The topic of traumatic brain injury has been inundating the media lately. My memoir, TBI–To Be Injured, Surviving and Thriving After a Brain Injury, is written from an insider’s point-of-view. I suffered such an injury, followed by neurosurgery. Despite predictions to the contrary, I survived and have been thriving since then. The purpose of this memoir is to describe more accurately what a victim of such an injury experiences and will experience in their future. ( I avoid use of the term, “TBI” as this is often used to describe a whole population of people, rather than to allow for variations unique to each individual. A more accurate description would be “injury to the brain,” or, better yet, To Be Injured”).
I hope to encourage and educate victims and those who love them, that (despite what medical and psychological communities promulgate as fact) they are not necessarily limited in ways predicted based solely on what part of the brain was injured. On the contrary, there are exercises I’ve developed which, when practiced regularly, can help recover some of what’s been lost, as well as accommodate for what has been changed permanently.
My findings are also based on solid research described in the Introduction.
If my book accomplishes what I intended, then those who have lost hope as a result of being categorized, will begin to work toward feeling, once again, that they have something valuable to offer. They will discover what is possible, instead of accepting what has been predicted.
TBI–To Be Injured, Surviving and Thriving After a Brain Injury, has been positively reviewed by neurologists, other physicians, teachers and writers.
My personal history includes being born in Philadelphia and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I earned my bachelors degree at Dartmouth College, followed by a masters degree in Social Welfare and another in Public Health.
During my 30+ years of working as a licensed clinical social worker, I held a number of different positions. These included: psychotherapist in private practice, case manager with developmentally disabled clients and their families, child therapist working with abused children in Alameda County, and as a Behavioral Medicine Specialist and Subchief in Kaiser Santa Rosa.
Since retiring several years ago,I have written works of both prose and poetry, some of which have been published in anthologies and periodicals, as well as read on a local radio station. I was interviewed by Suzanne Harris of WebTalk Radio for a podcast broadly disseminated. My book was featured in the Dartmouth College Alumni Magazine as one of several written by alumni.
I now live in Benicia California with my husband, Luis. Here, I am involved in Benicia’s active writing community.
M book is available on Amazon and other booksellers across the country.
I hope that all readers will enjoy and benefit from my written work. Thank you.