Husband fell off golf cart, had brain injury, looking for hope

Posted by MamaM @aliciamorarie, Oct 21 4:21pm

My husband is 40 years old and fell off a golf cart and sustained frontal lobes and temporal lobe contusions leading to a craniotomy 70 days ago. He was sedated and paralyzed medically for 14 days. Since he woke up he is walking, talking, doing all his care and is home. This has been such a roller coaster. He does not have understanding of his injury and on his bad days will feel like the doctors and therapists don't want him to get his license or go to work again. He has good days. We had 6 in a row. On those days I see so much of him. He still has cognition issues that he does not see. I keep telling myself we are early in this journey and things can get better, but can it? I need some hope. I see some scary stories out there. It is hard not to let my thoughts go dark. Today has been a rough day. I am so tired of crying.

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miller24 | @miller24 | Oct 22 12:01pm

The brain is and amazing organ God made us to heal physically and mentally ! I believe the brain 🧠 is complex but is able to heal from mild to major trauma. It’s going to take time but continue seeing your amazing doctors and find support groups to help you on your journey . There is hope keep enjoying those good days and keep positive !

Ric J | @ricj | Oct 22 9:33am

Hello and welcome to the brain injury world. My injury happened 22 years ago from falling down a ladder, had a craniotomy, spent a year for speech and occupational therapy, joined a group support group, and most importantly I am still recovering. When you had your 1st child born you probably bought a book to tell you what to expect weekly/monthly/yearly. There is no such book for brain injuries. Each injury is different person to person. Keep a notebook/journal/calendar to write down good things that happened today... like "yesterday I couldn't do ???, today I did it", or maybe, "I remembered to change the cat litter box without being told". Little things are just as
important as big things. Write them down as things you gained. It's hard, but don't worry about things he can't do, love what he can do. We do get better but it takes time. It takes a lot of energy for our brains to rewire itself. And rewiring itself is exactly what is going on. See if there is a local support group he can walk in, even just once, so he knows he is not alone. Meeting other survivors helped me. Believe in him, help him believe in himself.

MamaM | @aliciamorarie | Oct 21 5:24pm

Thank you. Thank you so much! These are the stories I need to hear. I joined a TBI wives group on Facebook and the stories I see there fill me with dread.

medott | @medott | Oct 21 5:01pm

My husband suffered a massive ruptured brain aneurism nearly 9 months ago. They said he wouldn't wake, eat, walk, talk. Gave him a 10% shot at survival. His surgeon saved his life and told me this would be the hardest journey filled with steps forward and lots of steps back. I had to be stronger than I could ever thought would be possible. He was right. Today, he is walking, talking, cognition is coming back, eating normally … we are still dealing with memory loss (short term is the most frustrating) and bouts of ptsd that has resurfaced from childhood trauma. This is a long journey. The doctor said what you see today, will not be the same in one week, one month, one year or two and to ignore those that believe he can’t. It is tough, I won’t lie. But I have faith that every day is closer to revovery.