Happie Heads

Cheryl Green, where do I begin…Cheryl is a fellow Portlandianite who has suffered many brain injuries over her journey through life. If you were the manager at a…I don't know, a UPS store, and she was…I don't know…passionate about delivering boxes, she might bring in a resume that says she has a Masters of both Fine Arts and Science in Performance As Public Practice and Speech-Language Pathology,...

Dr. Johnny Delashaw is a neurosurgeon from up here in the Great Northwest. He was born in a small town in the southwest corner of the state of Washington, then began his journey all around the country, from California to Virginia to Florida, in order to pursue his passion of becoming a neurosurgeon. He has served as chair at hospitals such as Oregon Health and Science Universities, UC Irvine, and...

Matthew Gosney is a former Navy Seal who was involved in (among other things) an explosion that shattered his jaw (also among other things) requiring that a surgeon put 6 titanium bolts into said jaw. Needless to say, this explosion resulted in a traumatic brain injury for Matthew. Upon returning to college after his deployment to study Mathematics and Physics (he later received an M.S. in Mathema...

Andrew Marr is a retired Special Forces Green Beret, who retired after just under 10 years of service. Throughout these years, he served as an explosives engineer. Needless to say he was exposed to intense explosions on a regular basis. Unfortunately, Andrew began experiencing concussion symptoms once he returned from combat. Thus, the onset of symptoms was not easily associated with his time in c...

Colin is a homie that I met via the Brain Injury Support Group at Oregon State. He is an LA native who is currently studying business and agriculture at OSU during the school year. In the winter of his senior year of high school he crashed while snowboarding in Tahoe, breaking his collar bone and rockin his noggin. FOUR MONTHS later his concussion symptoms set in. This is the most unique part of h...

Dr. Duffield is a Neuropsychology Fellow on the Sports Medicine team at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR. Unlike the usual storytelling with a few tips and words of wisdom, this episode consists of the practical wisdom from Dr. Duffield's' years of schooling and clinical experience. We discuss his view on what a "successful" recovery is, and the key steps to reaching it. We als...

Matt is a beast of another kind.  This guy has had 10 concussions. 10!! That is not a typo. I think it goes without saying, but he has acquired an absurd amount of resilience and wherewithal from these experiences.  We all know how impactful a single concussion can be, but 10 is a whole other ball game. He is currently an undergraduate student with the dream of working in the mental health field.....

This episode is a bit different than the first 10. Instead of the story of one guest, you will get to hear the story of 3! Two of the stories are from high school students. I believe that high school students with concussions are often underrepresented both within and without their schools. I hope these guests (Eliza and Alexis) stories shed a bit more light on the experience of high school with a...

Todd Jarvis is an associate professor at both Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. He is also the Director of the Institute for Water and Watersheds. In January of 1978, at the age of 19, he fell from multiple levels to the ground while helping a friend build a house (yes, very manly). Even though he landed on his feet, the impact of the ground basically destroyed his body. After...

Brittney Main is incredible. She is currently a junior at Oregon State University studying Mathematics and Education. No that is not a typo. She is majoring in both.  Awe-inspiring, I know.  She wants to use this to teach high school math! Also, not a typo. She is certainly a special person.   Towards the end of high school, Brittney was in a car accident in which she fell asleep at the wheel, cra...

Many people don't know this, but Noah Kochevar once crossed the entire continental United States on a wild bull, look it up. But really, Noah is one of the most soulful people I know. He tends to come off as highly logical, but as I got to know him, I realized how much he values the present moment. This is a rare find in people, so I enjoy any time I get to pick his brain. This episode digs into h...

Carolyn is someone who makes me feel like an underachiever. I personally do not know a person will more accomplishments and diplomas. She has a B.S. in environmental engineering, a Masters in Economics, an MBA, and a PhD in environmental engineering. On top of all this, Carolyn is a licensed massage therapist and treats clients in her spare time. Even with all these accomplishments, she continued...

Leia is a cycler extraordinaire! She currently is coaching cycling and working in a cycling shop in Corvallis, OR. She has competed nationally and in Division I Collegiate Cycling placing as high as 3rd in the country in her best events. In April 2011, Leia was in a cycling accident during race, resulting in a diffuse axonal injury. She scored 3-8 on the Glasgow coma scale for 2 weeks (she was in...

Rachel was born and raised in the land of Eugene, OR. She is an athlete of sorts and is the captain of the ultimate Frisbee team at Oregon State University. In May of 2015, she suffered a concussion during a ultimate Frisbee event, causing her to lose her orientation for a bit. After working hard to get back on the field she suffered another concussion at a late ultimate event, rendering her inact...

Carolyn hails from the cold yet beautiful land of Buffalo, NY. She studied creative writing in her undergrad and spent several years teaching creative writing to elementary school students in the Buffalo area. She now has taken on a new challenge of studying Hydrology as a graduate student at Oregon State University. Only one trimester into her studies she suffered an subdural hematoma during a cy...

Juliette is a bright soul from many areas of the U.S. (but mostly LA) Originally attending undergrad in Southern California, she worked post-bacc in the Los Alamos, NM for several years. About 9 years ago she experienced some serious mental malfunction, which turned out to be caused by a healthy case of hydrocephaly. She was treated with a shunt from a brain ventricle (sinus within the brain) to h...

Ben is from the great land of Eugene, OR. He suffered a spontaneous stroke from an AV malformation a few years back one morning before going out to shoot photography. His father quickly realized the severity of his condition upon seeing his son vomit and seize within a few minutes of waking. Ben was treated at Peace Health Sacred Heart Hospital in Riverbend, OR after being comatose for a month. He...