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Small steps 🙂
Thanks guys, I need a few smileys in my life right now.... 🙂
Great news after all you've been through, though it will be a long road yet.
This thread has given me plenty of perspective on what were some really piffling and selfish "problems".
Yeah don't forget that your immediate family needs care too, including yourself.
BOL.
😀
That's great news. I assume by intubated, that he's still ventilated by mouth? When I was intubated they kept the sedation turned up to 11 most of the time as it really isn't pleasant to be ventilated. Once they gave me a trachy (after about 10 days or so), they could then decrease the sedation.
Obviously different scenarios here, but hopefully it's good news.
Keep the updates coming. 🙂
Glad to hear some good news, I echo what's been posted here the last hour or two.
To the medically untrained, this all sounds like wonderful news. I hope these snippets of positiveness continue.
All the best to you and yours. X
Keep your head up mate
Onwards and upwards some more. 🙂 🙂
Look after yourselves.
🙂 glad there's some good news - hope you and yours are holding together
Sounds like a positive step in the right direction.
We want people who are in a coma to wake up and be cognitive. One of the hardest things I had to see was my Mum holding my dads hand whilst he was in a mediaclly induced come.
He would breifly flicker his eye lids or move an arm , She kept on saying " Wake up , come on wake up ,please.." I had to bite my tongue and not state that he was in amedically induced coma for a reason ( massive infection ) and it was better all round if he stayed in a coma and gave all the drugs a fighting chance and all his body had to do was fight the bugs.
I bet you want your son to not be attatched to several machines and have wires and tubes in him so you can give him a bloody big hug ,but its the machines and tubes that are looking after him whilst his body does its best to fix itself .
Truely hope the signs of improvement continue and you can give him that hug in the near future
oldnpastit - I don't think you realise how well you are doing. You're finding some strength from somewhere and I admire you for keeping it all together for the sake of the rest of your family.
bunnyhop x
What an amazing bunch of people you guys all are 🙂
Good to hear some positive news. Stay strong Oldy
Everything crossed 🙂
So chuffed to hear the positive news, you too are doing brilliantly, keep looking after yourself as well
Great to hear another small step has been climbed! I hope your next post will bring some more positive news. 🙂
oldnpastit - Member
[i]...AND look after yourself[/i]
I had never imagined that would be so hard.
its awful how much the not knowing takes out of you, last year I had possibly the hardest week of my life while my wife was in hospital for her brain operation. This was despite me not having to care for her at home as usual.
I take my hat off to those who work in hospitals as I find they suck the essence of life out of you even after the caring that the staff give.
Virtual hug for you ( )
I've not said much on this thread this far because I'm Aspie and my brain came preconfigured with a saying-the-wrong-thing chip. However, I've taken time to dwell on it, and if it's ok I'd like to give you two pieces of advice based on hindsight from when I was in a vaguely similar situation.
1) Try not to jump to conclusions. You've a long road ahead with ups and downs, false hope isn't helpful but nor is false, er, lack of hope. I thought I'd lost my mum at one point a few years ago, but she came back. The human brain is a quite, quite remarkable device. It's inordinately difficult I know, but try to have some focus and not panic.
2) Look after yourself. I'm the world's worst for "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, *bang*" because I lack the objectivity to be a good judge of my own psyche. The lesson it took me years to learn is that rather than my problems being a burden / worry on anyone else, or even just relatively unimportant, the crux of the matter is that [i]if I fall over then I'm no bloody use to anyone else.[/i] You can [i]only[/i] support your family if you're firing on all four, this is really really important. It's critical. Do something else, ride your bike, go camping overnight, have a long bath with some music on, whatever works for you, but you [i]must[/i] do this if not for yourself then for the benefit of everyone around you. And don't you even dare feel guilty about it. The bottom line is that you cannot run a marathon at sprinting speeds, and you need to be on your game.
Apologies if this comes across as insensitive, as I said earlier I have an underactive empathy gland so I'm a bad judge of what's appropriate. But what I do know is that I wish to gods that someone had given me this advice a few years ago.
Hope everything works out for you.
That all sounds good sense Cougar
Good advice for us all, not just oldandpastit. Who deserves massive love and respect. And happiness.
Cougar - ModeratorYou can only support your family if you're firing on all four, this is really really important. It's critical. Do something else, ride your bike, go camping overnight, have a long bath with some music on, whatever works for you, but you must do this if not for yourself then for the benefit of everyone around you. And don't you even dare feel guilty about it.
I know what you mean but when your someones primary carer, time out just isn't an easy option. In my case I've had 1 day off caring for my wife since 2010 & working full time and that was because I ended up in hospital myself.
Sure. But I wasn't saying it was easy, I was saying it was important. With all due respect and speaking as a carer myself, whilst admirable that doesn't sound healthy to me. One day off in four years? What happens to your wife when you're debilitated through injury or illness? Do you have secondary carers?
Something someone said to me when I was going to pieces and trying to prop every bugger else up, "where's [i]your[/i] support network?"
You have to look after number one. That's not selfish, it's imperative.
But anyway. This isn't the place for a debate. My intention was to try and help the OP, I don't know if that worked but I'm going to bow out now. I sincerely hope I did the right thing here.
Thanks for the update oldnpastit - definitely sounds like progress. As has been said, make sure you look after yourself too.
Still keeping 'em crossed.
Good news Oldnpastit .Its good to see that a bickering bunch of cyclists can pull together and support another when it really matters .I hope as we all do to read of more improvement over the coming weeks .Stay strong.
Very good news - Personally I think one of the hardest things in your situation is getting your head around the timescales - we're so used to getting information on demand/at our fingertips that working in weeks/months is alien to us.
Stay strong, and try to take a little time for yourself, even if it is just sitting outside with a hot drink...
I'm really pleased for you oldnpastit, good luck to you and your boy.
Hi oldnpastit, I've been holding off from posting but you and your family have been in my thoughts. My household has n=2 with brain injuries in the past couple of years. One could probably be classed as 'catastrophic'.
Brain injuries are not degenerative diseases. They are worst at the beginning. If you can hang on now, it is only going to get better.
And if it does get better, it is going to get even more knackering for you. The advice above about looking after yourself is what you actively need to do.
And the doctors will continually scare you, it is their job to worry. Ride your bike.
It all sounds less bleak than in the early days, so for that reason I'm delighted for you. Although you clearly have a pragmatic side, and this will help for the future.
Cougar is right though; if you're not safe and functioning, it'll all fall apart. So make sure you look after yourself as much as you look after everyone else.
Best wishes though!
I keep popping by for the updates and its great to hear things are slowly getting better....
Chin up... Probably a long journey but your going in the right direction...
Good advice from Cougar, thanks.
Yesterday they deintubated him and switched off all of the sedation.
When I went down he was asleep, but apparently earlier in the day he was very alert, and able to move around and even to speak a bit, although his voice is very hoarse from the intubation. He was asking about where he is, and how he got there (no-one has told him yet what he did, and he doesn't seem to remember).
Apparently he was very shocked when he found out he'd been asleep for 20 days.
It's amazing how fast young bodies heal themselves. Gti Junior is 15 and has been in hospital three times, for an illness and two accidents and has made a complete recovery each time.
Amazing 😀
Great news!
Excellent, sounds like things are going in the right direction 🙂
Wonderful news to start a new week with 😀
that's great news, pleased for you. Hope things continue in a positive direction
That's another positive step, thanks for posting.
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This may or may not be the right time and place, but what steps are you planning on putting in place to resolve the longer term issues assuming he makes a physical and mental recovery? I can only assume there's an underlying reason behind his decision and that needs looking into and sorting ?
Excellent news!
Thats great news please keep posting 🙂
Great to hear this.
big positive vibes to you and yrs oldnpastit, sompleased to hear of encouraging progress, take care of yrself too
Excellent!
Brilliant news!
Excellent news!!!
Awesome news!!
Obviously it's still going to be a long haul but these small (getting bigger) steps is ace news, and your worse fears can start to seriously diminish 🙂
Excellent! Nice to hear some positive news.
Thats excellent news, don't overwhelm the fella...
Take it one step at a time..
😀
Truly
Awesome
Great news, thanks for updating us! Sending healing vibes and stuff.
Brilliant news, on wards and upwards!
😀
Can you ask him if he wants to go halfers on a lottery ticket please. Still a long way to go, but at least the journey has started.
Some more positive news OP. Brilliant!
Good stuff! Hang on to all that positivity - here's hoping for lots more.
Wow!
Early days but sounds mighty positive.
Need that like button.... Excellent news.
That's fantastic news, it's warmed my heart, all the very best to you and your boy.
that's absolutely fantastic news!! its great to hear he is making good progress...long may it continue!!
Ahh glad to hear there's good, positive news, thanks for the update 🙂
Been reading this thread since the start but haven't posted as couldn't find the words too. So pleased things are looking positive for you all. Best Wishes.
Such a happy update, I'm really pleased your lad is making progress, the fact he can speak and move about is a massive upgrade since your first post. I hope you can stay optimistic and get the support you need.
All the best
excellent news, fingers crossed he makes a full recovery physically and mentally.
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That really has made my day. Great news indeed!
A big step forward! 🙂
I've been awol for a few days...what brilliant news.
keep on keeping on ....as they say...
\o/ Fab news.
He was re-intubated and re-sedated yesterday as he wasn't breathing properly, due to an ongoing lung infection. They might have another go at seeing if he can breathe on his own again today, but it depends on how his lungs are doing. I think it's just one of those things.
things go up and down, they;ve spotted something not right and they're taking steps to make it better. the care he's getting will see him through this.
Sorry to hear about the slight setback but I guess that recovery from a catastrophic event often is two steps forward one step back.
@oldnpastit - lung infection they can deal with, as you say its one of those things and not every step will be a forward one, its about the big picture and making forward progress overall and as you look back over events since you first posted it's positive.
Sorry for all the cliches !
Fingers are remaining crossed.
But incredibly glad there's been some good news.
Worth reading about John Pitchers who made a remarkable recovery after brain damage, mainly after starting taking Omega 3/6 supplements.
http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/1262752.landlord_calls_time_at_dales_pub/
I think it's just one of those things.
He's in the right place, with the right people, giving him the best possible chance.
All the best to you & your family.
Asked with some trepidation, any news?
I've not seen him today myself, but apparently he's going to get a tracheostomy (sp?) after which he'll be off the intubation and sedation, and able to talk. That'll be interesting.....
The ENT guy who came to look at him for the trachithingummy had been on holiday for the last two weeks and was quite surprised he was still alive, which I think is good.