TBI: Talking Brain Injury with Brain Injury Association of Colorado

Kelly Tuttle was a career nurse practitioner when her life changed forever. For years after a car crash she struggled with fatigue, dizziness and nausea. Even as a professional she was frustrated by the healthcare system.

So after 20 years in cardiology, and newfound love for advocacy, she swapped hearts for brains!

In this episode I talk with Danielle de Boer, of Colorado Springs, who loves to live life at high speed.

In 2013 Danielle was hit by a car while road cycling. She was told she had a mild TBI. Like many other survivors, she realized this was just the beginning of a long and often frustrating road, where the smallest bumps can feel like insurmountable roadblocks -- until you rediscover your zest for life.

Starting January 1, Brain Injury Alliance Colorado (BIAC) will be known as Brain Injury Association of Colorado, a new affiliate of the national Brain Injury Association of America. It's the same nonprofit with the same mission -- to help TBI survivors across Colorado -- only now with a different name.

The 2024 Pikes Peak Challenge brought 468 survivors, supporter and volunteers to America's Mountain for a hike up America's Mountain: 13 miles and 7600 vertical feet (that's nearly 1.5 miles straight into the sky!) to the summit at 14,115 feet.

Along the way your host Phil Lindeman talks with 15+ people to learn why they made the trip to Pikes Peak for traumatic brain injury support, recovery and awareness.

Team TBI Podcast raised close to $1800... but we can do better! Please support the cause. All money goes to BIAC programs across the state.

We want to thank EVERYONE who supported our hike!

- Erin Ellebracht

- Susi Devrient

- Monica Rasmussen

- Jules Bryant

- Joe Movick

- Ken Steele

- Flannery O'Neil

- Kate Forgach

- Vince Gerber

- Ann Marie Damian

- Edward Ramirez

- Evan Lindeman

- Lynne Wilson

- Marcia Proctor

- Cassie Mavencamp

- Corri Levine

- Vicki Skinner

- Jon Lindeman

- My parents Ed and Sharon Lindeman

- Andrea and Derek for a place to stay the night before our 4 a.m. wakeup call

This month I'm talking with Darius Woods, yet another victim of yet another car accident. A drunk driver sent Darius to the hospital for 6 months, where he spent time in two medically induced comas, and even forgot his daughter's birthday.

But he would not let injury keep him down.

Coming up on September 7 is the Pikes Peak Challenge! For the first time ever I will joining dozens of TBI survivors and supports on the legendary 14er. Help me raise $3,900 for the 39th edition of the Pikes Peak Challenge by donating to Team TBI Podcast!

In this episode I talk with career mathematics professor and published author Deb Brandon. She has lived with "the bloody brain" since 2007, when she was diagnosed with cavernous angiomas. This diagnosis and what came next inspired her memoir, "But My Brain Had Other Ideas."

We talk about Deb's condition, her memoir, and her evolving relationship with the bloody brain.

Coming up on September 7 is the Pikes Peak Challenge! For the first time ever I will joining dozens of TBI survivors and supports on the legendary 14er. Help me raise $3,900 for the 39th edition of the Pikes Peak Challenge by donating to Team TBI Podcast!

BIAC's oldest and largest fundraiser, the Pikes Peak Challenge, returns to the slopes of America's Mountain on September 7 2024.

In this episode two BIAC VIPs talk about the challenge, how it has grown over the decades, and what it means to join the brain injury community on one of the nation's most iconic 14,000-foot peaks.

For the first time ever I will be joining the challenge! Help me raise $3,900 for the 39th edition of the Pikes Peak Challenge by donating to Team TBI Podcast!

In this episode I meet with my BIAC mentee, Calder. Almost exactly one year ago he suffered two seizures caused by a brain tumor. This past year, he says, has been strange. But he is making progress and learning to live with life after a TBI.

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Coming to Manitou Springs on Sept. 7 2024 is the annual Pikes Peak Challenge! Hike to the top of "America's Mountain," travel 13 miles to and from Barr Camp, or compete at the in-town 2-mile Manitou Walk. All money raised goes back to BIAC!

In this episode we hear from Erin, a TBI survivor who suffered a brain tumor at 23 years old. She calls its her "ticking time bomb" -- but today, 20 years later, she has learned to live without fear.

Learn more about BIAC and register for summer events like the Pikes Peak Challenge on September 7, 2024!

In this episode, for the first time, I welcome a pair of returning guests, Jules and Adam.

Before now Jules and Adam did not know each other, but all three of us quickly bonded by sharing "stellar life moments." Brain injury recovery is fluid. But community? That is our bedrock.

Follow Jules on Instagram!

Read Adam on Amazon!

Learn more about BIAC and register for summer events: Cathleen's Cause Golf Tournament and the Pikes Peak Challenge.

Public health professional Flannery O'Neil suffered a stroke at 34 years old. She never saw it coming, but today she's almost grateful it happened.

Now, as a nonprofit leader, she wants to make sure other young stroke victims have the same loving support she found during her recovery. It's the power of an "advocacy network" and it can make all the difference.

Have you suffered a stroke? Join Flannery's virtual support group, Young and Young At Heart, or visit her nonprofit, Stroke Onward.

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 Are you a brain injury survivor? Do you know someone who is? We want to hear from you! Contact Brain Injury Alliance Colorado for the opportunity to be featured on TBI: Talking Brain Injury podcast.