“Shop until you drop”

While shopping one cold day in March, a few years ago, I noticed a clearance rack of clothes in front of a store. A sidewalk sale, so to speak. As I approached the rack, I could see that the wind was knocking the clothes from the rack. While I was looking through the clothes, more clothes began to fall onto the ground. I felt like I should pick them up. I bent down to pick them up and as I came back up, I struck my head on a bar that I never knew was there. The bar split my head open and gave me a concussion. I knew right away that I was concussed, as I have had concussion before when I was much younger. When this happened I was 49 years old. I was taken to ER and was diagnosed with a mild concussion. I went to treatment, OT, and PT to try and get some normalcy back. It worked except for the migraine problem that happened when this all occurred. I was not aware of what might happen next. The worst part of the injury has manifested itself in my emotions. I have no tolerance for much of anything any longer. My marriage is not doing well. My relationships with my child and even my dog, have suffered. My wife and I are on the verge of separating as I write this. I do not know what to do. I want to get extensive treatment, maybe at a facility, but can’t afford to leave everything and leave my family to fend for themselves. I have applied for SSDI but that process takes quite some time, and holds no guarantees of getting approved. I am between a rock and a hard place. I still suffer from migraines, three years removed from that day. My marriage has really suffered and I can’t do anything about it, because I am not ME. This is not who I am normally. I had to take a LOA from my job. I have been in Sales my whole adult life. I am no longer able to do it any longer. I have lost the one thing that allowed me to provide a good financial base for my family and it’s future. I don’t know what to do. James Ronald Johnson