My guest is Debra Pyka, a mother who is trying to bring awareness to not only prevent suicide, but to warn of the dangers of sports and head trauma to our youth. She will be discussing her son Joseph’s life story, playing sports, CTE which led to years of depression and ultimately, his suicide. Joseph’s brother Seth will join us, since they played sports all through their childhood together. She has tried to contact politicians, White House and Michelle Obama, with no one concerned or responding to her. She also wants to shed light on the responsibility of the NFL with the research started 20 years ago, to warn all parents of the dangers of concussions/head trauma and future effects, which the NFL denied for many years. More young people are dying from sports related injuries than ever. sportslegacy.org/research/legacy-donors/joseph-chernach Debbie was one of the Mom’s who among many, including Kimberly Archie, went to the Capital last month during Brain Injury Awareness Month 2016.
A Free Friday
Twice a month, long time Friday host Kevin Phillips, is on leave until July. We wish he and his co-host Marvelous Maggie, smooth sailing and well wishes in their time away! Kevin has been most recently doing shows on the 1, 3, 5th Friday … And Isis Sarran-Pagan has been artfully acting as the 2nd & 4th Friday Host since last fall. Isis has graciously volunteered to step in as temporary host every Friday! If you’ve met her, you’ll love to hear more of her; if you haven’t met her yet, this is a great time on Friday nights!
This arrangement will begin in May. You guessed it. That means tonight was open as the last Friday of April! Regular weekly Wednesday night host, Kim Justus, will be sitting in the first chair.
As an opener, we have the pleasure of hearing an incredible story from Dale Hayes, founder of the band Garfan. If you don’t believe in miracles, this is one you won’t want to miss! From a tragic situation after his wife’s brain injury, there’s a poerful message of hope! Hear about what’s going on with Deb, as well as good news about Garfan’s new release – Hot off the press! For their music, see www.Garfan.com and Like on facebook.com/garfanband
Brain Injury Survival Kit
Dr Cheryle Sullivan worked solo many years, as a family physician in private practice in Michigan and as a family physician-clinic administrator in Colorado.
In 2002, a skiing accident caused a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that ended Dr. Sullivan’s medical career. Dr. Sullivan now follows her passion, raising awareness about brain injury among the general public as well as in health care providers. She has presented on topics related to brain injury to the general public, medical providers, educators, vocational rehabilitation staff and military staff and troops. She is the author of the book Brain Injury Survival Kit, 365 Tips, Tricks and Tools to Deal with Cognitive Function Loss and contributing author for the book Chicken Soup for the Soul, Recovering From Traumatic Brain Injury. See tbijourney.com
Nightmare of the Mudd Girls
Marcy Mudd’s family was going along great, until daughter Madeline was struck by tragedy. Many of the survivors we speak with, were adults when they faced the reality of life and death situations. Tonight we’ll here from a mother and daughter who faced down the monster of an aneurysm, how they handled it, and why circumstances led them to become very vocal advocates through JoeNiekroFoundation.org
Nasal Release to Treat Concussion
Cynthia Stein LPT MEd Is a licensed physical therapist in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. She specializes in treating concussion patients who do not get better with standard vestibular care. She owned Squirrel Hill Physical therapy for many years where she specialized in alternative treatment techniques such as craniosacral therapy, myofascial release, lymphatic drainage therapy and nasal release technique for treating the structural problems caused by concussion. Since Cynthia’s retirement from herpractice at the end of Dec, she am devoting her time to teaching nasal release technique and lymphatic drainage therapy for concussion. These classes are attended by physical therapists, chiropractors, naturopaths and physicians. Cynthia’s goal is to disseminate this highly effective work and have it researched so that it can be evidence based. See: conquerconcussion.com and her teaching website is nasalreleasetechnique.com
No Giggles Tonight
No it’s not an April Fool that the past two night’s shows haven’t been live. TONIGHT IS, with Kim Justus and a Spring Thang! Call in and help with the discussion, a few laughs … Or next time it’ll be another tape 🙂
Unfortunately Joey Giggles has a bad case of seasonal allergies and lost his voice. Ms Kimmy the Vulcan is MIA tonight, but they’ll be back next week when the Claritin kicks in!
Tonight is the night for you to shine. CALL IN & let’s make it a party!! One thing we’ll discuss is a study that poses the question, Could Excessive Time on Social Media Be Linked to Depression? I tell you what the study determined, and you can weigh in on that, or anything else on your mind. Good talk, good tunes.
Technology Assists the Unreachable
Michael was a Special Educator in New York City for 26 years helping pioneer the use of digital video and computers by engaging hundreds of language-impaired students in tech activities promoting metacognition, communication and volition.
After retirement he worked to promote the use of technology with special education and to promote neurodiverse creativity n the Arts. He has presented at conferences in Orlando and Pensacola. He explains his work on Tech4Autism.com and his YouTube channel. www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL95EF449E1AF238C8
The goal of his current project, Neurodiverse City is to improve social outcomes for the disabled by helping school age children to develop empathy for the people behind the label.
Find more information on Michael and his work on Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/in/mleventhal
You can also contact him through email Leventhal.Michael@gmail.com
Voices of Survivor Authors Speak Out
In recognition of Brain Injury Awareness Month, we’ll be featuring several survivor’s who have become published authors about their journeys. We all have a story. If you doubt your ability to voice it by becoming an author, you may reconsider. For others looking for survivor stories and how they’ve learned to cope-You’ll have a wide variety to choose from here. Great show you can listen to an author or two at a time in archive if you missed live!
Deborah Schlag: AwakeningsCenterNC.com
Dr. Cheryle Sullivan: tbijourney.com
Michael Ciafone: meandmichael.org
Terry Smith: TerrySmithBooks.com
Tim Bransfield: alifeinterrupted.net
Amy Van Patten Ofenbeck: Amazon
Jeff Sebell: tbisurvivor.com (unable to come due to illness)
Kim Justus: inaflash.org
Cyberphysiologist on Healing Negative Emotions
Gary Sinclair is a Cyberphysiologist and winner of Outstanding Transpersonal Contribution, in the field of Bridging Body, Mind & Spirit. In his personal life, he has overcome 50% lung capacity at birth to full, 14 years of MS with 80% mobility loss to healed, and recently 14 strokes with paralysis to no signs of a stroke in each case within 30 minutes. This is one interview YOU MUST HEAR and you know why! His latest book that cracks the code for healing titled ‘Healing Memories in Seconds.’ will be featured on PBS TV. Gary has personally taught over 3,000 people how to neutralize their worst memory every at PTSD level in 20 seconds with his latest work. Yup, WE ARE IN AWE of this new therapy work and you will be also.
See More at his Website: http://www.garysinclair.com
Difficulty of Transitions with Dr Maria
Dr Maria Romanas is back in the house! As a Dr of Pathology, and a Brain Injury Survivor .. Dr Maria blends scientific based knowledge, with the human challenges of being a survivor. The past year has been a whirlwind of change for her, and for people who function best with routine, transition can really rock our boat!
Maria’s professional and personal life were limited by a severe TBI suffered during a roll-over car accident in 1984. She doesn’t have an outwardly obvious disability, but cognitive impairments were compromising her quality of life.
In spring 2013, Dr Maria went through an 8-week program of intensive holistic cognitive rehabilitation (HCR) that trained her to become her own self-therapist. She learned exactly what was wrong with her brain and how to deliberately use her conscious mind to prevent her impairments from causing disabled functioning. She has be gracious enough to share those tools with us in the past. Now once again life on life’s terms, has her revisiting all tools she accumulated to maintain a stable life.