I`m new here. My son has a severe head injury

[carthny]

Five weeks ago, my 51 year old son had a motorbike accident, he has been assessed as severely brain damaged. he has still not come out of his coma, although he opens his eyes and moves his limbs. We are so worried that he may never come out of this vegetative state, and pray each day for a miracle to happen. Are there any other families who have been through this seemingly never ending nightmare ?

[Kirk5w7]

Hi and welcome, although I'm sorry we have to meet under these circumstances. There are many on here who have suffered BIs of varying degrees and also many carers.

I was in a coma for 3 weeks and was not expected to recover particularly well but have proved the medics wrong, they will always give the worst case scenario because in truth they cannot predict how well a person will recover. It depends on the degree of trauma and also on the individual involved.

Be strong and prepared for a long, slow recovery. Talk to your son and include him in conversations, it is true that one can hear when in a coma, not everything but you sink up and down in levels of consciousness, so you need to ensure anyone visiting does all they can to stimulate his brain, reading to him or playing his favourite music as well as talking to him.

Take care and look after yourself during this time.

My thoughts are with you.

Janet x

[BaronC]

Hi,

I was in a coma for three weeks and the effects should I, 'ever wake up' were unknown. Try not to be positive as the outcome will never be known until he comes out of his coma. There are people on this site who know precisely what you are going through and you could always ring the Headway helpline for further help and advice should you need or want it.

My VERY best wishes to yourself and your family

Andy

[bexx87]

Hi, I am sorry to here about your son, you will read many similar stories all with positive outcomes, I was in a coma for 4 weeks and have several complications and was told I was never going to be normal but I was 13 when it happen and now 15 years later I have 7 IT qualifications, a car, a drivers license, a flat, I was in college for 10 years and have held down a full time job for the past 5 years and I had to put up with (and still do) my mums verbal abuse and her alcoholism, abuse from peers in school, depression, insomnia and anxiety .

I would advise contacting your local Headyway centre as well for support for both you and him.

You can ready about mine, andys and other success stories as well as on here: headway.org.uk/about-brain-...

[scott1556]

Hi there, welcome to the forum. I am also fairly new to this group. I haven't any experience of coma's, but my mum had a nasty BI recently (May Bank Holiday) and was very poorly. She had brain surgery and was so poorly afterwards (we wondered if she would ever recover) - awful to see her like that, so I feel your pain. However, you must remain positive and strong. Lean on family and friends for support. After almost 8 weeks and lots of tears and "why mum" she is getting better and has moved on from hospital to a rehab centre.

One of the many things I have learned through this experience is that you must take time out for yourself - and rant and cry if you want to. Its an emotional roller coaster - anger, frustration and pain.

Mum is blissfully unaware of the awful weeks after the injury and what she went through - she cant remember a thing!

I wish you and your family all the best.

Sharon xx

[Comafamily]

Yes but sad to say it is not a good story. My brother was in a coma due to an RTA. He went into a vegetative state (usually called that after a couple of weeks) then a minimally conscious state. But still didn't communicate or move etc. We were told he may never regain consciousness and if he did would have no life, extremely physically and mentally impaired. After a year we had to let him go as we knew he would not want to be like that.

It's important to ask questions, consider the reality and most of all what your loved one would want. We were relieved he was no longer suffering.

[Joroo]

All you can do is to be there, talk to them, play music and even favourite smells. No one can tell you accurately what the outcome maybe but even surviving may mean a long road ahead for him and for the whole family. Just look after yourself, don't feel guilty if you cry or feel hopeless.

[Beppybutton12]

Anything can happen not that the same at all but I'm 1% of the people who live after what happened to me !! So keep positive anything can happen xxx good luck

[Hhodg]

So sorry to hear about your son x Keep positive it is early days. My husband had a hypoxic brain injury 20 weeks ago he is still minimally conscious but is slowly making small improvements and is starting to obey some commands like touch your head etc. It is a long waiting game , try to look after yourself, carry on with normal things and don't think you need to be at the hospital every minute. You need your strength for the months to come xxx