What does it mean to “not give up” on the journey with brain injury?

Let’s talk about it. Cristabelle shares encouragement for survivors and her mother Cyndie Braden offers support for caregivers and families.

We talk about different aspects of choosing to not give up, including family dynamics, the day-to-day things, and how to give yourself grace for the hard days.

Some of the questions I am asked most frequently are “how do I become a brain injury advocate” or “how do you get started sharing your story?”

On today’s episode, I’m sharing a lot of what I have learned about advocacy through the years - joined by Monica Vaccaro, director of programs at the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania, to share her perspective and insight! We are talking about being a self-advocate for brain injury, tips for sharing your story, and also how to get involved with advocacy on a larger scale if it’s something you are interested in!

Brain Injury Awareness Month might be almost over, but the advocacy goes on all year long! 🙂 Let’s continue to use our voices together to make a difference!

-Cristabelle

Concussion Safety: Bringing a fresh perspective to sports concussions, Tracey Suggs and Foster Wilkins are the founders of Protect Your Skull - the world’s first and only concussion awareness brand creating quality performance apparel for today’s athlete. They are amazing advocates as they work hard to educate for safety in sports- today’s conversation is one you don’t want to miss!

Susan H. Connors, president and CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America, is here today for a special Brain Injury Awareness Month Episode. Listen as she shares about what the BIAA does, including help and resources that are available to survivors.

Susan is a champion for brain injury, and today she also shares some of her personal journey as to how she got involved in the BIAA and what she has seen in brain injury awareness over the last 25 years. The discussion closes with encouragement and tips for those who may want to get involved with advocating on a broader scale.

How is female brain injury different? Today we are talking about awareness centered on female brain injury and concussions. Cristabelle is joined by Katherine Snedaker, founder of PINK Concussions. She offers some insight into the gaps in research when it comes to brain injury in women for this episode for Brain Injury Awareness Month.

Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.

Brain injury is an invisible injury, and this affects survivors and families on a daily basis.

Today, Cristabelle is joined once again by her mother, Cyndie Braden, for the first week of Brain Injury Awareness Month!

If you've ever been overwhelmed or overstimulated with brain injury symptoms, you are not alone. Today, Natasha Wilch is here to share some ways to help us calm down symptoms. We discuss some simple strategies along with encouragement for survivors.

Resilience: we can come back stronger than we ever realized through brain injury!

Today, Cristabelle hosts a delightful conversation with survivors Brad Neufeld and Jo Ann Glim. They share their stories, what resilience means, and encouragement to listeners to never give up.

How do we keep going on the brain injury journey? Sometimes it can be a struggle just to get through the day. Today Cristabelle keeps it real, sharing that it is not always easy, but we can choose to never give up.

Next, Tanya Gauthier, founder of the nonprofit TBIncredible, joins to share her inspirational story through her own traumatic brain injury and encouragement to listeners on how to keep going!

Today we are talking about what it means to be determined and stay motivated on our journey through brain injury!

First, Cristabelle will share some encouragement from her own journey with brain injury, and how staying determined doesn’t always mean pushing through. It’s so important to be kind to yourself!

Next, Steven Thompson will share about his decades long journey through brain injury and how he continued to stay determined to achieve his goals.

Finally, Shane Warner will share his story through TBI, how he stayed motivated, and how the mindset he learned from being in the National Guard helped him in his recovery journey. Shane is also the host of his own podcast called IronWill which you can find here: https://ironwill.us/the-podcast/ (Hear Cristabelle’s interview with IronWill on Episode 46!)

Dysautonomia (dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system) can often occur with brain injury and concussions.

Let's learn: What is dysautonomia? How is it related to brain injury and concussions? How do you know if you have it? How is it treated?

Today, Dr. Jeremy Schmoe is back for a follow-up on last week’s episode on the vestibular system, to dig even further into some of the ways that autonomics can be affected by brain injury.

The vestibular system can be impacted by brain injury. Let's learn: What is the vestibular system? How does it affect brain injury survivors? What symptoms can be caused by dysfunction of this system? Today, Dr. Jeremy Schmoe is here to answer these questions and so much more.

Emotional changes after brain injury are common. The way that the brain is physically affected can cause changes in emotional response. Also, dealing with a major life change can lead to complicated feelings and trauma responses. If you have experienced a wide range of confusing emotions, know that you are not alone!

Today, Dr. Ann Marie McLaughlin joins Cristabelle to share her expertise. Let’s talk about some of the ways that emotional changes affect survivors, common root causes, and some coping strategies and tips on how to work through the complex emotions that can happen after brain injury.

The journey of living with brain injury comes with ups and downs. How do we combat fear? What is the difference between a symptom flare and a re-injury?

Today, you will hear from two guests:

- Survivor Perspective: Ali Rheaume has been living with a TBI for 5 years, and just sustained a re-injury concussion a few months ago. She shares some of her journey and tips for dealing with re-injuries, along with encouragement on how to combat fear.

- Professional Perspective: Natasha Wilch is here to share some of the medical reasons that survivors might fall or hit their heads more often, advice for how to prevent re-injuries, the difference between a new injury and a flare-up, and more.

Setbacks might happen, but we can get through them. I hope this episode provides some encouragement and hope that healing is possible. You are not alone! -Cristabelle

There are many different options to help survivors to grow in independence.

Did you know there are residential programs for brain injury that are different from the inpatient hospital setting? In fact, Success Rehab is just one example of what a community living program can look like. They provide post-acute rehabilitation for both residential and outpatients, but also do so much more to empower brain injury survivors to grow in confidence, find employment, and simply enjoy life!

Did you know that the foods we eat can have a huge impact on improvement and healing after a brain injury?

Today, nutrition expert Brigid Titgemeier (@beingbrigid) is here to share all about the relationship between food and brain health. Specifically, we are going to be talking about the brain/gut connection, how the food we eat can actually help to improve brain injury symptoms, and some simple meal ideas and tips on how to incorporate brain healthy foods into your routine.

Simply put… life is different after brain injury. So what is it like adjusting and adapting to living with symptoms and everything else that comes with having a brain injury? Today you’ll hear from two survivors sharing their stories, and how they have been learning to live in the “new normal”.

My hope is that this episode brings you some encouragement that you are not alone and provides some tips that you might be able to apply to your own journey.

How do we approach brain injury anniversaries? That day can bring up a weird feeling, it can be painful, it can be hard to get through. Each of us will have different experiences with it.

Today we will have perspectives from survivors as well as family members. Wherever you are on your journey, my hope is that this episode helps you to know know you’re not alone, and gives you tools and practical tips for dealing with your anniversary.

This week we explore the benefits of music therapy and physical therapy in relation to brain injury - along with some great information about Concussion Compass (online membership for post concussion syndrome) and Camp Cranium (summer camp for kids with brain injury).

Ever wanted to learn more of the options out there to help with brain injury? Listen for some great information about clubhouses, camps, speech language pathology, and functional neurology.