Falling
Through the Cracks
by Sharon
Rolenc
Ted Bittle
didn't expect it to happen so quickly. He didn't see the suicide
bomber sneak up on him. On April 10, 2003, on his first day in
Baghdad, Navy Corpsman Ted Bittle and the Marine unit he was working
with were clearing a bunker across the street from the stadium
where authorities suspected Saddam Hussein was hiding.
Ted bore
the brunt of the suicide bomb. The shrapnel broke the corpsman's
right eye socket, collapsed his sinus cavity, and he sustained a
traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a result. However, his TBI wasn't
discovered until several months later.
After rebuilding his face and caring for his physical injuries,
the military sent Ted home on convalescent leave. Thankful to be
alive, Ted was happy to be home with his wife Denise and his son
Ari, who was seven months old at the time. His symptoms never went
away, Ted experienced ongoing pain, chronic fatigue, depression,
syncope and seizure-like activity, imbalance, problems with his right
leg, and violent mood swings.
As a combat
medic, Ted was well-versed in medicine, but didn't put together
that he had a brain injury. He struggled to find answers to his
ongoing challenges. His anger often got in the way of getting medical
personnel to attend to his needs. "I wasn't communicating right
or effectively. Every crack that was available to slip through,
I slipped through," said Ted.
"We traveled
several times from New York to Bethesda Naval Hospital to see
the doctors. They were trying to figure out what could possibly
be bothersome to the point where Ted was having seizures. He was
forgetful and he was having facial pain. After seeing a number of
doctors, it wasn't until November or December that we received the
diagnosis of traumatic brain injury," said Denise.
Because of
the delay in diagnosis and Ted's struggles with military paperwork,
the couple is currently fighting to rework his disability status.
He is unable to work, and gets easily frustrated with day-to-day
tasks.
"I would
have rather lost my hand than the stuff from my brain. Things I
used to do with ease, now I go at and go at, but I can't make it
happen. It's like solving a puzzle I've solved a hundred times
before, but now I can't figure out where the pieces go. That's
my life," said Ted.
One of the
toughest transitions for Ted has been going from the person who
provides help, to the one who needs help. He has a long military
history, serving with the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. He saw active
duty at the Pentagon during Desert Storm, and his service to the
community didn't end between wars. In the mid nineties, he obtained
a degree in Psychology, and worked as an Emergency Medical Technician
(EMT). His last job before returning to the military was as a substance
abuse counselor at the Covenant House in New York City where he
worked with homeless teens.
As the second
World Trade Center tower fell on the morning of 9/11, Ted grabbed
his medical bag, hopped on his bicycle and rode to Ellis Island
where he took the first rescue boat to the twin towers. He did
not know at that point that two of the planes involved in the terrorist
attack were from United Airlines, where his wife worked as an airline
attendant. "We both were in shock for a long time," said Denise.
Two months
later he entered the Navy as a corpsman with the goal of becoming
a combat medic. At the time of his injury he was stationed and
training with the Marines. "Things didn't turn out exactly as I
wanted them to, but I'd do it again without any regrets," said
Ted.
He was medically
retired from the US Navy on August 17, and the couple recently
moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania to be close to Denise's family
while they figure out how to map their new life. They considered
moving back to Minnesota, where Ted spent part of his childhood,
but were worried that the extreme cold during the winter might aggravate
Ted's headaches.
Denise was
forced to take an extended leave of absence from United Airlines.
She looks forward to flying again, but the time demands of a flight
attendant's job have proven too much after Ted's injury. "Ted use
to be very independent. Now I have to take time off of work in
order to help support him and our son," she said.
The couple
takes their son out frequently, to get out of the house and escape
feelings of depression. "It can be a hard life if you make it that
way. But our son makes it easy. He brings a lot of joy into our
lives, and we like to do things for him,'' said Denise.
For now,
the couple is getting adjusted to the changes in their life after
TBI. "The Ted that I knew and married died in Iraq. The Ted that
I still love and care for is a very different person right now."
Sharon Rolenc is the Public Awareness Director at the Brain Injury
Association of Minnesota and can be reached at 612-238-3226
