Lights On: A NeuroMoms Collective Podcast

Content note: This episode includes candid conversations about suicide and suicidal ideation. In the final installment of our conversation with Neuro ICU nurse Erin Moreland Lambesis, we discuss suicidal ideation after brain injury and how caregivers can support someone experiencing profound despair. Nurse Erin's first advice is simple but powerful: keep them talking, listen without judgment, and...

In Part 2 of our conversation with Neuro ICU nurse Erin Moreland Lambesis, Host Erin and Nurse Erin revisit the long walk to Dallas's operating room... and the unforgettable final instruction his mother gave the neurosurgeon. Hours later, Nurse Erin was among the first to learn that the surgical team had successfully resected Dallas's AVM, leading to a tearful celebration between nurse and mother....

In Part 1 of this three-part conversation, Erin and Amanda welcome Neuro ICU nurse Erin Moreland Lambesis, whose 26-year nursing career began in neurological intensive care. Nurse Erin explains why caring for brain-injury patients requires far more than watching monitors, it demands close observation, intuition, and a willingness to listen to the families who know their loved ones best. Erin recal...

One year ago, Erin and Amanda were paired as a team during a virtual caregiver retreat, and neither could have imagined what would come next...  In this anniversary episode, they look back on an unlikely friendship between two very different moms whose shared love for brain injury survivors became the foundation of NeuroMoms Collective. In just one year, they launched a nonprofit, recorded 34 podc...

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and Erin and Amanda are opening an honest, compassionate conversation about suicide risk within the brain injury community. They discuss how depression, chronic pain, isolation, loss of independence, communication challenges, and changes in identity can leave survivors feeling overwhelmed, and why suicidal thoughts should always be met with care, never shame...

BONUS EPISODE:OUT NOW. This episode wasn't planned. It's coming out now because it's happening now. For 10 weeks, Erin's family lived with the possibility that Dallas's ninth brain surgery could change everything... or take everything. They made memories, gathered the people he loved, and tried to create joy while privately carrying a fear too heavy to name. Behind that fear was rage: hours spent...

In part two of our conversation with Ammon, a neurotrauma specialist and Doctor of Physical Therapy at Barrow Neurological Institute, we move from the joy of the Cupid Shuffle into the complicated realities of recovery after leaving the hospital. Ammon explains the "three-legged stool" of recovery: the nature of the injury, the survivor's health before the injury, and the strength of their clinica...

In this joyful first half of a two-part conversation, Erin, Amanda, and Dallas reunite with Ammon, a Doctor of Physical Therapy who worked with Dallas during his rehabilitation at Barrow Neurological Institute. Ammon explains why recovery is about far more than regaining basic function; it's about helping survivors return to the relationships, passions, and life roles that make them who they are....

In part two of our conversation with Kaylee, we explore what happens when a childhood friendship is tested by traumatic brain injury, misunderstanding, and growing up. Kaylee shares why she chose to spend junior prom beside Mackenzie in the hospital, a night that offered both girls a joyful glimpse of the friendship they thought they had lost. But as Mackenzie returned to school, the invisible eff...

What happens when a teenager is suddenly confronted with the possibility of losing her best friend? In Part One of this conversation, Amanda and Erin welcome Kaylee, one of MacKenzie's closest childhood friends, to share what she remembers about the accident that changed all of their lives. Kaylee reflects on seeing MacKenzie in the hospital, feeling helpless at just 16 years old, and realizing fo...

In Part 2 of this conversation, Erin and Amanda continue their discussion with licensed social worker  Autumn Kuchowiak of Rise and Thrive Wellness, exploring what caregivers can actually do to protect their own well-being during a medical crisis. Autumn shares practical strategies for replenishing your "spoons," from prioritizing sleep and movement to accepting help and building a supportive vill...

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Erin and Amanda welcome licensed social worker  Autumn Kuchowiak  from Rise and Thrive Wellness to explore one of the most important, and most overlooked, topics in caregiving: caring for yourself without guilt. Using the powerful concept of  Spoon Theory , Autumn explains why caregivers often experience burnout, why energy is a limited resource, and how sm...

In the second half of this moving conversation, Erin and Amanda continue talking with Marina and her mother, Annalissa, about navigating life after stroke, seizures, and brain injury. Together, they discuss the overwhelming challenges of managing healthcare, insurance, and uncertainty while a daughter suddenly finds herself caring for her mother. Despite the grief and setbacks, they reflect on the...

In this mini episode, Erin and Amanda invite the two people at the heart of NeuroMoms Collective, Dallas and Mackenzie, to share why they support the work being done through the podcast and nonprofit. They talk openly about giving permission to tell their family's story, why honest conversations about brain injury matter, and how sharing their hardest moments might help someone else feel less alon...

In this powerful first part of our conversation, Annalisa shares her journey through a rare and life-altering neurological illness that began with subtle symptoms few people recognized. What started as occasional confusion and unexplained episodes gradually escalated into seizures, a stroke, and a maze of specialist appointments that left her family searching for answers. Joined by her daughter Ma...

In the final installment of this heartfelt and hilarious conversation with therapist and podcast host Megan Campbell, the conversation turns toward identity, self-esteem, grief, and what healing can look like after brain injury. Erin and Amanda reflect on the painful tendency to search for the "missing chapters" of the lives their children once had, while Megan offers a gentler perspective: maybe...

In part two of this deeply honest and delightfully chaotic conversation, Erin and Amanda continue their discussion with therapist and podcast host Megan Campbell about caregiving, creativity, identity, and the complicated balance between joy and grief. Together, they explore how movement, art, music, mindfulness, and even dancing can become forms of healing after neurotrauma, especially when survi...

Episode 1 of this conversation with Megan Campbell is a little chaotic, wildly honest, unexpectedly funny, and somehow exactly the kind of conversation caregivers need. Megan: therapist, LCPC, art therapist, and host of the podcast I Have Shit to Say, joins Erin and Amanda to talk about grief, relationships, identity shifts, and the emotional realities of TBI recovery. What unfolds is equal parts...

In this continuation of Dallas's story, we shift from survival to connection as he and his girlfriend Marina share how they met and built a relationship after his traumatic brain injury. Their story begins at a brain injury retreat and unfolds into a grounded, honest look at dating, communication, and finding love in a new version of life. Marina offers a thoughtful perspective as both a nurse pra...

In Part 2 of this deeply personal conversation, Dallas shares the emotional and physical realities of his traumatic brain injury recovery, including the severe depression and suicidal ideation that followed his initial progress. His journey takes listeners through a complicated series of hospitalizations across the country, culminating in a life-threatening setback in 2024 when undiagnosed obstruc...

This episode of  Lights On  features a deeply personal and powerful conversation as Erin and Amanda are joined by Erin's son, Dallas, whose story inspired Erin to connect with Amanda to  create NeuroMoms Collective. Dallas shares his experience of surviving a catastrophic AVM rupture in 2022 while on active duty, leading to multiple brain surgeries, a coma, and significant physical and cognitive c...

In part two of this conversation, Erin and Amanda explore what it really means to redefine "normal" after a brain injury—both for their children and for the relationships that surround them. They share how life often evolves in real time, with adjustments happening moment by moment, from navigating sensory challenges to rethinking independence, clothing, and daily routines. The conversation highli...

In this episode of  Lights On (Part 1 of this convo) , Erin and Amanda explore one of the hardest questions families face after traumatic brain injury:  Who am I now? When a brain injury changes a survivor's body, abilities, and future plans overnight, identity can feel shattered. Erin and Amanda talk about how survivors wrestle with labels like "TBI survivor," how physical changes and scars affec...

In the second half, the conversation shifts into the realities of long-term partnership: neurodivergence, therapy, communication, and daily repair. MacKenzie and Eric talk candidly about ADHD traits, how understanding their brains helped them make sense of what "clicked" early on, and why therapy became a turning point. For Eric, navigating stigma and expectations around mental health was an addit...

In this first half of the conversation, Erin and Amanda welcome MacKenzie and her husband, Eric, into Season 2's focus on relationship shifts after TBI; specifically romantic partnership. Mackenzie and Eric share their origin story, how early disclosure of her accident did (and didn't) shape their relationship, and what "masking" looked like as she tried to be "just MacKenzie" in college. Eric ref...