Since /98 I have recovered in some areas. I still forget where I'm going when driving. My vision has cleared up and my crying spells are few and far between. My balance hasn't got any better. concentration and fatigue are still with me on a dally basses. The void I felt in my marriage has gone and I feel our marriage is stronger than ever. I get lost in mid sentences and have word finding problems. Somehow I learn to work around them. I've learned that when I do things around the house I never set a time limit. I know it'll take me two or three times as long as it should. My dog magic has passed on. He left me with his inspiration. He has server his purpose in my life well. As time goes on I learn to work around my obstacles, and I get to know my limitations. The more you know about TBI. The easier it is to live with. It's like fighting an unknown enemy in the dark. You can only defeat what you know. Not surprising, my battle with workers compensation is still going on and I have spent my life savings. Yet I still have to most valuable things in my life, My family.

I am a 54 year old man from Victoria B.C. Canada. this poster was taken only a few months before the accident for the company I worked for. I was working on a ship on the second floor September 3rd of /98. There was no floor, only plywood decking. A fellow employee removed one sheet of plywood a few inches off the supporting beam, leaving it as a trap door.When I went through the other end hit me on the back of my head.I landed on my back, on a two by four block of wool.I broke three ribs, puncherd my lung and had body whiplash. I came to when the ambulance attendants where there.I was glad I came to because I had to tell my son that I was ok. He was working in another location of another ship.I remember thinking. "I'm glad it's me and not him"

I wanted to get back to work as soon as possible.I only spent three days in the hospital. The company I worked for rented a hospital bed for me at home. At therapy I'd forget what things I had to do and I'd always had to look at the list. I would sneak upstairs to get a catnap.My headaches weren't bad. Now in Canada we have some of the worlds dumbest gun laws this side of the sun.I was worried they might take my license if they know about my headaches, vision problems or crying for no reason.I find it hard to walk at night. my balance is terrible at night.Yet I worked three stories up on iron beams before. My balance was superb. I also still teach Thi Chi Chen style with difficulty. The thing that really bothered me the most was when I drove somewhere I couldn't remember how I got there. I'd go to drive to a certain place and end up in another part of town. I was convinced it was all to do with the pain I was having. My wife wasn't and told the dr. I wasn't the same man she married. I was sent by workers compensation to there dr. for test. They said my memory problem was pain related and I agreed. After all if I give you ten things to remember and then hit your hand with a hammer and then ask you what the ten things were. You're not going to remember them. before the accident I would go shopping with a list in my head. I've built several of my own homes, including the plumbing,wiring and cabinets. I've built hotrods form the weels up.I still have a 46 willts jeep unfinished. Later my wife had me sent to the brain injury hospital for four months. After the first tests were don, I hadn't cried ( in private) like that since I had to put my old dog down. I felt then I was a retarded person. I knew I did badly on the test, and I should have don much better. Workers compensation said they felt I had the early onset of alzimers. I had my sense of smell and taste checked. As I knew I didn't have much of any. The nerves were severed from my skull. My fight with workers compensation is still ongoing.

I try not to be bitter about workers compensation,or the condition I'm in. I know , and I've seen people worse of than me. I have to look harder for inspiration sometimes. I find a lot in one of my dogs. He's a diabetic and takes insulin shots twice a day. He lost his eyesight as well. Yet when we go for our daily walk, he still leads the way.His name is "Magic" Also my wife who is chronicle ill. I have been the caregiver for her, and now the tide has changed.She stands by my side, and I love her even more for it. Even though I feel there is a grate empty spot missing in our marriage and it worries me.

Know I just tell people I'm retired. I know they won't understand.After all I wouldn't have understood before the accident either.

Email Dave