My husband suffered a TBI after a fall. He was in an induced coma for 7 days while they kept an eye on the pressure on his brain.
They turned the sedation off Tuesday morning. He didn’t wake up. On the Thursday he had surgery on his broken arms. That evening he opened his eyes. It is now Monday and other than a few leg movements and small head movement. And the basic reflexes (yawning, coughing etc) He is not doing anything else.
I’m terrified he’s not coming back to me.
Please any advice? Any hopeful stories?
We have young children waiting for good news about their daddy.
Written by
Comebackbaby
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Predicting how long it takes to emerge from a coma is difficult, as it mainly depends on the severity of the person's brain injury. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, most coma patients regain consciousness within 2-4 weeks.
hello, I am so sorry to read what you are going through right now. I am quite new to this, only home in Feb but I can tell you about me. I was put in an induced coma following Covid, sepsis and strep pneumonia. Once the sedation was withdrawn I didn’t even begin to wake until 10 days later, and then very gradually. It also wasn’t linear, I had a night of a cascade of emergencies when I had to be sedated again following pneumothorax , seizures, blocked ET tube and more. My message to you is while someone is still here there is always hope, everyone is so different in their journeys but hope remains the constant. I wish so much for a good outcome for you and your children.
it is different for everyone. My family were told I would come round quite quickly. In the end they were called in twice because I wouldn’t make it in the end it took me nearly 2 months to come round. Apart from pneumonia and sepsis I had had a heart op and had a tracky fitted.
remain hopeful was advice we were given when my brother was on ECMO, by a kind consultant. He became ill with septic shock after flu and all his organs were shutting down. His youngest child was 6 at the time. It took him around a month for him to wake up properly. If you are able to visit Talk to your husband and reassure him. He may be able to hear you but not able to communicate yet. I wish the best for you and your husband’s recovery and your children.
I agree with above, remain hopeful. He’s still here, and that counts for a lot. My mum was in an induced coma for 6.5 weeks. They tried to wake her up at about 4 weeks, but she was too weak to maintain her airways, she then had to be intubated again. She has no recollection of the 12 hours she was ‘awake’ she couldn’t talk but blinked to communicate.
When the woke her up again, it took about 7-10 days for her to be really awake. She says she doesn’t remember much, but when she woke she wasn’t scared. So she thinks that she could hear what was going on, on some level. So keep talking to him.
I know it’s the most stressful and worrying time for you. Sometimes the slow and steady progress is so slow you can’t always see it.
Yes all the above are correct. I had a very delayed time to come out of sedation, then my body temperature regulation wasn’t working so then while in a coma they also paralysed me to take control, so thus delayed it yet again. I would say it doesn’t matter how long you are in ICU or what for we all take different times to emerge out the other side.
Have patience, be with him and talk to him. But look after yourself most importantly
Thank you all for your replies. Since I wrote this 1 Week ago we have seen some progress with my husband.
He is moving his body a lot especially his legs he is adjusting himself up and down the bed.
His eyes are more focused and he is tracking people with his eyes and moving his head and neck.
He is not yet ‘conscious’ in the sense responding to commands has been inconsistent and he does not seem to be communicating. He does still have a tube down his throat. They have spent the last few days deciding whether to remove it or give him a tracheostomy they have not made a decision on that yet.
The progress in a week has been quite a lot. This keeps me hopeful that he’s is still in there and just taking time to ‘wake up’ properly.
Tomorrow marks 2 weeks since they turned off all his sedation. In that time he has been under anaesthesia 3 times for surgeries/procedures.
This time last week I was praying for just a little toe twitch and now you can’t keep his whole legs still where he’s stretching them.
thank you again everyone, please keep us in your prayers.
It’s been 1 month since I wrote this and I wanted to update as I know there could be someone looking for hope just like I was.
My husband did wake from his coma. He passed through the stages, vegetative state, minimally conscious state, post traumatic amnesia. Everything seemed to progress more after he was extubated.
I now visit my husband in our local hospital where he is having therapy. It won’t be long until he can come home.
A doctor once told me he wouldn’t wake up and that his vegetative state was permanent. I had to tell our children and prepare them that daddy might not come home. He was wrong. I have my husband back and they have their daddy. He has a long road ahead to recover from his injuries but he survived and came back to us.
His traumatic brain injury has left him with minimal damage, he can walk, he can talk and he has his memories. Considering he hit his head so hard he had a bleed on his brain stem this is nothing short of a miracle.
Please who ever needs to hear this, keep strong, keep faith and stay hopeful. I lost all hope at one point and couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel but here I am.
I’m Thinking of anyone going through this right now as I know it was the hardest thing in the world but please don’t give up!
That is fantastic!! Thank God that your husband is recovering and will be back home soon! He is blessed to have a wife and family that remained hopeful and never gave up, and will soon be able to celebrate being back together after such a traumatic time.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
My dad
Medically induced coma after cardiac arrest
Traumatic Brain Injury
My 20 year old nephew is not showing any signs 
My father died after spending 2 weeks in a coma due severe sepsis and multi organ failure. I love him so much. 
