Somebody had posted this in a TBI group…

Hi everyone, how’s everyone doing? Quick question: what’s the recovery process like for Diffused Axonal shearing? Is there any coming back from this severe type of brain injury? 4 months in and my brother still doesn’t talk.

–Anonymous

And, because I can’t leave well enough alone, perhaps the world may stumble onto my thoughts and find some benefit from it:

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Okay, here’s the thing: “DAI” and “Shearing” are the terms that are used medically to describe what’s occurred.

Can anyone come back from it? Well, maybe. It depends on… well… everything.

We’re talking about the one thing in the whole of the known universe that can, so far as we know, interpret the universe. And if one’s brain has been jarred from an impact, if it’s survivable, it may effectively scramble all of the memories and knowledge that person had.

Brain Injuries are as unique as a thumbprint. No two TBIs are the same. With two identical twins in the prime of their health and youth were to sustain identical trauma, they will absolutely have a completely different array of issues. One may feel a bit tired for a few days… and the other may be fatal. They’re that unique.

So, can somebody come back from it? That, like all things, depends.

My TBI was about three years: 4m fall, head first onto concrete, knocked unconscious instantly, coma, DAI, CNS shearing. I was 45 and generally in perfect health. I was in a coma for about two weeks and had to relearn absolutely everything (and I do mean everything) and have been frustrated now and again with proprioception and dexterity challenges.

Today, I’m still relearning and gaining more understanding of the various bumps and ridges of my own particular TBI.

Have I come back? Eh, it depends on one’s interpretation of “coming back”. And upon who one asks. I don’t think I have, yet. But in some ways, I can do more now that I did before. I still walk with a cane every now and again, but don’t like it — yet I can still run a 5K or more (I ran a 1/4 marathon a few months ago). I get mentally exhausted much sooner than some people. But I’m learning how to work around it… and work with it.

It’s been a long journey through a mental and emotional hell — and through it all, it was critically important that I had support and understanding of my wife and family.