Update on my boyfriend’s TBI…will he get back to his old self? Even if near to it?

[Phoenix1202]

Hi everyone…

Thank you for so much of cooperation and suggestions regarding the earlier post.

Moving onto my bf’s condition, it has been more than 3 months since his accident and TBI (I have mentioned the details on the earlier post)…during this period, he was diagnosed with the development of some soft tissue which had to be treated using a “ballooning method “ (idk the proper terminology), and currently he gets checked up regularly with bronchoscopy. The doctor says that this soft tissue issue is common in patients who had been in prolonged tracheostomy and ventilation. So i guess it’s not a big problem…

Moving onto his overall condition, he have had a considerable improvement over these past two months… he could walk independently (though his left side of the body is weaker), has gained a lot of awareness around him as well as himself, he remembers almost every thing and everyone prior to his injury, just that the time near to his accident and post accident, his memory is still not very intact, has some fuzziness…however, now, he remembers almost everything abt the day or the day before…. He could do most activities independently, such as eating, getting a bath, chatting with me, writing, etc. Recently, just for attendance purposes, he even did some offline classes for a week, and have met and talked with his friends in the college where he spent almost 4 years… he slowly gained his self - consciousness and also tries talking to me like before, lovingly, with the same nickname, with the same expression and phrases… he also knows the difference between what to say in private and what not… he also sometimes tries to comfort me when i get a bit emotional… His personality, i would say, 1/3rd is back… he still has confusion, easily emotional, memory lapses, his physical configuration is still not normal…with unclear speech….and i m still so scared… he still has a long way to go…but i m scared if he stops in the midway? i hope his recovery goes on no matter how much time he requires…i just want his old self back…

please can someone tell me just one thing? No matter however much time he takes…will he get back to his old normal self? Atleast 99% of it? I really miss his old self… i was emotionally and mentally dependent on only one person…its him…and i love him to the point where i hv prayed for his health issues to convert into mine… i want to have a future with him…plz someone answer this…

thank u for reading till the end❤️❤️❤️

[OtherSide]

That story is so familiar. I think this remarkable, early progress is very encouraging. I went through the same and I reckon it took my other half a good year to re-emerge and then many more to rebuild different aspects of their life.

Nobody is ever the same after such a life changing event. Some things will probably never be the same but I'd think that much of the person who you love will return with time and support.

Best wishes

[Mads1975]

Hello, speaking from the perspective of the brain injured person, I myself some 17 years on from my TB meningitis, I can advise you that in my case I have perhaps 75% returned to my pre injury personality although the other 25% seems part of the new me.

Parts of it are advantageous but more is detrimental to who I wish had returned. Ultimately I have adopted the mindset that firstly I was fortunate enough to survive and secondly it is about how I play this difficult hand of cards I’ve been dealt.

I’m sure with your help, love and care, your partner will recover far more of his pre injury self.

[RogerCMerriman]

sounds like he’s making good progress, it is still very early days, I believed that they really did move the Stonehenge stones the first year post as I was just so literal.

Terms of personally clearly this is a life changing experience, but the core of who someone is tends to remain, I’m personality wise very close to what I was.

But this seems quite hopeful thus far for him and you

[sca2013]

If he is anything like me he wants to be back to his old self for sure. My reality has been I had to let that go of that idea as it just wasn't happening and just got me more and more frustrated trying to return to my old self. Once I finally made the change to I'm creating a new life, I started making much better progress overall. There are some things that are my old self, many others that I've created compensating strategies to be able to still do, other things just never made it back and then brand new things I can do that I wasn't doing before. This is my reality now. I know it is a big step to make. I wish brain injuries healed up like say a broken bone or a cut returning the normal, but they just aren't, at least in my experience. I'm very sorry you're both going through this.