I was given a lengthy diagnosis of my sons injuries in May 1998 all of which I did not understand and asked if I could be given it in plain English, words that I could understand. This did not go down well with the Neurologist and in a somewhat snarky tone he replied, "if your son survives and I mean IF, he will never hold a hammer in his hand or ride a bike again". Our son was a carpenter and a representative cyclist.Today my son works 15 hours a week as a carpenter ( fatigue prevents longer hours ) and he is cycling at the Oceania Games next week in a bid to qualify for the Para Olympics. Our neighbours of the last 2 years comment they see improvements all the time.I offer this story as encouragement as we know all too well the heartache, misery, and loss of your loved one as you knew them.
We also know the heartache of a diagnosis that is positive and turns out to be a service for a beloved father. Such is head/brain injury. For us we took the positives from the medics when we got them but always in the back of our minds allowed some doubt as they can be wrong. If we got a smile or some form of recognition from our loved one we took the warm fuzzy and held on to it. 20 years on, I can still smile and take comport in some of Dads behaviours even though he never made the grade.
There are no gaurentees, everyone is an individual but I believe in hope, sometimes it is all there is to go on. So when you are down and out and the world seems tough, and you're wearying, take time for yourself, reflect and hang on to the slivers of hope. Look for the good but be prepared also for results that may not be to your liking. Such is brain injury but I am a firm believer of never ever giving up for if we had, our son would not be where he is today. Mind you the cost and toll this has taken on our lives is only comprehensible to those who have also been through the experience.