VA's role in treatment changes with growing number of injured troops

By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published November 04, 2007

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During deployment in 2004-05, he guarded a base near Baghdad, which was a frequent target of insurgents using car bombs.

How to get help

The Brain Injury Association of Washington works to help survivors of traumatic brain injuries and to raise public awareness. The organization, at 3516 S. 47th St., Suite 100, in Tacoma, can be reached at 253-238-6085. Its Web site is www.biawa.org, or find out about the national association at www.biausa.org.

There are support groups for survivors of traumatic brain injuries. A list is at www.biawa.org/support.htm.

• The Olympia support group meets from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in third-floor classroom in the Emilie Gamelin Pavilion on the campus of Providence St. Peter Hospital, 410 Providence Lane, on the second Tuesday of each month. For more information, call Pat Gabrielse at 360-493-4432.

• The Tacoma support group meets from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Tacoma Area Coalition for Individuals with Disabilities Center, 6315 S. 19th St., on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. For more information, call 253-426-5735. Web site: https://home.comcast.net/~tbisg/

• The Lewis County support group meets at 5 p.m. at Providence Chehalis Hospital, 500 S.E. Washington Ave., the first four Tuesdays of each month. For more information, call Larry Carroll at 360-864-4341 or Ann Grabhorn at 360-983-3166.

• The Seattle support group meets from 4 to 6 p.m. at the ElderHealth Northwest adult day health center, 800 Jefferson St. For more information, call 206-782-9093 or 425-778-3707.

A comprehensive guide about TBI and recovery from it is available at www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/Library/tbitoolkit.pdf.

For active-duty soldiers and veterans, a 29-minute documentary about TBI is available at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at www.dvbic.org. Click on the "education" tab. The site includes comprehensive information about traumatic brain injuries.

Campbell suffered two concussions and endured multiple blasts.

He returned home suffering memory loss, chronic depression and headaches. The memory problems were so severe that he could no longer do his job as a biologist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, where he had worked for 19 years. The VA classified him as 100 percent disabled.

Campbell generally praised the care he's received from the VA. He transferred to the Seattle polytrauma center last year as an outpatient and meets with a therapist once every two or three weeks to help with his memory and organizational skills. Things are different now than when he arrived because of the growing number of service members the specialists are treating. "I tend to get less time when I go," he said.

Uomoto said the Seattle center has seen a higher number of wounded service members and expects another influx, in part because of the recent return of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the Fort Lewis Stryker soldiers who fought insurgents for 15 months. Kenneth Jarrett, the Seattle VA's vocational rehabilitation counselor, said Madigan and the rest of the military medical system provide comprehensive care, but polytrauma cases require highly specialized and complex treatments. These patients also involve long-term rehabilitation, which was never the role of military hospitals to provide, he said.

"We're confident we'll be able to address the needs," Jarrett said. "The whole system is ready to support us."

The team of specialists based at the Seattle hospital makes trips to the VA hospital at American Lake. Uomoto said plans call for a second team of specialists to be established at the Pierce County site sometime in the future.

The VA also has case managers stationed at Madigan to ease the transition for injured service members who bide their time in the warrior transition battalion.

Soldiers in that unit work toward recovery and a return to duty, or await a medical board and separation from the service.

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