Needing help and advise regarding my son's future recovery

[dam0309]

Hi

I'm new to the forum, on Wednesday the 16th August our lives were turned upside down.

My youngest son aged 24 who already has a learning disability was run over whilst crossing the road at a zebra crossing near our home.

Josh's disability is communication based, he has a significant speech and language disorder and at the age of 19 a clinical psychology report diagnosed an IQ of 55. He went to schools for children with severe communication difficulties and was taught to speak. At 19 years old he went to a specialist residential college whilst there he received extensive road safety and transport training. He has crossed at that crossing every day for the last 5 years without issue.

He was treated at the scene by the air ambulance crew and transferred to a specialist neurological unit in Sheffield, he was in intensive care for 5 days and then transferred to another hospital for surgery to repair a tear in his diaphragm as his small intestines had moved up into his chest.

Last Thursday he was transferred to our local hospital to their Nuero rehab unit and has been in there just over a week.

We were told initially that he had a significant bleed on his brain and the centre of his brain was swelling and that his injury's were critical and life threatening. The following day a top Neurologist looked at his scans and saw a different picture, what that was I am not sure, but they removed the sedation and by 4pm the day after the accident he was breathing on his own. He has not had to have any surgery to help the swelling which I believe is positive.

Reading his notes (maybe not a good thing to do especially when a Doctor catches you :)) it stated that his injury's were a subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

He is walking albeit not as he walked before he has significant weakness in his right side, and his speech is what it was around 10 years ago. He is not making eye contact when he speaks and is not my happy smiley boy (understandably)

The Doctors are pleased with his progress and he is having speech, physio and occupational therapy daily.

What I would like to know from the community is if anyone has been in a similar situation and what their recovery or their family members recovery was. We know it is going to be a long journey, we are not afraid for hard work we have fought tooth and nail for the last 23 years since his initial diagnosis to ensure he could reach his full potential and have the best possible life.

Thanks in advance for any advise and support you maybe able to offer

Debbie

[razyheath43]

Welcome Debbie, do give Headway helpline a ring,they are i promise awesome!

[jodr]

Hi Debbie

Welcome 😊

Although I don't have any experience in what you are going through what I will say is as a mum myself is that you sound amazing! With your love and strength he has the best possible roots to help with his recovery. 💓

I personally think reading doctors notes isn't a bad thing far better to know exactly what is going on so you can support your son.

My husband has an abi after being hit by a car, we are 12 months in and have 2 small children. The impact it has had on our family has been life changing however a mothers love will carry our children through.

All the best to you Debbie and to your son

Jo xx

[RogerCMerriman]

you should be able to look at his notes, assuming he's happy with this has capacity to chose and so on.

Everyone's injury tends be different this said it does sounds promising thus far considering the probable seriousness of the injury.

[neilhapgood]

Hi Debbie, firstly I am really humbled by you attitude, determination and love for your son. I has a sah when in the sea and was face down for a while before someone dragged me out and gave me cpr. The initial prognosis for me was permanent vegetive state, then as I came round the prognosis was far better but still significant deficits. I then made a full recovery physically and cognitively, I was incredibly uncoordinated before hand however so the bar to reach was fairly low! It's been a real battle with mental health in the few years since but really lucky to be physically and cognitively fine. There's more info on a website I put together which may be of interest to you braininjuryftp.com

[Michski]

Hi. I'm really sorry to here about your son. Very similar happened to me in Febuary this year (I was hit by a car not paying enough attention to the road). It left me with a lot of the same syptoms you mentioned. Right sided weakness, visual issues and certainly sppech and though processes, and balance issues (I'm always falling over now).

There isn't a timeline I can give you to his recovery, no one will give me one. But my speech is getting better every day and I can nearly string a sentence together that makes sense LOL. My balance, I'll get used to it and manage, the right sided weakness is another thing I'll get used to. All I can say is that everyday, there is a little step, a tittle thing, some minor little acheivement that means my world in some very small way is getting better. It's a long road with no definate ending, but it will end, and how it ends is up the those traveling the road.

Keep strong, treasure the acheivments and small accomplishments and dont focus on how hard it can be.

I might have missed the point and gone off on one, (blame it on the TBI LOL), but its how I'm learning to manage. STAY SRTONG.

[scott1556]

Hi Debbie

My mum suffered a subarachnoid bleed on the brain after hitting her head badly following a fall onto a concrete path in May.

The hospital decided to leave the bleed to nature (the brain will absorb a certain amount of blood naturally) but after about 10 days its was clear that the bleed wasnt going and the brain had started to swell. She was rushed into theatre to have bore hole surgery on her skull - to release the pressure as she was very poorly.

All this was very frightening for the family to watch. However, mum (at the time) wasnt aware of what was going on and still doesnt remember most of her 2 months in hospital.

After a period of recovery (and being very ill - hallucinations, major confusion, very unstable on her feet, dementia-like symptoms) she is making a recovery. She is back home and coping on her own with our support. Mum is 78 and classes herself as very lucky as the prognosis at one point was quite bleak.

Her short term memory is shocking (we are hoping that it will improve) and she does find it difficult to learn new tasks - but generally, she is doing well.

Brain injuries take a long time to heal (at least 12 months) - but the brain is very resilient. I became an expert on brain injuries over night - and the one thing that kept coming across was that everyone is different and improvements are very gradual....no overnight cures.

What you must do is fight for support for your son. Get as much medical help as you can from all the different authorities - mum was placed into a rehab centre after leaving hospital and they were fantastic...Thomas Edward Mitton House in Milton Keynes. Its residential and they really helped her (and still are). Dont get fobbed off as resources are tight.

Good luck

Sharon x

[TaIaV]

Dear Debbie,

I have no relevant experience to share, but just want to send you my admiration and support. Your son has suffered but your devotion is his miracle balm. Take care of yourself, you are a treasure.

[Davebe]

Talk about being kicked when down. I truly hope he gets some good luck in his life. At his age having trouble thrown at him for all his young life, I think he deserves some!! My first BI came 1985 when I was beaten up. I still say that was the end of my life. I lost my job as a fireman. It caused epilepsy and I didn't work for 15 years. Then, 8 years ago heart disease started to set in, stents, ablation, angina and so much medication I could start my own pharmacy. Life can be such a b--ch. To you and your son, good luck. I'm sure the rest of the forum won't mind me saying, "we're all with you ". Dave x