Hi! My name is Jen. I'm 38 years old. I sustained a TBI in January of 2004. At the time, I was employed as a marketing director and was also a freelance writer and author. I fell on some ice and hit my head pretty hard. I was taken to the ER and diagnosed with a concussion. My PCP referred me to the local Brain Injury Program, where I did 8 months of physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. I also saw a neuro, neuropsychologist and neuro-opthalmologist. My primary issues in the beginning were vestibular (balance, vision) and executive function (memory, organizing, mulit-tasking, concentration, organization, taking in new information, idea generation, creativity, etc). The therapy cleared up the vestibular issues and improved my executive function, though not enough to return to work at full capacity or to write at a professional level.

I was single and lived alone at the time. I know that I fell down the stairs at least twice during that time, but didn't seek medical attention. My employer was fantastic, and I was paid my full salary even though I was completely off work for months at a time. We tried a slow return with partial hours and a lighter load, but I was not able to keep up or represent the company well.

In May of 2006, I sustained a second TBI when I smacked my head against a counter. Shortly thereafter, I lost my job. I also lost my book contract.

I used to be an extremely independent, type-A personality. I had some savings and a healthy 401K, which I cashed out to live on while I slowly accepted my new reality. After my money was gone and I was facing foreclosure, I finally applied for disability in November 2007. (I married in July 2007, so am not eligible for SSI).

I tried working in a church bookstore one day a week, but even that was too much. The cognitive fatigue turned me into a zombie by the end of the shift, and made my headache worse. I have a headache everyday, most days it is manageable, but every few weeks it'll get worse, confine me to home and often my bed for a few days, up to a week at a time.

I joined this forum to hear from others with TBI to hear how they are living out their new normal lives, and also to learn if anyone with TBI has successfully been granted disability (I'm currently waiting for my hearing, which was supposed to be in two weeks, but was just pushed to August).