Diffuse axonal injury - please help

[Francescaluco]

My best friend was in a motorbike accident last Monday, he hit his head at speed and suffered a severe diffuse axonal injury. His original scan showed severe trauma but his most recent scan shows improvement. He was unconscious at the scene and was kept in an induced coma from Monday evening to Friday afternoon when they started to take sedation and paralysis drugs away. They said his ICP had been as high as 31 and as low as 12 and very up and down and they put a drain in to help take off some fluid. By Sunday they were apparently out of his system. It is now Thursday so four days in and he has been moving his eyes (not opening them however), leaning, lifting his elbow up and shimmying his shoulders and trying to twist his top half. However he pushes down into the bed when presented with pain rather than pushing up and the consultants feel this is a sign of he won't wake up or severe brain damage. His GCS score is 4 on account of these movements.

Could anyone give me any insight? Any survivors out there that were in this situation? I guess I'm looking for hope and options. I feel the hospital are giving up on him and I'm worried they took him out of an induced coma too soon.

[Sepsur]

I hope your friend improves soon

[Copse77]

It can take time for the sedation to work out of the system. It took my brother exactly a month to start to come round from an induced coma. Please remain hopeful. With best wishes for your friends recovery.

[Hidden]

Talk to the staff about how you are feeling, put pictures in his room that show healthy and not just another patient. Be there hen the doctor comes, nd tell hi he should be getting aggressive treatment. Hold his hand, keep his lips moist, and talk to him. Tell him where he is and why; reassure him the hallucinations are fake and thathe’s going to be all right.’