Caring for son with a brain injury

[Autumnblues24]

My teenage son had an accident last year and has been left with a brain injury. We're adjusting to this and he's doing fairly ok.
Just wondering if any one else is in the same position as me as I'd like to get a bit of support and share the experience?
No one really understands what it's like unless you're in the same situation

I have 2 children with complex needs . The youngest has severe brain damage caused by an epilepsy disorder so not quite the same . We also care for a Foster child with hydrocephalus and he also has complex needs. Sadly my 2 will never be anywhere near typical development so I may not be what you are looking for but I can understand the rigours of day to day caring if that helps.

A friend's husband had an accident and has a brain injury. They get support from Headway charity.

www.headway.org.uk

I’m so sorry to hear this - it is a huge adjustment for the whole family. If you haven’t already, I would contact The Children’s Trust and CBIT for support x

My brother suffered a traumatic brain injury through an accident too. It is tough. All I will say is, you will notice improvements, very slowly, but they will be there. You will all learn to adjust and just get on with it. It is hard though as others will have very little understanding of it. My brother had some physical injuries too and we did feel isolated at times.

@flapjackfairy that sounds like you've got your hands full and credit to you for caring for a foster child too. Hope you have plenty of support.

@HelpNeededBeforeIHaveABreakdown thank you for replying. A lovely lady from Headway visited us in hospital and I've found them a great source of information.

@Maisie2409 thank you for the suggestions I'll check them out.

@Carsarelife it's good to hear from someone who has been through a similar experience although equally I'm sorry you had to go through it as well. My other children have been amazing with their brother but it's tough for them too.

It's hard not knowing how much improvement he will make and no one knows to what extent he'll recover. It's still early days and obviously we are beyond thankful that he survived.

I'll never forget the police coming round to tell us about the accident and that we needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible, it's what every parent dreads I think.

I used to think babies and toddlers were hard work but I actually think late teens/early adulthood is worse as you have very little control over what they do, where they go etc.

Thanks again for your replies

It can be a really tough journey for the whole family as well as the patient as it can often feel like you are living with a completely new version of the child who walked out of the house the day the injury was sustained 😞
Have you been referred to your local specialist acquired brain injury team for support? They can be an invaluable resource and Headway are also very helpful. Your GP can make the referral to your local ABIT, I would really recommend you consider this 💐

Thanks for your reply @Wellbeing24 he’s definitely a different person to the one he was before the accident.
He’s under the community rehab team who are great but not had any support for us. I have spent some time on the Headway website.

@Autumnblues24 as his family and caregivers it's essential you are able to access as much support as possible, I'm happy to discuss further with you if you want to PM me? 💐

Is there a potential for him to bring a personal injury claim against anyone in relation to the accident ? If so then it would often be the case that he would be able to access rehabilitation and support through the claim. Happy to give you some more detail / thoughts. Hope that things have however got a bit easier and you have found some support - Headway are excellent.

No one is to blame for the accident.

Still trying to access support for myself, GP referred me for talking therapy but they said they couldn’t offer me anything. I just said I wanted a safe place where I could talk without feeling guilty that I was moaning.