As fate would have it, they have a brain injury support group at the hospital where he did both his in-patient and out-patient rehab. We get a flyer in the mail every month... and I can't seem to get him to commit to going. This episode sufficiently freaked me out... and when I spoke to him this morning about it, I think it freaked him out, too. So I am hoping maybe he will change his mind about the support groups. Back in December, when he was going to out-patient therapy twice weekly, they did a "group therapy" session. It wasn't exactly "therapy"... they worked in groups to build gingerbread houses out of graham crackers.

A little background on my husband... he's a chef. And he has a degree in Pastry. So, as you can imagine, he was most unamused to be building gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. This was very early on after the accident, though. Personally, I thought it was precious. He was the only one to build a two story house. I was proud. It kind of soured him on the group setting. I think it would be good for him. He's never been the social butterfly. He doesn't have poker night with the boys... or go out for drinks with the guys. The kids and me are his entire world...

I know all too well that no two brain injuries are alike. I am sure that played a huge factor in why the doctors felt that he had deteriorated into a vegetative state. As my aunt, who used to be a nurse, told me.. the doctors aren't there to comfort you. They play percentages, statistics and the numbers. The nurses are your support system. And they were. I've seen brain injury up close and personal and from a distance. Eight years ago, my cousin's husband was in a terrible accident and was put into a coma to heal. A friend of mine has a son who is my husband's age, same thing... terrible accident, induced coma. My cousin's husband takes anti-seizure meds daily... and socially, he doesn't fare so well. My friends son now own his own company and takes his family to Disneyland many times every year. There is just no telling how one person will heal compared to the next. Even if their injuries "seem" to be the same. As someone pointed out, recovery is measured in months and years. When I fell in a library and broke my foot 14 years ago, the doctor was able to set the fracture in a splint and tell me how long I'd have to keep it that way. Not so with brain injury...

I looked up Where is the Mango Princess on amazon and purchased it, thank you. My friend, whose son had been in an accident, sent me Bob Woodruff's book "In and Instant" when my husband was in a coma. It is co-authored by both Bob Woodruff and his wife, from both survivor and caretaker perspectives.

I thank you all, again, for your welcome and your responses. Before this accident, my husband and I had been married for 14 years and had never slept a night apart. He is my entire world and I am his.