I had a pretty stressful night last night (well more than the usual stomach turning I have become used to) as it was Darryl’s first night with a new team, in another foreign environment. I was delighted and relieved to arrive this morning to see Darryl resting peacefully and that he had ’slept’ well.
Right from day one the work has begun with Darryl. He has a fantastic team of physio’s, occupational therapists, speech therapists, Doctors, nurses, nurse assistants, the list goes on. We have been very impressed by the way they have quickly got in tune with Darryl and his care has moved to another level in terms of his entire rehabilitation needs.
It is not exactly common for people to move to a specialist brain injury clinics like this while still in a coma, but once the patient is medically sound it is the best place for them. A place where the needs of rehabilitation, the body’s conditioning, joints mobility, muscles tightening and shortening are worked on while the stimulation and activities assist with getting the neurons to start firing and nerve pathway to reconnect.
I worked with Darryl and the speech therapists today to demonstrate to them his level of comprehension and it was thumbs up and down to a range of questions. He nailed them all and in quick time. Again hard to grasp given he is not ‘awake’ so to speak, but nonetheless he is making progress each day, in little ways. There seems so much ahead which is why I like to think in terms of day size bites, but I took great heart from a quote on the wall of the unit Darryl is in, headed up ‘patience’. The quote said: “The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones” The bottom line is that he is still a long way from out of the woods but this is a good place to start clearing the trees! (And carrying away stones).
I had a few moments today when talking to staff about some of the little milestones he has achieved and feeling so proud. Every now and then I catch myself saying things which really indicate the devastation that has befallen one of life’s good guys, my son and friend to so many. Those knives of reality cut deep and swiftly. I guess much of it has to do with me getting my head around the new environment and the true scale of the task that lay ahead for all, physically, emotionally and mentally.
The fear of what is to come, the unknowns and the question hanging over all of us about his state of consciousness is a constant leveller and cruel in its ever-present nature. I battle myself with this all the time and I have come to accept that fear is a natural if not uneasy companion for all on this journey, not the least Darryl who I know in my heart is aware of the plight he’s in. The reality is however that fear is something to be faced as overcoming fear is achieved by nothing less. As I have mentioned before Darryl’s courage is matched only by his determination to succeed and in moving forward through this hell he gives us all strength to face the fear of the unknown ahead.
As was once said by a great leader amongst men ”if you are going through hell – keep going”.
Keep going Darryl, we are stronger for your courage.
Dad
I
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