Traumatic Brain Injury

[livingwith]

On Feb 19th 2005 (9 days out of the Navy), my son Dylan was critically injured in a motorcycle accident (no helmet) where a majority of his injuries were sustained as he lay in a concrete canal at the end of my driveway in a blindspot. Dylan suffered a TBI due to bleeding and swelling. He has received surgery to remove damaged parts of his brain. He also suffered an SCI [spinal cord injury] and has had major back surgery. My son does not walk~his legs are contracted. Dylan has had several su...Read the full article

[RAC]

Dear Dylan's Mom - "the good days make the bad ones not so bad!" The lessons are love and patience - hang on and be ever grateful for his stubborness because he needs it to heal. My boyfriend had a Motorcycle accident April 7 of this year and is still in a Rehab hospital. His father plans on putting him in a nursing home and it tears my heart out. I am the only one that visits regularly now and when he and I are alone he is very responsive to me. He is 41 and I am 48. The saddest part of all this is I met him 13 years ago when he had a horrible car accident and had a stroke when he came out of his coma. I have spent some part of everyday with him helping him learn to speak and it has only been in the past year that he could out talk me! He came such a long way - they told him 13 years ago that he would never walk or talk again and I could just see something in his eyes that nobody else could. I still see that spark - sometimes - and sometimes he fades away on me to another world. But - those times when he strokes my face and hair or begs for a hug with his spastic arms - those are the times I live for. I know he would do so much better in my care at home yet, I have no say so in this matter.
Cherish every minute - good and bad - sounds like you are doing a wonderful job - make sure you get some "you" time so you don't burn out.
God bless you and your son,
Lisa

[bodman]

Dear Dylan's Mom - "the good days make the bad ones not so bad!" The lessons are love and patience - hang on and be ever grateful for his stubborness because he needs it to heal. My boyfriend had a Motorcycle accident April 7 of this year and is still in a Rehab hospital. His father plans on putting him in a nursing home and it tears my heart out. I am the only one that visits regularly now and when he and I are alone he is very responsive to me. He is 41 and I am 48. The saddest part of all this is I met him 13 years ago when he had a horrible car accident and had a stroke when he came out of his coma. I have spent some part of everyday with him helping him learn to speak and it has only been in the past year that he could out talk me! He came such a long way - they told him 13 years ago that he would never walk or talk again and I could just see something in his eyes that nobody else could. I still see that spark - sometimes - and sometimes he fades away on me to another world. But - those times when he strokes my face and hair or begs for a hug with his spastic arms - those are the times I live for. I know he would do so much better in my care at home yet, I have no say so in this matter.
Cherish every minute - good and bad - sounds like you are doing a wonderful job - make sure you get some "you" time so you don't burn out.
God bless you and your son,
Lisa

Lisa and Randi,

I'm beginning to feel like a broken record, since this is a short version of several of my other replies on this forum. Best of luck to both of you.

Lisa, you mentioned your boyfriend's spastic arms and Randi, you mentioned Dylan's pain. I would suggest asking their doctors to try high concentrations of oxygen, even though their blood oxygen tension is probably close to normal. Spastic, rigid muscle is a sure sign of ischemic hypoxia. Supplemental oxygen will have some positive impact systematically, but an hour or two per day of 90-100% oxygen, with each inhalation held for about 15 seconds, would have a very good chance of changing the status quo for your loved ones. Also, holding those spastic and painful areas with firm, not heavy, hand pressure and with very little movement (which can be overstimulating and painful) is a great way to connect with your loved one.

This is not standard medical treatment, nor is it intended to be medical advice. It is a statement of my personal experience with the spasticity and pain resulting from TBI.

Bodman