Rating: 
Summary: A must for all involved with a Brain Injury
Review: Although brain injuries take many forms, this book is a great start for anyone who has either suffered from some form of brain injury or the family members of patients. CE Crimmins tells a true tale of a horrible accident but she peppers it with her humor and her real feelings about what has happened to her family and her marital relationship. She understands and points out the inability of members of society who are not informed on this subject to understand what a very long recovery process is involved with any brain injury. I found it particularly poignant in the areas of looks normal/acts normal, but in fact, is not normal! In other words, Ms. Crimmins illuminates that although brain injury suffers may appear totally recovered the recovery process takes upward of one year. Ms. Crimmins also assists individuals who have suffered any type of brain injury in understanding how it feels to be the family member rather than the patient. The author gives her own valuable knowledge through her experience that provides hope that others will have patience and the information necessary to realize how many physical and mental issues continue to plague patients after surgery and during recovery - including the effects of the medications. Ms. Crimmins also describes the battles with the HMOs in a powerful way.I loved this book and could barely put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the mango princess?
Review: Cathy Crimmins partner researched medical libraries to provide factual details within the context of this entertaining and cohesive account of a chaotic and painful experience. She shares the story of her husband Alan's injury from a motorboat running over his head and the aftermath of that event. There are elements here contained in many brain injury stories to a greater or lesser degree; insurance companies, jobs, the impact on friends and family and the slow, frustrating process of recovery. How she contends with these larger difficulties as well as the daily problems presented by her husband's disability is a story skillfully presented. She maintains hope and provides support during a time that seems incredible in the telling.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for families affected by brain injury!
Review: Cathy Crimmins performed a remarkable service for TBI survivors and their families by penning this humorous, touching, fact-filled book about the recovery process! As a cerebral aneurysm survivor, I was truly touched by the information she shared with readers, and wish that this book had been published a few years earlier...I think it might have helped my family to understand what I was going through! I highly recommend this to anyone whose life has been touched by brain injury, of any kind! Thank you, Cathy Crimmins!
Rating:
Summary: Mango Princess comes home
Review: Having never read a book that talked about a personal experience with Traumatic Brain Injury, I found myself unable to put the book down. My god-daughter recently sustained a head injury from being thrown from an All Terraine Vehicle (ATV) and I found so much of Cathy Crimmins' story right on the mark. This book can be a difficult book to read because of the deeply emotional subject, but is a touching memoir told with a great deal of humor, and most of all... honesty. Reading this book will touch anyone who has ever known someone who has sustained a TBI. It's also a book that should be shared after reading it. I congratulate the author for sharing her story; one that shares the heartache and explores the mystery of dealing with a loved one who survives a serious head injury. It's a world that I hope my family is spared from ever knowing firsthand. I guess we never know how we will respond to a life changing event, and Cathy Crimmins shows the human side - the ups and downs with a rare openess. This is not anything like the Harrison Ford movie, Regarding Henry, where he wakes up a sweet guy afer a serious accident. This is what really happens! This is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Riviting and Compelling!!
Review: In her no holds barred book, Where Is The Mango Princess? Cathy Crimmins takes the reader on a candid journey of courage, determination and humor, as she struggles to rebuild her life following a senseless accident which leaves her husband Alan with severe traumatic brain injury. In the weeks and months after the accident, Cathy shares the challenges she and her family face as Alan survives coma, completes rehab,and re-enters the workforce. Cathy's take charge and 'take no prisoners' attitude as she battles her HMO with a razor sharp wit, is indicative of the conversations many of us have in our heads, but would never dare verbalize. As a traumatic brain injury survivor, I found her story touching, bold and brilliantly executed.
Rating:
Summary: jdubuc
Review: Julianna Margulies will be in a new movie Where is the Mango Princess son on TNT! WATCH IT!
Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: Ms. Crimmins gives the reader a real-to-life perspective of what a TBI survivor and his or her family endures. I had a severe TBI 7 years ago and am now an RN working with TBI and stroke patients in the rehab setting. I had the opportunity to hear Ms. Crimmins speak last year and was so enthralled with her story, I rushed out to get the book. I read it, loved it and passed it on to my family to read. I have recommended it to some of my patients' families because of the honest language. This book has helped my family and other families feel like "we're not the only ones".
Rating:
Summary: Now we laugh.....
Review: My husband suffered TBI in 1996, a year after we began dating - that was over five years and a lifetime ago. We struggled through the first year just trying to get through each day. He never gave up and neither did we. "We", include his son and my three children. Watching him "fight" and evolve into a different person (a composite of the "old" & the "new") created a range of emotions for us all from anger, denial, sadness to relief (when we found the right mix of health care resources)& hope & happiness. We "blended" our families a year after his injury and while there are moments when we wonder "why did this happen to him", we continue to face each day - one day at a time. Some are good, and some downright stink.
Cathy's book reminded me once again that we are not alone - I dove into the research just like Cathy (the knowledge & my understanding of it was my life jacket. Our children, our reason for not giving up) Her messages are our messages - I hear my voice in her written word. There were moments when I had to put the book down as it saddened me to remember how painful those days, weeks, months were. How the fear and frustration made us feel physically and emotionally spent. And there were many passages where I laughed with her! I'm writing to say - we too survived! It's not easy, and it never, ever ends. It's about courage, love and support. It's about our new little family sticking together despite the challenges and now we look back and talk about some of our dimmest moments & smile. (Cathy's dedication to Al says it all for me - "to the past, present and future") Read the book - take the journey - you are not alone. Cathy, thank you.
Rating:
Summary: A book I could never write
Review: My wife suffered a traumatic brain injury a year and a half ago as a result of a ruptured aneurysm and subsequent brain surgery to repair it. This book was recommended to me while she was in rehab. This book is so candid about the effects of TBI on the patient, the spouse, the family. I could never write this book because my experience was too painful. I want to both remember and forget at the same time. This book told me I was not alone in what I was experiencing. Many times in this book I thought to myself "Yes, I know that. I have been there too." This is a must read for anyone who has had a loved one suffer TBI. Please know you are not alone.
Rating:
Summary: A book that will change your life!
Review: Nothing I have ever read has touched me more than this book. Someone I love and respect very much was struck down by a brain injury in August 2000. I felt alone, confused, at a loss as to how to help or deal with this changed version of the person I had known and loved. Cathy Crimmins' humor, honesty and knowledge have become a beacon of hope, as trite as that sounds, for me and many of my friends also affected by this situation. We are not alone. We are not losing our minds. We too can survive our loved one's brain injury and find a level of quality, contentment and happiness with this changed person. We know this now, thanks to Cathy Crimmins.
| 
