Last year, my sister was the victim of a serious traffic accident, which put her in the hospital and left her in a coma for several weeks. It was unclear if she would make it. If she would make it, we did not know what damage there would be. What would become of my sister? Would I ever be able to speak to her decently again if she came through this. Let us say that at the outset there was great helplessness. No control...no control over the course. 

Setting expectations was not an issue at all. Only hope That she would still be there the next day. We had to leave it all somewhat in the hands of fate...and of course in the knowledge and experience of the medical staff. With that hope also went a lot gratitude paired. Every morning I called my mother with an anxious heart (because only she and my brother-in-law were allowed to visit and be contacted by corona in the beginning). And every day I was also grateful that another day was allowed and that the values remained stable. Long story short my sister got through it happily at ease. We are big lucky guys!

Hope was in itself a important support in the story. We were hoping for something that realistic could be, but which we realized we ourselves had no control over. We imagined the probable, and drew strength from that. We saw reality (my sister lying motionless in intensive care) and hoped she would pull through. There was also a constant state of readiness in the story. We did realize very well that we could get bad news at any time...no expectations!