Deputy Attorney General Fights Back From Brain Injury
By Noreen Skelly

It was midnight when Deputy Attorney General John Bachman finally awoke from his coma. His family had been sent home to try to snatch a few hours sleep. John's doctor asked him if he knew why he was in the hospital.

"My wife hit me with a frying pan?" he joked. He didn't really think that had happened. John did not know where he was, why he was there, or what had happened to him. All that information had been wiped out by the massive brain aneurysm he suffered on Super Bowl Sunday and the strokes that followed the initial brain injury.

John's wife, Teri Bachman, is convinced that John's sense of humor helped him recover from his devastating brain injury. John's recovery included a long stretch in the hospital and for someone as active and independent as John, a sense of humor can help see you through the frustration, indignities, and the boredom of a long convalescence. His sense of humor also helped keep his family afloat. One morning John told Teri that during the night he had forgotten that he could not move his legs and tried to get up out of bed. He ended up dangling from the bed by tubes. Teri said the story made her laugh so hard it brought tears.

John's family and friends will tell you that in addition to his sense of humor he is marked by a strong sense of optimism and determination. Teri loved John for all those qualities and they had stood him well during the regular challenges of marriage, work, and raising a son and a daughter. Teri had not, however, seen those qualities tested by anything so dramatic as a massive brain aneurysm. In the six months since his injury Teri discovered that his sense of humor, optimism, and determination were not fair weather qualities. They were powerful allies in his recovery.

John suffered a level five aneurism. Half of those who suffer such a devastating aneurism die as a result. The morning he suffered the aneurism, he got up early to drive his thirteen-year-old daughter, MacKenzie, to a tournament. John complained to Teri that he had a terrible headache and collapsed into a coma. A small vein near the base of John's skull had burst, flooding his brain cavity with blood. His blood pressure spiked to dangerous levels as his body tried to cope with the breach in the circulatory system. John was rushed to the hospital and when his medical team had determined what had happened John's family was told that he probably would not survive.

John did survive, and his doctors credit his level of fitness for helping him through the acute stage of the injury. John regularly rode his bicycle to work from his home in Davis. He was a regular in roller hockey leagues, and he and his family enjoyed running and playing basketball together. John's heart was accustomed to working at elevated levels and that conditioning allowed it to cope with demands made on it, particularly right after the aneurism. Teri says that she makes an extra effort to exercise consistently now. John's father understood the connection between exercise and health years before it became conventional wisdom. A biomedical engineer, John's father witnessed first hand the correlation between physical fitness and survival rates after heart attacks. John says that while he was in grammar school his father started jogging in bell bottomed jogging pants and flat canvas trainers.

While John's aneurism at age 45 may seem unbelievable given his fitness, there was a genetic component to the incident that no amount of fitness could overcome. John's family, on his mother's side, has a history of aneurism. One of John's maternal aunts, three uncles, and a cousin all had aneurisms of varying severities. Teri says that while the family was aware of the issue no one, until after John's incident, had really sat down and collected everything the family knew about their history. John has five sisters, all of whom have been examined to determine whether they share the same physical anomaly. One sister, Janet, does and she will undergo a procedure that will prevent its bleeding.

The rupture site in John's brain was repaired using platinum coils. The coils will remain in place and strengthen the site to prevent a recurrence. Once the repair was completed, John could begin his journey back to health. Although he wanted to return to work immediately, his doctors forbade it. So John viewed getting well enough to return to work as his "job," according to Teri. Anyone who knows John will tell you that the more adamantly you tell John he cannot do something, the more enthusiasm he brings to the challenge of proving you wrong. John tackled physical therapy with vigor. His family, friends, and his medical team were amazed and delighted by how well his therapy progressed.

He was able to return home relatively quickly and began walking around his neighborhood in Davis to improve his strength and his balance. It wasn't long before he began to ride his bicycle again. Only four months after the aneurism John was welcomed back at work at the Office of the Attorney General where he specializes in employment law. John's lightning-quick wit and dry sense of humor were sorely missed by his colleagues and his clients. John says that he is riding his bicycle to work and has begun rollerblading again. Both activities help him improve and refine his balance.

John's family is also recovering. During the most acute phase of John's illness, he was in and out of consciousness. He didn't realize the severity of the situation. Teri, Christopher, Mackenzie, and John and Teri's families lived through the worst of the incident. John's sisters made a concerted effort to support both children. MacKenzie's aunts took her to get her ears pierced, something she had been looking forward to. Teri says that the last six months have made her acutely aware of how fragile and fleeting health and happiness can be. All of the Bachmans live each day with an appreciation of what they have together.