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EPISODE 130: CURRENTS - Elisabeth's Story of Hope

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Description

In May 2014 Elisabeth Beraquit fell through the faulty doors of an elevator into an empty shaft, landing 30 feet below on top of the elevator car. She suffered multiple traumatic brain injuries, including subarachnoid hemorrhage, intraventricular hemorrhage, and a diffuse axonal injury. 10 years on and Elisabeth is thriving, running her own business in Philadelphia and living her best life. In this week’s episode she and her sister, Sarah, join Dr Lauren Koffman to discuss Elisabeth's Story of Hope.
You can read Elisabeth’s story in Currents at https://currents.neurocriticalcare.org/Stories-of-Hope/Article/story-of-hope-elisabeth.

Contributors

  • Lauren Koffman DO, MS

    Assistant Professor, Clinical Neurology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University

  1. 00:00:20
    Hi, welcome back to the MCS podcast
  2. 00:00:22
    current series. This is Lauren Hoffman.
  3. 00:00:24
    I'm a neuro intensivist at Temple
  4. 00:00:25
    University in Philadelphia. And today
  5. 00:00:27
    I'd like to welcome onto the podcast.
  6. 00:00:30
    Someone that was previously featured in
  7. 00:00:31
    one of our stories of hope, Elizabeth,
  8. 00:00:33
    and we're actually fortunate to be
  9. 00:00:35
    joined by her sister Sarah, who's also
  10. 00:00:37
    a physician so we'll kind of get both
  11. 00:00:39
    sides of the story so thank you for
  12. 00:00:40
    joining us
  13. 00:00:45
    Thanks for having me. So before we kind
  14. 00:00:47
    of talk about what it was like kind of
  15. 00:00:49
    living through and recovering from the
  16. 00:00:51
    brain injury can you just talk to us a
  17. 00:00:53
    little bit Elizabeth about like what was
  18. 00:00:54
    your life like before it happened this
  19. 00:00:56
    is going back to 2013 2014 right yep so
  20. 00:01:02
    I was a I guess a senior in college and
  21. 00:01:07
    I kept very busy I was always working
  22. 00:01:10
    and I was a nanny and also at like
  23. 00:01:13
    another part time job was always busy
  24. 00:01:16
    and doing things so Um, I was very
  25. 00:01:19
    ready to graduate and start life after I
  26. 00:01:22
    was coming back to Philly and very
  27. 00:01:24
    excited to be reunited with my family
  28. 00:01:26
    after being six hours away in Boston for
  29. 00:01:29
    the past four years. So, um, yeah, I
  30. 00:01:33
    think that was pretty much everything
  31. 00:01:36
    leading up to it. And what happened
  32. 00:01:40
    when you sustained the brain injury
  33. 00:01:41
    actually was at the weekend that you
  34. 00:01:42
    guys were celebrating graduation Yeah,
  35. 00:01:45
    everyone had to come up for graduation
  36. 00:01:48
    and it was the night before my big
  37. 00:01:53
    ceremony. Yeah, I think it was after
  38. 00:01:56
    you had a couple graduations. It was
  39. 00:01:58
    the day of one of the graduations that
  40. 00:02:01
    you had, but not the basis for
  41. 00:02:03
    graduation. And then we went out that
  42. 00:02:05
    night before the major Boston University
  43. 00:02:08
    graduation Sorry, family was there. I
  44. 00:02:11
    think you're at a Red Sox game. And
  45. 00:02:14
    then that's kind of when things took a
  46. 00:02:17
    turn, right?
  47. 00:02:19
    Yeah, we have friends that helped us
  48. 00:02:22
    get these great seats up above the, was
  49. 00:02:24
    it about the great monster or? No, to
  50. 00:02:27
    the left of it, sort of a, yeah, kind
  51. 00:02:30
    of in the outfield, in this kind of
  52. 00:02:33
    open area. Okay, yeah. So it was like
  53. 00:02:35
    the third floor up and there were great
  54. 00:02:38
    seats where I'll have in such a great
  55. 00:02:39
    time and just really happy to be like
  56. 00:02:41
    reunited and it was really great But the
  57. 00:02:47
    game itself was kind of boring and
  58. 00:02:51
    some of my family members left, so we
  59. 00:02:53
    were waiting for the game to end, kind
  60. 00:02:55
    of, and we started gathering. As the
  61. 00:02:58
    game ended, we gathered by the
  62. 00:03:00
    elevators to head home and I was like
  63. 00:03:04
    very excited still, jumping on my dad's
  64. 00:03:06
    back, like playing around and I jumped
  65. 00:03:09
    on his back and as I came down, I hit
  66. 00:03:11
    the door and sorry, the door of the
  67. 00:03:14
    elevator And it kind of swung open like
  68. 00:03:17
    a doggy door. I slipped into the
  69. 00:03:20
    elevator shafts, following about 28
  70. 00:03:23
    feet. 20 or 30. Yeah, we don't know
  71. 00:03:26
    exactly for sure, but at least like 20
  72. 00:03:28
    to 30 feet, probably. Yeah, and I
  73. 00:03:30
    mean, at this point, I think, you
  74. 00:03:32
    know, we're gonna have to rely on Sarah
  75. 00:03:33
    for some of the following sequence of
  76. 00:03:36
    events, but it sounded like you had a
  77. 00:03:38
    pretty significant kind of polytrauma.
  78. 00:03:39
    You had several injuries. So on top of
  79. 00:03:41
    the brain injury, you had some other
  80. 00:03:43
    injuries. Could you just tell us a
  81. 00:03:44
    little bit about that, Sarah? Yeah, I
  82. 00:03:48
    think part of it too is, you know, she
  83. 00:03:50
    was in the elevator for at least like 30
  84. 00:03:53
    minutes as they were kind of on top of
  85. 00:03:55
    the elevator shaft. I guess I should
  86. 00:03:57
    say for about 30 minutes as they were
  87. 00:03:58
    securing the scene and trying to figure
  88. 00:04:00
    out how to get to her safely. And so we
  89. 00:04:02
    were really worried in that time sort of
  90. 00:04:05
    what her state was gonna be. And as
  91. 00:04:07
    like a first year medical student at the
  92. 00:04:09
    time, I was really anxious to like get
  93. 00:04:12
    to her and kind of see how she was doing.
  94. 00:04:16
    When she came out, she was definitely
  95. 00:04:17
    like moving her limbs. And I think was
  96. 00:04:21
    trying to like, they had a breathing
  97. 00:04:23
    mask on her. And I think they're trying
  98. 00:04:24
    to, you were trying to fight it, which
  99. 00:04:26
    is like definitely your fighting spirit.
  100. 00:04:28
    And then when we got to the emergency
  101. 00:04:33
    room and they started to assess you,
  102. 00:04:34
    they found out that you had bleeding
  103. 00:04:36
    into the brain. So both subarachnoid
  104. 00:04:39
    and, you know, in the brain tissue
  105. 00:04:41
    itself And they also described this sort
  106. 00:04:45
    of acceleration, deceleration injury
  107. 00:04:47
    where, because it's like, where you go
  108. 00:04:49
    really, really fast, really quickly.
  109. 00:04:51
    And then you stop all of a sudden,
  110. 00:04:53
    which is exactly what happened. And it
  111. 00:04:54
    kind of makes your brain kind of
  112. 00:04:58
    reverberate back and forth and causes
  113. 00:05:00
    this type of injury. And then you also
  114. 00:05:04
    had these sort of bilateral or both
  115. 00:05:08
    sides of the jaw, the mandible were
  116. 00:05:11
    fractured completely. Those had to be
  117. 00:05:14
    repaired. what took you back to surgery
  118. 00:05:17
    a few days later, they realized that
  119. 00:05:19
    you actually also had this cut that went
  120. 00:05:23
    from underneath your chin all the way
  121. 00:05:25
    through to the inside of your mouth as
  122. 00:05:27
    almost like something had been punctured.
  123. 00:05:29
    And so it was a lot of damage to the jaw
  124. 00:05:32
    and around that area, which is why we
  125. 00:05:36
    also got a breathing tube placed pretty
  126. 00:05:38
    early once they were able to get you out
  127. 00:05:40
    of the, you know, into infasafety And
  128. 00:05:44
    then some of the other things were some
  129. 00:05:47
    fractures to, you know, parts of the
  130. 00:05:50
    spine, the transverse processes of the
  131. 00:05:52
    spine. So you were in
  132. 00:05:55
    a back brace. And then they thought
  133. 00:05:57
    that you might've had a, you know,
  134. 00:06:00
    what's called a pneumothoraxo air around
  135. 00:06:02
    the lung that makes the lung collapse.
  136. 00:06:04
    So they did put in a chest tube to
  137. 00:06:06
    relieve that pressure. And then there's
  138. 00:06:10
    a lot of cuts and wounds where they had
  139. 00:06:11
    to do some stitches and teeth are pretty.
  140. 00:06:15
    Goody, goody, messed up too. Yeah,
  141. 00:06:17
    you had a lot of broken teeth.
  142. 00:06:21
    I mean, you're never what we knew. You
  143. 00:06:22
    had all those facial like injuries like
  144. 00:06:24
    seeing you now. I'm sure you had, you
  145. 00:06:26
    went through a lot of like extensive
  146. 00:06:28
    surgical repair for those injuries. And
  147. 00:06:31
    I mean, I'm assuming you don't remember
  148. 00:06:34
    any of the initial first few days in the
  149. 00:06:35
    ICU, is that right?
  150. 00:06:38
    No, I suffered from short-term memory
  151. 00:06:43
    for, I think it was almost three weeks
  152. 00:06:48
    until, and I think part of it was just
  153. 00:06:50
    the mundane, like same thing every day
  154. 00:06:52
    was difficult for me to like trace what
  155. 00:06:56
    was a memory and like what was just
  156. 00:06:58
    another day. So I had,
  157. 00:07:02
    I didn't remember the day before until
  158. 00:07:04
    like three weeks, like the second week
  159. 00:07:06
    of June, this happened May 15th, or
  160. 00:07:08
    May 18th? 16th, 16th. Yeah Have a May
  161. 00:07:11
    16th and
  162. 00:07:14
    then end. second week of June, I was
  163. 00:07:16
    finally like, Oh, yesterday, and
  164. 00:07:18
    referenced the day before, and everyone
  165. 00:07:19
    was kind of just stopped, and like,
  166. 00:07:21
    What, what did you say? So, yeah,
  167. 00:07:24
    yeah. So I guess we'll talk a little
  168. 00:07:27
    bit next about what it was like in rehab,
  169. 00:07:29
    but do you remember in the hospital,
  170. 00:07:31
    anything like, that really like made,
  171. 00:07:33
    was comforting for you, or anything
  172. 00:07:35
    that like the people that were taking
  173. 00:07:37
    care of you, like really did to like
  174. 00:07:39
    help keep your spirits up?
  175. 00:07:42
    I leave from hearsay from everyone else,
  176. 00:07:45
    but the nurses really took extra care of
  177. 00:07:48
    me and made sure to like brush out my
  178. 00:07:52
    hair every day and wash my hair.
  179. 00:07:54
    Typically you would just, they would
  180. 00:07:58
    just cut someone's hair off if it was as
  181. 00:08:00
    not it as mine was, but they really
  182. 00:08:02
    made sure to just take care of my hair
  183. 00:08:04
    as much as possible. And I don't know,
  184. 00:08:07
    I feel like everyone treated me like
  185. 00:08:09
    their daughter in a way They have just
  186. 00:08:12
    like a very kind. going towards me.
  187. 00:08:17
    And what was your perspective, Sarah?
  188. 00:08:19
    Did you feel like you were getting all
  189. 00:08:21
    that extra support from the staff as
  190. 00:08:22
    well? Like you and your family?
  191. 00:08:25
    Absolutely. I mean, we were there. We
  192. 00:08:27
    were there really around the clock. I
  193. 00:08:29
    mean, there's three sisters, you know,
  194. 00:08:32
    spouses, kids, my parents. So there
  195. 00:08:35
    was really someone there all the time.
  196. 00:08:37
    In the beginning, we tried to do shifts
  197. 00:08:38
    overnight and like stay with her. And
  198. 00:08:41
    the staff was like, we got this, you
  199. 00:08:43
    know, you got to go home and get rest
  200. 00:08:45
    and take care of yourselves. And it
  201. 00:08:47
    felt really good to know like, okay,
  202. 00:08:48
    she's in good hands. They've got her.
  203. 00:08:52
    And I think I remember Don from physical
  204. 00:08:55
    and I don't know, physical or
  205. 00:08:56
    occupational therapy, you know, they
  206. 00:08:59
    just took really good care of her. They
  207. 00:09:00
    did things that they thought she, you
  208. 00:09:03
    know, we're going to be helpful tools
  209. 00:09:05
    for her, you know, not just like what
  210. 00:09:07
    they would do for any patient.
  211. 00:09:11
    So definitely very cared for.
  212. 00:09:14
    And one thing that I thought was really
  213. 00:09:16
    interesting, you talked about in the
  214. 00:09:18
    stories of Hope Elizabeth, like they
  215. 00:09:19
    were like toddler face and like, can
  216. 00:09:22
    you like just describe, I'd like to
  217. 00:09:24
    hear like what you remember from it and
  218. 00:09:26
    then hear Sarah's perspective as to like
  219. 00:09:27
    what that was like seeing it firsthand.
  220. 00:09:32
    Personally, don't remember a ton from
  221. 00:09:34
    that either. I'm sorry, but I do
  222. 00:09:38
    remember seeing the tent that they had
  223. 00:09:40
    me in and I would not stay in the bed no
  224. 00:09:44
    matter what. I was just like trying to
  225. 00:09:46
    get up all the time. I like could not
  226. 00:09:50
    walk very well. It was just a bad sign.
  227. 00:09:53
    And every time I had a different nurse
  228. 00:09:55
    'cause they had someone sitting with me
  229. 00:09:57
    247, I didn't remember who they were.
  230. 00:10:00
    So I would just like, look at my mom or
  231. 00:10:02
    someone else in the room and be like,
  232. 00:10:03
    who is this person sitting here? Like,
  233. 00:10:05
    what is this? But that's really all
  234. 00:10:10
    that I can recall from that.
  235. 00:10:14
    sorry. I know. I mean, it, I think
  236. 00:10:17
    the way you described was like, you're
  237. 00:10:18
    kind of re relearning, like, how to do
  238. 00:10:21
    things and like process things. So like,
  239. 00:10:23
    what was that like for you, Sarah,
  240. 00:10:25
    seeing that? Yeah, I mean, I think,
  241. 00:10:28
    you know, we all watch the movies, you
  242. 00:10:30
    know, so just to, I guess, back up a
  243. 00:10:31
    sec. So Lizzie, they did put her into
  244. 00:10:34
    a medically induced coma, you know, in
  245. 00:10:37
    the beginning to kind of make sure she
  246. 00:10:39
    wasn't putting too much stress on her
  247. 00:10:40
    brain and to kind of figure out what the
  248. 00:10:42
    injury she was dealing with, you know,
  249. 00:10:44
    they did eventually take that off to try
  250. 00:10:46
    to see if she would wake up and it took
  251. 00:10:47
    a few day, you know, took longer than
  252. 00:10:50
    you might expect if you put like me at
  253. 00:10:52
    where I am right now under into a
  254. 00:10:54
    medically induced coma. And so I think
  255. 00:10:57
    we all watch these movies where someone
  256. 00:10:59
    comes out of a coma, you know, they
  257. 00:11:01
    back their eyes and they look around and
  258. 00:11:04
    then they're just like, oh, I'm,
  259. 00:11:06
    you're here and here we are. And we
  260. 00:11:08
    just kind of pick up from there. And.
  261. 00:11:11
    you know, it was definitely very
  262. 00:11:13
    different. And I kind of describe it as,
  263. 00:11:15
    you know, Lizzie went through like
  264. 00:11:17
    rebirth through all of the ages. And,
  265. 00:11:21
    you know, it was learning how to
  266. 00:11:24
    communicate, learning how to use your
  267. 00:11:28
    limbs, learning how to walk, learning,
  268. 00:11:30
    but also, you know, emotionally and
  269. 00:11:34
    mentally to go through all of those
  270. 00:11:35
    stages that we go through as kids. And
  271. 00:11:39
    it was kind of, it was kind of shocking
  272. 00:11:41
    to see and I think at some point, you
  273. 00:11:43
    worry,
  274. 00:11:45
    like, when is it going to stop? When
  275. 00:11:46
    are the improvements going to stop? Are
  276. 00:11:48
    we, is she going to keep going and
  277. 00:11:50
    continue to kind of get back to herself?
  278. 00:11:54
    Or is it going to stop at a certain
  279. 00:11:56
    level? And this will be this new
  280. 00:11:58
    version of Lizzie that we, you know,
  281. 00:12:01
    love, but will be different than, you
  282. 00:12:03
    know, what we know. And so I think
  283. 00:12:05
    that was hard to go through, but also a
  284. 00:12:07
    really good lesson as like, And, uh,
  285. 00:12:10
    you know, and. 'cause a med student,
  286. 00:12:13
    it was a first year med student really
  287. 00:12:15
    learning how different this could be
  288. 00:12:18
    and sort of how to help somebody going
  289. 00:12:20
    through something like that. And at
  290. 00:12:22
    that point, were they like cautiously
  291. 00:12:24
    optimistic or like what was like the
  292. 00:12:27
    team telling you guys in terms of like
  293. 00:12:29
    the trajectory for recovery?
  294. 00:12:32
    Yeah, I think they optimistic, but it
  295. 00:12:34
    was also like time. You just, you
  296. 00:12:36
    don't know, you know, we don't know
  297. 00:12:39
    You know, the swelling in your brain
  298. 00:12:41
    got better, the bleeding had stopped.
  299. 00:12:43
    So they didn't have to do more invasive
  300. 00:12:44
    procedures like relieve pressure or put
  301. 00:12:48
    in a monitor to monitor the pressure or
  302. 00:12:50
    anything like that, but I think it was
  303. 00:12:51
    just time. And, you know, I remember
  304. 00:12:55
    the first day that Lizzie kind of woke
  305. 00:13:00
    up and asked for me. Or, you know,
  306. 00:13:03
    she, I remember getting this text
  307. 00:13:05
    message Lizzie's asking for you, she
  308. 00:13:08
    wants to know where you are. And I
  309. 00:13:09
    remember like running to the hospital to
  310. 00:13:11
    be like, I just got to see her, you
  311. 00:13:14
    know, it was, that was such a special
  312. 00:13:16
    moment to like be like, you know, she
  313. 00:13:19
    knows who I am. And then that was once
  314. 00:13:22
    you had gotten out of the ICU. And then
  315. 00:13:24
    we gave her her computer back. And you
  316. 00:13:26
    know, she had had a trach placed
  317. 00:13:30
    because she, because of all the
  318. 00:13:32
    injuries when they did the surgery to
  319. 00:13:34
    repair her jaw, they didn't want to
  320. 00:13:36
    leave a breathing tube in. They wanted
  321. 00:13:38
    to put a trach in for safety. She also
  322. 00:13:39
    had a feeding tube place for nutrition.
  323. 00:13:43
    And so she couldn't really talk, but
  324. 00:13:45
    she started to, we gave her her
  325. 00:13:47
    computer and she started to like type.
  326. 00:13:49
    And would start to like type and
  327. 00:13:50
    communicate to us that way. And it was
  328. 00:13:54
    just so special to start to see, you
  329. 00:13:57
    know, see her come back slowly,
  330. 00:14:02
    just every moment, just appreciating
  331. 00:14:06
    just like you would a new kid, you know?
  332. 00:14:08
    Like celebrating every like little bit
  333. 00:14:10
    of improvement. Yeah. And Elizabeth,
  334. 00:14:15
    I guess when you end up transitioning
  335. 00:14:16
    from a hospital to rehab, I think does
  336. 00:14:20
    that kind of where you start to remember
  337. 00:14:21
    what was going on, or is it still a
  338. 00:14:23
    little foggy? It's a little foggy, but
  339. 00:14:26
    I think like two weeks into that because
  340. 00:14:28
    I was starting to do different
  341. 00:14:29
    activities and stuff, I was, they also
  342. 00:14:33
    like took me, started giving me
  343. 00:14:39
    signs of like, not I'm gonna say the
  344. 00:14:41
    outside world, but like my life before,
  345. 00:14:43
    and I was kind of recognizing that like,
  346. 00:14:48
    I don't know, I was like channeling
  347. 00:14:50
    another person that I used to be, and I
  348. 00:14:53
    could like kind of start coming out of
  349. 00:14:56
    it, but
  350. 00:14:58
    I definitely still found myself going
  351. 00:15:01
    through the ages, like throughout,
  352. 00:15:04
    even throughout the rest of the day.
  353. 00:15:05
    therapy. I was still like learning to
  354. 00:15:07
    walk again. And so, I don't know, I
  355. 00:15:10
    don't think it, I don't think I got to
  356. 00:15:13
    like fully back to who I was until I
  357. 00:15:16
    came home back at the end of June. What
  358. 00:15:20
    were some of the most challenging things
  359. 00:15:22
    that you can remember while in rehab,
  360. 00:15:24
    like either most frustrating or most
  361. 00:15:26
    challenging?
  362. 00:15:29
    I think my memory was a very, very
  363. 00:15:32
    challenging thing for me,
  364. 00:15:36
    just to like the little activities that
  365. 00:15:39
    I look back on now, and I'm like, Oh
  366. 00:15:41
    wow, that's so stupid, but like
  367. 00:15:42
    recognizing one person and seeing them
  368. 00:15:46
    on the page and their name and
  369. 00:15:50
    everything, they've taught me so many
  370. 00:15:50
    different skills and like how to
  371. 00:15:52
    remember people and how to pick out a
  372. 00:15:55
    sign, just different memory skills,
  373. 00:15:57
    and so now I kind of can do it a lot
  374. 00:16:00
    better, but I look back on that time
  375. 00:16:02
    and I'm like, How did I think that was
  376. 00:16:03
    so hard? The other thing was, I
  377. 00:16:07
    thought about this a lot. What other
  378. 00:16:10
    thing in therapy?
  379. 00:16:15
    I think the five motor skills was
  380. 00:16:17
    something that was very difficult even
  381. 00:16:20
    now. I don't have them all the way back.
  382. 00:16:22
    They're just like, I don't know, like
  383. 00:16:27
    I've lived on my eyesight, but like
  384. 00:16:29
    putting a pen in that cap lid, like the
  385. 00:16:33
    cap is still very difficult and things
  386. 00:16:35
    like that, so. And you mentioned your
  387. 00:16:37
    eyes because I think you had prisms made,
  388. 00:16:39
    right? You had some kind of visual
  389. 00:16:41
    issues after the injury. Yeah, in the
  390. 00:16:43
    lower quadrants, I have like double
  391. 00:16:45
    vision that has gotten a lot better or I
  392. 00:16:48
    have found a way to like look over it.
  393. 00:16:52
    And we didn't realize that until you got
  394. 00:16:54
    to, we didn't realize that until she
  395. 00:16:56
    got to the rehab and started to walk.
  396. 00:16:58
    And we were noticing that she was like
  397. 00:17:00
    closing one eye Or like, and you could
  398. 00:17:03
    see actually one of her eyes. It was
  399. 00:17:05
    like, wood divergent. Yeah, at a
  400. 00:17:08
    certain way that she was looking, one
  401. 00:17:11
    of the eyes would basically not be in
  402. 00:17:14
    line with the other eye, and that's
  403. 00:17:16
    when we realized, oh, this is probably
  404. 00:17:17
    making a lot of things challenging for
  405. 00:17:19
    her from this sort of nerve damage that
  406. 00:17:22
    I don't think has fully ever recovered,
  407. 00:17:26
    but you've definitely learned to
  408. 00:17:27
    compensate. And it sounds like you're
  409. 00:17:30
    really having to relearn everything What
  410. 00:17:33
    was keeping you motivated? It sounds
  411. 00:17:36
    like you had a lot of family support and
  412. 00:17:38
    a great rehab team. Are there any
  413. 00:17:40
    specific things you remember that really
  414. 00:17:43
    just kept you wanting to keep pushing?
  415. 00:17:48
    Family, like you said, were always
  416. 00:17:50
    pushing me and always like cheerleaders
  417. 00:17:52
    on that. I think it was just, I get
  418. 00:17:57
    like a mindset and I'm like, I'm gonna
  419. 00:18:00
    do this And I just like, we'll do
  420. 00:18:04
    anything I can to. to basically win. I
  421. 00:18:06
    make like a competition with myself and
  422. 00:18:08
    I'm like, okay, you're going to
  423. 00:18:09
    practice every day, you're going to do
  424. 00:18:10
    this. And that's like the what like
  425. 00:18:15
    determination and just like the repeat
  426. 00:18:18
    process of like practicing all of your
  427. 00:18:20
    rehabs really helped me. I didn't
  428. 00:18:23
    necessarily, I think definitely in the
  429. 00:18:26
    future, I was like, I need to get to
  430. 00:18:28
    Philly and just start my job, I need to
  431. 00:18:30
    move on with my life. You need to pass
  432. 00:18:32
    your CPA exams, which you did, and you
  433. 00:18:34
    were like, crazy determined to do that.
  434. 00:18:37
    Yeah, but I don't, I think I was just
  435. 00:18:40
    like, I need to get out of this
  436. 00:18:41
    hospital I, need to get my license back,
  437. 00:18:43
    I need to, I mean, that's certainly
  438. 00:18:46
    like, great motivation. Like, at what
  439. 00:18:49
    point do you start, you felt like, I
  440. 00:18:52
    feel like I myself again, like, how
  441. 00:18:54
    long do you think that took?
  442. 00:18:58
    Um,
  443. 00:19:01
    I would say
  444. 00:19:05
    close to probably like
  445. 00:19:08
    a year or two, like still questioning
  446. 00:19:12
    some things that I'm like, would this
  447. 00:19:14
    have been different if I didn't have an
  448. 00:19:17
    accident, but obviously that is a lot
  449. 00:19:20
    less now Um, significant for the rest,
  450. 00:19:24
    but I, um, I think for a year after
  451. 00:19:27
    the accident, I would ask you about all
  452. 00:19:29
    the time I was obsessed with asking
  453. 00:19:30
    people like, well, what I've done this
  454. 00:19:32
    if I was like, before the fall would
  455. 00:19:34
    pre fall is he I've done this like I had
  456. 00:19:37
    labels for pre and post fall and I was
  457. 00:19:39
    like obsessed with whether I was back to
  458. 00:19:41
    myself or not And it was really hard
  459. 00:19:43
    because I couldn't tell that myself. So
  460. 00:19:48
    I think that was the hardest part was
  461. 00:19:50
    just like, I don't know if I am or I'm
  462. 00:19:52
    not and I'm sure people I drove people
  463. 00:19:55
    nuts.
  464. 00:19:58
    What would you tell people that are
  465. 00:20:01
    going through a rehab process or trying
  466. 00:20:03
    to get back to feeling with themselves?
  467. 00:20:05
    What advice would you give them?
  468. 00:20:10
    Um.
  469. 00:20:14
    Okay. I would
  470. 00:20:17
    just tell them they have to like find
  471. 00:20:19
    the determination to keep trying and to
  472. 00:20:22
    not give up on like day after day, it's
  473. 00:20:26
    going to be hard to continue doing your
  474. 00:20:28
    therapies if you're not doing them well,
  475. 00:20:30
    but you have to practice and just keep
  476. 00:20:32
    trying because if you lose hope and
  477. 00:20:35
    faith, then it'll be a very difficult
  478. 00:20:39
    journey to get back to where you were in
  479. 00:20:42
    terms of like finding like being able to
  480. 00:20:47
    recognize who you were, I think finding
  481. 00:20:49
    something you enjoyed to do before your
  482. 00:20:53
    accident and like re-finding that love
  483. 00:20:56
    for it really, really helped. And I
  484. 00:21:01
    think you're referring to baking, is
  485. 00:21:02
    that right? Yeah. So for people, it's
  486. 00:21:06
    just a bit of a background, I actually
  487. 00:21:08
    connected with Elizabeth because I would
  488. 00:21:11
    go to her bakery in Philadelphia, and
  489. 00:21:13
    I'd. on social media issues doing a
  490. 00:21:14
    fundraiser for I think it was spalding
  491. 00:21:16
    right or one of the brain foundation one
  492. 00:21:19
    of their groups and and that's how I
  493. 00:21:22
    ended up learning more about what had
  494. 00:21:24
    happened so when you started baking is
  495. 00:21:28
    that you think something that kept
  496. 00:21:30
    motivating you to kind of connect to
  497. 00:21:32
    your like pre like fall self absolutely
  498. 00:21:37
    I think the in therapy that actually had
  499. 00:21:41
    a kitchen in my the rehab that I was in
  500. 00:21:43
    and they took me into the rehab and they
  501. 00:21:46
    had me bake a batch of cookies and they
  502. 00:21:50
    didn't taste good but just like the act
  503. 00:21:53
    of doing it and getting back into that I
  504. 00:21:56
    think
  505. 00:21:58
    the
  506. 00:22:00
    it was just like it made me kind of
  507. 00:22:02
    realign with who I was and
  508. 00:22:06
    I think having something to always come
  509. 00:22:07
    back to and baking is like a very unique
  510. 00:22:10
    thing because you can just do that by
  511. 00:22:12
    yourself and just like practice it and
  512. 00:22:15
    really like kind of bond with yourself.
  513. 00:22:17
    So it was really helpful to have that to
  514. 00:22:20
    do. So if you can ever, for the people
  515. 00:22:23
    that are recovering, if they can find
  516. 00:22:25
    something, a hobby that they had before,
  517. 00:22:27
    and maybe it would just help them align
  518. 00:22:30
    with their previous self. That's great
  519. 00:22:33
    advice. Sarah, is there anything you
  520. 00:22:35
    would share with like family members or
  521. 00:22:37
    people that are like supporting a loved
  522. 00:22:39
    one that's like kind of going through
  523. 00:22:41
    this kind of situation?
  524. 00:22:44
    Yeah, I mean, I think I would say you
  525. 00:22:46
    have to be patient because it
  526. 00:22:49
    is a long process and a long journey.
  527. 00:22:53
    And I think you just wanna try to
  528. 00:22:55
    support the person in the best way you
  529. 00:22:57
    can.
  530. 00:22:59
    But I think I would also say, you know,
  531. 00:23:01
    as Lizzie was talking about it, I was
  532. 00:23:02
    hard to find out who she was, who this
  533. 00:23:06
    person is now I think as, you know, a
  534. 00:23:11
    loved one, you're also. wondering who
  535. 00:23:13
    this person, how far are they gonna be?
  536. 00:23:15
    You want the best for them. You want
  537. 00:23:17
    them to have and do whatever they want
  538. 00:23:21
    to do. And, you know, I think
  539. 00:23:23
    sometimes you can start to grieve, you
  540. 00:23:27
    know, the loss of that person you knew
  541. 00:23:30
    and then who they were to you. But you
  542. 00:23:33
    also get to now meet this new person,
  543. 00:23:38
    exactly who they are and get to know
  544. 00:23:40
    them and
  545. 00:23:42
    see them in a new light. And I think
  546. 00:23:44
    brain injury or not, anyone that goes
  547. 00:23:46
    through that kind of trauma, you know,
  548. 00:23:48
    you come out, you're a different person.
  549. 00:23:50
    We all came out, different people going
  550. 00:23:53
    through that. And so I think just not
  551. 00:23:57
    trying to force that person to be who
  552. 00:24:00
    you think they were, but just embracing
  553. 00:24:04
    everything that they are, the fact that
  554. 00:24:05
    they're still here with you.
  555. 00:24:11
    all of these moments you get to just
  556. 00:24:12
    cherish from here on out with this new
  557. 00:24:14
    perspective from what could have been so
  558. 00:24:17
    different.
  559. 00:24:20
    Thank you. I mean, I really appreciate
  560. 00:24:23
    both you guys kind of sharing the story
  561. 00:24:26
    and going into a little bit more details.
  562. 00:24:28
    Any other final words you wanna share
  563. 00:24:30
    with the listeners?
  564. 00:24:34
    No, I think that's it.
  565. 00:24:38
    Anything else from you, Sarah?
  566. 00:24:42
    I mean, it was, it's important to look
  567. 00:24:45
    back and think about these moments I
  568. 00:24:46
    remember one time in the rehab when my
  569. 00:24:49
    mom and I were with her, we went down
  570. 00:24:51
    to get lunch and we came back and Lizzie
  571. 00:24:53
    had been circling the halls with her,
  572. 00:24:56
    like one assistant and she said to us
  573. 00:25:00
    like, Oh my God, I haven't seen you in
  574. 00:25:02
    so long, like where have you been? And
  575. 00:25:04
    with her memories, she thought we'd
  576. 00:25:05
    been gone for like days And now.
  577. 00:25:10
    you have these memories that stick in
  578. 00:25:12
    your head of these, but now to see her,
  579. 00:25:15
    this amazing woman who has accomplished
  580. 00:25:17
    so much and has just put her heart into
  581. 00:25:20
    everything she does. It's just really,
  582. 00:25:23
    I'm so grateful and just blessed to have
  583. 00:25:27
    her in my life. Oh, well, we really
  584. 00:25:30
    appreciate you sharing and I hope other
  585. 00:25:32
    people will read your story of hope.
  586. 00:25:34
    We'll include a link in the show notes
  587. 00:25:35
    and have the same patience that you guys
  588. 00:25:38
    did So thanks for joining. We'll make
  589. 00:25:41
    sure that link is included in the show
  590. 00:25:42
    notes to check out this or other
  591. 00:25:44
    currents content, head to
  592. 00:25:47
    currentsneurocriticalcareorg. As a
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