In 2013, Chris Tuley had a stroke at the age of 27. With zero family history of stroke, no risk factors, and no obvious genetic disorders, doctors determined the stroke was caused by a spontaneous vertebral artery dissection. Unfortunately dissections are one of the leading causes of strokes in younger people. After spending months in therapy to correct the loss of his vestibular function, Chris fully recovered, however he had lingering nerve pain in his face that was getting progressively worse. Chris was diagnosed with central poststroke pain syndrome and received treatment at Vanderbilt’s P ..read more

Elyse is an occupational therapist from Chattanooga, TN. She worked as a travel therapist across the country before returning home in 2019 to take a home health care position. Since she started working she’s recognized that the U.S. healthcare system is broken. She’s seen and heard time and again from survivors that they don’t get the education, quantity, or quality of therapy they need. This is the 2nd part of the interview in which Elyse goes on to details to explain what she means by low cost but high quality. Exactly the type of support survivors need ..read more

Elyse is an occupational therapist from Chattanooga, TN. She worked as a travel therapist across the country before returning home in 2019 to take a home health care position. Since she started working she’s recognized that the U.S. healthcare system is broken. She’s seen and heard time and again from survivors that they don’t get the education, quantity, or quality of therapy they need. This is the part 1 of the interview in which Elyse focuses on her story and what made her decide to start her journey to provide additional resource survivors and family needs ..read more

Traveling Caregivers, a grassroots hope-faith based organization, is bridging the gap between self care while navigating a multitude of Caregiving concerns with a holistic lifestyle and advocacy. Dawn Renee founder of the Traveling Caregivers, a holistic caregiver, Reiki energy and Ayurvedic practitioner struggled for most of her life to understand the triggers that were causing her to experience migraines, allergies, Endometriosis, auto immune disorder, Diabetes II, Lyme, Epstein Bar, mold exposure, gallstones and chronic fatigue. Over the past decade with a holistic nature based lifestyle ap ..read more

Mark Garman went through a traumatic event at the age of 15 that altered my life forever. Mark had brain surgery to remove an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) that was causing him to have seizures. During that surgery he suffered a stroke- along with other complications that changed his life forever. With any drastic, life altering change, in one’s life- it came with some getting used to. Mark took it in stride, overcame the odds, and conquered all obstacles in my way. As the years went by, it became apparent that everything happens for a reason. Not only was that embedded in his mind, but his ..read more

Bill just celebrated the fact that his stroke occurred 17 years ago when he was 68 and still working every day to improve, even though most people see him as someone who has made a complete recovery. Bill had a career as a teacher, a salesman, and an executive in two different food companies. And now his life is devoted to helping other stroke survivors to be inspired with their own recovery. Listen to Bill and Professor Patricia Geist-Martin share this wonderful story ..read more

Deborah & Cam discuss how easily anyone can make simple adjustments to improve their life while in the process of recovery and beyond. Life after TBI may not be what you had envisioned; it can be better, a new normal - taking you places, meeting people you never dreamed, living a happy, healthy life. Deborah’s award winning book Becoming the Healer The Miracle of Brain Injury is packed full of helpful ideas for those going through medical trauma and those who care for them. She has moved to North Carolina where she founded Awakenings: Center for Inner Healing & Empowerment – a non-prof ..read more

Mary Nicholson, Founder of Healings in Motion, was a successful businesswoman. After suffering a life-altering stroke, her biggest venture became the reclamation of her life. Her journey of change began with a broken heart, after the devastating loss of her newlywed husband to Pancreatic Cancer. Her mourning was so severe and painful that Mary was hospitalized twice. She could not believe that the love that swept her off her feet was now gone. While grieving, Mary had a brain aneurysm and was rushed to the hospital. While on the operating table, she then suffered an ischemic stroke, grand ..read more

George Scola is a stroke survivor. Many years ago, stroke disrupted his thriving career in finance. Undeterred, he started the Stroke Survivors Foundation to champion the cause for stroke survivors. He now also serves on the board of the World Stroke Organization. George has long held the vision that post discharge support is crucial to stroke survivors and a better stroke care. He is now working with Strokefocus to roll out a PDSS program in South Africa and beyond ..read more

Vince is a fitness enthusiast and an olympic weightlifter hobbyist. At 28 years old he suffered an ischemic stroke that left him with hemiparesis on the 4th of July 2016. Vince credits being extremely blessed and remaining focused on positivity throughout rehab and onto recovery outside of the facility with making progress over the 3 years since his stroke. Vince views recovery as an ongoing challenge and sees this as an opportunity to share his story. With an emphasis on community, Vince has participated in online campaigns to raise awareness for stroke. Vince is learning to share what he ..read more