A memoir
After the Fall
A Nurse’s Experience with Traumatic Brain Injury
Coming January 8, 2027, from 5 Two Press
Preorder links are coming soon.
How to recover from Traumatic Brain Injury
On January 8, 2025, I fell on a snowboard at Mt. Rose and hit my head on the ice.
I’d been a nurse for 16 years. I knew concussion protocol.
I drove myself home anyway.
After the Fall follows the year that followed, the physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges of living with a traumatic brain injury, the doctors and tests and therapies.
Most of all, it’s the story of what it took to get my life back.
From the back cover
After a beautiful day of snowboarding with her son, a fifty-two-year-old nurse and devoted mother suffers a fall that turns her life upside down. Accustomed to caring for everyone else, she struggles to recognize the person she has become. Headaches, nausea, brain fog, insomnia, and impulsivity are among the bewildering symptoms that follow. At first, she denies anything is seriously wrong. Doctors assure her she will recover in three months. But four months later, anxiety, visual disturbances, and memory impairment leave her questioning not only her recovery but also her ability to continue working as a nurse.
As the symptoms persist, she faces the frustration of medical dismissal, the loss of her former identity, and the challenge of learning to care for herself. Through multiple therapies, unexpected new hobbies, and the ill-timed acquisition of a puppy, she begins to chart her own course toward healing. By embracing self-advocacy, challenging medical assumptions, and accepting that recovery may not mean returning to the person she was before, she discovers a different path to wellness.
Told with sarcastic humor and brutal honesty, After the Fall is a candid journey through the unpredictable aftermath of traumatic brain injury and a story of learning to trust yourself, reclaim your voice, and find your footing when life no longer looks the way you expected.
ISBN 979-8-9998932-9-1
I wrote this book for anyone living with a brain injury, and the people who love them.
If you have a TBI, or you’re caring for someone who does, I hope it helps you feel less alone and more ready to speak up for yourself. If you’re a nurse or work in health care, I hope it shows you what it’s like on the other side of the bed.
From Chapter 1, “The Fall”
There was a sharp crack, like a wooden yardstick ruler smacking a chalkboard. The sound wasn’t external; it was inside my skull. My helmet struck the ice. My body lifted from the snow in recoil and then… nothing. I didn’t feel the impact when I landed.
Wednesday, January 8, 2025. A bluebird sky covered Mt. Rose Ski Resort in Reno, Nevada, a perfect blue, the kind of winter morning that felt like a new start.
Not ready to preorder?
The five best therapies after a brain injury.
These are therapies I underwent during my recovery, plus which helped the most. I’ll also share how to find a therapist for that specific treatment for each one.
After that, I’ll email you about once a month with news about After the Fall and my writing. You can unsubscribe anytime.