NEW ORLEANS — Military veterans and first responders are coming from all over the world to Tulane, for a special mental health healing program.
Tulane is one, of only seven places in the U.S., offering an intense healing program that gives the patients the ultimate VIP treatment.
“This program is the most phenomenal thing that has started a lifelong journey for me and my wife and my family. They saved my life and they saved my family,” said Sean Gavitt, of Tennessee, who was an Army Specialist.
Veterans and first responders are coming to the Tulane Center for Brain Health to learn to cope, and live with the chronic brain injuries sustained in training, and on duty.
“I was hit by a truck, blown up a few times,” said Gavitt.
“I was injured on three different occasions, but the worst March 1st, 2019. I was out of my vehicle. I was struck by a passing motorist,” said Greg Peele, an Air Force veteran, who lives in Alabama and was injured during his years serving as a state trooper.
“I've had significant head injuries. I had also multiple small ones that serving along with the Marine Corps in the navy, and different combat flights. All kinds of different things,” remembers Tommy McMillan, who is now the Veteran Navigator Program Coordinator at Tulane.
What they first see is that the injury, physical changes to the brain, are real and caused by traumatic brain injury.
“Holy crap, you know everything that they were saying was Parkinson's related, is the same as TBI,” Peele realized after coming to Tulane.
“When that change occurred, you don't know how to get back the old piece, and you fight with yourself to try to do it,” said Gavitt.
“Forgetting, didn't feel a part of anything, anger,” Peele recounts his feelings after his TBI. “My wife, my daughter, my son, for years they would be like, ‘You're not the same person.’”
“We are always so used to being, feeling like we're treated like second class citizens, once we admit to being hurt, or injured, especially mental health,” said McMillian.
The men and women are treated like VIPs, and go through a three-day evaluation, then three weeks of intensive, whole body, medical, and holistic treatments, with yoga, equine therapy, art, music, canine therapy, behavioral health, neurology, MRIs. Dr. Greg Stewart runs the program.
“Number one, we're giving them coping skills so that becomes very important, but as they learn to cope, the brain continues to heal and change. So, there are new connections that grow within the brain. So, there really is some help that is occurring and some healing that occurs,” explained Dr. Greg Stewart, Director of the Tulane University Center for Brain Health, who is a physical medicine and rehabilitation medicine physician.
Families are also brought in to learn what their loved ones are experiencing. That's part of the treatment too.
“Anybody, veteran, first responder, if you're struggling, talk to somebody. If you get here, you're going to get the best care you've had, I promise you that,” insisted Peele.
The program is open to military veterans and first responders regardless of ability to pay.
For more information: Email TBICare@tulane.edu
To contact Tulane: 504-988-5195
Apply for the program here.
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