OldTryGuy- sounds like you guys got lucky, in a sense! As did I. Turns out '95 Land Cruiser trumps late 80's van in a head-on...

My wife was very patient with me; in addition to the processing issues above, I had some truly wack emotional chaos and volitility happening. It was a frightening time- I didn't know if I'd ever get "me" back, find my emotional center again, etc.

Luckily I can't remember much of the first few months except as sort of a very dark strange dream! Anyway I can tell by your tone that you have been there for your wife, and dealing with a brain-injured person is no small thing. Good on ye sir.

A weird side-observation.... when I look at posts I made right after the wreck on another forum, they are cogent and lucid. This at a time I was stammering and calling things by the wrong word. It comes back to processing- speaking, human interaction and so on, has a real-time component. Very processor-intensive. Writing does not, and you can re-read and edit and so on.

I also discovered at that time how the vast bulk of what people say is not what they actually mean! The little lies, subterfuges, double-speaks, reverse-psychology innuendos, and manipulations are constant and EXHAUSTING to the injured mind. I had to set some clear boundaries with my family WRT just tell me what you are trying to say CLEARLY AND DIRECTLY.