Category: Blog

What's it Like to Know Your Life Changed In an Instant? Nicole Tells Us From a Battle Buddy Perspective Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 092.  Today Drew and Terry are joined by special guest, Battle Buddy, Nicole Smithback. Nicole offered to tell the story of her husbands injury. As someone in the Battle Buddy role she feels it important to share to help others. Part of the reason she feels it is extremely important is because she herself struggled early on to find her tribe of people to help her through. She has had tremendous support of from her family as her husband continues to heal and recover. She tells us very candidly about the journey over these past 6 months and what's it's…

Depression, Anxiety, PTSD-Are They Actually Disorders? Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 091.  Today Drew and Terry will explore Is it a Mental Disorders or a Adaptive Response? We understand that this topic may be considered controversial by some, yet we feel it is at the very least worth talking about. Terry and Drew offer their own perspectives based on experience as part of the chat. This question grew out of an article written and published in Forbes in August 2020 based on a study conducted at Washington State University by two PhD's. Give it a listen and let us know what your thoughts are. Episode Notes & Resources: Instacart Offer Link Rate and Review A Battle Within on Apple Podcast Notes- Initial ThoughtsIs It A…

Are the Covid Lock-downs Something that TBI Warriors are Used Too? Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 090.  Today Terry and Drew speak to the fact that we are now more than 7 months into the of Covid-19 lock-down/house arrest scenario that continues to wear on everybody across the globe. Covid has hit us all right in the mouth and has challenged life for all of us as we knew it. So many people are busting at the seams and just want to get back out into the world! TBI Warriors can be quite good in the lock-down situation, largely due to the prior experience in living this way. However this is not the case for all, many Warriors are also going stir crazy and finding themselves…

Learning to Heal Her Own Way Has Created Sarah 2.0 Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 089.  Today Drew and Terry are joined by special guest Sarah Rasborsek. Sarah is another person from the land down under. She is from Sydney Australia. Sarah was a world class triathlete who represented Australia on the world stage. This is no easy feat as Australia is country who loves triathlons! She is the owner of her own marketing firm and was the president of her local Tri Club. Her Brain Injury story starts in January 2018, a hot summer day in Australia while competing. We explore her injury which was an Acquired Brain Injury otherwise known as an ABI. We get into talking about some similarities and differences…

From Elite Athlete to Elite Advocate Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 088.  Today Drew and Terry are joined by special guest Sarah Renberg. Sarah is originally from Bethesda, MD. But now is working hard, studying and keeping cold as a sophomore at the University of Michigan. She is part of the honors program and a research assistant  in the Neuro trauma lab.  Sarah was a high level Ice Hockey player through her youth and had dreams of playing in college, but unfortunately lost her hockey career due to a head injury while playing as a sixteen year old. We will learn about what this was like and the changes in her life that it required. Like so many folks we get to speak to Sarah had to reinvent…

Military Veteran and Ultra- Marathon Runner Who Is Being Rebuilt Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 087.  Today Drew and Terry are joined by special guest Tommy Lunetta. Tommy is a military veteran who served with both the US Army and US Navy. He was also an Ultra Marathon Runner who experienced a TBI in an automobile accident in May of 2018. The California native speaks (now in Arizona) to the fact that he has been working on "Being Rebuilt" since, the fact that his son is his hero and has recently started a group called "Nowhere But Up" to help others on their own journey. We will explore Tommy's story and what he does to keep himself in a positive frame of mind as…

A TBI Warrior and Battle Buddy Speak Out About Their Journey Together Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 086.  Today Drew and Terry are joined by special guests David Figurski, Ph.d. and Donna O'Donnell Figurski. This couple have been married for more than 50 years at the time of the recording. Unfortunately David experience his Brain Injury back in 2005 which lead to 3 brain surgeries over a 2 week window. He has been recovering since. After David was more or less out of the woods they became very active in the TBI community. Donna developed a blog, They speak whenever they can on the topic, Donna hosts a radio show which airs bi-monthly and has written a book about their story with David acting as…

Having a Community Helps to Get You Out of the Mud Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 085.  Today Drew and Terry are joined by special guest Ian Panter. Ian is a TBI warrior from Michigan who happened to suffer his injury while visiting close to our town of Lancaster Pa. for a Tough Mudder obstacle course race event.  Unfortunately Ian was involved in an automobile accident which placed him in a coma for over a week over 12 hours from home. Listen in to the story of a warrior who had the backing of his family, friends and fellow "mudders" community during this process. Even though life changed drastically for him that day and he lost his ability to compete in an activity he thoroughly…

Memory is a Challenge. What Can You Do To Help it Along? Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 084.  Today on A BATTLE WITHIN, Terry and Drew sit down to talk about Memory and Cognition. Our experiences and some strategies to consider. We also talk about vision and vestibular systems and their impact on ones memory. Not something most would consider, but certainly worth looking into. We hope you come away with some tools and strategies to help during your own journey. Episode Notes & Resources: Instacart Offer Link Rate and Review A Battle Within on Apple Podcast Notes and Highlights- Well Played Terry, Well PlayedGet Your Thinking Cap On!Does it Drive You Nuts?Remembering to RememberBrain Game ObsessionDr. Jessica NourseA Fast Talking New YorkerDirty LaundryText YourselfThe Black Wall is…

Where can a great mindset take you? All over the world according to Chris Hello Warriors and Battle Buddies! Welcome to A BATTLE WITHIN, Episode 083.  Today Drew and Terry are joined by special guest Chris Dittrich. Chris experienced a severe brain injury back in March 2008 which left him in a coma for 3.5 weeks. This went down his senior year of high school. He has been working diligently in healing ever since. Much of what he did was through setting small achievable goals along the way. Chris is extremely open and honest about his story on the regular through Instagram video's and lives by the motto of Keep Moving Forward! which we explore in the conversation as well. Episode Notes & Resources: Instacart Offer Link Rate and Review…