 |
| August 11, 2011 |
I found my son unconscious for an undetermined length of time. Unfortunately, my son cannot speak for himself and I pray that I don't post or say anything that he would not agree with. As a result from his injury, he suffered compartment syndrome in his right leg, and like a domino effect his organs proceeded to shut down...first the liver, then the kidneys, 2 cardiac arrests and then his brain suffered a hypoxic injury.
....we were escorted to a special room and the clock was ticking....
Living with a brain injured loved one is a world that I pray no one has to experience, but for those of us who have a loved one with a serious head injury, this blog can be a forum for support, as well, as a way for me to find some kind of healing through this nightmare that I struggle with everyday... from the time of the accident until....only God knows.
It has been 6 months since his accident. I never thought that he would be alive today and that I would be starting a blog about my son's recovery. It needs to be documented. Since his accident I have learned so much about love, life, the brain, family and the health care system.
I want to share our experiences, so that I can record this miracle and have a place for others to come to so they may have hope, when there seems to be none.
"Dr. Rezai says patients with severe brain injuries, who are largely unresponsive but still have some level of consciousness are in many ways, forgotten and all too often are given little rehabilitation and a slim chance of recovery."
It has been 6 months now, so I will begin...
August 11, 2011
ICU resting in a comatose
state. AJ suffered two cardiac arrests, kidney and liver failure. His
right calf is swollen from "compartment syndrome". The doctors did not
think he would make it through dialysis. He had to be stabilized first
before going into surgery to relieve the pressure in his leg. Time was
of essence....we prayed....his heart rate was beginning to flat-line
again.....we prayed louder.....Lord help him!....then out of nowhere, he started to
come back to us, and his blood pressure began to rise....they put him
back on the ventilator and we prayed again....
I told the doctors that AJ was a strong healthy young man before today, and I knew his body would withstand the dialysis, and the Lord was on our side.
.....for the next 24hrs his doctors began a real balancing act to save his life.....
Dr.Galimore called his sister, Brenda, and myself into AJ's room. The doctor requested that I ask him to open his eyes, and he did. To every one's surprise, his eyes were fixed on the ceiling, I don't think he could see, but he could feel and hear. He hated the tubes that were down his throat and he tried to reach for them, but he was unable to lift his arms. He heard his sisters voice and attempted to flip her off. These movements were recorded in the medical records, but were also written off as involuntary reflexes, the family knew better. In this instance, we saw so much emotion, he was frustrated, angry, scared and still had a sense of humor when he flipped off his sister. He loves his sisters.
.... Dr. Giacino, Neurologist at JFK,
said in the HBO documentary Coma
"the moment they open their eyes, they are no longer in a coma"....
"the moment they open their eyes, they are no longer in a coma"....
The dialysis was a success,
but it took a lot out of him. His surgeon, Dr. Wong, said we could not
wait any longer, the swelling from the compartment syndrome was starting to spread to his upper thigh. Dr. Wong had to perform the fasciotomy now! Dr.Wong said that he never performed a fasciotomy on a upper quad before.....we prayed.....the
surgery was a success!
Fasciotomy
August 12. 2011
The fasciotomy was a success, but I never saw anything like this! My son looked like he had been crucified. Four incisions were made in his right leg. On the outside and inside thigh and calf. The incisions on his thigh are about 13" long on each side! All the muscles, veins, and nerves in his leg were totally exposed! His leg will stay exposed, until the swelling goes down. They are not sure how much muscle was damaged. The continual breakdown of protein from the damaged muscle in his leg, keeps flushing through his kidneys and is killing him with out the dialysis, his kidneys can't keep up with continual breakdown of protein and gets weak from the dialysis. The only other option is, amputation. We prayed.....
After the surgery, they wanted to fly AJ to a more qualified hospital that had plenty of blood and resources.... Dr. Wong said no, Dr. Galimore said yes, and the doctors are looking at me....I decided to let him rest another day before he was air-e vac into Phoenix.
August 13, 2011
 |
| AJ sister as co-pilot |
 |
 | ||
| His sister watches as he is airlifted to Phoenix |
August 23, 2011
12 days after the accident
 |
| AJ smiled |
August 23, 2011
I couldn't get back to phoenix fast enough when my daughter sent me this smile from his hospital room in ICU. The doctors said it was a reflex. I knew better....in his room and I said, "AJ, grandma and I came all the way over here to see your smile." He looked at us, and it took every muscle in his face to smile, but he did it....on command. His smile was the most precious, beautiful act of courage I have ever seen....I fell so in love with him that day. It was no reflex.
He had the tubes removed from his mouth and now he was breathing through a trach tube attached to a ventilator through his neck. I wasn't to sure about this procedure. They said he needed assistance to breath, so his other organs could heal. He was breathing on his own and over the ventilator assistance at times, but his body had taken a toll and he needed all the assistance he could get so I approved the tracheotomy.
He has pressure wounds that developed on his face from when he fell. He couldn't track with his eyes, but he could barely move his head from side to side. He looked around, and with frightful eyes, tried to talk to me and opened his mouth in motions trying to speak, but he couldn't speak because of the tracheotomy. I thought to myself, how is going to learn how to talk through a tube in his neck. He is going to have a hard enough time trying to communicate due to the brain damage that he has suffered already. I told the doctors, that all we really needed to do, is take the tubes out of his mouth and give him a hamburger, then he would be alright!
I couldn't get back to phoenix fast enough when my daughter sent me this smile from his hospital room in ICU. The doctors said it was a reflex. I knew better....in his room and I said, "AJ, grandma and I came all the way over here to see your smile." He looked at us, and it took every muscle in his face to smile, but he did it....on command. His smile was the most precious, beautiful act of courage I have ever seen....I fell so in love with him that day. It was no reflex.
He had the tubes removed from his mouth and now he was breathing through a trach tube attached to a ventilator through his neck. I wasn't to sure about this procedure. They said he needed assistance to breath, so his other organs could heal. He was breathing on his own and over the ventilator assistance at times, but his body had taken a toll and he needed all the assistance he could get so I approved the tracheotomy.
He has pressure wounds that developed on his face from when he fell. He couldn't track with his eyes, but he could barely move his head from side to side. He looked around, and with frightful eyes, tried to talk to me and opened his mouth in motions trying to speak, but he couldn't speak because of the tracheotomy. I thought to myself, how is going to learn how to talk through a tube in his neck. He is going to have a hard enough time trying to communicate due to the brain damage that he has suffered already. I told the doctors, that all we really needed to do, is take the tubes out of his mouth and give him a hamburger, then he would be alright!
....I pray everyday that the tracheotomy was a success and that his vocal chords have not been compromised, I pray that someday AJ will be able to speak to us again.....
I miss his laugh....
