TSC Talks!

In this episode, we are joined by Professor Petrus de Vries, Sue Struengmann Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Academic Head: Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa and Alexis Minnaar, English and Geography tutor at DawnCroft Alexis was diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, at the age of two. Prof. de Vries and Alexis graciously joined me to engage in a...

Jon Workman is Vice President - Industrial Hemp Business Development at American Cannabis Company and President - Arkansas Hemp Assoc. He has had a long career in the industry, starting out growing up on a farm in Arkansas, getting into the finance industry in California, having much success, then a random snowboarding accident revealed he had multiple myeloma. Given 3 years to live, he was hit wi...

Tiffany Watkins is a "Cannabis Enthusiast". She's been an activist for 20+ years and has done a lot of work to bring awareness to health care and proper distribution of Medical Cannabis as well as paving the way for Recreational Cannabis. She has marched the Capital (CA), to help bring a voice to those in need of the protection of the Compassionate Care Act. Additionally, she has attended and spok...

Dr. Uma Dhanabalan is Founder/CEO, Global Health & Hygiene Solutions LLC, Uplifting Health & Wellness, Natick, MA. "She is a highly respected physician trained in Family Medicine, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, specialized in heavy metals, a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, a Cannabinoid Medicine Specialist and Medical Review Officer. She completed her Bachelor of Arts...

Keith Stroup, Founder of NORML, may be a down-home country boy, from Southern Illinois, but he sure did make it in the big city (from Box #10 w/Jim Croce). Keith takes me on a walk, through the annals of his legendary history as a founding father of the marijuana legislation movement in the US. From his early years growing up in Southern Illinois, to Georgetown Law School where he became political...

Tina Guenette Pedersen is the President & Founder of R.A.M.P.~Real Access Motivates Progress, and this is how her story starts; "Well, my name is Tina Pedersen. I'm 47 years old. I have two children and two grandchildren. And I was very active in my life. I was a cheer coach, dance mom, a Boy Scout leader, a football mom. Anything my kids did, I did with them tenfold. "I'm a four-time cancer survi...

Marissa Fratoni, Holistic RN - Cannabis Therapeutics - Maternal Health - Writer - Public Speaker, is a wealth of information and insight on cannabinoid therapeutics holistic medicine and integrative health. I met Marissa through Jessie Gill, Marijuana Mommy, when discussing our medical cannabis project, wondering if she knew of any local to MA cannabis nurses so was thrilled when she agreed to hav...

Joyce Gerber & Amie Searles are The Canna Moms who started the local-to-MA podcast called The Canna Mom Show!. Referred to as The Click and Clack of Cannabis, while also aspiring to be the Terry Gross of Cannabis Talk, these ladies were awesome. Funny, smart and actually visionaries who want to get the word out that Canna Moms are not lazy, good for nothing slackers who are a burden to society but...

Russell Cole describes himself as "FUTURIST - EDUCATOR - BUSINESS LEADER, An entrepreneur who is motivated by providing access to technologies and innovations that we should already be benefiting from. I am humbled by the deep network of passionate, caring, professional and incredibly intelligent people I am fortunate to be surrounded by and learn from, daily." In this episode, we start off discus...

Nurse Janna Champagne, RN, BSN, Cannabis Nurse and Medical Cannabis Expert joined me to discuss her lived experience and work in the cannabis industry, including the success she's had utilizing cannabinoid medicine for her daughter with Autism. Janna's introduction to the cannabis industry began as a cannabis patient when she suffered a health collapse in 2012. She credits cannabis for helping to...

Stacey Jackson, special education advocate, parent, engineer & past school committee member stopped by the podcast to give us an update on her daughter's out of district placement as well as engage in a discussion on the transition process. Stacey discusses how the immersive experience living away from home in a setting such as Riverview School, a co-educational boarding school placement, can be b...

Kevin Greene, VP of Cleveland School of Cannabis is an Entrepreneur - Strategic Marketer - Business Development - Cannabis Entrepreneur. He shares his experience in the education arm of the cannabis industry and the novel programs and success of CSC in terms of job placement, online and brick/mortar options and more! Dr. Mary Clifton shares her inspiration for getting into the industry with 25 yea...

Steven L. Kelley, President, and CEO of Ellenville Regional Hospital joins Jill in a discussion on the changing landscape of the healthcare industry as well as his involvement with Nicky's Gardens of Hope as a Board Member. Jill also gives a longer than usual introduction, tying together past, present and future guests, and some back story on the broadening subject matter, inspiration, and vision...

The Spectrum Sports team is comprised of Dan Minko, Lisa Faracchio and James Paoletti, all involved in special education in some capacity in their local NJ high school. They got together to form Spectrum Sports. All are passionate about fitness and exercise, and being keenly aware of the challenges their students had accessing more typical opportunities for sports engagement in their local school...

Jessie Gill, AKA "Marijuana Mommy" is a Mom, Cannabis Advocate and R.N with a background in holistic health and hospice. She shares the story of her path leading to cannabis advocacy after a spinal injury left her at a personal rock bottom. Jessie loved her career as a hospice nurse, inspired been inspired to enter the field of nursing by her mother, also a nurse. After having unsuccessful spinal...

Daniella Benea, Pharm. D., licensed pharmacist working in the medical marijuana industry in CT & MA comes on to discuss her experience thus far working in the growing cannabis industry. A graduate of UConn School of Pharmacy, Daniella started out working as a Stop & Shop store pharmacist but took advantage of an opportunity to work at a CT dispensary, hoping for more hands-on patient engagement. S...

Shelly Meitzler is an amazing, inspiring individual who's life took a challenging turn when she received a diagnosis of TSC in her oldest daughter in August 2001. Starting out in the ER with her seizing baby, Shelly and her husband had to weather the false accusations of shaken baby syndrome by hospital staff before receiving an official diagnosis. From here, she mentions that life as she knew it,...

"Be the change you want to see in this world" is one of Mike's favorite quotes and his lived experience clearly exemplifies this intention. In this episode, Mike starts off by advising listeners, "Please people, please tell your doctor because there are drug interactions when you're using CBD" and is one of the major takeaways from this episode. In order to educate physicians treating us or our lo...

Mike Robinson, Cannabis Activist, Founder of Global Cannabinoid Research Center, Severe Epilepsy & Cancer Survivor and fascinating human being has much to share. From his bio on https://mikesmedicines.com ; "Mike is a multiple Cancer survivor that’s used cannabis oils and CBD extensively as well for severe epilepsy, chronic Lyme Disease, PTSD, and in pain management. Over the last 6 years Mike has...

In this episode, precipitated by a Facebook post which caught the attention of many, titled, "When Law Enforcement Meets Autism", Ricardo A. Gomez shared the events occurring in relation to his son Ryan, a young adult with autism, who was with a direct support worker at a local park recently. Said event escalated into PC245, assault with a deadly weapon. Ricardo starts off giving some background o...

In Part 2 with Alexis Minnaar, we go into further detail on the realities of growing up with TSC. She shares more about relationships, mentioning the fact that she has TSC with potential partners, and how this news was received. Meeting her husband, dealing with people's questions related to facial manifestations over the years, how others react when she shares information on having TSC, and how i...

In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Alexis Minnaar, an English and Geography teacher from South Africa, and young adult living with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex shares the process of coming to terms with having TSC and learning how to manage the condition herself. When she left home and entered college, living away from home for the first time and studying and working, she describes feeling overwhel...

Chief Joseph Snyder & Officer Phillip Kraus of the New Paltz, NY Police Department discuss their background and experiences with community members that sparked the idea behind their new "Occupant with Autism" sticker. This sticker is a combination of police support & Autism Awareness and can be placed on a car or near the door of a home as a heads up for police that an individual within may be fun...

Mark Martin is an Adult & Parent living with TSC. He also is the Adult Regional Coordinator of 6 States for the TS Alliance, & was a past Volunteer of the Year. He started a Facebook group for TSC Dads, has worked as an ER Tech, and is an accomplished musician. There is never a dull moment for Mark! He's a true influencer across the community as his perspective as Adult with TSC AND having a son w...

Rob Grandia is an adult with TSC and father of 3 children affected by TSC. In this episode, he gives an inside look at not only receiving a diagnosis of TSC in his children but also finding out as an adult that he also is affected. We discuss the various manifestations experienced by his children throughout these last 18 years, and how the family was able to find adequate treatment locally. From p...