thedrifter
12-30-08, 07:09 AM
TUESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2008 :: Last modified: Monday, December 29, 2008 9:05 PM MST
Iraq war vet continues to struggle with traumatic brain injury
By MARGARET MATRAY
Star-Tribune staff writer
Much is the same.
Still, the short-term memory loss lingers.
Still, sharp pains shoot through his right arm, the one battered by shrapnel from an anti-tank mine explosion in Iraq.
Still, the nightmares persist, replaying like a bad movie he witnessed as a Marine at war. The stuff he'd prefer to forget.
Marine Lance Cpl. Jay Thurin has been home from Iraq for two years and nine months. The Star-Tribune last checked in with the Pine Bluffs man this summer, when he was learning to live with traumatic brain injury and to adjust to civilian life. For Thurin today, the learning, the adjusting continues.
As doctors will explain, soldiers who return from war are fighting more than physical injuries and the memories of combat.
They're fighting the emotions they've been taught strong men repress. They're fighting time.
At first, Thurin resisted going the Veterans Affairs hospital for help. He didn't think what he was going through was that bad. He thought he could handle it himself.
Thurin survived two bomb explosions in Iraq. On two separate occasions, he and his men were riding in a Humvee searching for roadside explosives when a bomb detonated. The second bomb blast threw Thurin from the Humvee, and shrapnel cut into the bone of his right arm, cutting nerves and tissue. The explosion killed one of his friends.
Thurin underwent multiple surgeries for his arm. Doctors told him then that the feeling in his fingers could come back suddenly, or never return at all.
In late spring of this year, Thurin was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, which is caused by intense outside force to the head. Thurin suffered from memory loss, blurred vision, hearing loss and nightmares.
Today, Thurin still hasn't regained feeling in his fingers. It's hard for him to move and work with his hand, and the cold winter weather makes the arm ache, he said.
His vision has gotten better, and Thurin now wears hearing aids. Before, he used to try to read people's lips and would struggle to understand if there was too much background noise. With hearing aids in all the time, he doesn't have to strain anymore.
He's learning to deal with the short-term memory loss.
"There's still a lot of times (people tell me something) and I'm sitting there, and five seconds later I won't remember what they told me," Thurin said.
He carries slips of paper with him so that he can write down the instructions people give him. That way, he won't forget what he's supposed to be doing.
Thurin has begun using more of the VA hospital's support services, and his mom, Carla Thurin, has noticed a difference.
"He's really working on his anger," she said. "When he has an angry moment, he's trying to get it under control, which is the way he used to be. He used to be able to talk about his problems."
But Thurin said he still has days when he just wants to be alone, when he doesn't want to deal with anyone or mess with anything. Thurin's not even sure what it is that bothers him on these days, something just nags.
There's no telling how long it can take for soldiers' physical and mental wounds to heal.
Opening up and telling the story of a traumatic event is a difficult step, one that some veterans never take.
"In our culture, there's the idea that a negative emotion is a sign of weakness," said David Fohrman, a doctor at the VA hospital in Cheyenne. "Because people assume this is an issue, they don't talk about it. They think something is wrong with them."
Fohrman sees some Vietnam War veterans coming in for the first time today, more than 30 years later.
"The key is talking about it to be activated enough to reprocess these memories," Fohrman said. "Together we can deal with what we can't by ourselves."
Healing is possible, but it can take years, Fohrman said. The brain needs time to process memories and emotion.
Thurin and his wife, Ashley, are working part time to support themselves and their 9-month-old girl. Jay continues to drive trucks for his uncle, hauling cattle. Ashley works as a substitute teacher.
They still live with Thurin's parents, but have been searching for a place of their own. They wanted to move out by the end of 2008, but many of the houses in Pine Bluffs are either too expensive or need too many repairs.
"He never imagined that he'd still be living with his parents at 23 -- I think that's really hard for him," Ashley said.
Because Jay's nightmares continue, Ashley sleeps on the couch. When they shared a bed, Jay, living in his nightmares, would thrash and try to choke her. He wouldn't remember any of it the next day.
Jay thinks his nightmares come less frequently now, only a few nights a week. He's been trying to get on a regular sleeping routine to try to calm the bad dreams.
But Ashley's not so sure the nightmares are getting any better. Her husband is under a lot of stress: stress from his injuries, stress from work, stress from trying to provide for his family.
Perhaps more than anyone, Ashley knows that healing is going to take a long time. Her grandfather was a military man and still struggles with war today.
"I figure it's probably going to be a lifetime thing," she said.
Some of Thurin's fellow Marines have re-enlisted.
He thinks about going back all the time. He misses the adrenaline rush, the being on edge, the constant "Go! Go! Go!"
But everything hinges on his arm.
There's no way he'd go back for just a desk job. He'll only go back if he can go into infantry.
Until then, the Marine with the two purple hearts will wait and let time heal.
"There's a lot of 'what ifs' in life," Thurin said. "It's just the same thing as if I went to college instead of (going to war). Whatever happens, happens. You're just going to have to adapt to whatever that may be."
Contact reporter Margaret Matray at (307) 266-0535 or margaret.matray@trib.com.
(The following video by the Star-Tribune's Dan Cepeda is from the summer of 2008 when we last visited with Jay Thurin.)
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/12/30/news/wyoming/370bc8df187edacd8725752e002675e8.prt
Ellie
Iraq war vet continues to struggle with traumatic brain injury
By MARGARET MATRAY
Star-Tribune staff writer
Much is the same.
Still, the short-term memory loss lingers.
Still, sharp pains shoot through his right arm, the one battered by shrapnel from an anti-tank mine explosion in Iraq.
Still, the nightmares persist, replaying like a bad movie he witnessed as a Marine at war. The stuff he'd prefer to forget.
Marine Lance Cpl. Jay Thurin has been home from Iraq for two years and nine months. The Star-Tribune last checked in with the Pine Bluffs man this summer, when he was learning to live with traumatic brain injury and to adjust to civilian life. For Thurin today, the learning, the adjusting continues.
As doctors will explain, soldiers who return from war are fighting more than physical injuries and the memories of combat.
They're fighting the emotions they've been taught strong men repress. They're fighting time.
At first, Thurin resisted going the Veterans Affairs hospital for help. He didn't think what he was going through was that bad. He thought he could handle it himself.
Thurin survived two bomb explosions in Iraq. On two separate occasions, he and his men were riding in a Humvee searching for roadside explosives when a bomb detonated. The second bomb blast threw Thurin from the Humvee, and shrapnel cut into the bone of his right arm, cutting nerves and tissue. The explosion killed one of his friends.
Thurin underwent multiple surgeries for his arm. Doctors told him then that the feeling in his fingers could come back suddenly, or never return at all.
In late spring of this year, Thurin was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, which is caused by intense outside force to the head. Thurin suffered from memory loss, blurred vision, hearing loss and nightmares.
Today, Thurin still hasn't regained feeling in his fingers. It's hard for him to move and work with his hand, and the cold winter weather makes the arm ache, he said.
His vision has gotten better, and Thurin now wears hearing aids. Before, he used to try to read people's lips and would struggle to understand if there was too much background noise. With hearing aids in all the time, he doesn't have to strain anymore.
He's learning to deal with the short-term memory loss.
"There's still a lot of times (people tell me something) and I'm sitting there, and five seconds later I won't remember what they told me," Thurin said.
He carries slips of paper with him so that he can write down the instructions people give him. That way, he won't forget what he's supposed to be doing.
Thurin has begun using more of the VA hospital's support services, and his mom, Carla Thurin, has noticed a difference.
"He's really working on his anger," she said. "When he has an angry moment, he's trying to get it under control, which is the way he used to be. He used to be able to talk about his problems."
But Thurin said he still has days when he just wants to be alone, when he doesn't want to deal with anyone or mess with anything. Thurin's not even sure what it is that bothers him on these days, something just nags.
There's no telling how long it can take for soldiers' physical and mental wounds to heal.
Opening up and telling the story of a traumatic event is a difficult step, one that some veterans never take.
"In our culture, there's the idea that a negative emotion is a sign of weakness," said David Fohrman, a doctor at the VA hospital in Cheyenne. "Because people assume this is an issue, they don't talk about it. They think something is wrong with them."
Fohrman sees some Vietnam War veterans coming in for the first time today, more than 30 years later.
"The key is talking about it to be activated enough to reprocess these memories," Fohrman said. "Together we can deal with what we can't by ourselves."
Healing is possible, but it can take years, Fohrman said. The brain needs time to process memories and emotion.
Thurin and his wife, Ashley, are working part time to support themselves and their 9-month-old girl. Jay continues to drive trucks for his uncle, hauling cattle. Ashley works as a substitute teacher.
They still live with Thurin's parents, but have been searching for a place of their own. They wanted to move out by the end of 2008, but many of the houses in Pine Bluffs are either too expensive or need too many repairs.
"He never imagined that he'd still be living with his parents at 23 -- I think that's really hard for him," Ashley said.
Because Jay's nightmares continue, Ashley sleeps on the couch. When they shared a bed, Jay, living in his nightmares, would thrash and try to choke her. He wouldn't remember any of it the next day.
Jay thinks his nightmares come less frequently now, only a few nights a week. He's been trying to get on a regular sleeping routine to try to calm the bad dreams.
But Ashley's not so sure the nightmares are getting any better. Her husband is under a lot of stress: stress from his injuries, stress from work, stress from trying to provide for his family.
Perhaps more than anyone, Ashley knows that healing is going to take a long time. Her grandfather was a military man and still struggles with war today.
"I figure it's probably going to be a lifetime thing," she said.
Some of Thurin's fellow Marines have re-enlisted.
He thinks about going back all the time. He misses the adrenaline rush, the being on edge, the constant "Go! Go! Go!"
But everything hinges on his arm.
There's no way he'd go back for just a desk job. He'll only go back if he can go into infantry.
Until then, the Marine with the two purple hearts will wait and let time heal.
"There's a lot of 'what ifs' in life," Thurin said. "It's just the same thing as if I went to college instead of (going to war). Whatever happens, happens. You're just going to have to adapt to whatever that may be."
Contact reporter Margaret Matray at (307) 266-0535 or margaret.matray@trib.com.
(The following video by the Star-Tribune's Dan Cepeda is from the summer of 2008 when we last visited with Jay Thurin.)
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/12/30/news/wyoming/370bc8df187edacd8725752e002675e8.prt
Ellie