My friends daughter and her boyfriend got in a severe car accident wednesday. Her boyfriend died instantly. The jaws of life had to remove them from the car. No alchohol was involved. They got hit by a truck. They were both only 17 years old and graduated last week. She broke her collarbone, her arm, and had a blood clot removed to relieve the pressure on her brain. She has had 3 surgeries in 2 days. The doctors say they will not know if she has suffered permanent brain damage or not until next week. If anyone knows anything about head trauma please respond. Please keep Karissa in your prayers. Thank you all. ********************************************************************** 06-14-02, 06:18 PM nursey63 I'm so sorry clarebear. I'm a ICU nurse and you just have to wait and see what happens. Is she responsive at all (move her extremities or moves her mouth or facial expressions)? Does she move spontaneously (without being touched)? You have to wait for swelling to go down. It is the hardest thing in the world to do but you just have to wait. I will keep her in my thoughts and you. Take care. Let me know how it goes. 06-14-02, 07:27 PM
gizmogram She and her family are in my prayers. Take Care, Giz
06-15-02, 08:16 AM clarebear She is responsive but they are sedating her. I'm not sure why but they said they didn't want her to move. They did say they have to wait for the swelling to go down. She was supposed to have her high school graduation party today. Joe's funeral is today instead and she is in critical condition and doesn't even know what happened yet.
06-15-02, 08:04 PM LVLF My prayers will include you and your loved ones. It is so terribly sad and it makes me fearful for my own children.
06-16-02, 07:56 AM clarebear I talked to my friend this morning. Carissa is in a sedated state. They are sedating her. They want no movement at all. Not even an eye twitch. Her brain still has the swelling and it hasn't gone down. If the swelling in her brain goes down and she is able to communicate, the doctors have advised the family to lie to her and not tell her what happened to her boyfriend. They do not want any extra blood going to the brain. I'll let you know how she is. Thank you for your prayers.
06-16-02, 01:38 PM nursey63 Is she on a ventilator (breathing machine) I would assume she is since she is being sedated. She is probably being sedated so she doesn't fight the ventilator which is helping her breath. Head trauma patients tend to be a little wild. They are hard to keep calm. It is part of the head injury. They could be sedating her for this reason also. It just takes time for swelling to go down and then they have to get her off the sedation which sometimes can be hard because the patient gets wild when you come off it. So you have to find just the right time to wean them off. This all takes a lot of time and prayer. I will keep you and your friends in my thoughts. Hang in their.
a nurse
06-19-02, 12:13 PM clarebear Thank you SO much for that website coldfuse. I emailed it to my friend so she will read it when she comes back home from the hospital. She's staying at a hotel close to the hospital.Carissa is still the same. Her brain is still swelled and hasn't gone down. It has been a week. The hospital is completely sedating her so no blood goes to her brain at all. They want no stimulus at all. She is not on a ventilator. I guess they brought her out of the sedated state a few times and she did recognize her mom. Thanks.
06-20-02, 03:34 PM orthotech30 I'm sorry, I don't know anything about head trauma. I just wanted you to know Iam thinking of your friend and her boyfriends family. Many prayers from Indiana.
06-20-02, 07:31 PM clarebear I just drove to Saginaw today. (100 miles north of me). She is sedated and they are waiting for the swelling of her brain to go down. I think she's going to be ok. They brought her out of it a few times and she held her moms hand. She just needs to rest. I feel very hopeful. She is on a ventilator tube. She is in a NICU. (intensive care unit). Thank you Nursey for your kind words, Thank you Giz,LVLF and Orthetech for your prayers, and thank you so much coldfuse for taking the time to find such a great website. A big thank you to everyone who didn't put in a reply but read it and thought of Carissa. I will post again when I hear some progress. Thank You all so much. ~clare~
08-29-02, 03:27 PM clarebear Carissa has been transfered to a local hospital. She can talk a little bit. She can recognize people and she wants to go home. She can eat on her own and can walk a little with help. She spends several hours a day in therapy. She still doesn't know about her boyfriend. The doctors said that she will not remember anything from the day before the accident until the moment she woke up. She is recovering slowly. It is amazing how far she has come from where she was. She spent 2 months sedated. I once again would like to thank everyone who took the time reply or to hope that she was ok. If your reading this then thank you for caring enough to find out how Carissa is now. smile
08-30-02, 08:17 PM cattywampus That's great news, carebear. I'm sure all the prayers assisted her greatly. Her recovery may be slow, but I'm sure she will return to her normal self in the end. Next time you see her tell her she has all kinds of good wishes from the folks at AP!
Catty (who has seen the power of prayer many times) smile
08-31-02, 10:53 AM LVLF for letting us know how Carissa is doing, and I'm so glad that things are improving. I'll keep her in my thoughts and prayers.
08-31-02, 12:02 PM Ansford I am so happy and grateful to God tohear the good news about Carissa. My husband ha a closed head injury twelve years ago in a violent accident. It was a long recovery.We are in a Support Group for Brain Injuries at our local Medical Center. THe support we receive from the group is wonderful. I will continue to keep Carissa in our prayers. Again, Thanks for the up-date.
09-25-02, 08:07 AM clarebear Carissa comes home today!(She has been in the hospital since June) She is SO excited to be able to come home. She will be going to outpatient therapy for a few months. She is gonna be just fine. I want to thank everyone again for all of the support.
Life is good! smile
09-25-02, 08:31 AM LVLF Clarebear, that is such good news, and yes, life is good. What a strong girl she must be. Thanks for letting us know. lvlf=love life smile
09-25-02, 12:26 PM samantha I am so glad to hear that clarbear. I can only guess our happy her family and friends are. . 10-02-02, 06:25 PM nursey63 Glad to here that she is better! Thanks for letting us know.
11-27-02, 04:45 PM becca Clarebear, how is your friends daughter now? Just read this post and was wondering.
11-28-02, 07:54 PM clarebear head trauma She is in therapy 5 days a week. She can walk on her own now. She's getting better day by day. The one thing she doesn't have is her emotions back. (any emotion.. sadness, joy, etc..) Its a slow process but she's gonna be ok.
Thank you so much for asking! smile
10-07-03, 09:44 AM clarebear Karissa is doing much better. She still can't remember anything from before the accident. She is taking one English class in college and will have a tutor. Her mom is finally going to go back to work 2 days starting this week. Things are getting better for her. It will be a long process. She just had her "graduation" party a few weeks ago. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase better late than never.
Thanks once again. Smile
P.S. I showed her this thread a few weeks ago. She cried and asked me to thank all of you so much. She said your prayers really did help. Smile
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Posts: 5308 | Location: The Motor City | Registered: 06-03-02
