A medical, legal, and
informational resource
for persons dealing with
traumatic brain injury.

STORIES OF AMAZING RECOVERIES

Submitted by: V. Johnson
Submitted on: January 14, 2005

On February 16th, 2004 my 27 year old brother sustained a gun shot wound to the head. His frontal lobe was completely destroyed. The doctors told us he would not make it through the night, that there was no point doing surgery to relieve the pressure because they were so sure that he would not live.

Twenty-four hours later he was still alive, they then did surgery to remove all of the dead brain, which was his entire frontal lobe. His forehead and sinus cavities were also reconstructed. After surgery the doctor told us that his chances of survival were about 25% and that if he did live he would be blind, deaf, unable to walk and in a vegetative state. We prayed and begged for God's help, then went to visit him. While we were in his room after the surgery he moved his legs into the position that he always sleeps in and we knew that he would be able to walk. Each day he did something new, something we were told he would never do again. On the third day following surgery he woke up and looked at our mother and he started to cry. We knew then that he could see her. He began to follow commands and we knew he could hear. We were told my brother would be in the hospital for atleast two months and then have to be in rehab for no less then a year. My brother came home on April 16th 2004, one month after the accident. He walks, he can hear, he can talk, he does everything for himself. He was even out on the golf course by the middle of May.

He has short term memory loss, a feeding tube because he doesn't feel thirst and therefore doesn't drink, and takes about 12 different pills a day. He had made an amazing recovery and very quickly, then it all stopped. He decided that he no longer needed medication and stopped taking it. He then stopped eating and lost a lot of weight, he became very depressed and sickly. We have since had to put him into a nursing facility where they can watch him 24 hours a day and see that he eats and takes his medication. He is doing much better and is almost back to where he was this summer. We are hopeful that he will get to come home again very soon and continue with his life. When my brother got sick we had so much trouble finding somewhere that would take him. He was to advanced for certain facilities, too sick for others. No one knew how to deal with his brain injury, even now the staff at the nursing home don't really have a grasp on his situation. I think that it is sad that health care providers aren't better educated in this subject and that there aren't more facilities that specialize in helping those with brain trauma. God bless all of you out there who have experienced brain trauma or have a friend or family member who has. It is a hard injury to deal with but there is hope and with faith and hard work they can heal.