Looking for some hope here through others’ experiences because there is very little information about this diagnosis online. Also sharing this experience to possibly help others going through a similar experience.
My close friend (39 yo) was in a car that was t-boned by a drunk driver going about 70mph. We didn’t know his diagnosis while he was in a medically induced coma. A couple weeks after the accident is when we were told that he had suffered a grade 3 diffuse axonal injury (DAI). Looking up this TBI left me absolutely devastated because I was expecting him to come right out of it after the trauma to his body was taken care of and sedation was lifted.
He was in a coma for roughly 2-3 weeks after which he moved into a vegetative state with a lot of neurostorming. We were told by doctors that he may reach a minimally conscious state but didn’t give much hope for anything beyond that. While in the vegetative state we started to notice subtle eye movement that gradually improved. Between weeks 5-6 post-injury is when he started trying to communicate by mouthing words and would lip sync to music. For a time he seemed to move back and forth between vegetative and a minimally conscious state. Over the next few weeks his eye movement and communication by mouthing gradually started improving. His neurostorming and panic attacks finally subsided. By week 9-10 he was consistently following commands, recognizing people and communicating basic needs. These things continued to become more consistent over the following weeks and he started getting purposeful movement back on one side of his body.
It’s been about 14 weeks now and his voice is coming through on occasion, attempts to have conversations (sometimes successfully), consistently follows commands and has decent use of his limbs on one side. However he is still very much incapacitated. He seems confused much of the time and only has voluntary movement of the limbs on one side of his body. We are trying to get him the best rehab therapy possible.
Writing this all out makes me realize how far he’s come and I realize that many people don’t even make to this point. However it’s been so difficult to see him like this because he was such an outgoing, active, smart and positive person before the accident. I fear that he will have serious cognitive and physical disabilities, yet try to remain positive. I would be very thankful for any words of hope or sharing of similar experiences.