Cam Sellers: Person with a brain injury injured in 2007

Accepting a new normal

 

This is the story of Cam Sellers, who was a fireman in the Richmond, Virginia area. He had a three story fall from a roof, hitting a grill on the deck with his head that crushed his jaw, the left side of his face and also caused additional injuries to his left side. Yet, in this dreadful situation, he was lucky because he was first taken to the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, a leading comprehensive academic medical center in Central Virginia. Three months later, when he awoke from a coma, he was moved the Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VA Medical Center (VAMC) that is one of the four lead Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers in the country, offering programs to cover the spectrum of TBI and additional injuries that may have occurred at the time of similar accidents.  

 

After a few months, Cam was transferred to Lakeview Virginia NeuroCare in Charlottesville, one of the two civilian-run programs in the U.S. that offer advanced rehabilitation to military patients with brain injuries, which bridges the gap between military hospitals handling emergency injuries and the VA offering long-term care for those grievously wounded in battle. Besides the superb institutional care, Cameron’s own personality contributed to his rehabilitation but also continues to play a role today as he is trying to establish a new life for himself, accepting the new normal.

Cam was a fireman all his life. He was a volunteer fireman in his high school years in Key West where he grew up; later he was a fireman in the Navy that included serving in the Gulf War; then he was a fireman in the Richmond area, where they moved to be closer to his wife’s family. As he said, he enjoyed life; he felt they were on top of the world. He had an awesome job that he loved, two growing boys, a house with some acreage around it, a vacation home where he could sail; he also had a paint company that brought in extra income. This all came to an end in 2007.

Cam said he always had been a cheerful positive person that helped him moving ahead in his therapy. In the middle of his hospitalization he also had to accept that his wife was going to divorce him. He has had to start a completely new life before he was turning forty. He believes that all the wonderful doctors, caring nurses and therapists were influential in his recovery. Fortunately, access to care, which so often hampers the recuperation of the brain injured, had never been an issue for him. After he was released from Virginia NeuroCare he came home but found he had difficulties managing his everyday life. He is proud [of himself] that he realized he had problems settling in and called the VA to ask for help. He was placed into a remarkable transition program. Earlier he had to relearn to walk and learn to talk, now he had to learn stress management, anger management, decision making, how to process information and to be aware of safety.  

Cam he has always been positive, an outgoing man who had many friends; willing to help out if anyone needed him. Before his injury, he recalled, he would never mentioned it if he did not like something. Now, however, he will talk about it and can work out problems and straighten out matters. He has always been a strong, an active man. As a result of the accident he had lost about a third of his weight and it was difficult for him to get back to 170-180 lbs. He had to have pureed food for a long time in the hospital. He would like to gain back his original weight but this is difficult even today: his jaw, mostly metal, is always painful and his teeth on the left side are very tender, making it hard to eat chewy foods.  

He has acquired computer skills: he can e-mail, sending messages on the computer, using mostly his right hand. He often has tremors in his left hand, making it difficult to use. Nonetheless, he is trying to use it more and more, wanting to continue improve his skills. He believes there is a cause for everything and he recognizes that he must simplify his life.

He has never lived by himself before—first he lived with his family, then he was in the Service and later with his wife. Now he lives in a house near his former wife and his sons, who come by all the time. He is proud of his older sister who was in the Army and is a police officer. His father died two and a half years ago but he visits his mother in Florida several times a year when he also can get together with old friends. He is looking forward to visiting her soon, during lobster season in Key West.

Cam has a strong work ethic, which helped and still helps him in his recovery. He believes staying positive is the best strategy; “when you do something, give it 100%.” He takes care of himself and his boys when they are with him. He can pay his bills. He lives on his pension from the fire department and on social security. He is satisfied, though he has had to sell their vacation home and his boat. Cam says he has been a workaholic but now, he recognizes, he must learn to pace himself. He tires easily. His left hand and fingers do not move as well as they have and at times he has to focus hard to walk more evenly. In the last eight months he began to get in touch with himself. He has always been an outdoor person; but now, being able to relax, he can enjoy listening to the crickets and can appreciate nature more. Before he was always busy; now he has time to be a dad to his ten and fifteen year old sons.

Cam declares, if you have a lemon he wants to have extra sugar in his lemonade. He is thoughtful how, after such an accident, one is still the same person, yet, in a way, one is a different person. It is important to believe in yourself and know what you want to do. Someone suggested to him to become a motivational speaker. Having gone through a TBI and come out of it, Cam is ready to share his experience to help others.