As soon as a brain injury happens, you and your whole family can experience different emotions, usually because it is unknown how your parent will, or may not, get better.
You may feel shock, sadness and fear. Many kids do and this is normal. What you do with those emotions is important. Talk to someone you trust.
At the start, families are trying to work out how to manage life as it was, like looking after kids, how to involve them and how much information to talk about.
Like you, your family are learning about brain injury.
Getting better after a brain injury takes a long time. A brain injury is often called ‘life-long’.
Common questions:
Will my parent get better?
Guessing how your parent will recover after a brain injury is difficult to answer because it depends on:
- How the brain injury happened
- What parts of the brain were hurt
- How bad the injuries are
You may hear the Doctor’s and other staff say “we don’t know” which may be the only honest answer they can give.
What is needed to understand your special person’s recovery is time.
Each person recovers differently to the next person. You may see small changes in your parent, or there may be big changes that stay for a lifetime.
No matter the changes, there is always hope.
Each journey of recovery is unique as your parent and family work out new ways of making a happy and enjoyable life.
It is important to know that changes to your parent can be permanent.
When will my parent come home?
Recovery after a brain injury usually means re-learning skills. For some people, it may be walking and talking, for others, it may be less obvious like having a hard time remembering things, or changes to how they behave.
Treatment by a large group of staff, like physiotherapists, speech pathologists and social workers is important. Each staff member works with your parent and family in different ways to help them get as well as possible.
If your parent goes into rehabilitation, they may stay there for weeks or months.
Some people can return home after a brain injury. Others do not as they may need more help than what can happen in the home.
Instead, they may live in a supported environment where they will be cared for by trained staff and have special equipment.
This can be very sad and difficult for children and families
Will my parent die?
Most people do not die because of a brain injury, but a small number do.
What might my parent be going through?
Many people who have a brain injury report feeling as though they have become a different person since their injury.
A brain injury can result in many changes:
- the way their body works
- their identity and how they see themselves
- roles within families
- relationships
- ability to manage tasks
- access to community
- participating in events
These changes can make the special person feel upset, angry or confused.
Some people don’t seem to worry about their brain injury – this could be because they don’t fully understand what has happened to them, or it could mean that they have found a way to cope with it.
