Five months after
An email today notified me that February is Brain Injury Awareness Month and that was a reminder that I’m a member of a club no one wants to join. Our 13-year-old daughter, Tally, suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) last September that left her in a coma for five weeks. She slowly came out of it during another five weeks in a children’s rehab center that is one of the best at caring for kids with brain injuries in Florida.
She is still recovering and doing well in homebound school but, as we reach the five-month anniversary of the car crash that caused her injuries, there’s still much we don’t know about TBIs. Her short-term memory is improving, but it’s not quite all there. She may need surgery to help her speak at a normal tone of voice again. We don’t know when she will allowed to rejoin her classmates in what she calls “real school” instead of learning via the laptop and speakerphone sessions with teachers provided by our local school system. So many aspects of her care are still a mystery.
Over the past five months, so many friends and strangers have told us about loved ones who suffered TBIs and made it. A woman with whom I worked for several years told me about a stepson with a similar injury who faced a bleak future, but it now doing fine. I never realized she carried this burden during the time I worked with her. We have met wonderful people on our journey back from the depths of our despair. As my husband says, we never would have realized how many caring, dedicated people worked in hospitals around us if it hadn’t been for Tally’s injury.
We have also come to know that hope is a powerful force. Prayers arrived from people we didn’t know who urged us to stay strong. Small things can make me cry now when, before, my eyes stayed dry. I now notice people with infirmities more and move to help if they need it. Most of all, I’m thankful that God returned our precious daughter to us.
Families affected by TBIs should know there’s always a greater chance that their loved one will survive than not. I’ve seen the statistics that compare those who make it with those who don’t. The majority of victims make it. We have heard stories of families given dire prognoses about a brain-injured child or parent who then made a miraculous recovery that defied the odds.
Caring, talented doctors and other health professionals saved our child’s life, but God was all over her recovery, as He is in every wondrous moment of life. I prayed that I could hug Tally again and that we would once again converse and my prayers were granted. We have been talking walks every afternoon to strengthen our legs and to chat about mother-daughter issues. These hours with her have been incomparable.
Having faith is a difficult thing when the way is dark, but it’s the only sure thing to bolster you when all seems lost. Tally wants to be a physical therapist now to help other children who will find themselves in her situation years from now.
I can’t help but think that her having survived a TBI could give many families hope and encouragement in the future as they face the same dark times our family overcame. Tally could touch others just by having been touched by God these past five months. She is our gift and our joy now, just as she always was. For that, we thank God.
