Tag: Concussion Update 2019

Braeden Update: June 23, 2019

Carl Setzer
Well, this week was pretty quiet. No doctor or other appointments, so no news on that front. He joined us for taekwondo testing on Friday and Saturday, though as support. He’s not in a place to judge the testing at this point.
 
Next week will bring some more, new information. We meet with neurologists on Thursday following an MRI. The results will be discussed pretty much immediately after the scan. Braeden is less than excited about the MRI, but we’ll have some pharmaceutical help to get through it.
 
He’s looking forward to summer starting (last day of school is Wednesday). It’ll be nice to have friends available to hang out and minimize the boredom that comes with healing from a TBI.
 
Thanks for your continued support and prayers. It means the world to us.

Update On My Son’s Progress 6/17/19

Carl Setzer
Well, another week has passed and we’re moving forward. Braeden had 2 separate appointments at Children’s Hospital of Seattle giving us some much needed info and direction.
 
Monday he met with a Speech Language Pathologist. We found out he still has some issues with memory and word retrieval. For that, come July, he will start weekly sessions in a group of teens called Return To Learn. They focus on developing executive functioning skills (such as tools for remembering things that need to get done, as well as increasing cognitive stamina). That’s a 12 week program, after which he should be back in full form.
 
Then on Friday we went to Children’s TBI Clinic (Traumatic Brain Injury). The doctor commented that Braeden is doing remarkably well given his injury. But we still have healing to accomplish. Braeden was hoping for clearance to drive again, but she told him “no”. But we now have information about the return to driving process. She gave us information about driving rehabilitation services. Once she gives us the go ahead, we will contact them to evaluate Braeden’s fitness to drive. As you can imagine, he really misses the level of independence driving provides.
 
The clinician also told us that Braeden has to keep both feet on the ground for about 3 months – until the skull fracture heals. This means some of the items that are cleared for activities when concussion sufferers “feel up to it” are off the list. Which provides him some more frustrations.
 
School ends next Wednesday. We are trying to encourage Braeden to attend at least 1 class each day, but the issues with memory, word retrieval and focus do make school hard and unpleasant. With things like finals, it’s even more challenging. But there is end of year fun that might make school more appealing and less exhausting.
 
We want to extend a big thank you for your prayers and warm wishes, and all the support we’ve received.

Braeden Update: June 10, 2019

Carl Setzer
He’s is healing, no longer has headaches, was able to participate in his choir concert this past weekend (which was very important to him), and attended his youth group. We’ve gone out a couple times with friends, gone to a few graduation celebrations of friends, though his endurance for those is much lower than before the accident. In many ways, he looks and acts like the accident never happened.
 
On the down side: school is exhausting. He’s been able to go for a few hours a couple of days a week. He still struggles with dizziness and balance at times. Long walks are very hard. His biggest challenge right now, though, is dealing with all the limitations. Another challenge is focus. There have been several times where he’s been given some direction, which vanishes from his memory as soon as it’s done. Oddly, he remembers getting the direction, but the details escape. Part of healing the brain is mandated boredom, otherwise known as limited computer time. As a modern teen, the screen time limitations are driving him crazy. That will become easier in a few weeks once school ends and his friends are available to hang-out…curing the boredom. To add to that, taekwondo and driving are off limits until we’re given doctor’s clearance. We are deeply grateful to his grandparents who have stepped up so Sheri and I can return to work, and he doesn’t go crazy.
 
The next few weeks bring a bunch of evaluations with various specialists at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital: neurologist, speech and language specialists, and traumatic brain injury specialists. By the end of the month we expect to have a solid idea of our recovery plan and those details. Just in time for summer vacation.
 
We want to thank you for all the prayers, the kind words, visits from friends the gifts of meals. These mean the world to us and have this challenging time much easier to bear.

6/2 Braeden Update: Memorial Day Week From Hell

Carl Setzer

We’ve been home four days now. B makes progress every day. He has been out of the house several times this weekend, but still tired easily. Mom & Dad are trying to help him keep things in perspective. This will be a long road and we don’t want him to push too hard, too fast. He’s bored, but that’s what his brain needs to heal.

Tomorrow we meet with his pediatrician. Hopefully we can get some questions answered to help B understand what the process is.

Our discharge paperwork says can can begin returning to school this week. He really wants to go back. Research shows that teens heal better from concussions with social interactions. We will start slowly – 1 or 2 classes – with minimal academic requirements. We will increase time/cognitive demands as B can handle it.

I guess I can retired the “Memorial Day From Hell” subject line, as we’re both past “Memorial Day” and “Hell”. For which I’m rather thankful.

Update on The Memorial Day From Hell (Memorial Day Week)

Carl Setzer
Braeden Update:
 
Well, we have one full day back at home. Plenty of ups and downs. The biggest up: a significant increase in appetite. Loss of appetite is one of the major challenges of concussions. Nowhere near what a teen boy needs to be eating, but so very much more than he could eat yesterday. Also, it’s so much quieter than the ICU. It’s also nice to have the ability to close the blinds as he is light and sound sensitive right now. Dizziness and nausea are slowly retreating, too. And he was awake far more of today than any other day this week.
 
On the downs: he’s still in a fair amount of pain. Plus a few other aches and pains have materialized. Still have nothing on his head, though. Light and sound bother him a lot (nice that our little house is in a rather quiet neighborhood…though I was pretty angry with the garbage trucks this morning). That was blessedly short.
 
It is SO nice to be home. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until last night. A friend brought by a Papa Murphy pizza. Not feeling hungry, but realizing I should eat, we heated it up, and I grabbed a slice. Then ate three more! Far more hungry than I thought. And I slept until around 10:30 am, which made me realize how little I slept at Harborview.
 
Sheri returned to school today. She made it through, but is now thoroughly exhausted. Along with her classes, she attended part of the track end-of-season party. Several students asked if she was going to be there after missing their final meet on Tuesday.
 
We have felt all of your prayers and positive thoughts. Please keep them coming. This will be a long journey with many ups and downs.

A Memorial Day From Hell

Carl Setzer
Viewing south from Harborview
Viewing to the south from Seattle’s Harborview hospital

An ICU Haiku:

At the very top
A view south of Seattle
The ICU’s noise

My family came home yesterday evening after a few days in Seattle’s Harborview hospital. This is the highest level trauma center for a good portion of the western US. My son’s skateboarding accident Monday afternoon resulted in a skull fracture, bleeding on his brain and a concussion. Hence our stay at a level 1 trauma center.

We’re home now, really just starting the long road of healing before us. It’s amazing to many of us how quickly we got here. A huge help: his helmet. The trauma was significantly mitigated by it. Several doctors and nurses told us it saved his life. Talk about sobering.

As we continue down this I will keep in mind how close we came to life altering calamity. When I feel frustrated about the caregiving, his surliness (a warning from the nurses)…all the elements of a head injury with months/years-long recovery, I will focus on how close we came to losing everything. I’m lucky: I brought my son home.

Waking in Terror While Resting in the ICU

Carl Setzer

How do I describe the feeling of bolting upright a little after 5am this morning with the first significant awareness of how serious this was. How badly this could’ve been. That we went right up to a line that, once crossed, you don’t come back from. It’s terrifying, sobering and humbling.

Braeden and Sheri are asleep. We’re moving forward. Very likely we’ll head home today. But this road is long. I feel deep gratitude that I won’t be alone.

Now I’m going to wipe away some tears, watch the sun rise, and embrace this sense of gratitude. And think about some breakfast.

Day 2 In The ICU

Carl Setzer

Braeden has been asleep most of the day, which has been helpful. When he’s awake he’s very aware of what’s going one and (roughly) where he is. His short term memory is a little fuzzy, so we’re repeating some things multiple times. He’s mostly his normal, pleasant self, and is ready to go home – most likely tomorrow.

We’ve been “discharged” from the pediatric ICU, though we haven’t had to change beds. We’re looking forward to being back home. Braeden is eager to get back to his normal life, though that will happen slower than he likes. Progress is being made. The staff at Swedish Edmonds and Harborview have been amazing.

Most importantly, we’ve felt upheld and deeply cared for by you, our community. We can’t thank you enough. All the prayers and well wishes are deeply felt. This ocean of love is amazing , and truly humbling. Our gratitude is immense. Thank you!

My Son’s Skateboard Accident, Or, A Trip To The ICU

Carl Setzer

Dear friends, sorry for impersonal update, but I wanted to get this out as quickly as possible. My son, Braeden, wiped out on his longboard yesterday and hit his head. He has a temporal skull fracture and had some bleeding in the lining. Stable at 4-hour repeat scan. We are currently in the PICU at Harborview. Hopefully moving to the floor some time today. Thankful he was wearing his helmet