Little Jeremy..... In reading about Traumatic Brain Injury I came across this very sad story. It amazes me how In an instant your life changes. This is such a tragic story. To sum it up quickly. Little 4 yr old Jeremy was playing in the yard with his siblings. He ties a jump rope to the swingset he is playing on. Somehow in the next few minutes the rope becomes entangled around Jeremy's neck and he is wthout oxygen for a few minutes until parents come out and resusitate him. Jeremy is now in a facilty for children. He has a traumatic brain injury due to the lack of oxygen. It has now been 2 yrs since the accident and he is still in the same state. He does breathe on his own, but there is no communication. The last update states that he follows with his eyes and sticks out his tongue. Sad. My point of this blog? At what point do you say, OMG is this where he is at? Did we do the right thing by this child? My feelings are so up and down, as I watch my friend struggle with the fact that he is trapped in his body. How much does he really know? According to the doctors this is where he is at and will be, but with all these treatments there is a slight improvement, SLIGHT. He will never be whole. They say he will never walk. If you talk to him, he seems to understand. He talks like a robot. He can't feed himself , bathe, or toilet NOTHING. He is here. He laughs, cries, screams, and asks why why why me? What do you say? The brain is so complex. It controls the whole body. All your functions, feelings, so with so much damage, does it really "rewire"? I watch the family go into debt, cry, beg and plead to god to heal him. It's sad. Until your in that position, and I pray none of us will ever be, you cant judge. When that doctor walks in and says Im sorry, but we feel he is too far gone and you should let him die, are they saying it from a medical background or from experience of seeing these families struggle? Is it the what ifs? What if i let him/her go and they could have woken up? For my friend, 36, no DNR, no guardian papers, who thinks of this at such a young age? His sister had to go to court for thousands of dollars to become guardian of her 36yr old brother. She makes all his decisions, fights for all his rights, pays for treatments not acceptable by the govt. She is a wife, a mother, a daughter, and a caretaker. She worrys if he outlives her, will this burden become her childrens. Who will take care of him? She is exhausted. Her Mother is dead. Her Father is ill, and its her. His friends visited in the beginning, but they have lives. They try to come, but life gets in the way. Hours of therapy everyday. He screams no more, but they go on. The HBOT $20,000.00 a complete session. They pay, we fund raise, and we all pray. It's dedication, It's determination, but most of all i'ts LOVE.
Since Jeremy's blog is public I have attached a before and after picture of him.