The Game On Glio Podcast

What happens when the person you planned to spend forever with is suddenly gone—but your love story with them isn't finished yet? In this deeply personal episode of Game On Glio, actress Laura Orrico (Kevin Can Wait, The King of Queens) shares her extraordinary journey through grief after losing her spouse and learning how to navigate life after the death of her husband. She opens up about the par...

What if the future of brain tumor treatment is closer than we think? On this episode of Game On Glio, we sit down with Dr. Annick Desjardins, neuro-oncologist and Director of Clinical Research at Duke’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, for a powerful conversation about where brain tumor research and treatment are headed—and what that could mean for patients and families facing a diagnosis....

Cancer doesn't happen to just one person. It enters a marriage, settles into the quiet spaces, changes the conversations, and asks both people to become versions of themselves they never expected to meet. In this deeply personal conversation, guest Melissa Coulier opens the door to the side of cancer that often remains just outside the spotlight—the caregiving, the uncertainty, the fierce love, an...

In this inspiring episode of Game On Glio, actress and pediatric cancer survivor Grace Wethor shares her remarkable journey of resilience, purpose, and hope after a life-changing diagnosis. Grace opens up about what it was like to be diagnosed with cancer at a young age, how she continues to navigate the uncertainty that comes with survivorship, and why she made the intentional choice to embrace l...

Do you know what insecure attachment styles are? What is the difference between secure and surviving? As someone with a graduate degree and years in the social work field, I didn't even know the answer to these. So, I decided to find answers. It led me to a host of discoveries about what it means to have a childhood upbringing in a secure environment and how that leads to secure attachments in adu...

When Diane Pathieu first sat down with us, it was alongside her husband Nick. we talked about life, challenges, and everything in between. Since then, life has handed her a chapter she never asked to write—the loss of her husband. This past year, Nick Adamski lost his battle with brain cancer. He fought his battle with courage, joy, humility, and honesty. In this powerful return appearance, Diane...

When you think of ultrasounds, you probably think of sonograms, pregnancy, mammograms, and gynecology. At least I do! I never would have associated ultrasound with brain cancer-until now. Our guest today, Dr. Vijay Agarwal, CEO of Alpheus Medical, has developed an investigational therapy that pairs a tumor-accumulating drug with low-intensity ultrasound to achieve localized activation inside the b...

That Brainy Blonde! That's right, our guest today is That Brainy Blonde-Rebecca Devine. How else would we kick off season 6 and brain cancer awareness month than with an eight year survivor of glioblastoma. Rebecca's story is inspiring in so many ways, not least of which, her determination to find innovative ways to keep this cancer at bay. Rebecca's story is one of hope and resilience. We have an...

It's fitting to end our 5th season with this interview. Every once in a while you come across a story that reminds you miracles do happen in this world. In covering such hard stories, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. I've learned from my own experience, and through others stories, that when we see or are faced with death up close, it has the tendency to shine a light on what we truly...

We all know how hard it is to feel out of place. To not know where we belong. Being part of a community, a tribe, is not only important for our physical well being but it's vitally important for our brain health and mental wellness! Why am I talking about tribes and communities here on Game On Glio? Because-my friend, you are part of our tribe! You are never alone. You are part of this community....

What do you do when your partner is diagnosed with glioblastoma? In caregiver, Robert Marx's case, he and his wife made the most of the time they had.  As a caregiver, Robert decided to approach care-giving in a very methodical, communicative, compassionate way. His advice- "Don't neglect your own well-being. Don't become patient B." In this episode, we sit down with Robert, who hails from Germany...

Chris Schuler is a fierce advocate for the brain cancer community, a journey that found him due to his experience losing his father to glioblastoma. My take away from my interview with Chris is his perspective on his anticipatory grief compared to his mother's traumatic grief after his dad's death. The way Chris views the gift he was given during his dad's illness is an eye-opening take away. A ch...

  In the United States, there are more than 3 million women widowed! But, of that number, only 12% are under the age of 50. Let that sink in for a minute. That means that 360,000 women in the U.S. are widowed before they ever hit 50 years old. You know what else it means? It means 3 million of us loved and loved fearlessly! When your partner dies, you ache- you ache because you loved them. It mean...

Every once in a while you get a perspective that changes the way you see a certain view of life. Ty Ferrell is not just a cowboy. There's so much more beyond the hat. He's a dad, a farmer, a photographer, a rodeo rider (retired), and an insurance adjuster. He's also single. We aren't talking about "let's get this guy a date" single. We are talking, hardship in our 40's and living single. We are pu...

There is no training manual for how to move through grief. When you become widowed, there are no guidelines that you can turn to. As adults, our brains want to hold onto grief like a weed. Constantly growing back, we replay and run through the death over and over again. The brain processes grief differently than the heart does. But for those who have children, grief is seen through a completely di...

Outcome-death, emotion-darkness and grief. How do we move through one of the hardest things that happens in life? The movie, The Color of Rain happened to be airing on Hallmark three or four months after Mike's death. I remember thinking, "Why is this really sad movie on the regular Hallmark channel?" I tried watching 30 minutes of it, I couldn't do it. I was transported back to Mike's death. Howe...

Imagine life trucking along, young healthy children, pursuing a dream career, a wonderful marriage, a beautiful home. When you are in your 30's, you don't think that life can change so rapidly. But that's the tricky thing about life, it doesn't matter how old you are, life has a way of veering us of course and onto a whole new path. Today's guest, Ellen Duncan knows this experience all to well. He...

We are all guilty of it; something overwhelming happens or a trauma and we try to bury our grief, our stress, our feelings over what's happened. But, we can't outrun our grief or trauma. Eventually it manifests in other ways, sometimes physically. In today's episode, I talk with Grief Coach Kelci Jager of Rise with Grief, & author of A Millions Miracles and the One That Didn't Come.  Kelci's j...

There is a Chinese proverb- "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed." We never know what we are on the cusp of until we finish the journey. And, while failing teaches us many things, we don't have to be scared of failing. We should only be scared of walking away. In today's episode, our 50th episode of The Game On Glio Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Sheri Dewan...

Compassion and creativity are vitally important these days in cancer care. The old rule of thumb, especially in brain cancer, of standard of care just isn't enough anymore. Patients and families need a voice, and need to know that they are heard when asking questions about clinical trials, supplements, holistic options, and cross-collaboration across neuro-oncology care. Enter Dr.'s Soma Sengupta...

Grief is a reflection of love. It's a natural part of life, and the more we love, the more profound our grief will be when that love is lost. If we think about the fact that grief is grounded in love, it does help us move through the journey. This is part of the work that grief coaches like Emily Bingham do. She helps people navigate significant life traumas. But this isn't just Emily's profession...

Dr. Horbinski sits down with me to discuss the complexities of brain tumors and how his work in the Feinberg School of Medicine lab is looking into mutIDH1 and how it dramatically alters the glioma’s micro-environmental landscape by preventing the thrombosis-necrosis phenomenon that is characteristic of IDH1 wild-type gliomas. Furthermore, mutIDH1 increases the risk of seizures in patients. He exp...

For all of Scott Hamilton's successes, there has also been sacrifice, fear, and loss. He has battled health issues that truly put death in front of him and has made him confront very hard truths. And, it was through his wife that he learned and felt the power of faith in God's word. Scott doesn't see his life as lucky-he sees his life as a road map. All of his experiences teach him and have helped...

Robert and Melanie Ham were young, with two young children when Melanie was diagnosed with an incurable rare form of Sarcoma in 2020. Robert, an award winning film maker and military veteran, decided he wanted to document her journey, their love, to help others. The documentary aired in 2022 after Melanie's death and has been viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube. Robert knew that a part of...

Having glioblastoma doesn't mean life is over. In fact, it can be viewed as an opportunity! Tara McCaughan from Northern Ireland has been living with gbm for nearly five years. Her story shows us how human resilience and internal cognitive reshuffling can be our biggest weapon in battling such a formidable disease. But she doesn't do it alone, her partner Stephen is her rock. We need stories like...