ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605240025
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
What can bring a chuckle from a group of people recovering from traumatic brain injuries?
Ask them if they remember what they talked about at their last meeting.
Barbara Iddings did at the May gathering of a support group she runs, and then laughed and answered herself:
"Of course, we don't remember. We all have trouble with our memories."
Iddings is a registered nurse who suffered a brain injury on the job in Hawaii in 1991. Conducting support groups was part of her expertise before then, and for the past two years she has run the Traumatic Brain Injury group in Roanoke.
Sometimes, she still gets lost when she drives to or from the meetings, she said.
Iddings' group is made up of people who suffered head injuries in a variety of ways - from car accidents to strokes. Their common bond is a desire to become independent again. Each month while they meet, their caregivers also meet as a group.
Sandy Willis, whose 16-year-old son, Taylor, had a stroke last July, just attended her first meeting, and said she felt great relief to find a "community of people" who understood. Her son hasn't decided to join the group yet.
A stroke support group also meets at Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem, but its members are older. About 5 percent, or 25,000, of the 500,000 strokes a year affect young adults between ages 15 and 45.
Some of the younger victims in the Roanoke Valley have gravitated to Iddings' circle to share the frustrations of a brain injury that left them looking almost normal, but not thinking that way.
"We seem normal. We may still fall within normal, but it's normal at a lower level," Iddings said. "I couldn't cook after my injury. I used to cook."
"Our goal is to get back into the work field," she said.
Several of the members in the group are retraining. A 25-year-old woman who was a store manager when she had a stroke and who now has some mobility problems has just completed computer training.
The test is finding a job, Iddings said.
She hopes to attract more members to the group, which meets at First Presbyterian Church in South Roanoke. If someone comes and decides the Traumatic Brain Injury group isn't quite what he or she needs, Iddings will try to direct the person to other sources for help.
She can be reached at 989-7354.
Stroke victims can obtain information from the American Heart Association, Virginia affiliate, (804) 747-8334 or (800) 432-7854. Or call The Stroke Connection, a network of programs, alliances and support groups nationwide, (800) 553-6321, or the National Stroke Association at (800) 787-6537.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB