May 16-17, 2013
Sheraton Eatontown Hotel
Eatontown, NJ 07724
Conference Topics include: Impulsivity, Mild Brain Injury, Brain Injury & Relationships, Serving Veterans with TBI, Impact of Brain Injury on Spouses, Cognitive Rehabilitation, Brain Injury, Health & Aging, BI Basics, Concussion, Psychotherapy After BI, Neurotoxicity, Managing Emotion and Behavior, Meditation and Yoga, and much more.
In
attendance today is Harrison J. Gordon, Senior Partner at Gordon
and Gordon, PC
and the Gordon and Gordon team. Harrison is a trustee
of The Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey (BIANJ) which is
a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving
the quality of life people experience after brain injury,
and bringing the promise of a better tomorrow. Joining
Harrison Gordon in this picture is Darlene Abry, the head
paralegal of the brain injury and personal injury section at
Gordon and Gordon, PC.
Keynote Speaker: Lee Woodruff, CBS This Morning.
As
co-author of the best-selling In an Instant,Lee Woodruff
garnered critical acclaim for the compelling and humorous
chronicle of her family’s journey to recovery following her
husband Bob’s roadside bomb injury in Iraq. Appearing
together on national television and radio since the February
2007 publication of their book, the couple has helped put a
face on the serious issue of traumatic brain injury among
returning Iraq war veterans, as well as the millions of
Americans who live with this often invisible, but
life-changing affliction.
Today
Lee Woodruff spoke about her husband Bob Woodruff’s
traumatic brain injury which occurred when he was covering
the war in Afghanistan as a TV news war correspondent. He
was injured by an exploding bomb.
Lee talked about of the four F’s – of recovery – Family. Friends. Faith and Funny. Recovery is a challenge and the support of family and friends is important just as is keeping faith that recovery is possible. Be sure include laughter in the mix, it’s also good medicine. Bob has been through individualized cognitive therapy and has worked hard. There is no magic medicine for a person affected by a traumatic brain injury. Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. Lee spoke in detail about her caregiving, support and advocacy on her husbands behalf. She took questions from those in attendance and shared with the audience how she struggled with her inner feelings of fragility while maintaining a strong veneer for her husbands sake and for the sake of those closest to her so that everyone would remain focused on her husband’s needs.
We all need to remember the needs of the caregivers even when they don’t want us to. Lee’s speech was a great inspiration to us.
Harrison
Gordon and the team had the opportunity to meet with program
directors from several facilities including the Kessler
Institute for Rehabilitation which has facilities throughout
New Jersey. Harrison also spoke with Barbara Geiger Parker,
CEO of the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey. We then had
the opportunity to meet with several
people with brain injuries and their family support members
and to discuss the latest research findings on brain
injuries with medical doctors and neuropsychologists
.
It was a very good day at the conference, we learned a lot and we were very inspired. We’ll be taking this ever increasing inspiration into our advocacy work on behalf of our clients.