In Their Own Words:

DeWayne Mayer, Staff Sergeant
A Co, 3/116^th CAV, Oregon Army National Guard
Operation Iraqi Freedom 

As told by his wife Jeannette:

My husband’s unit was mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom III, and DeWayne began stateside training in June of 2004. This lasted until November, and he suffered a minor injury to his neck towards the end of the training.   

From December 2004 to October 2005 he was deployed to Iraq. His unit had a difficult deployment, and my husband was involved in a number of violent incidents, including: 

• A humvee accident in May of 2005 that rolled the vehicle, knocked DeWayne around quite a bit, and also resulted in the death of a fellow soldier. 

• From the period between June and September 2005, DeWayne was in close proximity to an exploding IED two different times. In addition, a helicopter that he and men from his company were guarding exploded near them. After each of these events, my husband complained of headaches, earaches, and eye pain. 

• On October 2, 2005, DeWayne was in another humvee accident. He was riding in the front passenger seat when an IED exploded under the side where DeWayne was sitting. They had just gotten their up-armored humvees a few weeks prior to the accident. The vehicle was totaled, and while DeWayne did not lose any limbs, he was knocked unconscious, he further injured his neck, his ears rang non-stop, shrapnel entered his right calf, and his eyes burned and itched. After returning home, doctors discovered that a disc has slipped in his neck. They fused it together, and also removed polyps in his nasal passage and realigned his nasal septum, all caused by the latest IED explosion. 
   

  We were the lucky family.

From the end of October 2005 until January 2006, DeWayne was at Fort Lewis’ Madigan Medical Center in Washington State.

From February 2006 to March 2007 we were part of the Community Based Health Care Organization (CBHCO) program in Utah, where most of our time was spent begging for a TBI evaluation. DeWayne ended up getting the evaluation after his medical boards, which had determined his military service-connected disability at 30%. 

We wanted his TBI findings to be considered in his disability rating, so we consulted a Judge Advocate General (JAG) to try and appeal the rating in favor of a more inclusive one. Our JAG stated during a recorded conversation that if we appealed the medical boards’ findings, DeWayne would lose his 30% disability rating, and his TBI could not be included because the diagnosis was made after his medical board evaluations.

Since April 2007 DeWayne has been placed on the Temporary Disabled Retirement List (TDRL).

We recently went through the 18 month TDRL medical review/re-evaluation, and are still waiting to hear if they will accept the Idaho Elks Rehab & Boise VA diagnosis of TBI with complications.

TBI is the silent disability.

My husband’s TBI symptoms all seem to point towards frontal lobe damage. We are dealing with many changes, but on a daily basis he has many symptoms that are always with him.  

DeWayne suffers from short term memory problems, he is easily confused when someone is speaking to him or when he is trying to speak, he is easily distracted, has a short attention span, becomes easily lost, has silent seizures, tremors, and frequent urination (the receptor in the front of brain is damaged). He is also cold all the time,  needs at least an hour to two hour nap on most days, has recently been diagnosed as hypo-thyroid, has bi-lateral hearing loss, is easily frightened, and has been dealing with PTSD and violent nightmares.

I am his wife, caregiver and friend. I miss being his wife and friend. 

Every day is a celebration because he came home.

It seems that every few months we discover something new that is related to his TBI. All we can do is live in the daily, ever changing "New Normal" of my husband.

Sticky notes, white boards, magnets, and duct tape are staples in our home. They change easily along with my husband's changes.

We try our best to live on humor because it sure beats crying, and we have a life together which is all the reason to celebrate and keep moving forward. He treasures his time with his family, which includes our 9 year old daughter, his 15 year old son, and our two cats.

The more people talk and stand up and speak, the greater the chance to make a difference.