September is Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month! Few of us who survived them, had ever heard of one until that fateful moment … And then our lives were changed forever. 1 in 50 people have aneurysms. I’m 1 in 50, are you? Please call in and share your experience if you’re an aneurysm survivor or caregiver. We have a great slate of guests that represent all walks of aneurysm..
Help me kick off the Awareness Month with your experience on this Special Edition – Voices & Faces of Brain Aneurysm, and learn some some cold, hard facts about this condition .. The things your Doc usually fails to tell you ..
Guests – Me – Kim Justus (01/09/1995), Rico Principe (02/09/04), Niki Anoniem (06/07/18), Tammy Buck (01-01-11), Lynn Vanderhoof Lawrence (12-01-1976), Micki Turner (07/13/17), Adam Mate (1986), Cathee Cao (04/24/18), Joyce Boyle (10/24/16), Todd Grissom (03/06/14), Yasmine Jennings & Leo Palisano (11/10/2009), LesPaul Morgan (12-18-84) .. and more!
Cristabelle Braden is a singer, songwriter, speaker, author, worship leader, and founder of Hope After Head Injury. After suffering a traumatic brain injury as a teen, she has overcome barriers never dreamed possible, including graduating from college, releasing three albums of original music, and touring the country as a singer and speaker on brain injury. She never wrote a song before the brain injury, but within the first month of recovery songs started pouring out of her. This has given her great resolve to encourage and empower others going through similar circumstances.
In 2017 she released an original EP entitled Hope Survives, with songs about her journey through brain injury. She’s toured all over the country to sing and speak at a variety of venues.
The hope Cristabelle lives out each day shines through on stage and off, as she shares her emotional journey with a sweet sincerity and a wisdom far beyond her years. Her music tells her story through songs narrating the struggle of finding hope through the darkest times, never giving up, and continuing to fight despite the most difficult circumstances.
Through her journey of recovery, Cristabelle grew more and more passionate about TBI support and awareness, and now has become very active as an advocate for brain injury. The goal of her organization Hope After Head Injury is to provide a support system which focuses on the emotional aspect on healing from brain injury, with an emphasis on online support. She runs a live brain injury encouragement chats every Tuesday at 7pm est on the Hope After Head Injury facebook page: facebook.com/hopeafterheadinjury – all are welcome to join in the discussion!
For more information and tour dates, visit cristabellebraden.com. For more about Cristabelle’s work with brain injury, visit hopeafterheadinjury.com
Join Simon Lewis and Kim as they discuss the “Acceptance” and moving forward after Brain Injury. Acceptance frees us from the denial that inhibits our growth and ability to move forward. We all need to grieve the losses we’ve suffered because of our brain injuries .. But then need to accept our new circumstances, and move ahead to create a new life worth living. It’s easy to get stuck and stay miserable wallowing in regret, but we have one life (which has been spared) to implement Actions that propel us to a life we could have never imagined pre-injury! Acceptance isn’t a negative surrender of the fight. On the contrary, it frees us from the burdens weighing us down.
Matt Mobley is a writer at Always Braves, and Sports News Magazine. Matt was an athlete himself, who has always loved sports ..Particulary Baseball and the Braves! Born in California, with a stop in Texas, then ultimately to settle in Rural South Carolina, the only place Matt could imagine moving now, is perhaps to Atlanta with season tickets to his Fave Team! While in Texas, Matt met and married his high school crush and they had a wonderful son. Life was good, until at age 20 when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). From there, a new journey began. Join us to hear about that journey, and to see how Matt is fairing 25yrs out.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. We talk about TBI, ABI, Stroke, Brain Tumor .. But MS is characterized by lesions on the brain that distinguish it from other conditions with similar symptoms. Learn more, be informed. Misdiagnosis and misunderstanding are no strangers to MS, as in other types of Brain Injury.
LeaAnn Nielsen-Swinney is the mother of the mother of two beautiful daughters and an an Angel. She’s been married to her wonderhusband/caregiver for 28 years, and delights in her fur babies too!
She always start her story with ” I went to sleep as LeaAnn and woke up a total stranger.” In Labor Day 2014, she suffered a bleeding stroke and brain aneurysm, which led to brain surgery to relieve the pressure. This situation is thought to be due to a blood disease LeaAnn caught in her mechanical heart valves after some routine dental surgery. The doctors told the family that if she survived, she would never be the same. It took 3 months of re-learning to walk, talk, chew, swallow, read and write. The doctors were right about one thing, like many us, LeaAnn will never be the same. Join LeaAnn’s active support page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/575361106003146/ (A Closed Group For Support of TBI, ABI, Stroke, Caregivers)
Growing up, Mark Elswick had only one plan for his life. He was determined to be the next, great sportscaster on ESPN. Things were going just as scheduled for the college junior. That was, until, a life-threatening automobile accident derailed his plans. The crash left him on death’s doorstep with no chance of survival when his parents arrived at the hospital. They were greeted with his fate, being told he wasn’t expected to make it through the day.
Almost twenty-six years later, he’s an internationally-published author with Modern History Press, working towards becoming an in-demand motivational speaker. He’s here to not only give his story, but—more importantly—give what tell what he feels is the real explanation as to why he beat those insurmountable odds. His message is one that we all need to hear and carry into our daily lives. See: markelswick.net
Join 4th Wednesday of every month Co-Host Simon Lewis, author of Rise and Shine & I .. Discussing Civilian PTSD. We typically think of PTSD as a Military acquired condition, and certainly it is.
There is however, a large portion of the civilian population who struggles with the same mantle. We Warrior/Survivors may not have been down range, but we’ve experienced our own battlefields and struggled to find our way back.
Josh W – Professor of Blastology and the resulting (previously unnamed) “Blast Wave Stupidity” from using explosives to open doors like you use your phone to order coffee. Received his training in blast wave consequences in the US and Middle East, as well as hospitals, brain treatment programs, hyperbaric oxygen chambers and doctors offices across the country. High Consequence Athlete. Plays for keeps always. First team all American in the World Cup of ass kicking contests, survived mostly intact. Intent on healing every single one of the 339,000 US military service members with blast related TBI, will not stop until the mission is complete. Introduction of new host joing the team at BIRN!!!
n Dr Maria Romana’s Series on Relational Skills, tonight we discuss the third! Dr Maria is a Brain Injury Survivor who has worked extensively in Brain Injury Recovery protocols. She has become a regular Co-Host sharing what she has learned in her journey. Dr Maria is employed at the VA as a Pathologist.
Number 1 we discussed was: Can you see me? (Are they really paying focused attention)
Number 2 we discussed Self Soothing (Keeping us Calm to Better Carry On)
Recovery Now Host Kim Justus is substituting for our regular Saturday host Joey Giggles – we’ll cover “stuff & such” 🙂 Open Mic, Music, Discussion … Join Us for Last Minute Show!
