I am a very worried aunt. I have a 15yr old newphew who races motocross and he had a bad accident Sunday at 11am at a race. They said he has a severe concussion. He is currently in Vanderbilt, TN. They lifelighted him there and immediately ran a cat scan and have told us that everything looks fine. He has been the same since they brought him to hospital and they keep saying that he will come out of it. He cannot talk and only yells like, uuuhhhh. He did start looking at us like he could see us and would look our way sometimes when we spoke to him. He has to be restrained in his bed, he pulls off all the monitor leads and has ripped his IV out. They just keep saying it takes time for him to come around. They are going to request the MRI that was promised yesterday, but then when we asked why it hadn't been done, they say they want to wait. The family has never been through something like this. I am worried something has happened to cause him to be like this forever and the drs. keep saying we have to be patient and wait it out. The family is starting to lose patience. It would be a great help to us, if someone has possibly been through this and could give some insight, bad or good, to let us know this has happened to someone else.

Hi Amy

I don't know the exact situation he is in. But I can relate to the feeling
of being in a daze and not exactly understanding what is going on.

I would guess that he is not understanding why they have him on all the
equipment, and stuff. I would say he needs time to get over the concussion,
and that they are probably right about that part. Its also possible that they
are right that it will be a while.

I know that when I had my concussion it was considered very mild but it was very much about 2 weeks before I really felt very good. I really shouldn't have been doing lots of the things I was, but didn't realize that.

The best thing you and his family can do for him is to give him the time, and to wait. I know how hard that is. But its honestly what he needs. Its going to be just as hard the next few steps he will need.

See its going to be a hard road to his recovery, its going to be lots of things that are going to take patience, probably he will be needing lots of rest, and he will definately need to be in some types of therapy.

I'm here if you need to talk. I would suggest that you see if you can locate
a local Tramautic Brain Injury support group. This would be one of the best things for now.

YOu could do a google search on the internet or ask the hospital about this.
THey should know if there is one, in the state.

Donna

Hi Amy, I hope your nephew is getting better. There is an interesting story about a young bike racer in the current issue of Bicycling Magazine. He crashed and had major head trauma and is now getting back into racing. Many people do get better!!!

I would also like to add that MRI's are not easy to deal with - you have to lie perfectly still for a while.

Amy- What you need to know right now is that the brain is far and away the most bizarre and misunderstood (or just plain not understood) organ in the human body. Doctors understand how brain injuries can occur and what happens within the brain when those injuries occur, but they have no idea how the brain heals or why the brain heals the way it does.

Some people sustain severe coma-inducing head traumas and miraculously recover from them in a matter of weeks, with little to no ill effects from their injury showing from that point forward. Other people (myself, for example) sustain excruciatingly minor head injuries that for whatever reason don't heal properly for weeks, months, and years after the injury took place. Unfortunately, there's simply no way to know how well your nephew will heal, or how long it will take for him to do so.

What you and your family need to do is retain hope and faith (prayer always helps, even if you aren't directing your prayers to anyone in particular) that his recovery will be speedy and complete, while keeping yourselves prepared for the exact opposite. That's really the only advice I can provide.

Amy

We hope you will return with updates for us.

WE really do care.

Donna

Checking to see if Amy has any updates.

Donna

In reality with brain trauma there isnt anything they can do but wait. Its not like they can cut him open fix his brain and sew him back up. I know its frustrating.