You may have seen the interview between former US presidential candidate John Edwards and reporter Bob Woodruff a few weeks ago. All of the resulting media coverage focused on Edwards’s remarks. However, there is something much more remarkable that emerged in that interview: Bob Woodruff’s spectacular comeback.
This is the same reporter who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury when a roadside bomb exploded next to his vehicle on January 29, 2006 while he was covering news on Iraq.
Today I am lucky enough to interview Lee Woodruff, Bob’s wife and pillar during his recovery. Lee and Bob co-wrote the fantastic book In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing.
Álvaro Fernández (AF): Lee, thank you very much for your time. I was amazed to read his book, where he shares his journey, and then see Bob interview John Edwards, the best display I can imagine of his recovery. Can you please summarize for us what Bob – and you – have been through since January 2006?
Lee Woodruff (LW): As you know, Bob suffered a life-threatening traumatic brain injury in Iraq. He was immediately taken under military care and underwent a series of surgeries for head injuries, with a joint Army-Air Force neurosurgical team in Iraq, at a US Army Medical Command hospital in Iraq. Germany and at Bethesda Naval Hospital, here in the US.
During this time, which spanned around 4 months, he spent 37 days in a coma and his skull had to be surgically reconstructed. The cognitive rehabilitation process began then, at a medical center closer to home.
AF: Can you explain what kind of cognitive rehabilitation Bob has been through, both formally with a therapist and informally on his own?
LW: The first thing I would like to say is that rehabilitation is a long process. Doctors told me that Bob, despite the severity of his injuries, had a better chance of recovering than other victims, due to the reservoir of neurons and connections he had built from an intellectually stimulating and diverse life, which included living in China. for several years and traveling to dozens of countries, having worked as a lawyer and journalist, and his curiosity and desire to learn. It seems that more and more research shows how people who are mentally active throughout their lives, whether through their work, or doing puzzles, sudokus… are, of course, to some extent, better equipped to deal with problems. like the ECT.
Still, recovery is a long process. Bob had six months of structured cognitive therapy focused on the areas of speech and language, because that was the part of his brain that had been most damaged. The therapist identified major tasks for him to work on in a challenging but familiar way, usually asking Bob, for example, to read the New York Times, then try to remember what he had read and write a short essay about Bob’s thoughts. the. and impressions.
Since then, in a sense, he has used his work on the documentary To Iraq and Back and other projects at ABC as his informal, but very effective, way of continuing to improve. I am amazed to see in real time how, even today, it improves more and more. To give you an example of his motivation to recover: He recently took Chinese lessons to see if working on that helped him too.
AF: In the book, Bob says that if he had to say in one word what he was experiencing during much of his recovery, he would use the word “slower.” His brain was slower processing new information, remembering words. What progress has he experienced?
LW: A lot. He is not exactly at the same level as before the injury, but he is again an amazing reporter, father and husband. And I see progress every month, so we are hopeful that he will continue to get better and better.
Sometimes Bob tells me that he is not the person I married. And then, as I mention in the book, I laugh and say “Me neither. I’m older and wiser and more wrinkled.” I have learned to trust him. Especially in the beginning, it wasn’t always easy to fully accept and follow his judgment, but I have seen how little by little he became perfectly capable of recreating his role as husband and father, and recreating our respective roles in the family. It’s been wonderful to see that happen. It has been a miracle.
AF: Bob has been a very lucky survivor of a traumatic brain injury. There are over a million cases each year of TBI. Many of them are related to the military (a recent RAND study estimates that more than 300,000 US service members have supported TBI during assignments in Iraq or Afghanistan), but they also occur in civilian life, primarily due to traffic accidents or sports concussions. What do we know today about how to prevent and treat TBI?
LW: The war in Iraq is literally rewriting the book, the way researchers and doctors see and approach the problem. Most of the progress is happening in the military, but I hope that translates to benefits for civilians as well. From a preventative standpoint, the military has worked hard to improve soldiers’ bulletproof vests, and now I can see why wearing seat belts while driving and helmets while biking can make a world of difference.
From a recovery standpoint, there is much more optimism and hope today than just a few years ago about how many TBI patients can get better, given the opportunity, through a supportive environment and physical and cognitive therapy. The Army has recognized the problem of the so-called “walking wounded” and is devoting significant resources to analyzing the best options and treating them. As we discussed earlier, the Army recently announced that Soldiers will now receive a cognitive assessment before deploying to the field, so that if there are any issues, the assessment can serve as a good baseline for comparing functions. .
But the improvement in the area is just beginning. We need to see a lot of progress.
AF: Now can you tell us more about the Bob Woodruff Foundation for Traumatic Brain Injury? What are your top priorities?
LW: Bob and I spend a lot of time raising awareness of the problem and the need to find and implement good solutions for cognitive care. Our foundation supports community and grassroots approaches to helping TBI survivors and their families. Given the enormous scale of the problem in the military and the fact that Bob survived because of the excellent care he received from the military along the way, we are focusing first on helping military victims.
For example, we recently funded four TBI-related research grants and also purchased 300 mattresses for a small nonprofit organization that helps patients and their spouses rebuild their lives once they leave Army bases, many of them all of whom cannot afford to move. your belongings, including beds and mattresses, off the bases.
And there are many more things to do. For example, while many more soldiers receive better care, that’s not always the case for National Guard reservists who, despite having a dedicated branch of the military overseeing their progress, are often at higher risk of live with an undetected TBI since they do not have to report to the bases once they return.
It’s also not clear that the military (as well as insurance companies) are always willing to pay for long-term care costs.
AF: What are some specific ways that people can support the work of your foundation?
LW: You can visit our new website, the Bob Woodruff Foundation (http://remind.org/), to learn about issues and donate funds, no matter how big or small.
But probably the most important thing each of us can do is acknowledge the sacrifices soldiers have made and find active ways to reach out and help them in their own communities. Soldiers and their families have often grown up in a culture of self-reliance, of not asking for help, so we all need to take the initiative to figure out how we can help. Ask yourself, how can I help TBI survivors in my neighborhood? Perhaps by giving them a job, or offering help or training, so they can get one? How can I help your spouses and families maintain healthy and happy environments? Perhaps by offering them free movie tickets? Do you have massage?
AF: Lee, thank you very much for those suggestions. Is there anything else you’d like to add that you know everyone should know?
LW: I would say never give up. We have seen how Bob has recovered, which I think is a miracle. Let’s just do our best to help everyone.
Copyright (c) 2008 Sharp Brains