HEAD INJURY RECOVERYSTRUT (Support-R)

soulmarcosasoulmarcosa 4,296 Posts
edited July 2007 in Strut Central
I met an amazing girl named Yazmin in LA on Cinco De Mayo weekend. We kept in touch after I left, and she came out to visit me in NC two weeks ago. We had a wonderful time together in every respect and a few days after she got back home, we both admitted we had really strong feelings for each other. I was on cloud 9.Then this past Monday her best friend called me up to say that Yazmin had fallen off a two-story building onto the concrete the night before, and was now unconscious in the hospital. I was devastated. Luckily since then, she's regained consciousness, is speaking (if only in a rudimentary manner), is off respiratory support, can move her arms & hands, and can write messages to the doctors. I'm fortunate that her friend & brothers are keeping me posted on her progress.Right now all any of can do is wait and see what happens from day to day. But I'm really preoccupied about it and could really use some support from anybody who's been through a similar situation. Any strutters who have experienced brain injury and recovery - either firsthand or with a loved one - I'd truly appreciate your stories. Sorry to be a bummer but I figured at least some of you might have gone through the same thing.
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  • behemothbehemoth 2,189 Posts
    thats horrible

    she obviously remembers who you are right?

    i had a friend who had a head injury and couldnt remember simple things.

    but if shes writing messages to doctors it seems that it all might pass

    i wish u and her the best

  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    So sorry to hear that Mark...really dude.

    Although I have only experienced this type of thing from a caregiver standpoint, the fact she is improving, even if only a little, is a good sign. As long as the chances of an "expanding lesion" have been ruled out(since she is in a hospital, I am sure she is being monitored for this every minute of every day) then the prognosis can be pretty good. It might be slow going, but I am sure things will look up day to day. The problems resulting from the aforementioned expanding lesion reduce after the first 72 hours to a week. If after a week, things are still progresing, no matter how slow, it is a really good sign that she may return to normal...

    hang in there, man, hoping for the best....

  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    hey marco...

    my cousin got hit in the head with a golf club when we were young. the blow fractured his skull and sent fragments into his brain. my entire family was ready for him to die, as the prognosis was grim. amazingly, he made a full recovery, has a child, and full life now. he suffers very rare siezures still, but we're all glad he's still around. hold tight, hermano...humans are amazing creatures. good luck to her.

  • Options
    I met an amazing girl named Yazmin in LA on Cinco De Mayo weekend. We kept in touch after I left, and she came out to visit me in NC two weeks ago. We had a wonderful time together in every respect and a few days after she got back home, we both admitted we had really strong feelings for each other. I was on cloud 9.

    Then this past Monday her best friend called me up to say that Yazmin had fallen off a two-story building onto the concrete the night before, and was now unconscious in the hospital. I was devastated. Luckily since then, she's regained consciousness, is speaking (if only in a rudimentary manner), is off respiratory support, can move her arms & hands, and can write messages to the doctors. I'm fortunate that her friend & brothers are keeping me posted on her progress.

    Right now all any of can do is wait and see what happens from day to day. But I'm really preoccupied about it and could really use some support from anybody who's been through a similar situation. Any strutters who have experienced brain injury and recovery - either firsthand or with a loved one - I'd truly appreciate your stories. Sorry to be a bummer but I figured at least some of you might have gone through the same thing.


    Sorry to hear about this man, it sucks. It happened to a friend of mine from high school, he went away to college and fell off his balcony. Might have been in a coma for a bit, I don't recall the specifics. All I know is a year or two later I see him at the local community college, he walks up to me and asks for directions and had no idea who I was. I saw this kid every day for four years, and this was 2 years later. I knew his head was damaged and stuff (this was the first I saw him since the summer right after high school graduation) so I just gave him directions and didn't even try and tell him who I was, I figured it'd make him uncomfortable or something. It was wierd man, I never ran into something like that before.

    I had two major concussions before I was 5 (age 3 and 4 I think), two more since then and a handful of minor ones. I have no idea how I'm going to be later on in life, we'll see.

  • djannadjanna 1,543 Posts
    One of the disabilities I encounter as a Special Ed teacher is Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Teenagers with TBI tend to exhibit a lot of emotional instability- anger, violence, temper, difficulty with changes etc. Memory loss is common, difficulty with higher-order thinking skills and other academic difficulties. TBI results from a serious injury to part of the brain.

    Hopefully your friend is alright, she may just have a slow recovery process, but it sounds like she is already on her way- that's a great sign.

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    I don't have any advice or commiseration to offer, but I wanted to say that I am very sorry to hear about this and will be hoping for a full recovery.

    I don't want to intrude on your privacy, but I hope that you will share her progress with us.

  • empanadamnempanadamn 1,462 Posts
    I wish her a speedy recovery. Hang in there, homie. My prayers are with you guys.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I am so sorry.

    I think you need to book a quick trip to LA if you can.

    Touch is very healing, go say hello.

  • BelsonBelson 880 Posts
    Oh mate - come to LA......my house is your house, brother.

    I've had a rough few weeks too, so come over, we'll eat vegan curry, listen to Bauhaus and....well, just be there in times of need.

    G

  • novasolnovasol 204 Posts
    When I was a kid, got hit by car and knocked 15 feet into the air. Landed on my head. Experience was quite profound. No ill effects I know of. I would suggest laughter as the best medicine...concern yes...just let her come around on her terms. My dollar in the bucket. Best wishes!

  • It sounds like she is already recovering quite well. I have a relative that was in a coma for 6 weeks after a head injury. And with some therapy she recovered quite well.

    I'm no doctor, but if after such a significant trauma she's so quickly awake and communicating, it would seem that her prognosis is excellent. Not saying that she'll have a walk in the park ahead of her - but thank god it sounds like she survived pretty well!

    Best of luck!

  • soulmarcosasoulmarcosa 4,296 Posts
    Thanks everyone for the support and sharing your stories, and I include everyone who also sent me emails & PMs. Ya'll are the best, but seriously after being here for 5+ years, I already knew that.

    Greg - I'll definitely be coming your way soon. As soon as I get word that Yazmin can receive visitors and her family is ready to have a guest, I'm buying a ticket to Cali to see her and to support them (thank god for Northwest's $220 roundtrip tickets). She lives in Ventura but hopefully I can skip down to L.A. for a night and hang out. All I gotta say is the next Frenchman who picks a fight with me will get suckerpunched and beat down Carolina-style this time! No 50% for Mister Sucker!! ha ha!

    And Daniel I'll definitely update this thread as I get news about Yazmin, though I know that her progress will probably be very slow going. Luckily she does recognize her family, and her brother said that she told them to let me know that she's going to be ok. Hopefully this kind of memory retention means that her recovery has a better chance to be complete.

    In the meantime, I'll be lurking on Soulstrut to keep my spirits up, keep my mind off the bad things, have a laugh and see if anyone posts this crazy Apache video I keep hearing about. Thanks again everyone.

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Yo Mark, don't know how I missed this thread but yo man, you and your friend are in my thoughts.

    Not a brain injurgy, but about 10 years ago I was in a car accident. I suffered a fractured skull, but most of the injuries were to my lower extremities with my legs being crushed. I subsequently suffered an embolism which put me into a coma for about 2 weeks. My entire family and friends were ready for me to die, and if I didn't die, to have extensive brain damage. I know how scary of a time that is, not firsthand, but by the accounts of everyone who is close to me. But after being on life support for so long I eventually found a way to work myself out of that state and I'm totally fine today. So there's definitely hope that things will be fine in the end. It's just going to go slow. The first few months after I got out my coma we're definitely rough and it took time for me to figure things out.

  • CousinLarryCousinLarry 4,618 Posts
    My father had two serious head injuries. The second one was so bad he had to have major brain surgery. He pulled through and though he has short-term memory issues and was out of work for over 10 years he is really tough. He was able to get an associates degree and now has a part time job. The recuperative powers of human beings never cease to amaze me.

    I wish your friend the best.

  • SnagglepusSnagglepus 1,756 Posts
    That's horrible. I'm really sorry.

    I have a friend (he actually lives down in Winston-Salem) who got into a serious car accident, up in Connecticut, where his head hit a tree directly. They said that the fact that his skull cracked actually saved his life as it allowed his brain to swell. When I saw him in the hospital, he was in a coma and his head looked twice its normal size. They said he would probably never walk or speak again.

    Well, his recovery was absolutely remarkable. He came out of his coma in about six weeks. His speech was limited at first and, even as it improved, his grasp of reality was very shaky for the first six months to a year. In the first months, when speaking with him, you'd really have to carry the conversation. But now I can barely tell the difference when I speak with him. He has all of his memories (except the accident itself). He can blabber with the best of them. (He's actually taken an interest in really bad jokes recently which is funny in its own way).

    So, while he's far from perfect, his recovery was much much better than predicted. I think a lot of it had to do with his own inner drive and the constant support of friends and family (which only serve to strengthen his inner drive). So hang in there. The more support she gets, the more contact she has with people that care about her, the easier this journey will be for her.

    Again, my heart goes out to you. I'm currently in the "developing mutual feelings" stage with a lady in my life and I just can't imagine how I'd feel if something were to happen to her. I say don't hide from the situation (it doesn't look like you're going to). Take those feelings that you have for her and focus them on whatever support you can provide.

    I wish you both the best.

  • soulmarcosasoulmarcosa 4,296 Posts
    To update ya'll, I found out last Friday that Yazmin was indeed going to need surgery on the major skull fracture on her forehead. Surgery was today, I just spoke to her friend Monica, and she told me that the surgery went well!

    Yazmin has already woken up(!) but is understandably still tired. We know absolutely no details about anything else regarding additional hospital stay, rehabilitation, etc., but this is such good news and I'm taking it to mean that the worst is behind her. Now it's just a matter of time, observation and her determination to get better.

    Thanks everyone who has emailed, called, and asked about her. I really appreciate it, and I know she will too once she is more recovered.

  • asprinasprin 1,765 Posts
    Mark, I wish you and Yasmin the best and the only advice I can part with you is patience and positivity. The kind of positivity that goes against what you mind is telling you and hangs on to what is in your heart. There might be some rough times during the first couple of months of recovery and know that you will play a big part in how she feels about her conditions and her ability to overcome it. Be well man and do call when you are back in LA.

  • edith headedith head 5,106 Posts
    this is great news! i wish her a speedy recovery. she's lucky to have someone who cares for her as much as you do.

  • BrianBrian 7,618 Posts
    good to hear the surgery went well and i'm sure your support will be appreciated. hope everything works out.

  • soulmarcosasoulmarcosa 4,296 Posts
    I just got a call from an area code I didn't recognize. I picked it up anyway.

    IT WAS YAZMIN!!!

    Needless to say I was really excited, and though her speech was a bit slower than usual, we talked for about 20 minutes and she sounded GREAT! I was astounded and relieved at how coherent and normal she sounded - seriously, just based on this call I wouldn't have known anything was wrong! Plus she was in great spirits considering how much she's been through - she incredibly didn't complain to me one bit about anything. She has consistently always amazed me in this regard - she seems able to adapt to any situation gracefully.

    As far as her progress, she's been moved out of ICU into a Definitive Observation Unit (DOU), which means that her condition has been downgraded to a less serious status. She confirmed that her head was completely shaved, which she said she always wanted to do anyway! ha ha! Vision in her right eye is perfect, but she has slightly double vision in her left eye so it does make it difficult & painful for her to concentrate on things like reading. Which I guess is good, because when she opened my care package and saw the CINE LATINO book of vintage Mexican movie posters I sent her, her mother immediately snatched it away to read it for HERSELF, and hasn't returned it yet! Ha ha!

    Even more impressive, she's started walking a bit, and was even able to walk to the bathroom to take a shower. This is all such great news.

    We had to cut the conversation short because a doctor came in to see her, but she gave me a number to call so finally I'll be able to be in touch with her again on a regular basis.

    Thanks everyone for being concerned about Yazmin and me. I have really appreciated it, and it truly has helped me deal with such a sudden and major bad event. Ya'll are amazing. Thank you.

  • CousinLarryCousinLarry 4,618 Posts
    Great news. Sounds like she is recovering really quickly.

  • Good News man, great to hear...Best wishes in her recovery!

  • Wonderful news, Mark! Please keep us posted and--a long shot, granted--let me know if I can help in any way.

  • Honestly man, This made my day so far. I was totally smiling for you when i read this. Thanks for letting us know...

  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    Glad to hear some good news behind this, Marco!

    Best of luck to her and continued healing. I hope things start to look up, it sounds like she has a good attitude for the road ahead. Not to mention she is lucky to have such thoughtful friends as yourself to help her through it. You are a good egg!

  • Wow, all of these stories are pretty amazing. Marco - really glad to hear your girl is recovering.

    Back when I was living in St. Louis, a good friend of mine (the main dude in my graffiti crew) was severely beaten one night after he got into an altercation with a couple of loose cannons while trying to park his car. He was hit with a baseball bat in the head and stomped out within about an inch of his life. Seeing my huge friend reverted back to almost the state of an infant in the hospital was beyond difficult to go through. I'd go check in about once a week and was amazed at the progress he'd make - from relearning how to walk, talk, and eventually draw and paint. He hasn't made a 100% full recovery and will never ever be the same person he once was, but considering he was so close to death, it's incredible to see how far he's come since the fight, which was about 7 years ago.

    You and Yazmin have my best wishes.
    Mike

  • I just got back from Oxnard/Ventura/LA to visit Yazmin (and her family!) for 5 days. Despite still having to wear a knee brace (which should be off soon) and some minor problems with hearing/smell/taste, she's almost back to normal and is just as spirited and full of life as I remember.





    Needless to say we had an amazing extended weekend and look forward to more great times together once she's 100% recovered.

    Thanks for all the support, everyone!

  • Amazing. Congrats and best of luck to you guys!
    M

  • edith headedith head 5,106 Posts
    great news! sorry for interrupting your dinner the other night

  • Options
    Happy to hear that, that's wonderful!
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