Ali, my former translator from Al-Waleed, had arrived in the United States from Jordan and settled in New Jersey. He was having difficulty finding work, his two-room apartment was too small for his family, and he was in debt to the U.S. government for the cost of his flight, but at least he was safe. Or, as safe as you can be in the more urban sections of northern New Jersey. My medical situation, meanwhile, was improving. I had a great therapist and a great primary-care physician, and my newest course of medicine, more than twenty pills for everything from anxiety to irritable bowel syndrome (my digestive system never recovered after Al-Waleed), was working as expected. In fact, medical treatment of all veterans was improving noticeably by the summer of 2009. The Obama administration had increased the VA budget significantly, leading to more consistent—if still too often inadequate—care. Traumatic brain injuries, like the one I sustained in Al-Waleed, began making the news after evidence surfaced that concussions in football players caused long-term anxiety, stress, and depression—many of the symptoms I shared.
