Maryette Saukam

July 2023 will never be forgotten as my mother had a traumatic brain injury on our vacation in Lyon, France. After days of walking under the summer heat, she had no energy left in the tank and fell in the Airbnb. The sound woke me up immediately and I called 112 (EU emergency number). After the paramedics arrived, I told them my mother is fatigue and probably dehydrated but they suggested it may be something more serious since she lapsed into a coma (Glasgow of 3). They ordered a CT scan and found she had a subdural hematoma, requiring an immediate craniotomy on the left side. My mother’s coma lasted just under 2 weeks, which were the worst 2 weeks of my life. It was scary because she had a tracheotomy, JP drain on her head, and so many wires. Words cannot describe how I felt, especially experiencing this in a foreign country, but the French neuro-ICU team cared for her extremely well. Fast forward to August, we finally got Memorial Hermann hospital to accept the transfer and struck a deal with an air ambulance service to fly us back home to Houston, Texas. Unfortunately, my mother’s bone was not able to return home with us so she had to wear a helmet for the next few months.
From then, she was in inpatient rehabilitation for a month before transitioning to outpatient for around 3 months before her cranioplasty in December. We thought it would be the last operation but I was wrong. She had 2 emergency operations resulting from accumulation of cerebral spinal fluid on the left side, which is one of the associated risks from cranioplasty. My mother is a fighter and she continues to impress me every week in her recovery. She is learning how to walk and talk again as she is already eating on her own. Her right side is weak which makes utilizing the right arm and walking a challenge. Nonetheless, this injury brought out another side of my mother I have never seen in the past which is toughness. In addition to outpatient rehabilitation, we are currently working with her speech and mobility at home every single day as well. Despite hearing that TBI survivors will never return to 100%, it is extremely important to keep pushing and trying because you never know what you could get out of your recovery which is why we must make the most out of it. Do not anyone put a number and include you as a statistic. It is amazing how the brain is able to recover. To TBI survivors and caregivers, we are in this fight together! Much love and support to everyone who has been in this process or going through it. We are not alone.