[beacon]

Hello to all - I'm so glad I found this forum. I am the wife of a 47 year old male with a history of multiple TBIs. Fortunately, he always seemed to go on to full functioning without any long-term effects. Made it through college and had a very successful career until a few years ago. Only long-term effect seems to have been occasional problems with impulse control (would pick fights for no reason).

His most recent concussion was in a ski collision about 5 years ago at the age of 42. Again, he had no immediate issues - no cognitive impairment, headaches or anything.

Then, out of the blue sky, he started having extreme behavioral and cognitive symptoms in 2008. First thought it was purely psychological, but then it became clear that there were severe cognitive deficits in play. Tasks that he used to relish and do very well, he now avoided completely. He used to manage our finances and maintain our house (including doing all the repairs himself). He used to be very motivated.

He has done quite well with the meds - Lamitcal and Effexor have helped control moods wonderfully and to the outside world he appears on all counts to be "well."

However, he has not worked a steady job in over 10 years, and I am supporting our family (including our 2 young children). We have visited neurologists, neuropsychologists, and even ruled out other medical conditions just to be safe (everything from thyroid issues to sleep apnea - all negative). Even the MRI was negative. He's tried cognitive rehabilitation several times and it was a complete failure.

His executive function and sense of urgency with tasks seems to be completely gone. Also, it had not occurred to us to apply for disability benefits - been too busy trying to get him medical help.

I feel as though I have exhausted all of the specialists and am beside myself. I want so much to help him and at the same time my frustration level is becoming intolerable. His mood is finally good again, but I still feel like he is no longer the person he used to be. It's really weird.

Any advice as well as referrals to neurologists in the NY/NJ area would be great. (P.S. - we've already seen some really nice doctors, but who unfortunately were not able to help us - Gary Alweiss (neurologist - Englewood NJ), Nick Scarmeas (Neurologist - memory disorders - New York, NY - Columbia), Joel Morgan (neuropsychologist - NJ), etc.)

Finally, anyone have familiarity with the work of Douglas H. Smith in Philadelphia? I hear that he's onto something with accumulation of proteins after axonal injury.

Thank you again for listening!!

--Losing hope in NJ