Your Road To Recovery Can Be Bumpy, Long, And Difficult
My son’s first emergency brain surgery took place the day after he was admitted to the hospital. The surgery was meant to stop the bleeding in his brain, but the news we received after surgery wasn’t that. Josh still had a bleed in his brain and the surgery, meant to help Josh, ended up making the situation worse.
At that point, doctors determined a second emergency surgery was necessary to prevent irreversible brain damage. I still could not believe that this tragedy was happening to my family.
After the second brain surgery, Josh remained unconscious and was kept in an induced coma in efforts to keep his brain safe. After holding our breaths, we received news that the second brain surgery was successful at stopping the brain bleed. For several days following, Josh remained unconscious in intensive care, and there was an uncertain road ahead.
But, the good thing was that we knew the threat that of death that comes with the brain bleed was gone.
Just as we thought things were looking up, Josh began showing signs of distress for unknown reasons. The doctors then confirmed that he had contracted meningitis; another threat of irreversible brain damage was back on the table. Josh was placed on several medications and my family and I were scared of the unknown.
Josh fortunately fought the meningitis and, after a 21-day hospital stay, he was allowed to come home. We were very happy to have Josh come home with us, but at the same time we were faced with the fact that he had suffered a traumatic brain injury and things may never be the same again.
Lesson to be learned: Your road to recovery can be bumpy, long, and difficult. I know because I have been down the same road with my child.
I realized that Josh’s recovery would not occur overnight, and this brought on a variety of emotions. I understand the feelings that a parent faces when they make the trip home from the hospital or doctor’s office with their injured child. With a million things on your mind, I want to tell you that one of those things should be contacting a personal injury attorney.
Stay tuned to the blog for Lesson #3: While grieving is normal and important, it is also important for you to start asking the “Who, What, Where, Why, and How” questions.
