MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- SAN DIEGO - Lance Cpl. Nathan D. Borquez finds it hard to do the simple things in life, including exercise, driving and even walking up a flight of stairs.
But physical ailments aren't his only problem. The Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran also has trouble remembering things.
"My buddies were telling me that I was becoming more forgetful, that my personality was changing," Borquez said April 14. He spoke of his aliments while walking the halls of San Diego Medical Center, his temporary home since late January.
At least Borquez is walking. And, unlike warfighters from previous generations with similar injuries, he may one day return to full duty.
Doctors here say modern field medicine is saving the lives of brain trauma victims that would have been lost in previous wars.
"We are seeing servicemembers back that would not have survived in Vietnam," said Angela I. Drake, director of the medical center's Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, one of a handful of brain-trauma treatment centers in the U.S. for military personnel.
Moreover, back on the homefront, strides in brain-trauma treatment are enabling more servicemembers to return to active duty, doctors say.
Borquez is one of 79 Marines referred here by Camp Pendleton's Concussion Clinic after suffering head trauma during the war in Iraq.
Borquez served as a rifleman with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom last fall. He survived two improvised explosive device blasts in Iraq's Al Anbar Province, and is now feeling the long-term effects.
While manning a vehicle-mounted machine gun during a September patrol outside the Abu Ghraib Prison, the 20-year-old from Phoenix suffered a concussion after an IED went off near his convoy.
Weeks later, he suffered another concussion following an IED blast while manning a security checkpoint on the outskirts of Fallujah.
He returned to full duty within hours on both occasions, but began acting differently.
Many head trauma victims are unaware they need medical attention said Lynne Cessante, a psychologist at the Camp Pendleton Concussion Clinic. Plus, reluctance to acknowledge symptoms prompts many Marines to avoid or ignore treatment, Cessante added.
"Many Marines assume they don't need treatment just because they are not bleeding," she said.
The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at the Naval Medical Center provides start-of-the-art traumatic brain injury evaluation, treatment and follow-up care for all military personnel, their dependents and veterans with brain injuries.
At the center, Marines like Borquez undergo various mental/motor skills assessment tests and treatment, including computerized balance tests and simple tasks like arranging building blocks according to color.
A blow or jolt to the head, or a penetrating skull injury, can result in a traumatic brain injury, thereby disrupting normal brain function. Traumatic brain injuries range from mild - a brief change in mental status or consciousness - to severe - an extended period of unconsciousness or prolonged amnesia. Such injuries can result in short- and long-term disabilities.
According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, an estimated 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury annually. That's eight times the number of people diagnosed with breast cancer, and 34 times the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS. Approximately 5.3 million Americans are living today with brain-injury-related disabilities.
Traumatic brain injuries account for nearly one-fifth of surviving combat casualties. During peacetime, more than 7,000 brain-injured Americans are admitted to military and veterans hospitals each year.
Doctors say recovery timelines for patients like Borquez are hard to gauge. So for now, Borquez is merely trying to relearn the things he was able to do as a Marine.
"My unit is already back and training, going to the rifle ranges, and I want to go back and do that stuff," he said.