TBI Voices

Second TBI : Elizabeth Story Begins One of the major puzzles about brain injury is the miracle recovery after life threatening, profound brain injuries, contrasted against the tragic outcomes that occur after seemingly insignificant concussions or second TBIs. I wrote about such issue more than a decade ago at https://tbilaw.com/essays-mildsevere.html For..
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Second Brain Injury: Elizabeth Part Two In contrast to the severity of her first injury, her second brain injury was seemingly mild. The second brain injury occurs just a week past the third anniversary date of her severe TBI, on March 10, 2005. Elizabeth explains: I went to work, I was..
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Severe TBI Treatment: Elizabeth Part Three Before her severe TBI treatment,at  the time of her March of 2002 injury, Elizabeth was a happy, industrious woman, working and playing hard. She was 36. I could play volleyball. I used to be able to drive up north with my husband and my families..
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Back to Work after TBI: Elizabeth Part Four As often happens, the employer sent Elizabeth back to work after TBI on a different job, even though she wasn’t ready to return to her previous job. There are significant incentives in the workers comp system to do this, get the employee back..
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Unstable Balance: Elizabeth Part Five Unstable balance is one of the biggest issues that put Elizabeth at risk for another fall that could cause additional brain injury.  Her chances of another blow to the head was substantial. Elizabeth is a poster child as to how dangerous a second blow to the..
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Cognitive Complaints: Elizabeth Part Six Regardless of which of her two injuries has left her disabled, there is not doubt that she has been left with a long list of cognitive complaints. She explains: With the way my injury ended, well I shouldn’t say ended, they never end, with the second..
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TBI Housewife: Elizabeth Part Seven Her disability does not just eliminate her ability to work outside the home, but it also limits what she can do at home. She describes the housework and her responsibilities as a TBI housewife: Dishes, and a little at a time. I don’t, I don’t get..
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Frontal Lobe Complaints: Elizabeth Part Eight As I have often said on TBI Voices and elsewhere “We learn to become adults in our frontal lobes.” With that being true, if frontal lobes are damaged, much of adult maturity, adult behaviors may be lost or changed. Elizabeth sees these frontal lobe complaints..
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TBI Mood Swings: Elizabeth Part Nine While still largely a frontal lobe issue, her TBI mood swings and social issues fit into a bit different category of pathology. Her TBI moods swings are not only severe, but can be totally unpredictable. She explains: I can be sitting here talking and having..
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Milder TBI Disability Puzzle: Elizabeth Part Ten   We began the Elizabeth story with the quandary as to how she could wind up with so much more disability from a concussion and milder TBI than she had from an earlier brain injury involving coma and brain surgery. There is never a..
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