I was working about 60-80 hours a week on average before the auto accident. Because I had increased intracranial pressure (iicp) for the first six months before the doctors realized it, I was on bed rest due to being in very severe pain. (1mg of dilaudid which is 10x stronger than 1mg of morphine only cut my pain in half for short period of time - a few hours. So, I couldn't even move or speak for months and I needed assistance with everything I did.) In addition, the iicp most likely caused my brain further damage than the initial injury.

I had three regular jobs before the accident. I am a professional audio engineer and technician for live events and I work full time (40 hrs/wk) for a local university film & TV department. The other 20-40 hours I worked each week were gigs I had in theatres. I've been doing this kind of work for fifteen years and it's the only kind of work I've done since I was in college.

I used to be very strong. My full time job contract requires that I am able to lift 75 lbs. Well, being on the bed rest destroyed my strength and stamina.

I started working 12 hours a week on Aug 1 this year. A little over a year after the car accident I was in. I tried to go up to 18, but the doctor reduced me back down to 12 after about a week because there was a significant decline in my speech and cognitive functioning. I need a lot of rest.

I am going to be re-evaluated tomorrow to se if I can go up to 20 hrs/wk. Unfortunately, I don't think I can. Our department supports 700 undergrads and about 100 grad students and they returned last week at the start of the semester and I've been busier than I was when I first returned as a result. I'm really struggling.

I am only able to work for the university film & tv dept and there's no way I could work in a theatre right now. I lost the ability to multitask because of the injury and I would be a danger to myself or others if I tried to work on a stage right now. I'm very much hoping that the ability to multitask returns, I excelled at multi-tasking before the accident.

I'm getting better and I'm very determined to be ALL better. But it's a slow process for me and a lot of hard work. I used to be able to unload semi trucks full of gear etc. and now lifting grocery bags makes me sore.

I literally feel disabled. My processing speed is still very slow compared to what it was, everything takes more than twice as long as it used to. I'm not even half as productive when I'm at work now than before the accident.

BUT I am MUCH better than I was one month ago and I was better then than I was a month before that and so on.

I have really been improving since they finally relieved the abnormal pressure that was inside my skull due to the swelling caused by the concussion. I have a lot of hope and it grows stronger every day. I had almost lost all hope right before the spinal tap that relieved the pressure in January. I am usually a very optimistic person, so having hope goes a long way with me.

My work is my true passion in life and it has brought me great joy for my entire life! I would be very sad if I was not able to return to it.