Helping Parents Cope
After bringing a perfectly healthy child into the world, the last thing a parent wants to think about is the possibility that life could change, because of a brain injury. Looking into the sparkling eyes of their infant child, most parents hope for a life full of happiness. So when something goes wrong, not only is the child's life shattered but so are the lives of the parents.
When a child is hospitalized due to brain injury, parents are often the last to be considered. Their lives are going through a traumatic change. They spend their days listening to grim predictions of doctors. Doctors forewarn them that their child may die. They watch their comatose child, encircled by tubes and machines.
When such little hope is given to parents of brain injured children, it seems to be a miracle, when that child remarkably opens his eyes again. Overcome with joy, the parents hug each other, looking forward to the days when life goes back to the way it used to be. The child looks to the future, envisioning the day, when he can return home. "Where am I, Mommy? When can I go home?" the child asks. "Why can't I move my hand?" he inquires. Heartbroken, the couple tries to explain the circumstances of the injury to the child.
In most cases, parents look at each other, puzzled, heartbroken. Nurses enter the room, and usher them out. Peering through the window in the door, they wait patiently outside. For months, doctors monitor the progress the child makes. As psychologists discuss the child's progress, he remains quiet and afraid. Small accomplishments are made each day. The child moves his leg for the first time. He takes his first step with a walker. But as therapists stretch his legs, he cries in agony.
Every night, Mommy gets up and exits the hospital room. Tears stream from her eyes as she clutches a tissue. Doctors and nurses quickly pass by. This is a scenario all too familiar to parents of brain injured children. As they await their child's recovery, their hearts ache in silence.
Months pass, and the child is progressing well. However, Mommy and Daddy have endured much pain. But the pain parents suffer goes deeper than muscle aches and fatigue. In some cases, parents of brain injured parents are offered so little hope that despondency results.
Social workers visit the parents, and provide them with support as they grieve.
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