Life with a Brain Injury: Preparing Yourself and Your Family Garry Prowe, Brain Injury Success Books Page 6 of 6

Giving Older Children a Role

Some older children will want to be involved in their family member’s recovery. This should be encouraged to the extent their maturity permits. Others will not. This is okay, but asking them to assume more responsibility at home is reasonable.

Your older child can do some or all of the following:

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Checklist for Success #4: Preparing Yourself and Your Family

___ Have you decided how you are going to allocate your time among your survivor, your family, your job, and your other responsibilities?

___ Do you realize that doctors have different ways of assessing and treating brain injury? Some are more conservative than others at deciding when a patient has advanced a level on the Rancho Scale. [See page 154.]

___ Are you prepared for your survivor’s potentially disturbing transition from her coma [see page 59] to full consciousness? You may want to limit visits during this time.

___ Are you aware that when your survivor awakes she may not recognize and trust you?

___ Your survivor may confabulate or perseverate. See page 162 for descriptions of these two common behaviors when someone emerges from a coma.

___ Do you know that recovering from a brain injury is not a straight process? Your survivor likely will experience setbacks in her recovery and rehabilitation.

___ Are you aware that three parties—your doctor, the health insurance company, and the rehabilitation facility—determine the next step in your survivor’s recovery: inpatient rehabilitation, a skilled nursing facility, or home? [See page 155.]
___ Do you know that there are six types of impairments your survivor may suffer due to her brain injury?

___ Do you understand that there is a powerful cause and effect relationship among these impairments? Do you know the difference between primary and secondary impairments? If not, see page 158.

___ Do you know that spasticity [see page 167] and seizures [see page 169] are common physical symptoms of a brain injury?

___ Your survivor may have difficulty communicating with you and others. Communication impairments have many different causes. Some are listed on page 163.

___ Are you prepared for some emotional distress and possible behavioral problems as your survivor adjusts to her new condition? The more common emotional and behavioral complaints are shown on pages 164 and 165.

___ Do you know that loneliness is a very common complaint of people living with a brain injury? Social impairments are discussed on page 166.

___ Are you aware that a brain injury places enormous stress on the family? For ideas on handling this stress see page 173.
___ Have you thought about how your children will cope with this family crisis? Some suggestions for making this time easier for them are presented on page 174.

___ What should you tell your children about your family member’s brain injury? This also is discussed on page 175.

___ Should your children come to the hospital to visit your survivor? This question is addressed on page 176.

___ Your older children may want to participate in the care of your loved one. Some ways for them to help are listed on page 177.

___ Do you understand that the presence of a family member or a close friend during rehabilitation will motivate your survivor to work harder? Will you be able to perform this important job? You may want to ask family members and friends to clear their schedules to attend some rehab sessions with your survivor. [See page 197.]

From Sucessfully Surviving a Brain Injury: A Family Guidebook by Garry Prowe, Brain Injury Success Books, © 2010 Garry Prowe. Used with permission. www.BrainInjurySuccess.org. You can contact Garry at info@braininjurysuccess.org.

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