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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Ashland will allow winter use of Daniel Meyer Pool ... UPDATED: Thousands still without power after Sunday snow ... Mt. Ashland is open and the skiers couldn't be happier ... Ashland will allow winter use of Daniel Meyer Pool ... UPDATED: Thousands still without power after Sunday snow ... Mt. Ashland is open and the skiers couldn't be happier ... MEDICAL CARE Ashland mediator seeks help with adopted son's medical bills High school freshman crashed into a tree while saucer-sledding at Mt. Shasta Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Dec. 14, 2015 at 6:28 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Dec. 14, 2015 at 6:28 PM » Social News Theresa Jensen had just been to a long meditation retreat, so when she got the news last January that her son Rafael, 14, had crashed into tree while saucer-sledding on Mount Shasta and damaged his brain, she was able, after rushing to Redding Medical Center, to bring a lot of calmness of her own brain to the intensive care unit. “I freaked, of course, but we got through the night and his brain stabilized and their surgical team didn’t have to do anything,” says Jensen, who adopted the lad in Guatemala when he was two weeks old. “Rafa” reported sketchness in walking and, early on, looked at his homework and said he didn’t know what he was looking at, a deeply worrying turn of events, says Jensen. He didn’t miss any school and has mostly said he feels fine, but the Ashland High School nurse, principal and home room teacher formed a team for support in his medical treatments. He received electroencephalograms, treatment at the Amen Clinic in San Francisco, neurofeedback, counseling, work with a computer program designed to bring parts of the brain into balance and supplements, all of which amounted to $47,400. Now, $10,800 remains to be paid and that’s the goal Jensen set for her gofundme drive, launched Dec. 5. It had passed $3,700 from 44 donors after eight days. See www.gofundme.com/RafaelMedical . The funding will clear all medical debts, leaving Jensen, a divorce mediator, able to pay upcoming costs, she notes, for additional procedures and “a behavioral health practitioner who can help with these areas while incorporating neurofeedback, and, at the same time, work with both of us to improve family dynamics.” The Amen Clinic page states, “Improving the health of your brain and your quality of life is our primary goal.” A brain injury is “an invisible injury,” says Jensen, “so it’s really hard for the person to grasp how it’s affecting him.” “Rafael is definitely on the path to recovery, and there’s a ways to go,” says Jensen. “Rafael’s Primary Care Practitioner is going to take the report from the Amen Clinic, recent lab tests and genetic testing, synthesize all of them and create a protocol to maximize healing for Rafael’s brain over the next few years.” Jensen moved to Ashland from Portland in 2000. She adopted her son from Guatemala in 2001, after spending four months in that country bonding with him. In school, Raphael says he’s doing well and is especially fond of history, with a present focus on World War I. “I like telling people amazing things that have happened and which they don’t imagine I would know,” he says, with a smile. Raphael was unconscious a few minutes and doesn’t remember the accident, which bashed his right temple, leaving him with subdural hematoma, fractured skull and a cyst on his left temporal lobe, says Jensen. The initial bill of almost $48,000 was reduced by insurance, negotiations and paying off the totals with zero-interest credit cards. Now those need to be zeroed to proceed with treatment. “I knew I was going to be fine,” says Raphael, a lover of snowboarding, skateboarding and crew. “If I thought it was going to have permanent lasting effects, it probably would have.” What did he learn from the crash? “I learned it’s about impossible to steer a saucer. You can only do it a little bit by digging in your feet. And that I’m never going to do it again near trees.” John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Dec. 14, 2015 at 6:28 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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