Patient reaches out
Brain injury support group forming on North Fork
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Jenny Myers suffers from the results of a brain injury, but if you didn't know her before her life-threatening motor vehicle accident in February, you wouldn't know her limitations.
She knows she sometimes has difficulty following conversations in noisy rooms. She avoids crowds, where her difficulties might leave her feeling confused and anxious. She knows her right leg doesn't move the way it did before that horrific accident.
She also knows she's not alone.
There are other brain-injured people living on the North Fork who tend to whisper to her when they encounter her at the Piping Plover Cafe in Southold, where she works with her husband, owner Ken Myers.
Brain-injured people often live with shame.
That's something Ms. Myers and occupational and cognitive therapist Cookie Slade hope to correct for local residents.
Despite the tender loving care from her husband, she was alone.
Then Ms. Slade, a longtime weekender on the North Fork, sought her out after reading about her recovery in The Suffolk Times. Ms. Slade, who recently retired from running a brain-injury rehabilitation business in New Jersey and in Westchester and Orange counties, offered to assist Ms. Myers. The two have become fast friends, developing ideas together.
The group they will start up in the fall is aimed at patients and also their families and friends. The purpose is to provide a refuge for area people who have suffered brain injuries from accidents, illnesses or even drug use.
Brain injuries carry an unwarranted stigma, Ms. Slade said, adding that it's because of Ms. Myers' brave spirit that she has been in touch with other local people living with similar struggles.
Many brain-injured individuals isolate themselves out of shame and may live lonely and depressed lives, Ms. Slade said.
"We can't imagine as healthy people what it is to have a brain injury," she said. Of the many patients she has helped achieve optimum levels of performance, she's quick to note, none regard themselves as heroes for overcoming disabilities.
"Ken and I joke and people think we're twisted," Ms. Myers said about her difficulties. "Sometimes, it's just plain funny."
But for others, there's no laughter, only sadness and anger, Ms. Slade said.
"I think I was pushed back over to help others," Ms. Meyers said. "I'm that person that we're going to make a support group for."
The two women met recently with Eastern Long Island Hospital president and CEO Paul Connor III and Juliet Frodella, director of the hospital's senior options and solutions program, to enlist the hospital officials' support. They'll be visiting local doctors to spread the word about their group and will be at this weekend's Strawberry Festival in Mattituck to distribute information.
They haven't yet determined just where or when the group will meet, but they are putting together a list of interested people. If you would like to participate, contact Ms. Slade at (631)734-7629 or cookieslade@yahoo.com or Ms. Myers at (631) 765-5055 or jennifersulli@msn.com.
jlane@timesreview.com
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