Anyone have any experience with brain injuries?

[Savychacha]

So here's the story:

About 5 weeks ago I got a call that my father had been in a motorcycle accident, and the doctors weren't sure if he was going to live or not. My brother and I live in CT and he's down in TN. We waited for further news and were told that he was wearing a helmet, but had shattered his skull where it meets the spine. He had no other broken bones.

They had to perform surgery to relieve the pressure in his skull since his brain was swollen, but they didn't have to perform any other surgeries. He was placed on a ventilator to help him breath. Now, for the past 4 weeks my brother has kept in touch with the hospital for updates. Things had been progressing relatively well at that point. They were telling us he had opened his eyes and was moving around. He could move his arms and legs and they were just waiting for his lungs to become strong enough to take him off of the ventilator. Once that happened they would move him to a rehab facility for further testing and, well, rehab.

Fast forward to this past Saturday. My brother calls to see what's going on because he hasn't heard anything all week. The woman he speaks with says she has no information on him, and he isn't there anymore. Uhmmm, excuse me??? She says that he must have gone to the rehab facility, but she has no information. Ok, great work hospital.

It takes until Sunday to get a hold of my grandmother (who is also in TN with my father), and the news she tells us is overwhelmingly horrible. Apparently the hospital has been sugar coating what they told us, because he has been moved to a specialty hospital. His kidneys failed and he had to be put on dialysis. He has double pneumonia. Due to the ventilator he had to have a tracheotomy and has been being fed through a tube. Due to the length of time he has been tube fed, he may never eat normally again. Yes it's true he can move his arms and legs, but he isn't doing it voluntarily. Yes his eyes are open, but he only nods his head yes or no while staring blankly. He isn't really registering anything. They are doing more tests because his brain swelling hasn't really gone down and they may have to do another surgery.

I am devastated to say the least. Now, I realize that brain trauma can be hard to diagnose. And that the after effects take up to a good year to judge. But at this point, things aren't looking to hopeful.

Has anyone else had any kind of experience with anything like this? Honestly, I have no idea what to think because everything is so up in the air, and there really are no definitive answers from the medical professionals at this point. I'm just hoping that someone has been through something similar, or can share a story with me that may help me make some sense of things.

And if you've read all of this, you totally get a cookie.

[ZenGwen]

Oh god. I don't have much to contribute... except an infinite amount of available e-hugs. This must be so hard.

I have cracked my head open and have had meningitis but... I was so little, that I don't know a whole lot about what went on. I'm okay now, I can say that much. It was not as bad as this though. Gods. If you need to talk to someone not involved with it or you in real life, feel free to ping me a PM.

Major sympathy, hon. Hugs.

[Oklibrarian]

*hugs* my dad has brain damage but nothing on this level. It really is hard to say at this point, at least until the swelling goes down. Hang in there.

[So Late So Soon]

*hug* I've never experienced anything like this or in my family, but i hope everything turns out ok. keep us updated!

[Namednoname]

I'm really sorry to hear what your going through! My experience with it has had a happy ending but It wasn't as serious. When I was a lot younger my dad took a fall and smacked his head on some concrete. He was critical for a day or two but the swelling went down quickly. When he woke up he thought it was the 70's and didn't know who anyone was. But over time he eventually regained all of his lost memory. The only lasting effect it's had on him is he lost his sense of smell and he has no feeling in some of his fingers. (His party trick is holding his thumb over a candle.. Mostly cause he's a fool )

I was really young at the time so I didn't understand what was going on, these are things I've been told since. I really hope your dad recovers and everything turns out okay. Keep strong!

[CalvinHobbes]

No experience, but terribly sorry about what you're going through *more hugs*

[AuroraNorth]

http://www.biausa.org/

This is the Brain Injury Association's website. There's a list of local branches where you can get more information.

Also, the NIH's page on TBI- http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/tbi.htm

I'm sorry- I hope this helps a little bit. *hugs*

[Savychacha]

Thank you so much everyone for the support. Honestly, it really does mean a lot. I've been trying to read up on all of the issues that he currently has and educate myself some. Seeing as how at the moment it's really a waiting game to see how things turn out, I can at least bury myself in information to try to come to terms with some outcomes.

I'll keep the thread updated as I get more information.

Thank you AuroraNorth for the links. I'm gonna go check them out now.