Even though he thrashes, tries to sit up and opens his eyes, because he is not aware of his surroundings and does not acknowledge them when my family tries to talk to him, he is technically in a coma.
They also finally admitted to my family that there was a fracture at the base of his skull.
There is talk of moving him out of the ICU and into a normal room in a few days, or even to a rehabilitation facility so they can do physical therapy to keep his muscles from atrophying, since they can do the same monitoring of his vital stats there as well...
** I went to the Brain Injury Association of America and found these definitions:
Coma
Coma is defined as a state of unconsciousness from which the individual cannot be awakened, in which the individual responds minimally or not at all to stimuli, and initiates no voluntary activities.
- Persons in a coma appear to be asleep, but cannot be awakened
- There is no meaningful response to stimulation.
Persons who sustain a severe brain injury can make significant improvements, but are often left with permanent physical, cognitive, or behavioral impairments.
Department of Defense and Veteran?s Head Injury Program & Brain Injury Association of America (1999). Brain Injury and You.
Vegetative State (VS)
Vegetative State (VS) describes a severe brain injury in which:
- Arousal is present, but the ability to interact with the environment is not.
- Eye opening can be spontaneous or in response to stimulation
- General responses to pain exist, such as increased heart rate, increased respiration, posturing, or sweating
- Sleep-wakes cycles, respiratory functions, and digestive functions return
There is no test to specifically diagnose Vegetative State; the diagnosis is made only by repetitive neurobehavioral assessments.
Giacino, J. & Zasler, N. (1995). Outcome after severe traumatic brain injury: Coma, the vegetative state, and the minimally responsive state. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 10, 40-56.
So, I think
"Vegatative State" describes his current condition better than coma, because he's doing most of those things. Although my parents haven't mentioned whether he's following any sort of sleep/wake cycle, he
is breathing on his own, and he does spontaneously open his eyes. His heart rate also increases if he seems to be in pain (which is also when he tends to try to move or thrash), and decreases when my parents talk to him while he's riled up. So he's in there somewhere.
That's all, folks...
