When 38-year-old occupational therapist Rachael Angstadt was rear-ended in the fall of 2022, she had no idea how drastically her life was about to change. What seemed like a straightforward head and neck injury quickly snowballed into debilitating symptoms that didn’t add up; headaches, nausea, visual motion sensitivity, difficulty walking straight, and overwhelming exhaustion.
Even as a healthcare professional, Rachael didn’t realize her symptoms were rooted in a functional vision problem.
“I knew things weren’t right, but I didn’t know how bad they were until I came to MyVisionFirst”
Her journey from struggling to thriving again is a powerful reminder of how misunderstood vision is and how transformational Vision Performance Training can be for traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors.
Before her accident, Rachael was active, independent, and thriving in her career as an occupational therapist. After the crash, everything changed.
She could no longer:
Her world became visually overwhelming and physically exhausting.
Her job? Gone.
Her independence? Slipping.
Her confidence? Shaken.
“I was pretty much non-functional. I was losing my livelihood and my independence”.
Like many TBI survivors, Rachael sought answers and was dismissed.
An optometrist told her she didn’t need vision therapy.
She was prescribed prism glasses but quickly realized:
“They helped a little, but I still wasn’t functional. Something wasn’t right.”
This is a common experience: vision problems after concussion or whiplash often go undiagnosed without a Functional Vision Evaluation.
Desperate for help, Rachael began researching where people actually get better and that search led her to Dr. Appelbaum and the MyVisionFirst team.
Her comprehensive Functional Vision Evaluation revealed what no previous provider had identified:
Her symptoms weren’t random.
They weren’t “in her head”.
They were visual.
For the first time, she had answers and a path forward.
Through her personalized Vision Performance Training program, Rachael began retraining her visual system and rebuilding the eye-brain connection that was disrupted in the accident.
Week by week, she gained back part of her life:
Rachael wants people to know that symptoms often dismissed as “normal” after a head injury are not normal.
“We tell ourselves it’ll get better… but none of it is normal. Go get the evaluation.”
Her story highlights what so many TBI survivors experience: when vision is overlooked, recovery stalls but when it’s treated, life changes.
If you or someone you love is struggling after a concussion, whiplash, or head injury, vision may be the missing piece.
Get the evaluation that changed everything for Rachael.
Your symptoms are real. Your recovery is possible. And your vision is often the key.
