Happie Heads

Marlana is an incredible girl who is excellent at articulating what it is like to face a TBI and the thoughts that go through one's mind throughout the recovery process. She crashed her car in Branson, MO three weeks into her senior year of high school while driving buzzed. We talk about how much our own decisions impact the lives of those around us and how even the most devastating chapters in life are full of lessons and opportunities to grow. She is an incredible storyteller. If you are looking for a pick-me-up or a little motivation, this is your episode.

Her story starts at 9:50 min

Jim is a northeastern dude through and through. If his accent doesn't give it away, his sense of humor will. In 2006, the night before the 4th of July, Jim decided to do some drinking with some friends and then drive home. Unfortunately, on his ride home, he crashed his car and ended up in the hospital for several months, remaining in a "eyes open" comatose state for several weeks as well. The most impactful aspect of his story to me is his ability to battle through the ups and downs of recovery, including battling with alcoholism and the anger bouts after a TBI. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as we both did.

He also wrote a book about his recovery, More Than a Speed Bump: Life Before and After a Traumatic Brain Injury. It can be found on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Speed-Bump-Scott/dp/0988537079

Rik is a local Language and Speech Pathologist with a professorship at Pacific University. In addition to teaching, treating TBI survivors, and maintaining a social life, he also runs a bakery! What?! A bakery? Yes, pretty unique. A few years back he won an award at Pacific landing him a substantial amount of funds, which he decided to use towards a bakery in which people with TBI get to bake, clean, and do everything else a baker would do. The bakery is called Sarah Bellums (www.sarahbellumsbakery.org) and is only the second of its kind in the U.S. It serves many purposes including challenging survivors' abilities to recall guidelines, follow recipes, and use short term memory. It also creates a unique community in which people with TBI can connect with one another. This conversation was really fun, and I hope you all enjoy listening to it.

You should all go check out Sarah Bellums new store at: 7828 SW Capitol Hwy Portland, OR 97219, Hours: Thursday-Sunday 11AM-5PM.

Jessica is super fun to talk to. She got did not get into an accident, nor did she have a congenital mishap (hydrocephalus or AV malformation). She instead got sick, and the infection got into her central nervous system. This caught me off guard, as I did not know this going into the conversation. What a unique story! And her personality is very fun and honest. Enjoy!

Isaac's story is unique. Isaac was an alcoholic, and one night he suffered from congestive heart failure which led to an anoxic insult to his central nervous system. Essentially, he died for a bit in his sleep. In this conversation we discuss the lessons he learned from this time, and how he carries himself forward in life now. We obviously also talk about his recovery story. Enjoy.

His story starts at 4:00

Jason is a homie with a great spirit! He was raised in LA next to Dodgers Stadium (as you will hear in the story), and to this day bleeds Dodger blue. He was super fun to talk and a laid back, chill dude much like I try to be. I hope you enjoy our conversation, and laugh at both of our jokes! Enjoy.

Jeff has a story very similar to my own. He was in a car accident in the middle of college, and actually seemed to get back to school quite rapidly. He was also in a coma for several weeks, part of this time including a partial coma in which he appeared awake but was functionally unconscious. He has gone on to do many great things like create a popular blog about life with a TBI, and write a book called Learning How to Live with Yourself After Brain Injury. His blog can be found at www.tbisurvivor.com along with links to his book and several other resources. Jeff is a chill dude, and I believe we vibed quite well in this convo. I hope you enjoy

On January of 2017 was in a car accident on her way to work in McMinnville, OR. After being life-flighted to the local hospital, she was flown to Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, OR. She was comatose for one week, and contracted double pneumonia twice in her 6 months in ICU. We talk about depression, memory, and pain management. If you battle chronic pain, this is the podcast for you as Maddy is full of insights into pain management.

Her story starts at 14:28

In March of 2016, Dami drove her car into the trailer of a semi truck in Albany, OR at 78mph. You read that right, 78mph. The craziest part is she only broke two bones and one of them was her left ring finger. She was comatose for 2 weeks, and went through months of rehab. Her story is great and addresses the social, physical, and mental ramifications of such an accident.

Her story starts at 8:24

Dr Deshaw has lived an incredible life. His career in chiropractic medicine began in the nineties. After seven years of practice, he realized how insurance laws constrained some of his abilities to practice medicine, and he decided to become a lawyer. So he quit his practice to attend law school, right? No! While operating as one of six total chiropractors in Ireland, he also attended Pepperdine Law School in London. Needless to say he has led an incredibly fast, rich life. Because of his exposure to brain injury in his chiropractic medicine, he decided to center his law practice around helping people with traumatic brain injury. In most of his cases he helps clients confront big insurance and get the money they need for recovery. In addition to practicing law in the TBI world, he also founded Trial Guides LLC. Trial Guides is a legal publishing company that connects the world of traumatic brain injury and law by teaching physicians about pertinent insurance laws and lawyers about traumatic brain injury. Dr Deshaw is certainly one of the most interesting people I have talked to on this podcast. Enjoy.