Tbilaw.com has been at the cornerstone of the web advocacy of the Brain Injury Law Group since it went online in 1996.For a full treatment of the topic of brain injury, and recovering adequate compensation for those who have survived such injury, please visit our other pages.
Waiting.com, a page designed to assist those with issues regarding coma, especially in the acute phase when the doctors are saying "I just don't know."
Vestibulardisorder.com addresses vertigo and dizziness resulting from trauma as well as information and resources for vestibular disorders.
Subtlebraininjury.com focuses on all aspects of concussion and non-coma injuries.

• Levin, Catastrophic Brain Injury, ©Oxford, 1996.
• The Coma Waiting Page, http://waiting.com
• Narayan, Wilberger & Povlishock, Neurotrauma, ©McGraw-Hill, 1996.

Perhaps the best role that the web has played, is the information it provides to the family and friends of someone in a coma. When we started providing brain injury information on the web in 1996 with http://tbilaw.com we discovered how desperate for information those who were waiting were. We suggested/pleaded with several brain injury groups to join us on the web in putting up a comprehensive page devoted to coma information, but we lost patience with the speed of organization thinking, planning and approvals and created http:waiting.com instead.

We launched waiting.com with these words:

"I remember passing through an emergency room two months post-trauma and seeing a family who reminded me of that first day... I wanted to tell them it would be OK, that it would get better, but I didn't know where to start, what to say."

"And then I realized that it was happening all over the world, every day; and when it did, we were so alone, you were so alone."

We are here to help. If you are here, you are probably sitting in an ICU waiting room, someone you love is in a coma, and most, if not all, of your questions have gone unanswered. You have been told that you'll just "have to wait and see."

We are here to share. These pages are the results of the combined efforts of people like you. We have attempted to answer the questions which we once asked, explain what we didn't understand and share the insights and hope which were at the end of the bridge you have found yourself upon.

We are here to inform. These pages also provide practical information on the steps you must face; advocacy for care, financial matters, disability, social security, rehabilitation options and legal considerations.

We are here to listen. These pages also provide sensitive solutions for YOUR care. Support, resources, solutions, and a voice for your concerns.

There are now hundreds of other pages on the web which have mirrored our mission of waiting.com, yet I believe it is still the consummate source for information about coma.

Yet there is one major issue that is intentionally not addressed on waiting.com, an issue which we have struggled with almost daily since its inception, the unthinkable issue of when to pull the plug. We have debated its inclusion on waiting.com, yet felt that as that page is intended for the first hours and days of waiting, to deal with the brutal issues of prognosis when we were trying to add support, was improper.

And because waiting is intended for those first days, what we know about prognosis of recovery from coma, does not belong there. Because essentially, what we know about prognosis for recovery can only be determined over a period of time. While the answer is more specific than we will just have to wait and see, not until a coma has persisted for several weeks, is there any reasonable certainty about the what the odds are for a reasonable recovery.

Becca Martin knew about coma when we started, the way only the spouse of someone who is comatose can know. We have learned much about coma from the plethora of anecdotal information we learn from you families. We have learned much from the brain injury experts we network with. Yet, in terms of dealing with the awful question, of when have we waited too long, I have learned the most from the book: Catastrophic Brain Injury. It is not a difficult read for me, but I have been around brain injury medicine and terminology for a while. I think any educated person who wants to tackle it, will benefit from it. Even better, I might suggest that you get the neurosurgeon who is talking to you about prognosis, to read it.

Another outstanding source book, although beyond the budget of most people is Narayan, Wilberger & Povlishock, Neurotrauma, ©McGraw-Hill, 1996. This book has a truly terrific treatment of severe brain injury, and its chapters on prognosis and the differential analysis of prospects for recovery based upon certain clinical findings and risk factors, should be required reading for all neurosurgeons.

As with all other books we offer, your understanding of these books will be enhanced if you also acquire the International Neuropsychological Society's Dictionary of Neuropsychology. While there are a number of glossaries, including several online (such as at http://waiting.com/glossary.html) this book does have the advantage of being published by the International Neuropsychology Society and it is much easier to keep a book next to you when you read, than to be referring back to your computer.

NEXT: LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

"No head injury is too severe to despair of, nor too trivial to ignore."- Hippocrates

 

Understanding Subtle Brain Injury

The concussions that disable, are almost always more symptomatic at 24 hours, than at the 2-4 hour time frame when injured persons are evaluated in the emergency room. Brain injury symptoms escalate over the first 24 hours, because brain injury involves a cascade of events. It is critical that if you are still symptomatic the day after your injury, go back to the same Emergency Room, don’t wait for a doctors appointment. It is critical that the Emergency Room personnel see that the symptoms still persist or have gotten worse.

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This site is brought to you by the advocates of the Brain Injury Law Group, a community of plaintiff's trial lawyers across the United States united by a common interest in serving the rights of persons with traumatic brain injuries and a common commitment to fully understanding the anatomic, medical and psychological aspects of TBI.

The Brain Injury Law Group is involved with a network of plaintiff's trial lawyers across the United States united by a common interest in serving the rights of persons with traumatic brain injuries and a common commitment to fully understanding the anatomic, medical and psychological aspects of TBI, so we may be of better service to the survivors of brain injury. This network of lawyers are not part of a national law firm. We have separate law practices and are licensed to practice only in our home states.

The Brain Injury Law Group is here to listen and for that reason we maintain an 800 number and a staff willing to discuss your case and legal information where appropriate. There is no charge to call. We only represent people on a contingent fee basis and charge a fee only when we recover for the client. For more on Attorney Gordon Johnson, click here.