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“Traumatic Brain Injury: A Caregiver’s Journey”
On an overcast July Sunday in 2016, Ruth Bitsui decided on a whim to decline a dinner invitation and accompany her husband of 40 years, Edison Bitsui, to steer roping practice. Everything was going fine when Edison decided to switch from heeler to header. After roping a
particularly spunky steer, Edison was thrown from his horse, and “the steer took him and smashed him into the ground,” Ruth recalled. As the other cowboys raced to help him a stunned Ruth watched the love of her life go from the roping arena, to the ICU followed by a “haze” of hospitals, rehabs and nursing homes; incomprehensible bills; bedsores, and
incessant laundry, sleep deprivation and repeated downsizing as the vivacious retiree transitioned in an instant to full-time caregiver for the formerly strong and vibrant man who used to care for her.
There were many moments of grace as well. “I learned that the human spirit is so strong,” reflected Ruth, “and there is a God. He works through people.” In the last two years, after Edison passed in 2021, Ruth worked through her grief and morass of conflicting emotions by writing her account of the accident and its aftermath.
“Writing the book was a way for me to process what I had gone through and was still going through,” she said. “But it occurred to me a lot of other people are going through similar things, and it might help them to know they’re not alone. When I was looking for material, I just didn’t see anyone
who had a similar experience.”
In “Traumatic Brain Injury: A Caregiver’s Journey,” Ruth chronicles her story from meeting Edison at age 19 to June 14, 2021 - the day Edison “went to bed and never woke up.” The book can function on one level as an instruction manual; letting caregivers and future caregivers know what to expect. But, at its core, it is a love story - Ruth’s love for Edison, but
also his for her as he tried so hard to heal. And the love of Ruth’s siblings, son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, “who really were the reason I was able to get through this,” she said.
If you think you can’t relate to this story, you might want to think again. “The Baby Boom generation are elders now,” Ruth said. “There are going to be needs in this community for a while." “It comes down to three things,” she continued. “Time, resources, and devotion. If you lack any one of those, you probably won’t be a caregiver. But if you have all of them, you definitely will.” “Traumatic Brain Injury: A caregiver's Journey on Amazon.com