JP ShawHBO rings in a winner with COMA!
I sat last night searching for something to watch on television when I came across an HBO movie special called COMA. Of course I paused to watch it. The incredible documentary follows four individuals through their treatment at JFK rehabilitation center for traumatic brain injury. Tom Segars, Roxanne Guzman, Sean Reilly & A'l Khan Edwards.
(Segars) a 32 year old fell off a balcony. (Roxanne aka Roxy) a 19 year old coed and A'l Khan both in car accidents, and (Sean Reilly) was thrown from a bridge after an attack while studying in Europe, each take center stage as producer Liz Guber takes a clear eye approach to their recovery, and the relationship between the doctors and the families who support their loved ones.
Coma is engaging direct approach to a deeper look at traumatic brain injuries, which happens more than people think, and yet the quality of information out there on the subject, groups and support, help and aids are nearly impossible to come across.
I should know. My DH sustained a traumatic brain injury when he was 18 years old after falling off his motorcycle to which I wrote a story about: LIFE WITH CORKY. So I know about traumatic brain injury, and yet while watching this video I could not turn away from all I didn't know.
Brain Injury survivors have a very small window, especially after they wake from a coma, for recovery. A year at most, according to doctors to show some signs of concious awareness. Many do not progress past a vegetative state. As seen in the movie with the case of Sean who continued to not fire off conscious efforts and his brain activity showed it wasn't there.
And yet at one point in the movie when his friend Brandon comes to visit him, Sean shows tears running down his face. Of course I'm sitting there with Kleenex in my hand, sniffling as I watch, because the heartache of what I felt and believed watching each of these people suffer through their road to recovery. I wondered. What do the doctors really think?
It's the question they've been asking themselves for years. One that hasn't really produced many answers. How and why the brain does what it does after suffering trauma can not be definitively defined.
Sean showed emotion, and yet the doctor claimed he remained in a vegetative state. I felt as though Sean was trapped, as though he wished to convey his feelings, wished to move, wished to get better, and yet remained a prisoner inside his own mind until finally I believe the soul just perishes and the person gives up.
This movie is incredible in the way it focuses on the family members, how they feel, their relationship with the doctors, nurses and caregivers as well as with one another. Sean's mother states in the movie how she has met some of the most incredible people ever in her life, and yet they are people she wished she'd never met. It leads to the heartbreak a parent suffers while watching their child suffer. Having to care for that child no matter what their age, help them get back what they lost, find their way home and the undying love that travels between them on that road to recovery.
A small message to my mother in law. After watching this I am truly grateful to you. I know it may sound trite to say it now, as the past is now past, and my husband is now fully recovered, though limited with disabilities cognitively, as he suffers severe memory loss daily, still fully recovered.
Without you he wouldn't be here. I had no idea what you suffered as a parent, what you went through, how you fought for him, all you did, and what traveling through recovery with a person who sustained a traumatic brain injury entailed until I watched COMA. If it wasn't for you and all your love and support, never giving up hope. I don't think my husband would be where he is today because ...
One thing the movie does sort of touch on is the focus on the human spirit, as shown with Tom Segars. The human spriit and the love of family is important, and it is that love that is essential I believe to a persons true recovery from a traumatic brain injury. The brain might be injured even beyond repair, but the heart still hears, weeps, feels and survives.
One thing is for certain. Our society needs to become more aware of traumatic brain injuries, rights and responsibilities, emotional out plays from families and loved ones, and how to better deal with these types of injuries -- while providing support for those who suffer along with those injured.
Read a synopsis of COMA
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