I have had two head injuries since 1988. In 1988 I was stopped at a stoplight in Denver and was hit from behind. I didn't even know I was hurt at first and didn't go to the doctor. Soon however, I was in severe pain and began to have symptoms including memory loss, dizzines, depression, and my vision and hearing being gone for varying periods of time. It was nearly a year before my TBI was diagnosed and I had to fight to get my situation taken seriously and to get proper medical treatment. I had to sue both the young man who ran into me and my own insurance company to get my medical bills paid, and suffered severe damage to my credit rating as a result.

I was unable to work for two years but then in 1990 was able to join the Foreign Service as a diplomat for the people of the United States. There are few of us with obvious handicaps, but there is a blind woman who entered shortly after I did. She now works abroad as an Embassy administrative officer. I have been able to learn new languages and adapt to life abroad, which I am very grateful for.

In 1993, I had another head injury... this time on the job. I was getting into an unfamiliar car at the Embassy in Manila and hit my head really hard on the door jamb. I knew something was wrong because it hurt even worse on the opposite side from where I actually hit my head. I went home and rested, went back to work and on the third day... realized that I almost went out of the house to go to work with shampoo still in my hair. An MRI was run on me and there were visible bruises in both temporal lobes of my brain.

Yet, I survive. I just turned 50 and feel like I am a much better person than before I was hurt. Yes, I have lost the edge of brilliance I once had.

Things used to come so easy to me, but I thought that other people who weren't as quick as I was were just lazy or not trying. I now know better.

It took this to give me the ability to have compassion for others. I am still very good at "number crunching" and writing too. My memory is still unreliable. I have to write things down to be able to remember them. It was very hard for me to learn Japanese. Everyone around me was just sure I was going to fail at it... but I did not. I insisted on working hard at it, my own way and managed to convince my teachers that I needed a different kind of instruction than what they were used to. I guess the secret of what I am now doing and have been able to accomplish since my injuries is persistence.

I just don't give up. In that regard, I was able to resume skiing this year (winter of 1996-97) and completed a 10 kilometer cross country ski "race" held here in Hokkaido (the northernmost island of Japan) where I am now living.