DIFFUSE AXONAL INJURY

Feeling real down n depressed. Sometimes reading too much info is a mistake. Was readin abt dannys specific type of brain injury, diffuse axonal injury, and the info was discouraging. :-(

Facebook on December 12, 2010 at 8:47pm 

Diffuse axonal injury is the shearing/tearing/stretching of the brain's long connecting nerve fibers (axons) which occurs when the brain is injured as it shifts and rotates inside the bony skull. ICP monitoring generally is not useful as they usually have normal ICPs.

Prolonged recovery is the norm - if they recover. This injury has a poor prognosis. If they do recover, there will almost certainly be deficits - personality changes, motor difficulties (poor coordination, paralysis, spasicity, etc), changes in senses, sided neglect, spacial discernment difficulties (limbs in relation to body), aphasia, dysphagia, impaired ADL ability... the list goes on and on. They will forever need day-to-day assistance/care.
Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is one of the most common and devastating types of traumatic brain injury, meaning that damage occurs over a more widespread area than in focal brain injury. DAI, which refers to extensive lesions in white matter tracts, is one of the major causes of unconsciousness and persistent vegetative state after head trauma. It occurs in about half of all cases of severe head trauma and also occurs in moderate and mild brain injury.
The outcome is frequently coma, with over 90% of patients with severe DAI never regaining consciousness. Those who do wake up often remain significantly impaired. 

Unlike brain trauma that occurs due to direct impact and deformation of the brain, DAI is the result of traumatic shearing forces that occur when the head is rapidly accelerated or decelerated, as may occur in auto accidents, falls, and assaults. It usually results from rotational forces or severe deceleration. Vehicle accidents are the most frequent cause of DAI; it can also occur as the result of child abuse such as in shaken baby syndrome.
The major cause of damage in DAI is the disruption of axons, the neural processes that allow one neuron to communicate with another. Tracts of axons, which appear white due to myelination, are referred to as white matter. Acceleration causes shearing injury, which refers to damage inflicted as tissue slides over other tissue. When the brain is accelerated, parts of differing densities and distances from the axis of rotation slide over one another, stretching axons that traverse junctions between areas of different density, especially at junctions between white and grey matter.

 

Kathryn Marie Thorne We have a friend who's 17y/o daughter suffered a SERIOUS TBI a little over a year ago and is now doing miraculously well having defied all of the 'literature'. Please stay hopeful - there could be a miracle right around the corner!

December 12, 2010 at 9:00pm 

Kathleen Rega Oh,Kath,miracles happen every day and I certainly pray you get one..Keep thinking positive,I know it's hard to do but miracles do happen..Love you..

December 12, 2010 at 9:15pm 

Barbara Ann Mertz Leickel Praying you get a Christmas Miracle. Tis the season for Miracles and you are due one.

December 12, 2010 at 9:29pm

Deanne Peletsky Colna Don't get discouraged .... try to stay as positive as possible. I know the wait and see game is very tiresome, but keeping a positive attitude is one of the first things we can do to help Danny. I am trying to avoid reading any info until he is awake and there is more definitive information to research.

December 12, 2010 at 10:05pm

Amanda Mills Everything happened for a reason, just keep your head on straight! You have way too many people praying for you and your family, stay faithful! God works in his own ways, it may not be as fast as we would like them to be, but we are all here for you! Stay strong, you are an amazing person, with a heart of gold, so keep pushing through! ♥ you

December 12, 2010 at 11:00pm

Reading the above material both then and now as I write this blog compels me to believe in miracles...Danny is a true one!! 

ok, well I started the research so I had to satisfy my thirst for knowledge. I found lots of good info and also emailed Good Shepard for all info they can give for when the time comes, and it WILL come. Right now im jus havin a hard time, imagining Danny places, thinkin abt things he would say, and wishing time could be reversed and we were holding eaother tonight :-(

Facebook on December 13, 2010 at 1:25am

 

FAMILY TIES

Will be at the hospital by abt 11am. Praying maybe today will be the day he opens his eyes. Will update 

Facebook on December 12, 2010 at 10:19am

Sherry Peletsky

I know with all of the time you are spending at the hospital things will be hard this year, and I know Danny would want Nick to be happy, plus you guys are family now!! It means alot knowing I can call you anytime for updates or just to talk!
December 12, 2010 at 10:24am 

Kathleen Quinn-Farber You sure can! You can count on it. Maybe all of this will have a silver lining in that danny can build back the family relationships he let go of at one time.

December 12, 2010 at 1:10pm 

Judy Peletsky I keep telling my self that will happen I hope I am right .

December 12, 2010 at 7:51pm

As I explained before, Danny kinda drove away most of his family, like his mom and sisters, through behaviors of the past. He didn't see them much at all, but we did go visit occasionally. His other closest family... his aunt, uncle and two cousins Sherry and Deanne he basically just avoided in recent years due to his embarassment about his past drug use and the consequences of it. They never stopped loving him though, and his aunt and uncle were so happy a few months before, when I talked Danny into dropping in on them for a visit. I hoped to help him reestablish his broken family relationships. Well, unfortunately, the accident hurried things along, but if one good thing has come out of it all, it is that Danny has his family back, and they have him back too.

I met Sherry and Deanne for the first time in the ICU, and I liked them right away. And as we saw each other more and spent time every other night or so talking on the phone, I found myself growing very fond of them and them of me. It felt nice, especially since my family is just my mom and kids, to feel a part of something bigger. I always wanted a sister or brother, and I dont even have a cousin in my own state or that I've ever had any sort of relationship with.

Sherry gave me a bag that day with some nice T-shirts and a skateboard in it for Nick, to help me with Christmas. I was very touched. Sherry also met Nick, Chris and Tiffany, his girlfriend, that night, and everyone just seemed good together. I felt happy and lucky to have the people in Danny's extended family accept me, and accept us as a couple without question or judgment...

Sedation and pain med is off unless needed and lungs are getting better. Waiting now to see those eyes open. Its been 9 days.

Facebook on December 12, 2010 at 1:26pm