PODCAST · health
Happie Heads
by Michael Jensen
A community to provide a virtual network for the brain injured and their loved ones, pulling them out of isolation and into the hope and light of community.
Episodes
-
Episode 69 – Jared and Sumner of Forest Neurotech
This is spin off of episode 68 wherein Jared Hager and Sumner – Founder of Forest Neurotech – discuss the origin of their collaboration, the purpose of their work, and ways in which listeners can get involved.
-
Episode 68 – Jared Hager
Jared Hager is a one of a kind guy. He has an exuberance and lust for life that is hard to find. While setting up to shoot a skating video, he crashed his skateboard and suffered a TBI, meriting a hemicraniectomy and eventually a cranioplasty. Of course, Jared was able to utilize this event as a...
-
Episode 67 – Steve (Stevo) Bohlemann
In the summer of 2014, in his last year of college Steve was struck by a cyclist from behind while jogging across a bridge in Charleston, South Carolina. His injuries included: a subdural hematoma, a fractured skull, fractured vertebrae, and of course, a TBI. Upon arriving at the hospital, he was...
-
Episode 66 - Jean Marie Staranna
At the age of 16 in Old Forge, Pennsylvania Jean was in a car accident. She seemed to be recovering well until she began to have generalized seizures a year after her accident. Fortunately, she was able to see a neurologist and try out several anti-seizure medications until her seizures remitted....
-
Episode 65 – Leia Tyrrell 2.0
In this episode we have the return of one of our first guests, Leia Tyrrell. Since our first conversation at the end of 2016, Leia has had several more TBI. We discuss the physical and psychological ramifications of these TBI, and many of the broader ideas that many TBI survivors think about on a...
-
Episode 64 – Lydia Ewing-Green
One day, while Lydia was playing catch with her nephew she turned around to pick something up, an incoming throw from her nephew struck her in the back of her left ear. Immediately she was completely disoriented, and went into a state of shock. She never would have imagined she just suffered a…
more -
Episode 63 – Jack Fletcher
In the summer of 2014, Jack was fresh out of high school and getting started on a fast track to become a paramedic firefighter. He was six weeks into the program when he headed toward home for a surprise visit. He was about halfway when he was struck head on by a drunk driver on Mt hood. He was…
more -
Episode 62 – Lori Edstrom
In January of 2014 Lori had her tonsils removed, a routine surgery for most folks. While recovering at home, she had a severe reaction to the antibiotics and pain medications she was on and was found in her home by her boyfriend unresponsive. She was severely hypoxic and dehydrated, requiring...
-
Episode 61 – Robyn Block
Robyn is from a small town in southern Minnesota. One day, on a skiing trip way up north in the state she crashed full speed into a tree, and her head struck a rock when she made contact with the ground. She was sent to a local hospital and eventually life-flighted to Duluth where she received...
-
Episode 60 – Ilona Popper
Ilona lives in the wild and open state of Montana and is passionate about environmentalism, literature, and sharing her passions with others. In 2012, she experienced her first TBI at the age of 55. In 2017, she walked into the overhang of a camper and briefly loss consciousness. This led to many...
-
Episode 59 - Deb Adesegun
Deb is a medical student from Alberta, Canada. She is currently in her rotational years which means she is working directly with patients nearly every day. About a year ago Deb was driving home from a rotation and was hit head on by another driver. She suffered from a TBI involving diffuse axonal...
-
Episode 58 - Jim Goodman
Jim is currently a MD/PhD student at Oregon Health and Sciences University. He has recently defended his PhD on cerebrospinal fluid physiology or "sleep and its role in cleaning out the brain" as I call it. In addition to his scientific and medical background, Jim is a TBI survivor. One month...
-
Episode 57 - AJ Kollen
AJ is a current Las Vegan (couldn't resist), although he is originally from Bend, Oregon. AJ was struck in the face by a pool filter that essentially exploded while he was attempting to repair it. He spent several weeks in the hospital and rehab. He doesn't remember much of anything for the first...
-
Episode 56 - Jeff McNally
Jeff has been on the podcast before, and is a functional neurologist at Northwest Functional Neurology in the Portland, OR area. This past spring, he gave a very impressive talk at the Brain Injury Alliance of Oregon about the metabolic and immunologic consequences of TBI. Since nutrition,...
-
Episode 55 - David Kracke JD Part 2
Mr. Kracke is a one of a kind human being. He has so many hobbies, projects, and accomplishments that I find it difficult to know where to begin and when to end. This said, I will mention a few pertinent aspects of his life. He is a Portland based lawyer who currently works for the Center on…
more -
Episode 54 - David Kracke JD Part 1
Mr. Kracke is a one of a kind human being. He has so many hobbies, projects, and accomplishments that I find it difficult to know where to begin and when to end. This said, I will mention a few pertinent aspects of his life. He is a Portland based lawyer who currently works for the Center on…
more -
Episode 53 - Lorita Cushman
Lorita may have the most complicated case I have seen. Fifteen years ago she was struck in the occipital bone of her skull by a heavy backpack that was swung like a medieval flail, and then immediately soccer kicked in the temple. She has been dealing with the repercussions of this every since....
-
Episode 52 - Jessy Munch
Jessy is the first dirt biker that I have had on the podcast. She crashed her bike while riding back in May of 2018. Although this may have caused some injury to the brain, far more damage was done when another biker behind her rode over her head (Jessy was wearing a helmet) with both tires of…
more -
Episode 51 - Heath Snyder
Heath Snyder has a lot of things going for him. He has six children who love him to death. He has an ability to articulate himself that many of us survivors desire. But his most valuable gift is a genuine desire to share his experience of fighting through a TBI with the world. When I say he wants...
-
Episode 50 - Kahyra Ramirez
Kahyra has had several TBI. In fact, she has had five concussions. In fact, all 5 have been while playing soccer. Some of the concussions are from getting pegged by the ball, and one involved a collision while going up for a header. In one instance, she temporarily lost all vision in one eye,...
-
Episode 49 - Marlana Harrison
Marlana is an incredible girl who is excellent at articulating what it is like to face a TBI and the thoughts that go through one's mind throughout the recovery process. She crashed her car in Branson, MO three weeks into her senior year of high school while driving buzzed. We talk about how much...
-
Episode 48 - Jim Scott
Jim is a northeastern dude through and through. If his accent doesn't give it away, his sense of humor will. In 2006, the night before the 4th of July, Jim decided to do some drinking with some friends and then drive home. Unfortunately, on his ride home, he crashed his car and ended up in the...
-
Episode 47 - Rik Lemoncello
Rik is a local Language and Speech Pathologist with a professorship at Pacific University. In addition to teaching, treating TBI survivors, and maintaining a social life, he also runs a bakery! What?! A bakery? Yes, pretty unique. A few years back he won an award at Pacific landing him a...
-
Episode 46 - Jessica Patrone
Jessica is super fun to talk to. She got did not get into an accident, nor did she have a congenital mishap (hydrocephalus or AV malformation). She instead got sick, and the infection got into her central nervous system. This caught me off guard, as I did not know this going into the…
more -
Episode 45 - Isaac Cornell
Isaac's story is unique. Isaac was an alcoholic, and one night he suffered from congestive heart failure which led to an anoxic insult to his central nervous system. Essentially, he died for a bit in his sleep. In this conversation we discuss the lessons he learned from this time, and how he...
-
Episode 44 – Jason
Jason is a homie with a great spirit! He was raised in LA next to Dodgers Stadium (as you will hear in the story), and to this day bleeds Dodger blue. He was super fun to talk and a laid back, chill dude much like I try to be. I hope you enjoy our conversation, and laugh at both of our jokes! Enjoy.
-
Episode 43 - Jeff Sebell
Jeff has a story very similar to my own. He was in a car accident in the middle of college, and actually seemed to get back to school quite rapidly. He was also in a coma for several weeks, part of this time including a partial coma in which he appeared awake but was functionally unconscious. He...
-
Episode 42 - Maddy West
On January of 2017 was in a car accident on her way to work in McMinnville, OR. After being life-flighted to the local hospital, she was flown to Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, OR. She was comatose for one week, and contracted double pneumonia twice in her 6 months in ICU. We...
-
Episode 41 - Dami Calhoun
In March of 2016, Dami drove her car into the trailer of a semi truck in Albany, OR at 78mph. You read that right, 78mph. The craziest part is she only broke two bones and one of them was her left ring finger. She was comatose for 2 weeks, and went through months of rehab. Her story is great and...
-
Epsiode 40 - Aaron Deshaw Esq PC
Dr Deshaw has lived an incredible life. His career in chiropractic medicine began in the nineties. After seven years of practice, he realized how insurance laws constrained some of his abilities to practice medicine, and he decided to become a lawyer. So he quit his practice to attend law school,...
-
Episode 39 - Kajomo
Karl Moritz (Kajomo) is a trooper. In June of 2010 he was struck head on by a vehicle while cycling on a neighborhood road in Southeast Portland. As if this wasn't devastating enough, he was dragged 32 feet underneath the car. He was given a 90% chance of being in a vegetable state if he did…
more -
Episode 38 - Joe Distefano
Joe has done a lot so far in his life. Here are a few examples. He is a certified Performance Enhancement Specialist and Corrective Exercise Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. He has also been trained at the CHEK institute (which is extremely difficult) as a Holistic...
-
Episode 37 - Matthew Kampfe
Matthew Kampfe is the owner of Kampfe Independent Living Center in Gladstone, OR. This episode is thus more centered around his lifelong experience helping BI survivors. His parents started helping BI survivors in their home decades ago, and now it has grown into the incredible living center it…
more -
Episode 36 - Glen Zelienski DC and Jeff McNally DC
These two Functional Neurologists have changed the way I think about brain injury. I used to think that if you are symptom free, it means that you are good to go. They showed me how powerful compensation can be, but how devastating it can be when one's compensations fail. We talk about what...
-
Episode 35 - Don Ford
Don is a very accomplished man. He has nearly countless training in psychological training. Of course, all of the credentials in the world are useless if they are not applied. Donald has been practicing for decades now, and have been treating people with brain injury since the late nineties. He…
more -
Episode 34 - Marih Alyn-Claire
In part two of this episode, Marih and I discuss some of the characteristics and qualities that Marih sees as common amongst survivors and other resilient people in her life. If the first episode were the stories of her injuries, this second part covers some of the actions Marih took after taking...
-
Episode 33 - Marih Alyn-Claire Part 1
In this two-part episode, I talk to Marih Alyn-Claire. Much like episode 31 with Kendra, Marih's life is stamped full of MANY unique situations and injuries. These include unpredicted strokes, days of lost memory, and so much more. Her first TBI was during a car accident as a small child in the...
-
Episode 32 - Randy Samuelson
Randy Samuelson is tough dude. He was raised in Ashland, OR (that is the southern part). His first encounter with brain injury involved playing college football at Oregon State University back in the good old days when a brain injury was something one just "walked off." He later suffered an…
more -
Episode 31 - Kendra Bratherton
Kendra is a woman of many trades. Honestly, it would be hard to sum up all of her capabilities. In addition to being a certified occupational therapist, she currently owns and runs a health clinic in which she can practice some of her other skills such as Bowenwork, Raiki, and Essential Oil...
-
Episode 30 - Clayton Rees and Jeri Cohen
This is an action packed episode since we recorded outside near the Portland Airport. This means I had to do a bit more editing than normal, but we made it through it unscathed. Clayton lives about 50 miles south of Tillamook a small costal town here in Oregon. He has suffered several brain...
-
Episode 29 - Jacob Plasker DC
Jacob Plasker is a functional neurologist operating out of Bend, Oregon (that's smack dab in the center). As an infant, he rolled off the edge of bed, landing on his head, and leaving him temporarily paralyzed. After adjustments from his father, the majority of his motor ability returned. To this...
-
Episode 28 - Luke Nosack
I have known Luke for a few months now from support groups, on the max, and walking from the max to and from support groups. From these experiences, I can tell you that he is one of the most honest people I know, which is hard to find these days. He is from Forest Grove, OR, and has a passion for...
-
Episode 27 - Rick Pape
Rick Pape is a central Oregonian near the town of Redmond. One day while working outside on his deck, he spontaneously blacked out. After blacking out he fell against the deck railing which gave out. As he fell his body flipped putting him on his head. Like most of us, his recovery was not smooth...
-
Episode 26 - Cory Janssen
Cory is the man. He is very much laid back like myself, which always makes me feel extra relaxed when recording. His TBI is unique in that he did not hit his head. You may say, "Michael, how can this be? A traumatic brain injury implies trauma, I thought that means some sort of impact." Funny you...
-
Episode 25 - Nicki Sinner
Nicki Sinner is a real charmer. She is witty, spirited, and mostly importantly speaks her mind. During her senior year of high school she was involved in a car accident in St. Helens, OR. Her accident occurred during a wet, rainy afternoon when she was headed to have dinner at her boyfriend's...
-
Episode 24 - Laura Linda Negri-Pool
Meet Laura Linda! In 2015, she was T-boned by another car while on her way to work. One of the coolest things about her story is that she was pretty lucid during the entire event. She even remembers conversation she had with the paramedics who drove her to the hospital. In addition to her TBI…
more -
Episode 23 - Pat Murray
If you have a brain injury and you live in the Portland Metro Area (Oregon and Maine), you need to meet Pat Murray. She has been in the game since '01 when she received her first TBI. Like many of us, the most banal of circumstances led to a fall that changed her life forever. But also like those...
-
Episode 22 - Cavin Balaster
Cavin is the man. And I mean that in the legit way not the School of Rock way. In 2011, he fell from 20 feet from a rooftop water tower, immediately losing consciousness, and suffering a diffuse axonal injury. Initially he was in pretty bad shape, without the ability to eat or breath on his own....
-
Episode 21 - Brandon Scarth
Brandon was involved in a car accident on the evening of July 3rd, 2007, in which he, and two other passengers were hit from behind from another driver. Upon examination at OHSU, he was given a less than 5% chance of surviving through the night. Of course, Brandon is a warrior. He did not die. In...
-
Episode 20 - Joan and John Miller
Joan and John are a delight. Witty, rambunctious, and sincere are just a few adjectives I could use to describe them. Nearly 20 years ago, they were hit by a drunk driver in Utah while on a business trip. Her recovery, like most, was not without its roadblocks and breakthroughs. Sometimes she...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Happie Heads have?
Happie Heads currently has 67 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Happie Heads about?
A community to provide a virtual network for the brain injured and their loved ones, pulling them out of isolation and into the hope and light of community.
How often does Happie Heads release new episodes?
Happie Heads has 67 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Happie Heads?
You can listen to Happie Heads on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Happie Heads?
Happie Heads is created and hosted by Michael Jensen.
URL copied to clipboard!