everyone is different. Don't get stressed over it. Just do the best you can every step of the way. You sound as if you are very determined and that will help you in a big way and knowing what you want will also help you.
I think for myself it took about 2 years but then i had another big upset in my personal life which kind of messed things up for me. But if I read correctly you are just past the 1 year mark.
I remember the second year being the year when I got things together again and I was finally able to be more independent. So don't stress but give yourself a slight push when you think you can take it and you will get there.

Nat is right...everyone heals differently.

Tip...stress...undoes everything you've worked so hard to regain. Try (OH I know how hard this one is!) not to be so hard on yourself. The more you can relax...seemed to me to "appear" faster.

A positive out look, the determination you sound like you have...and a bit of laughter (Great medication that costs nothing!) the courage to get back up and try again...you will get there!

Don't compare yourself to others. We are all different.

Look back at where you were occasionally. I could see more improvement when I did that than I thought I'd made.

Alyssa,

One of the things my Docs told me is that they can usually tell if a person will recover a lot based on the progress they make in the first year. Specifically, any type of recovery or improvement is GOOD.

It sounds like you have been making steady progress and that is GREAT.

It is such a hard thing though - this TBI recovery. It utterly and completely sucks. Because you compare yourself to how you WERE pre-TBI (at least I did.) And so it's hard to see the progress when you know what you used to be able to do.

A year ago I could have written your same post.

I can't really answer your question as to how long it takes, because I'm not where I want to be yet. But my situation is a bit complicated (like everyone's).

I think everyones recovery will be different. My family steadily saw improvements daily and weekly in the beginning. If I go back and look at where I am from year to year now. I can see improvements, but I don't notice them as much as someone else may.

I would say that it took me approximately 1 1/2 years to return to a semi-normal life. I still struggled with daily pain, but was able to care for myself, and drive, and to anyone who saw me I appeared to be normal.

Now I am 6 years out, and I will never be what I once was. That's just something I have had to accept.

It's sounds like you are progressing at a normal pace, whatever that may be. No need to stress, just find some patience. I'm so glad you found DS. :)

Take care!

Alyssa,

I am just a week shy of the one year mark and it's only been in the past month or so that any of my remaining friends have said they have seen any signs that I'm getting back even anywhere near to my old self. Like SweatSeaEyes says, I have little hope that I'll ever be everything I was before the accident, but in my own experience it seems like it's taken about a year to get to that 51% tipping point where there seems to be more *me* in there again than not.

In any event - don't despair! There is no timeline for this, no standard measure of progress you are expected to meet. Each of us recovers different things in different orders at different paces. The important thing to know is that you *will* come back. Some things will be different, certainly, but change isn't always bad.