivors may attend a meeting held on the second Tuesday of each month at 3:30 p.m. at the Disability Services Office, 251 N.E. Garden Valley Blvd. in Roseburg. <i>Call 440-3427 for more information.</i> • These organizations offer rides to and from medical appointments for the disabled or elderly: * Umpqua Transit (free) 440-3587 * Mercy Express (free) 464-5555 * Specialized Care Mobility (fee-based, for wheelchair-bound) 580-5337 * W.E.S.T. Ambulance (fee-based, for wheelchair-bound) 673-0632 |
Though he misses working in the forest and is unsure what the future holds, Cheney, his wife, Lisa Cheney, and their two children remain hopeful.
"I've been relying a lot on God to get me through this," he said.
<b>LIVING WITH LOSS</b>
Like Cheney, Hinojosa remembers nothing about the accident that damaged his brain, although he is keenly aware of how suddenly it put the brakes on his budding amateur bicycle racing career. Hinojosa had been training for four years as a criterium racer in the Sacramento area when he was hit while riding to work in 1980.
"I don't even remember waking up that morning (before the accident)," he said. "I had to reconstruct that accident from what I was told, from my injuries, from the damage to my bicycle and from what my lawyer told me."
Though he won a $150,000 net court settlement, the money ran out long ago.
"I was in the hospital for five months and in a coma for a month-and-a-half, and I had three brain surgeries," Hinojosa said. His mother nursed him back to health for almost three years after his release from the hospital.
Hinojosa, 55, can no longer ride a bicycle, he has difficulty walking, and he lost permanently the use of his left arm.
"I don't really walk, I control my stagger, and when I'm upset or angry or nervous, then it's just harder to control my stagger, then I might lose my balance and fall," Hinojosa said.
Unlike Cheney, Hinojosa's physical disability has been a substantial hurdle for him.
"I've been relying a lot on God to get me through this," he said.
<b>LIVING WITH LOSS</b>
Like Cheney, Hinojosa remembers nothing about the accident that damaged his brain, although he is keenly aware of how suddenly it put the brakes on his budding amateur bicycle racing career. Hinojosa had been training for four years as a criterium racer in the Sacramento area when he was hit while riding to work in 1980.
"I don't even remember waking up that morning (before the accident)," he said. "I had to reconstruct that accident from what I was told, from my injuries, from the damage to my bicycle and from what my lawyer told me."
Though he won a $150,000 net court settlement, the money ran out long ago.
"I was in the hospital for five months and in a coma for a month-and-a-half, and I had three brain surgeries," Hinojosa said. His mother nursed him back to health for almost three years after his release from the hospital.
Hinojosa, 55, can no longer ride a bicycle, he has difficulty walking, and he lost permanently the use of his left arm.
"I don't really walk, I control my stagger, and when I'm upset or angry or nervous, then it's just harder to control my stagger, then I might lose my balance and fall," Hinojosa said.
Unlike Cheney, Hinojosa's physical disability has been a substantial hurdle for him.
"Try folding a sheet with one arm. Try putting a book into a bookcase, hanging a picture with one arm ... any mundane thing is a little bit harder," Hinojosa said, adding that his poor sense of balance adds to his difficulties.
When he speaks, Hinojosa's words spill out of his mouth in a cadence almost as halting as his gait. He slurs his words, and often struggles to express himself, sometimes stopping midsentence to exhale loudly in exasperation.
Although he is lucid and articulate, he suffers from memory loss and occasional emotional outbursts that are difficult to control or anticipate, he said. Depression hounds his day-to-day existence.
"I would've much rather read an exciting story about brain damage than living it," Hinojosa said. "Maybe God is good, but what he has allowed to be done to me is not good."
Though he managed to regain some physical functions after the accident, Hinojosa can cite a litany of problems that still plague him, most of which will probably never go away.
For one, his short-term recall is severely impaired.
"My memory is like Swiss cheese," he said.
When he speaks, Hinojosa's words spill out of his mouth in a cadence almost as halting as his gait. He slurs his words, and often struggles to express himself, sometimes stopping midsentence to exhale loudly in exasperation.
Although he is lucid and articulate, he suffers from memory loss and occasional emotional outbursts that are difficult to control or anticipate, he said. Depression hounds his day-to-day existence.
"I would've much rather read an exciting story about brain damage than living it," Hinojosa said. "Maybe God is good, but what he has allowed to be done to me is not good."
Though he managed to regain some physical functions after the accident, Hinojosa can cite a litany of problems that still plague him, most of which will probably never go away.
For one, his short-term recall is severely impaired.
"My memory is like Swiss cheese," he said.
His thought process is also slowed, and he gets easily confused and has a hard time making decisions. He suffers from vertigo, nausea, dizziness, muscle spasms, and clumsiness, and he sometimes finds a lack of inhibition leaves him behaving inappropriately.
It frustrates him even more, however, when people who don't understand his condition patronize or mistreat him.
"It makes me quite angry because ... even if they don't say anything, I can see ... they think I'm a retard or a second-class citizen or something."
Hinojosa participates in the traumatic brain injury support group at the Umpqua Valley disAbilities Network, so he can talk over such challenges with others who have been through similar experiences. The group meets once a month at the disAbilities Network's Winchester Street office.
He supports the disAbilities Network's attempt to bring attention to the plight of brain injury survivors like him and Cheney. He hopes more services become available to people in his condition, particularly since he recently lost his drivers license on a medical suspension. Without public transportation to speak of, he is now dependent on others to get him where he needs to go.
"What's missing for head-injured people is the third stage, dealing with life," he said. "In six years I will have lived as long handicapped and brain damaged as I did able-bodied and whole-brained. I'm lucky to be alive, OK, but, well, life isn't that much of a marvelous gift, OK? It could be worse, it could be a lot worse -- should be better."
* You can reach reporter Christian Bringhurst at 957-4213 or by e-mail at cbringhurst@newsreview.info.
It frustrates him even more, however, when people who don't understand his condition patronize or mistreat him.
"It makes me quite angry because ... even if they don't say anything, I can see ... they think I'm a retard or a second-class citizen or something."
Hinojosa participates in the traumatic brain injury support group at the Umpqua Valley disAbilities Network, so he can talk over such challenges with others who have been through similar experiences. The group meets once a month at the disAbilities Network's Winchester Street office.
He supports the disAbilities Network's attempt to bring attention to the plight of brain injury survivors like him and Cheney. He hopes more services become available to people in his condition, particularly since he recently lost his drivers license on a medical suspension. Without public transportation to speak of, he is now dependent on others to get him where he needs to go.
"What's missing for head-injured people is the third stage, dealing with life," he said. "In six years I will have lived as long handicapped and brain damaged as I did able-bodied and whole-brained. I'm lucky to be alive, OK, but, well, life isn't that much of a marvelous gift, OK? It could be worse, it could be a lot worse -- should be better."
* You can reach reporter Christian Bringhurst at 957-4213 or by e-mail at cbringhurst@newsreview.info.
