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My 12 year old brother is currently in a coma since Sunday morning and I seriously don't know what to expect. It's depressing and really frustrating for me and my family right now. My brother originally went to the hospital Friday because he had low blood count. He was 100% fine and was supposed to feel much better after taking steroids, according to doctors. He had to stay overnight at the hospital for a couple days but on Sunday midnight, he started vomiting and fainted and we found out he had a virus in his brain, which required surgery. After surgery, he was in a coma (medically induced I am assuming to recover the swelling) and hasn't opened his eyes since. The thing that really shocked me and my family was that doctors don't have an idea of WHAT caused the virus. I don't exactly know what part of his brain is infected, but after reading through some of the papers that my dad got from the doctor, it's the brain stem/pons. You have to trust the doctors no matter what but it's really hard because on Monday, they said my brother can only live for 3 days and that there was no activity going on his brain. Later, my parents told me that they were told that, what the doctors said was not true and that doctors misunderstood. My brother can hear us and he even moved his arms like he wanted to grab something. Obviously, this is a good sign but I really really wonder if this is a sign of healthy recovery. Last night, my mother told me it's either going to be two scenario results. He's either going to recover without any problems or he's going to recover BUT .... he may have some difficulties whether if that may be walking, talking, or movement. I really hope that is true because if so, thank God! But this has been worrying me and distracting me over the past couple days. As a high school student, it has been really hard for me to focus in school with loads of work and talk comfortably. Hopefully, he will recover but I just don't know what to expect, honestly. I don't know if most people in a coma usually recover OR if that's rare. It just scares me .. sigh. Any honest ideas/thoughts would be much appreciated and I ask you guys if you can please keep my brother in your prayers as I will continue to pray hard.
I have known 2 people (one a cousin and one a friend of the family) to "wake up" from a coma after having been in a car wreck. One was in a coma for almost 2 years before he awoke, but he did end up having some lasting problems and is now what is best described as mentally handicapped. The other was in a coma for a few months and he is still in the early stages of recovery and seems to be just a little "slow" but is improving every day. So...there is hope. Your brother is young and that is a good thing in these situations...young brains are more able to recover from trauma. I will pray for you and your family.
Sigh it must be really depressing for one to be in a coma for as long as 2 years. Is it common for one to be in a coma for that long or are those pretty rare cases?
My family and I send our prayers to your brother and family. I dont have any personal experiences with friends or family members in comas.But from watching the discovery health channel, I seen alot of people awaken within a few days to a few months. The younger ones seem to heal faster, since their brains are still developing, they are able to overcome brain trauma and other parts of the brain compensate for the part that has the damage. Youth is on his side!!
Be positive, pray for the best and know that whatever happens is beyond your control.
My ex's brother was in a coma for 5 years and one day woke up from it. He remembered everyone and was able to get back to living his life after about a year of physical therapy.
Long comas are not all that rare. What your bro has going for him is the fact he is young. The young have an ability to bounce back that some of us older folks no longer have. Keep the faith. Hope is what keeps us going and don't forget that you are not alone in this. There are many, many people who care. Some of them you have never met.
A friend of mine was found still in bed and unresponsive by his wife when she arrived home from her day job. He should have been up for hours and ready to go to his evening job. EMS was called and he was in a diabetic coma. He didn't even know he was diabetic. The docs didn't expect him to live and we all expected the worse because some organs had already been damaged according to test results. He was in a coma for several days. The docs said very few with a blood sugar count like his survive.
Four months later he was back at his job as a diesel mechanic and is doing fine with medication,
diet, and diabetes control. He is in his late 40's or early 50's.
I don't how his case would compare with what happened to your brother but it is an example that one should not give up hope.
Youth is your brothers greatest asset along with modern medicine and prayers and support from family and friends.
I wish you, your family, and especially your brother the best.
Both TB and Hepititus can infect the brain. Without knowing what he has, it's hard to say what might happen. He most likely won't wake up all of a sudden (that's TV) and know what's going on, unless he is in a medically induced coma to keep him quiet. Most likely he will slowly have longer periods of being awake and slowly get more aware of what's going on, who he is, etc. Keep your hopes up!
I'm not at all clear from your description about what's going on. It would be highly unusual to have surgery for an infection in the brain or brainstem unless it was to place a shunt or relieve increased intracranial pressure or place a pressure monitor.
There are MANY, MANY viruses that infect the brain. The list is as long as my arm. The most common are Herpes and the organism that causes dengue. But there are many others.
Again, I'm not clear what's going on, as your description isn't completely consistent with an infection. The pons is part of the brainstem, which controls breathing and many other functions. The problem with any change in the contents of the skull, whether it's from bleeding or swelling or tumor, is that there is NO extra space in the box formed by the skull. Thus the brain is compressed and compression, especially in the brainstem/pontine area, can have dire consequences. One of the maneuvers that neurologists use is intubating the patient and having the ventilator breathe rapidly for him, decreasing the CO2 and that will help decrease the volume of the blood vessels and decrease the pressure (it's a complex acid-base reaction). Steroids are used as well as other agents.
As others have said, he is young and the young bouce right back... usually. Give him time, it may be best that he is a coma for now. Someone should ask it he is in a induced coma or it is caused by what has happened to him.
My son was in an induced coma after he was burned and woke righ up when they wanted him to.
I can understand your concern and how it is effecting you and anyone else should either. Draw strength from those around you, get support from your friends, teachers and anyone else you can. Just having people to listen helps a lot.
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