The NeuroNerds: A Brain Injury Recovery & Pop Culture Show

May is not only Stroke Awareness Month, but also Mental Health Awareness Month so in this episode, we’re chatting about the mental health impact strokes can have on survivors. Joe and our producer (and his partner) Felice talk about how Joe copes with mental health post-stroke and what tools he uses including humor. Plus, they touch on how stroke is represented in pop culture like in the classic episode of Seinfeld called The Alternate Side. How do you cope with mental health post-stroke or brain injury? Please share on our socials!

This episode is a candid look at our host Joe’s experience with catching COVID after over 2 years of avoiding it. He talks about his symptoms including extended fatigue and body aches. This is his candid account of dealing with COVID as a stroke survivor. If you or someone you know is a brain injury survivor experiencing COVID for the first time, please share on our socials. We’re here for emotional and moral support!

In this episode, Joe chats with our friend and fellow stroke survivor Zavdy Ortega who just celebrated her 4-year stroke anniversary or stroke-iversary as we call it. They chat about her experience having a stroke while being a mother and how finding community was key to her recovery. Zavdy shares her incredible story of losing 1/4 of her brain and skull which helped save her life. Plus, she’s also a big nerd like us and shares details about her Star Wars-themed wedding. If this episode resonates and you’re looking for community, please connect with us on our socials!

Family is not always the one you were born with. In this episode, Joe goes solo talking about his perspective on family, especially post-brain injury. He dives into his own family and upbringing from moving around a lot to losing touch to now reconnecting with long-lost family and the hope it has given him. He talks about the importance of having a “chosen” family including friends, survivors, and loved ones who have been key to his recovery. Do you have a “chosen” family? Please share with us on our socials!

Brain injury awareness month is wrapping up, but we’re still bringing the awareness year-round! In this episode, our host Joe is chatting with Tania Saiz about how they learned to advocate for themselves and better work with their doctors throughout recovery. They also chat about how they chose to grow and evolve out of our brain injuries and how connecting with other survivors has helped them feel supported through their evolving journeys. If you know any brain injury survivors or are one yourself, please reach out to us on our socials for support!

We’re continuing to spread awareness for Brain Injury Awareness Month in this episode by sharing various ways to support a loved one through brain injury recovery. Oftentimes, it is challenging for someone who has never experienced a brain injury to support their friend or family member who has suffered a brain injury. Our host Joe and his partner/producer Felice are discussing how support through brain injury recovery evolves and changes depending on what stage you’re in. They offer advice on how best to show up for your loved ones as they go through their brain injury recovery journey. Do you have some tips we missed for supporting brain injury survivors? Please let us know on our socials!

In this episode, Joe is exploring the first-year journey of recovery with actor, director, and stroke survivor, Misha Montana. It’s her 1-year stroke anniversary and she shares her experience thus far including the challenges she’s faced professionally and personally as well as figuring out how to navigate her new normal post-stroke. If you’re a stroke survivor, what are some challenges you overcame in your first year of recovery? Please share on our socials!

It is Brain Injury Awareness Month so in this episode, our host Joe and our producer Felice are sharing facts about all types of brain injuries and conditions. They share the importance of non-brain injury survivors being aware of the signs of various brain conditions because oftentimes many injuries related to the brain can be avoided or healed when acted upon quickly. We didn’t get to talk about every single brain injury or condition in this episode so please let us know what we missed on our socials!

In this episode, Joe and Lauren are exploring how depression shows up in different ways for brain injury survivors. Depression much like a brain injury is an invisible illness that is hard for those not experiencing it to understand. Joe and Lauren both share their personal experiences with depression and how they have coped and managed it. Plus, they touch on therapy and processing grief. Do you or someone you love experience depression on a regular basis? Please let us know on our socials and how we can support you.

We’re celebrating Black history month by kicking off our first Amplify Black Voices episode of 2022! This is a series where our podcast highlights the stories of Black brain injury survivors. There is a major lack of representation in healthcare when it comes to educating and spreading awareness for BIPOC individuals so we want to shine a light on their stories. In this episode, Joe is chatting with Janai Burton, a Black stroke survivor originally from Louisiana. She shares her challenges dealing with the inequalities of the healthcare system as well as her recovery journey. If you are a Black brain injury survivor, please connect with us on our socials. We want to support you through your recovery journey!

What causes encephalitis and how does it affect the brain? World Encephalitis Day is February 22nd so in this episode, Joe speaks with brain injury survivor and encephalitis awareness advocate, Veronique Theberge (Vero for short). Vero teaches us more about encephalitis and her experience suffering from it as well as how she manages her aphasia. From Tiktoking to spread awareness to fundraising, Vero does it all! Do you know anyone who suffers from encephalitis? Please connect with us on our socials for support.

We finally saw Spider-Man: No Way Home so Joe and Lauren are diving deep into the mental health themes laced throughout the movie. SPOILER ALERTS! They talk about villains and their dissociative episodes as well as processing trauma around loss. Plus, Joe and Lauren discuss the spectrum of “success” and “failure” in recovery. What are you favorite parts of this epic Spider-Man movie? Please share on our socials!

In this episode, our host Joe and his partner and our producer Felice talk about a very special dog that belonged to our good friends Jon and Patricia. She was key to Joe’s mental health during his first days home from the hospital following his stroke. This beautiful pup’s name was Boo and she just passed away last week. We’re dedicating this episode to Boo and talking about how animals are a huge support and comfort during times of stress and trauma, whether that be mental, physical, or both. Do you have a special animal that supports you through the ups and downs of life? Please share with us on our socials.

In this episode Joe is chatting with fellow stroke survivor and podcaster, Eryn Martin. They share how they both found support in the recovery through podcasting and how their journeys to becoming starting their own podcasts were very similar. Plus they talk about Eryn’s recovery, community and connecting with other survivors. If you are a brain injury survivor, how do you connect with community? Please share on our socials!

In this episode, our host Joe and co-host Lauren discuss the role of anger when dealing with trauma from the perspective of the Jedi and Sith in Star Wars. Going through any type of brain injury experience is traumatic mentally and physically so they explore coping mechanisms through Star Wars including anger as a path to healing and analysis of anger in Anakin. Plus they figure out that Lauren would be a Sith/Gray Jedi while Joe would be you’re standard regular Jedi. What kind of Jedi are you? Please share on our socials!

We’re kicking off the year with Dina Chon from TAAF – The AVM & Aneurysm Foundation! Our host Joe is chatting with Dina about TAAF’s advocacy and support for AVM and aneurysm survivors and their plans for 2022! Do you or a family member or friend have an AVM or aneurysm? Please share on our socials. We would love to support you!

It’s our last episode of 2021 and it’s a special Joe Solo Rocks edition with our host Joe chatting solo about the past year in review and his hopes, dreams and goals for 2022. He is spreading positivity and inspiration to the brain injury survivor community with words of encouragement and positivity. And he’s also sharing his intentions to expand his support for brain injury survivors on a deeply impactful level through his new YouSoRock coaching program. What are your goals and dreams for 2022? Please share on our socials!

This episode continues our series with our sponsor Motus Nova featuring power user Maddi Neibanck and her experience using their robotic hand for physical therapy at home. She shares her progress and how Motus has helped her make big strides in her recovery.

In this episode, our host Joe opens up about his struggles since dealing with higher than normal overstimulation during Thanksgiving and how it’s affecting him throughout this holiday season. As a brain injury survivor, the holidays can be very triggering emotionally, mentally and physically with increased activity and interaction with friends and family. Our producer and Joe’s partner, Felice, joins him to discuss how she supports and empathizes from a caregiver/family perspective. For all of our brain injury survivor listeners, how are you doing during this holiday season? Please share how we can support each other on our socials.

Not all disabilities are visible. Our host Joe for instance has deficits as a result of his stroke but most wouldn’t be able to tell by just looking at him. In this episode, Joe and co-host Lauren, talk about invisible disabilities and how mainstream media is representing them in a really big way through the new Hawkeye Disney+ series. There’s a new generation of superheroes that are more inclusive and diverse and we’re talking all about it in this episode. What are some of your favorite superheroes with a disability? Please share on our socials!

It’s the week of Thanksgiving in the States so Joe and Lauren are talking all about gratitude. Having a brain injury adds another layer to the meaning of finding gratitude in everyday life. Joe and Lauren share how they practice gratitude and find thanks for life and all of its ups and downs. Plus, Joe shares more details about his new coaching program for brain injury survivors. What are you grateful for? Please share on our socials!

We love celebrating fellow survivors and their stories through recovery and beyond. In this episode, we’re featuring stroke survivor Tymiak Hawkins who is sharing his story in a big way with the debut of his first book “Becoming The Light.” Our host Joe is chatting with him about their similar recovery experiences being that they both have mostly invisible, mental deficits from their strokes and how they manage that in their daily lives. They’re also both former basketball players so they talk a lot about how being athletes played into their recovery. Like Joe, Tymiak is all about positive thinking and so this episode dives into how the focus on the gift of life post-stroke. How do you stay positive through the adversities of life? Please share on our socials!

Winter is coming which means the holidays are on the way so our host Joe is talking with his partner and our producer Felice about how they prepare for this time of year. It can be especially overwhelming for a brain injury survivor to deal with the overstimulation and the extra social interactions associated with the holidays so Joe and Felice go into how he prepares mentally as a stroke survivor. If you are a brain injury survivor, how do you cope with the overwhelm the holidays can bring? Please share on our socials!