ABOUT KAREN RENEE GOMEZ & TBI‑ID.COM  (Disponible en Español / Available in Spanish [ Español / Spanish]

For forty years, I worked in medical litigation and personal injury law, ultimately specializing in identifying “hidden” traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) that had never been acknowledged, diagnosed, or understood. Many survivors suffer in silence, believing their symptoms are too strange, scattered, or embarrassing to explain. Most never tell their doctors, attorneys, or even their families.

My approach was different. I had lived experience. I recognized the patterns. I knew the questions to ask – and I already knew the answers survivors were afraid to say out loud.

By reading full MRI reports instead of summaries, and by digging into every corner of a client’s life, I uncovered TBIs that changed outcomes dramatically. One case went from a $50,000 offer to a $13 million settlement in less than a year – after the firm had missed the injury for two years. I caught a shearing injury buried deep in the MRI findings that wasn’t mentioned in the summary. That discovery changed everything for our client.

Throughout my career, I identified TBIs in clients who had no idea they were living with one. A nationally renowned attorney‑physician expert once told Bruce Woodbury (nationally respected attorney and public figure), “Listen to her – she’s a Genius!” and described my TBI insights as “brilliant and intuitive.” Bruce simply said, “I do.”

The Origin of the TBIQ

 Long before the TBIQ existed on paper, I was doing it in person. My attorneys recognized my ability to identify hidden TBIs, so they would meet with new clients for a few minutes and then hand them to me. I had a unique way of helping survivors feel safe enough to talk about symptoms they were terrified to mention – symptoms they thought were “weird,” “embarrassing,” or “crazy.”

By sharing pieces of my own lived experience, I normalized what they were feeling, and every single client eventually opened up. I confirmed TBIs in 100% of the clients I interviewed – even those with documented head trauma who were still afraid to say anything.

The TBIQ is simply the structured, written version of what I’ve been doing for forty years: helping people tell the truth about their brain injuries in a way that feels safe, clear, and understood.

When my legal career abruptly ended in 2019 due to firm downsizing – followed by COVID and a three‑year detour into telemarketing – I searched for a new direction. At 3 AM on Christmas morning 2024, I woke up with a clear, undeniable message:    DO. WHAT. YOU. DO.

At first, I thought I was meant to help young personal injury attorneys. But no doors opened. Instead, the idea kept expanding – from identifying TBIs for clients to creating a comprehensive resource for survivors, families, and professionals.

Three months later, TBI‑ID.com and my 51‑symptom Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire (TBIQ) were born.

WHY TBI‑ID.COM EXISTS

TBI‑ID.com is more than a website. It is the culmination of my life’s work – a place built to give TBI survivors the tools, knowledge, HELP, and self‑rehab strategies they need to navigate recovery with clarity and confidence.

Here, you’ll find:

• Guidance on recognizing TBI symptoms – including the subtle, “invisible,” or misunderstood symptoms that doctors often miss.
• Science‑based explanations of TBI symptoms and recovery strategies, grounded in research, including extensive resources from FlintRehab.com.
• A curated SHOP page featuring top‑rated recovery apps, adaptive devices, and neuroplasticity‑based rehab tools.
• TBI‑U (DIY Self‑Rehab Therapies) – more than 40 categories of accessible, effective healing methods survivors can use at home.

As a survivor of double‑digit TBIs over the last 50 years, I know the frustration, confusion, isolation – and professional apathy – that so many of us face.

I know what it feels like to:

• lose short‑term memory (not retaining what you just read, said, studied, or even wanted from the fridge)
• forget whether you were going up or down the stairs
• be dismissed by doctors who say, “It’s all in your mind,” or “What do you want ME to do?”
• try to navigate recovery alone because “rest” or whatever treatment you were given didn’t work
• search for answers when there were few resources available

That’s why TBI‑ID.com exists – so you can review 51 symptoms of a TBI, and once you recognize yourself in them, you no longer have to struggle in silence, alone, unheard, unrecognized, or unsure where to turn for HELP. (TBI‑ID.com!!!)

This site is for every survivor searching for answers and HELP, every caregiver looking for guidance and HELP, and everyone who refuses to settle for “Just… REST!” or other limited options. If my site guides even one person to answers, HELP, clarity, and HOPE, then every hour ~ 3,000+ hours over 18 months (2025–2026) – has been absolutely worth it.

I created the Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire (TBIQ) so survivors can:

• print it
• complete it at home
• take it to their doctors and attorneys
• communicate their symptoms without needing to speak a word about the trauma
• avoid being cut off during appointments due to time constraints

It reduces stress, saves time, and – most importantly – ensures that every doctor and every attorney receives the same information, in ALL of the Survivor’s own words.

Because communication shouldn’t be another obstacle. Because survivors deserve to be understood. Because TBI awareness must lead to TBI recovery.

TBI Questionnaire (TBIQ)

My Philosophy of Life

01-30-25 rev RESUME re TBI.pdf

Aug 1998 Cherie Parker – Letter.pdf

TBI Awareness……becomes TBI RECOVERY!