Nick,

I am sorry if you thought my comments were directed at you. They were meant to be generic.

Now that you have told us more about your life, more of your struggles make sense. Your past drug abuse is likely making your recovery worse. I suggest you toss out any ideas of recovery based on the statistics of mTBI/PCS alone. You are recovering from a TBI and your past. You have a lot of recovering to do. My heart goes out to you and anyone else making the decision to clean up their life.

I disagree with your analysis of caring for your son. With proper focus and attention, he can become a well behaved addition to your recovery. You under-estimate yourself. You have already made some hard choices. You have the strength to continue making hard but good choices regarding your son.

I remember the times when my son and I would take naps together. On some days, I took him to work with me. My wife was not working. We had lost our 3 homes to foreclosure and were living in a rental. A real estate developer had ripped us off for $250,000. We had an infant at home so we were living hand to mouth. Our car had been repossessed with the car seats in them. We were not even close to being middle class. I was recovering from a nervous breakdown from all this stress when I learned to use nutrition to get healthy. We were making payments on a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, too.

We dug in. Lived cheaply. And stuck it out and I recovered and my family flourished. It was ten years before I needed to file income taxes because our income was so low. By then, we had three kids and still only my income.

Back to your son, There are lots of simple activities you can do with him that will be therapeutic for your brain. Little guys love to explore their world. Help him learn to sit and watch a millipede slowly climb a branch of a plant. Get some books at Goodwill (They have lots of them) with descriptions of the outdoors. Then, go looking for examples of those pictures. Teach him the alphabet and his numbers.

Think of your time with him as your chance to give him a better chance at life than you had. His mom is definitely not giving him a good chance.

If you get approved for Social Security Disability benefits, you will be able to apply for 50% more to care for your son.

Talk with your mother about getting some authority at home. Your siblings should be told to obey you. <the father of my sister's kid comes over playing music and rapping after I've asked him numerous times to stop.> This creep needs to be TOLD to shut up. He is not paying your rent.

Check at your church to see if there are any people with a room to rent cheap. Some empty nesters may enjoy having you and your son around. $200 to $400 per month for a room can go a long way in today's economy. If never hurts to ask. With full custody of your son, he can improve your chances for other help. Yes, it will be hard. But, you already have a hard living situation. Could it get any worse?

At least if you were on your own, you would be able to avoid the negatives of your mom's place. If you feel a need to help her, that time passed when you had your own child. You have far too much load of your own to carry.

Have you participated in any single dad groups? The support may be worthwhile. Deciding to be a full time dad could be your best way to move forward.

My best to you.