September 11, 2025 • 30 mins
When a car pulled out in front of Kelly Tuttle on a rural road in 2015, the resulting crash didn't just damage her vehicle — it fundamentally altered her brain and identity. The thunderous collision that day transformed this cardiology nurse practitioner into a traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor who would have to relearn how to navigate the world with new cognitive challenges.
Kelly's story is particularly powerful because she experienced the jarring role reversal from healthcare provider to patient. Despite her medical background, she initially fell into the same trap many Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) survivors do — trying to "push through" symptoms like headaches, dizziness, speech difficulties, and extreme fatigue. It wasn't until she nearly crashed again after falling asleep at the wheel that colleagues intervened, helping her access proper diagnosis and treatment. This experience highlights the dangerous gap between TBI research and frontline medical care, where patients often must become their own fiercest advocates.
Through her recovery journey, Kelly discovered transformative coping strategies that she now shares with listeners. She emphasizes how movement prevents the deterioration of balance and coordination, warning against the sedentary lifestyle that can compound TBI symptoms. Perhaps most remarkably, Kelly's traumatic experience ultimately redirected her professional path. She transformed her newfound passion for brain health into a neurology career, becoming exactly the specialist she had needed during her own recovery, creating her "New Normal."
Whether you're a TBI survivor seeking strategies for your new normal, a family member trying to understand a loved one's changed abilities, or a healthcare provider wanting to better serve brain injury patients, Kelly's insights offer a roadmap for compassionate care and sustainable recovery. Her book "After the Crash" and her clinical practice demonstrate that while a brain injury may permanently alter your life, it doesn't have to diminish it. Ready to learn more about creating your new normal after TBI? Visit kellytuttle.org.
DISCLAIMER: The information is not medical advice and should not be treated as such. Always consult your physician or healthcare professional before pursuing any health-related procedure or activity.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
What happens when a brain injury turns a healer into
a patient.
Today, on the New Normal BigLife podcast, kelly Tuttle,
neurology nurse practitioner andTBI survivor, shares her
journey from treating patientsto rebuilding her life after a
2015 car crash.
Tuttle, author of After theCrash, reveals how TBI survivors
(00:26):
can create their new normal,cope with emotional and physical
challenges and fight medicalgaslighting and ask for
workplace accommodations.
She'll share coping tools,strategies and insights for TBI
survivors, their families,employers and those providing
health care to empower listenersto advocate for themselves
(00:47):
post-TBI.
Hi friends, welcome to the NewNormal Big Life podcast.
We bring you natural news andstories about nature that we
hope will inspire you to getoutside and adventure, along
with a step-by-step plan to helpyou practice what you've
learned and create your own newnormal and live the biggest life
you can dream.
I'm your host, antoinette Lee,the wellness warrior.
(01:07):
Meet Kelly Tuttle, author ofAfter the Crash.
A neurology nurse practitioner,she can empathize with her
patients better than mostmedical professionals.
In 2015, she joined the leaguesof patients that she'd helped
treat when another car pulledout in front of her, causing a
traumatic brain injury, or TBI.
She wrote her book After theCrash to provide hope for TBI
(01:32):
survivors, while helping toencourage them that they can
live a normal life again,without the added stress of
emotional, physical andcognitive challenges.
Hello Kelly, welcome to theshow.
So glad you're here.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Thank you for having me, Antoinette.
I really appreciate being here.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Well, as a nurse practitioner a neurology nurse
practitioner you have a veryunique way of empathizing with
TBI survivors.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your journey and how you
came to do the work that you dotoday?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Sure.
So my story begins with athunderous clap of metal, the
shattering of glass and peoplecoming out of their homes to see
what has happened.
I was driving down a rural roadand another car pulled out in
front of me and unfortunately Iwas unable to stop in time to
avoid a collision.
(02:25):
It was a pretty bad caraccident.
There were airbags deployed, Ihad several injuries and I
thought, oh, I'll just shakethis off and I'll get back to
life.
And I even went to work thenext day day and my colleagues
who are registered nurses andnurse practitioners were noting
(02:49):
that I wasn't speaking right andthat I had some changes in my
personality and really impressedupon me to go in and see my
general practitioner the nextday, which I did.
And I was diagnosed at the timewith a concussion and taken off
work for a couple of weeks andI thought I would be better
(03:11):
after two weeks.
So I go back to work, try to goback to life.
Push, push, push, push.
Do everything I can, despitehaving headaches, dizziness, I
can.
Despite having headaches,dizziness, difficulty with
(03:31):
speech, unusual fatigue.
And then one day I fell asleepat the wheel and the car
bouncing off the road woke me upjust in time to slow down my
brakes to avoid striking a tree.
But this is how well I wasthinking.
My concussed brain was working.
I thought, oh, I won't tell mydoctor.
I don't recommend this for yourlisteners.
I will sleep on the side of theroad on the way from home, from
(03:55):
work to home.
I do not recommend that either,but this is how I was thinking.
I was just trying to get backto life, keep going to work.
I was a single income earner formy family and, fortunately,
shortly after, I had lunch witha colleague who, at the time,
was a neurology nursepractitioner I was a cardiology
(04:17):
nurse practitioner and she wascurious about my recovery and I
went symptom, symptom, symptomand I fell asleep at the wheel.
That's okay.
Now I'm just taking a nap inbetween work and home.
And she's like what?
Uh, no, that is not okay.
Uh, you need to see a physicalmedicine and rehab doctor PMR,
(04:41):
also known as a cytrus.
They take care of braininjuries and spinal injuries and
you need to have a brain scan.
So I hadn't seen any specialistor had a brain scan prior to
this and I said okay.
And then, with a lot of hoop,jumping and push, I finally got
(05:03):
my general practitioner to referme to the physical medicine
rehab doctor.
I got my brain scan.
It was a head CT and it wasnormal and that's in quotes, if
anybody's just listening to thepodcast.
And once I saw the physicalmedicine rehab doctor, she
recognized right away that I hada mild to moderate concussion
(05:27):
and she took me off work forthree months.
And when it was time for me togo back to work I was freaking
out.
I was like what does my brainneed to support its performance
while I'm at work?
I was still having difficultywith reading comprehension and
memory.
(05:48):
And I had no clue.
I read all my brain injurybooks.
I collected, I went to thewebsites, went to my therapist
notes.
There weren't anything specificfor using at work lots of home
stuff and things like that.
And so when I decided to writemy book, I decided that my book
(06:10):
would specifically providestrategies and compensatory
tools for people who wanted towork.
And that's kind of how I hadbecome, come to be where I am
today, and I had a friend whoalso called and checked on me
(06:33):
and said hey, how are you doing?
I said, oh, I'm doing good.
I read all this stuff about thebrain.
I love it.
I'm really becoming passionateabout everything related to the
brain and she goes.
Well, you should be, you shouldgo and be a neurology nurse
practitioner, and I was likewhat?
And so I was super excited andI worked really hard educating
(06:53):
myself regarding what I wouldneed to know to qualify for a
position in neurology, and twoyears later I qualified for a
training position and was ableto work in the neurology
department and help others likeme.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Wow, that is really incredible and Kelly's book is
After the Crash how to Keep yourJob, stay in School and Live
Life After a Brain Injury.
And I know tons of veterans wholisten to this show who have
had brain injuries are going towant to know how you did it,
kelly.
How did you go from not beingable to drive home after work
(07:35):
and challenges with focus andmemory and speech what a lot of
us struggle with to someone whowent back to school and training
and change your career field?
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It was all baby steps and it's getting to know your
brain and its abilities.
It's you know it's strength,where it needs to be supported,
and just being kind to yourselfand patient with your recovery.
And one of the key things thatwas very helpful for me in my
(08:13):
recovery and getting to know mybrain and what my brain needed
was journaling, and journalinghelped me with so many things.
It helped me get to know mysymptoms, what made them worse,
what helped support them,mindfulness, getting out of my
(08:33):
head, getting away from thenegative Nancy and the Bobby
bully and getting into thepresent moment, getting scary
thoughts out onto paper.
And it also was a companionthat I was able to, on the bad
days when I was frustrated withmy progress, to look back and
(08:54):
see how far I had come.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Oh, that's beautiful.
Yeah, I really like that a lot.
And another thing that I thinkTBI survivors take for granted
is they know they have a memoryproblem, but they don't
generally don't write thingsdown, they don't journal and
keep a record of symptoms andimprovements and what makes it
better and worse.
And it's so great that you didthat.
(09:17):
I did it as well and I think ithelped speed up my recovery too
.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Oh yeah, and then just handwriting, writing in the
journal, and helps withneuroplasticity, so it
encourages rewiring the brain togo around the areas that have
been lost and reconnect newconnections.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
When someone is journaling about their symptoms
after the traumatic brain injury, are there any recommendations
that you have for specificthings they should write about
beyond the symptoms?
What makes it worse and betterin terms of what they might want
(09:58):
to write down to tell theirdoctor at the next visit?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Well, definitely if things are persisting or getting
worse, and then definitelywrite down what you think you
could use to help yourself getbetter, whether that's speech
therapy, physical therapy,neurotherapy, a thorough eye
exam, hearing evaluation.
(10:23):
So I would definitely writethose things down.
You really do have to be anadvocate for yourself.
Unfortunately, tbi care is kindof it's not keeping up with the
research, and that's kind ofthe case with most things.
(10:47):
I think it's 17 years before anew research finding makes it to
the front line of healthcare.
So you really have to be yourown advocate as a provider.
You have to realize that onceyou see one traumatic brain
injury, you've seen onetraumatic brain injury.
So everyone's experience andthe symptoms they have is going
(11:09):
to be different for it, just asdifferent as their personality.
And the same goes for yourrecovery.
You know some people recoverwithin a couple weeks or a month
and others, like me, are 10years out and still working on
recovery.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
What would you say to someone and I'm glad you
brought up the extended recoverytime what would you say to
someone who has gone throughrecovery, has maybe gone through
occupational therapy, speechtherapy, physical therapy and
also recreational therapy?
So, for example, I wasintroduced to archery to retrain
(11:46):
my brain for focus.
I was introduced to whitewaterkayaking to one, become social,
become more active and to workon hand-eye coordination
regeneration.
So what can a person who'smaybe they are 10 years out
especially our Operation IraqiFreedom and Enduring Freedom
(12:10):
veterans might be experiencingsome ongoing traumatic brain
injury challenges that they'renot even aware is related to
their brain injury.
What can you tell them?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Well, that is definitely something I have come
across in my practice in thepast.
Is people not being not makingthe connection of their symptoms
with a past?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
head injury.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
And I've also seen in my professional colleagues a
reluctance to connect a previoushead injury to current symptoms
.
So I would recommend that theybecome very familiar with the
symptoms of a brain injury.
(12:56):
Everybody's recovery isdifferent and every symptom for
that person is different.
So it's very important to knowyour symptom.
Let's say it's balancedifficulty with balance and if
that is your persistent symptom,then you're going to work on
(13:18):
improving your balance throughyour lifetime, because as we get
older our balance gets worse.
So your goal is really to kindof improve as much as you can or
maintain a steady state, sothen when age comes along, it
doesn't amplify your balanceissues even more than you would
(13:45):
want.
So if you have balance issues,you need to move, you need to
walk, you need to do yourneurotherapy exercises every day
.
You would want to considerdoing yoga.
You could start off doing chairyoga and then slowly move
between chair yoga and standingyoga poses and then, as you
(14:09):
progress, of course, uh, fullyoga, but maybe holding on to
something, uh, for your balance,and it's just this kind of slow
progression and um, walking inevery day, walking outside, is
great.
The last thing you want to doif you have balance issues is to
be very sedentary, because onceyou're sedentary and you're not
(14:30):
active, then you're not makingthose connections between your
feet and your brain.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
You want people to avoid being very sedentary.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Exactly, movement is great and it doesn't have to be
a marathon.
You don't have to hike in thewoods, it could be just walking
down the street, be walking inyour yard If you are someone who
works at your computer a lot,getting up, taking breaks,
stretching, walking around butreally try to slowly incorporate
(15:03):
back into your lifestyle andactive lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
That's so important.
We really do focus on that hereat New Normal Big Life.
Every episode of the podcastencourages people to get outside
and adventure, so we willcontinue to reinforce that.
Before we cover the next topicin this episode, I want to
introduce you to the adventuresports Lifestyle with what I
call a micro story about anadventure that I've had.
(15:27):
The Adventure Sports Lifestyleand my deep connection to nature
is essential to my good health.
So here's the story.
If you've listened to the lastfew podcasts, you've heard me
talk about preparedness, andalthough FEMA recommends that
you prepare for 10 days, I'mrecommending that you prepare
for 14 days, like my family andme.
(15:48):
So we've talked about food.
We've talked about first aid.
We've talked about preparing tohave an escape route safely,
especially in a water survivalsituation, like a flood, for
example.
Now let's talk about water.
You might be surrounded by waterin a flood or a hurricane, but
(16:09):
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prepared in advance One of thethings that we do whenever we
hear that there's a naturaldisaster of any kind potentially
in our area, like a wildfire,excessive rainfall, a blizzard,
(16:29):
excessive snowfall Anytime wesuspect the power may go out and
our well pump won't work, oryour city water might get
contaminated by flood water, oryou just may not have power, so
the water that comes out of yourfaucet may not be drinkable,
and you'll need to have water onhand for both yourself and your
pets and a lot of people forgetabout their pets.
(16:52):
We'll have an entire podcastepisode on basic preparedness,
but I wanted to drop a fewnuggets to get you started
thinking about and preparing fornatural disasters, because
there's been a number of100-year floods all over the
country, so I wanted to dropsome food for thought that you
(17:14):
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The fact is, the modern worldruns on a just-in-time supply
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Now back to Kelly Tuttle withmore on surviving a TBI and
thriving despite the challengeas a TBI survivor, have you come
across situations where I don'tknow if you have any visible
(19:01):
signs that you survived atraumatic brain injury?
I know many TBI survivors don'thave scars or other signs that
show they might have adisability what I like to call a
differing ability, because I'mnot disabled.
I just maybe have to do thingsa little different, but I still
have abilities.
(19:22):
Yeah.
I like that?
Have you experienced people notbelieving that you need some
kind of accommodation, whetherit be a workplace accommodation
or an accommodation in a publicsetting, like, for example, if
I'm going to a class it could bea dance class I will tell the
(19:42):
instructor up front.
I've had a traumatic braininjury.
I may need to privately ask youto repeat something.
I won't stop the class to do itif you are talking too fast and
that's just kind of asking foran accommodation in a polite way
, instead of them gettingannoyed with you because you're
constantly interrupting the flow.
(20:03):
But how have you handled thosekinds of challenges where,
because people can't see yourdisability, it's hidden they
either don't believe you orthey're not patient?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yes, so with work accommodations.
I had one manager who was supersupportive and I provided her
with the work accommodations andshe got them done and she
supplied them to me.
And then there was a change inmanagement and the new
management and HR people didn'twant to accommodate me.
(20:39):
They didn't they.
I was basically told I have tobe able to do my job without
accommodations.
Yeah, so it's um, it can bereally hard and um and it.
You know, people just they justdon't get it.
(21:00):
They think, oh well, after somuch time, you should be better,
your accommodations should justbe temporary.
And yeah, it's very, veryfrustrating and I just, you know
(21:27):
, I'll tell you what.
I don't really have anyrecommendations for addressing
people who are jerks, but I willtell you what I did.
I just smiled and said OK,thank you, and I documented it,
I reported it.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, you know, when you leave the military or when
you even leave the hospital,they'll tell you.
You can ask for workplaceaccommodations.
Make sure you get them inwriting, negotiate them in your
contract, and I did all of thosethings.
I had them in writing.
Companies always agreed to themand within about three months
they would say that they're nolonger going to agree to your
(22:04):
workplace accommodations.
And sometimes it was somethingas little as and although it's
more acceptable now.
In the early 2000s, when I wasin technology, I needed a
workplace accommodation becauseI worked in an open kind of Bay
area with lots of people andtelephones ringing,
(22:25):
conversations happening and Icouldn't focus.
So I just asked to wearheadphones.
I didn't want to have any musicplaying in the headphones, just
they were noise cancelingheadphones so that I could focus
better.
And I was told that I couldn'twear them, even though it was in
my workplace written workplaceaccommodations, because then
(22:48):
everybody would want them.
And I explained well, you canjust explain to them, it's a,
it's a disability accommodation.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
And they still told me no, even though it was
already in my contract that'sreally sad because the there is
some hostility when it comes toasking for accommodations, and
what these people, thesemanagers, don't realize is that
(23:17):
accommodations don't just helpthe disabled employee.
It helps all employees, allemployees and um.
And then it improves allemployees environment, uh, so
that they could be moreefficient, more productive um
like, for example, uh, wearingyour noise counseling headphones
(23:39):
is great for anybody sufferingfrom sound sensitivity or
difficulty with focus andattention in an open working
space.
And if everyone could wearheadphones, then maybe the
person who has a history ofmigraines will have less
headaches at the end of the daybecause they're not using their
(23:59):
brain energy or they're nothaving muscle tension in their
shoulders and neck from havingto constantly block out that
noise to focus.
The other thing aboutheadphones in the workplace is
that it also keeps you out ofinane conversations, because
people see you with yourheadphones and assume you're
(24:20):
working and you're focused andthey're less likely to walk up
to you and just start a casualconversation unless it's work
related, and that's the otherthing too.
I mean that helps support,focus, efficiency and
productivity.
So when I hear about and seemanagers not support these
accommodations, they're justbasically shooting themselves in
(24:44):
the foot.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I agree, when you have friends and family, people
who are close to you, they spenda lot of time with you and
you're able to function, youhold a job, you have a
relationship, you run errands.
They look at you and and Ithink a little bit is maybe
wishful thinking thateverything's great, you're all
(25:07):
healed and they don't have tohelp you, they don't have to
accommodate your needs for yourdiffering ability or disability
and they just want to put thewhole injury behind them.
But for us it's a lifelongchallenge or challenges.
But for us it's a lifelongchallenge or challenges.
How do you talk with yourfamily so that they don't also
(25:34):
become one of those people whoare just kind of like you look
in air quotes, normal, just getover it and get on with your
life?
I'm tired of dealing with this,and sometimes they don't say
that directly, but theirbehavior communicates that to
you.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah, I was really fortunate that my family was
super supportive, so thankgoodness I didn't have to deal
with that.
But I have had patients andcaregivers kind of report those
type of issues and as a providerI've had to do education.
And when I take care of apatient I take not only care of
them but I take care of theirfamily too, and so I would do a
(26:17):
lot of education.
That this, you know, for somepeople the change is permanent.
They'll learn to adapt and moveon, but they're not going to be
their old selves, and for sometraumatic brain injury survivors
, the day of their head injurywas a day they died but their
(26:40):
body survived, and so you mayfind yourself in a relationship
with a total stranger.
Personally me, after my caraccident, things started
settling down.
I would look in the mirror andI did not know the person that
was looking back.
I saw my face but I didn't knowwho I was anymore.
There really isn't a gettingover.
(27:01):
It's moving forward andadapting and embracing the new,
and that's kind of what I try torecommend for families and
being a provider, it's kind ofnice to say the things that the
patient needs to be said, butthe family can't get mad at me,
(27:23):
you know, because I'm saying it.
So it helps reinforce that.
So, definitely, having a innerintervention done by a provider
and that could be like yourcounselor, a psychologist, it
could be your generalpractitioner, it could be the
physical medicine, rehab, yourpt person, have them speak up
for you and educate yourcaregiver and now they have this
(27:46):
podcast and your wonderfulwords and insights to educate
their families.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
So you're really helping, kelly.
Is there anything else you wantto leave the listeners with?
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yes, if you want to know more information about me
and my work and um the uhcontent I create to help educate
TBI survivors and their lovedones, please go to
kellytuttleorg.
That's kellytuttle, t-u-t-t-l-edot O-R-G.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Perfect.
Thank you so much for beinghere, kelly.
I'd love to have you back nexttime, some other time, and talk
about more conversations we needto have with care providers and
family members and alsoempowering the TBI survivor to
know that they can create theirnew normal and live a big life
(28:40):
after brain injury.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
I would love to be back, thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
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What happens when a brain injury turns a healer into
a patient.
Today, on the New Normal BigLife podcast, kelly Tuttle,
neurology nurse practitioner andTBI survivor, shares her
journey from treating patientsto rebuilding her life after a
2015 car crash.
Tuttle, author of After theCrash, reveals how TBI survivors
(00:26):
can create their new normal,cope with emotional and physical
challenges and fight medicalgaslighting and ask for
workplace accommodations.
She'll share coping tools,strategies and insights for TBI
survivors, their families,employers and those providing
health care to empower listenersto advocate for themselves
(00:47):
post-TBI.
Hi friends, welcome to the NewNormal Big Life podcast.
We bring you natural news andstories about nature that we
hope will inspire you to getoutside and adventure, along
with a step-by-step plan to helpyou practice what you've
learned and create your own newnormal and live the biggest life
you can dream.
I'm your host, antoinette Lee,the wellness warrior.
(01:07):
Meet Kelly Tuttle, author ofAfter the Crash.
A neurology nurse practitioner,she can empathize with her
patients better than mostmedical professionals.
In 2015, she joined the leaguesof patients that she'd helped
treat when another car pulledout in front of her, causing a
traumatic brain injury, or TBI.
She wrote her book After theCrash to provide hope for TBI
(01:32):
survivors, while helping toencourage them that they can
live a normal life again,without the added stress of
emotional, physical andcognitive challenges.
Hello Kelly, welcome to theshow.
So glad you're here.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Thank you for having me, Antoinette.
I really appreciate being here.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Well, as a nurse practitioner a neurology nurse
practitioner you have a veryunique way of empathizing with
TBI survivors.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your journey and how you
came to do the work that you dotoday?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Sure.
So my story begins with athunderous clap of metal, the
shattering of glass and peoplecoming out of their homes to see
what has happened.
I was driving down a rural roadand another car pulled out in
front of me and unfortunately Iwas unable to stop in time to
avoid a collision.
(02:25):
It was a pretty bad caraccident.
There were airbags deployed, Ihad several injuries and I
thought, oh, I'll just shakethis off and I'll get back to
life.
And I even went to work thenext day day and my colleagues
who are registered nurses andnurse practitioners were noting
(02:49):
that I wasn't speaking right andthat I had some changes in my
personality and really impressedupon me to go in and see my
general practitioner the nextday, which I did.
And I was diagnosed at the timewith a concussion and taken off
work for a couple of weeks andI thought I would be better
(03:11):
after two weeks.
So I go back to work, try to goback to life.
Push, push, push, push.
Do everything I can, despitehaving headaches, dizziness, I
can.
Despite having headaches,dizziness, difficulty with
(03:31):
speech, unusual fatigue.
And then one day I fell asleepat the wheel and the car
bouncing off the road woke me upjust in time to slow down my
brakes to avoid striking a tree.
But this is how well I wasthinking.
My concussed brain was working.
I thought, oh, I won't tell mydoctor.
I don't recommend this for yourlisteners.
I will sleep on the side of theroad on the way from home, from
(03:55):
work to home.
I do not recommend that either,but this is how I was thinking.
I was just trying to get backto life, keep going to work.
I was a single income earner formy family and, fortunately,
shortly after, I had lunch witha colleague who, at the time,
was a neurology nursepractitioner I was a cardiology
(04:17):
nurse practitioner and she wascurious about my recovery and I
went symptom, symptom, symptomand I fell asleep at the wheel.
That's okay.
Now I'm just taking a nap inbetween work and home.
And she's like what?
Uh, no, that is not okay.
Uh, you need to see a physicalmedicine and rehab doctor PMR,
(04:41):
also known as a cytrus.
They take care of braininjuries and spinal injuries and
you need to have a brain scan.
So I hadn't seen any specialistor had a brain scan prior to
this and I said okay.
And then, with a lot of hoop,jumping and push, I finally got
(05:03):
my general practitioner to referme to the physical medicine
rehab doctor.
I got my brain scan.
It was a head CT and it wasnormal and that's in quotes, if
anybody's just listening to thepodcast.
And once I saw the physicalmedicine rehab doctor, she
recognized right away that I hada mild to moderate concussion
(05:27):
and she took me off work forthree months.
And when it was time for me togo back to work I was freaking
out.
I was like what does my brainneed to support its performance
while I'm at work?
I was still having difficultywith reading comprehension and
memory.
(05:48):
And I had no clue.
I read all my brain injurybooks.
I collected, I went to thewebsites, went to my therapist
notes.
There weren't anything specificfor using at work lots of home
stuff and things like that.
And so when I decided to writemy book, I decided that my book
(06:10):
would specifically providestrategies and compensatory
tools for people who wanted towork.
And that's kind of how I hadbecome, come to be where I am
today, and I had a friend whoalso called and checked on me
(06:33):
and said hey, how are you doing?
I said, oh, I'm doing good.
I read all this stuff about thebrain.
I love it.
I'm really becoming passionateabout everything related to the
brain and she goes.
Well, you should be, you shouldgo and be a neurology nurse
practitioner, and I was likewhat?
And so I was super excited andI worked really hard educating
(06:53):
myself regarding what I wouldneed to know to qualify for a
position in neurology, and twoyears later I qualified for a
training position and was ableto work in the neurology
department and help others likeme.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Wow, that is really incredible and Kelly's book is
After the Crash how to Keep yourJob, stay in School and Live
Life After a Brain Injury.
And I know tons of veterans wholisten to this show who have
had brain injuries are going towant to know how you did it,
kelly.
How did you go from not beingable to drive home after work
(07:35):
and challenges with focus andmemory and speech what a lot of
us struggle with to someone whowent back to school and training
and change your career field?
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It was all baby steps and it's getting to know your
brain and its abilities.
It's you know it's strength,where it needs to be supported,
and just being kind to yourselfand patient with your recovery.
And one of the key things thatwas very helpful for me in my
(08:13):
recovery and getting to know mybrain and what my brain needed
was journaling, and journalinghelped me with so many things.
It helped me get to know mysymptoms, what made them worse,
what helped support them,mindfulness, getting out of my
(08:33):
head, getting away from thenegative Nancy and the Bobby
bully and getting into thepresent moment, getting scary
thoughts out onto paper.
And it also was a companionthat I was able to, on the bad
days when I was frustrated withmy progress, to look back and
(08:54):
see how far I had come.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Oh, that's beautiful.
Yeah, I really like that a lot.
And another thing that I thinkTBI survivors take for granted
is they know they have a memoryproblem, but they don't
generally don't write thingsdown, they don't journal and
keep a record of symptoms andimprovements and what makes it
better and worse.
And it's so great that you didthat.
(09:17):
I did it as well and I think ithelped speed up my recovery too
.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Oh yeah, and then just handwriting, writing in the
journal, and helps withneuroplasticity, so it
encourages rewiring the brain togo around the areas that have
been lost and reconnect newconnections.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
When someone is journaling about their symptoms
after the traumatic brain injury, are there any recommendations
that you have for specificthings they should write about
beyond the symptoms?
What makes it worse and betterin terms of what they might want
(09:58):
to write down to tell theirdoctor at the next visit?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Well, definitely if things are persisting or getting
worse, and then definitelywrite down what you think you
could use to help yourself getbetter, whether that's speech
therapy, physical therapy,neurotherapy, a thorough eye
exam, hearing evaluation.
(10:23):
So I would definitely writethose things down.
You really do have to be anadvocate for yourself.
Unfortunately, tbi care is kindof it's not keeping up with the
research, and that's kind ofthe case with most things.
(10:47):
I think it's 17 years before anew research finding makes it to
the front line of healthcare.
So you really have to be yourown advocate as a provider.
You have to realize that onceyou see one traumatic brain
injury, you've seen onetraumatic brain injury.
So everyone's experience andthe symptoms they have is going
(11:09):
to be different for it, just asdifferent as their personality.
And the same goes for yourrecovery.
You know some people recoverwithin a couple weeks or a month
and others, like me, are 10years out and still working on
recovery.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
What would you say to someone and I'm glad you
brought up the extended recoverytime what would you say to
someone who has gone throughrecovery, has maybe gone through
occupational therapy, speechtherapy, physical therapy and
also recreational therapy?
So, for example, I wasintroduced to archery to retrain
(11:46):
my brain for focus.
I was introduced to whitewaterkayaking to one, become social,
become more active and to workon hand-eye coordination
regeneration.
So what can a person who'smaybe they are 10 years out
especially our Operation IraqiFreedom and Enduring Freedom
(12:10):
veterans might be experiencingsome ongoing traumatic brain
injury challenges that they'renot even aware is related to
their brain injury.
What can you tell them?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Well, that is definitely something I have come
across in my practice in thepast.
Is people not being not makingthe connection of their symptoms
with a past?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
head injury.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
And I've also seen in my professional colleagues a
reluctance to connect a previoushead injury to current symptoms
.
So I would recommend that theybecome very familiar with the
symptoms of a brain injury.
(12:56):
Everybody's recovery isdifferent and every symptom for
that person is different.
So it's very important to knowyour symptom.
Let's say it's balancedifficulty with balance and if
that is your persistent symptom,then you're going to work on
(13:18):
improving your balance throughyour lifetime, because as we get
older our balance gets worse.
So your goal is really to kindof improve as much as you can or
maintain a steady state, sothen when age comes along, it
doesn't amplify your balanceissues even more than you would
(13:45):
want.
So if you have balance issues,you need to move, you need to
walk, you need to do yourneurotherapy exercises every day
.
You would want to considerdoing yoga.
You could start off doing chairyoga and then slowly move
between chair yoga and standingyoga poses and then, as you
(14:09):
progress, of course, uh, fullyoga, but maybe holding on to
something, uh, for your balance,and it's just this kind of slow
progression and um, walking inevery day, walking outside, is
great.
The last thing you want to doif you have balance issues is to
be very sedentary, because onceyou're sedentary and you're not
(14:30):
active, then you're not makingthose connections between your
feet and your brain.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
You want people to avoid being very sedentary.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Exactly, movement is great and it doesn't have to be
a marathon.
You don't have to hike in thewoods, it could be just walking
down the street, be walking inyour yard If you are someone who
works at your computer a lot,getting up, taking breaks,
stretching, walking around butreally try to slowly incorporate
(15:03):
back into your lifestyle andactive lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
That's so important.
We really do focus on that hereat New Normal Big Life.
Every episode of the podcastencourages people to get outside
and adventure, so we willcontinue to reinforce that.
Before we cover the next topicin this episode, I want to
introduce you to the adventuresports Lifestyle with what I
call a micro story about anadventure that I've had.
(15:27):
The Adventure Sports Lifestyleand my deep connection to nature
is essential to my good health.
So here's the story.
If you've listened to the lastfew podcasts, you've heard me
talk about preparedness, andalthough FEMA recommends that
you prepare for 10 days, I'mrecommending that you prepare
for 14 days, like my family andme.
(15:48):
So we've talked about food.
We've talked about first aid.
We've talked about preparing tohave an escape route safely,
especially in a water survivalsituation, like a flood, for
example.
Now let's talk about water.
You might be surrounded by waterin a flood or a hurricane, but
(16:09):
chances are you won't be able todrink any of it unless you've
prepared in advance One of thethings that we do whenever we
hear that there's a naturaldisaster of any kind potentially
in our area, like a wildfire,excessive rainfall, a blizzard,
(16:29):
excessive snowfall Anytime wesuspect the power may go out and
our well pump won't work, oryour city water might get
contaminated by flood water, oryou just may not have power, so
the water that comes out of yourfaucet may not be drinkable,
and you'll need to have water onhand for both yourself and your
pets and a lot of people forgetabout their pets.
(16:52):
We'll have an entire podcastepisode on basic preparedness,
but I wanted to drop a fewnuggets to get you started
thinking about and preparing fornatural disasters, because
there's been a number of100-year floods all over the
country, so I wanted to dropsome food for thought that you
(17:14):
can start thinking about andacting on now, because you never
know when disaster may strike.
World events are constantlyteaching everyone some very
painful lessons.
Without warning, everything wetake for granted can suddenly
fail, and if you're not preparedin advance, you really don't
have a chance.
The fact is, the modern worldruns on a just-in-time supply
(17:34):
schedule.
Even the biggest grocery storescan carry only enough food for
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Now back to Kelly Tuttle withmore on surviving a TBI and
thriving despite the challengeas a TBI survivor, have you come
across situations where I don'tknow if you have any visible
(19:01):
signs that you survived atraumatic brain injury?
I know many TBI survivors don'thave scars or other signs that
show they might have adisability what I like to call a
differing ability, because I'mnot disabled.
I just maybe have to do thingsa little different, but I still
have abilities.
(19:22):
Yeah.
I like that?
Have you experienced people notbelieving that you need some
kind of accommodation, whetherit be a workplace accommodation
or an accommodation in a publicsetting, like, for example, if
I'm going to a class it could bea dance class I will tell the
(19:42):
instructor up front.
I've had a traumatic braininjury.
I may need to privately ask youto repeat something.
I won't stop the class to do itif you are talking too fast and
that's just kind of asking foran accommodation in a polite way
, instead of them gettingannoyed with you because you're
constantly interrupting the flow.
(20:03):
But how have you handled thosekinds of challenges where,
because people can't see yourdisability, it's hidden they
either don't believe you orthey're not patient?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yes, so with work accommodations.
I had one manager who was supersupportive and I provided her
with the work accommodations andshe got them done and she
supplied them to me.
And then there was a change inmanagement and the new
management and HR people didn'twant to accommodate me.
(20:39):
They didn't they.
I was basically told I have tobe able to do my job without
accommodations.
Yeah, so it's um, it can bereally hard and um and it.
You know, people just they justdon't get it.
(21:00):
They think, oh well, after somuch time, you should be better,
your accommodations should justbe temporary.
And yeah, it's very, veryfrustrating and I just, you know
(21:27):
, I'll tell you what.
I don't really have anyrecommendations for addressing
people who are jerks, but I willtell you what I did.
I just smiled and said OK,thank you, and I documented it,
I reported it.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, you know, when you leave the military or when
you even leave the hospital,they'll tell you.
You can ask for workplaceaccommodations.
Make sure you get them inwriting, negotiate them in your
contract, and I did all of thosethings.
I had them in writing.
Companies always agreed to themand within about three months
they would say that they're nolonger going to agree to your
(22:04):
workplace accommodations.
And sometimes it was somethingas little as and although it's
more acceptable now.
In the early 2000s, when I wasin technology, I needed a
workplace accommodation becauseI worked in an open kind of Bay
area with lots of people andtelephones ringing,
(22:25):
conversations happening and Icouldn't focus.
So I just asked to wearheadphones.
I didn't want to have any musicplaying in the headphones, just
they were noise cancelingheadphones so that I could focus
better.
And I was told that I couldn'twear them, even though it was in
my workplace written workplaceaccommodations, because then
(22:48):
everybody would want them.
And I explained well, you canjust explain to them, it's a,
it's a disability accommodation.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
And they still told me no, even though it was
already in my contract that'sreally sad because the there is
some hostility when it comes toasking for accommodations, and
what these people, thesemanagers, don't realize is that
(23:17):
accommodations don't just helpthe disabled employee.
It helps all employees, allemployees and um.
And then it improves allemployees environment, uh, so
that they could be moreefficient, more productive um
like, for example, uh, wearingyour noise counseling headphones
(23:39):
is great for anybody sufferingfrom sound sensitivity or
difficulty with focus andattention in an open working
space.
And if everyone could wearheadphones, then maybe the
person who has a history ofmigraines will have less
headaches at the end of the daybecause they're not using their
(23:59):
brain energy or they're nothaving muscle tension in their
shoulders and neck from havingto constantly block out that
noise to focus.
The other thing aboutheadphones in the workplace is
that it also keeps you out ofinane conversations, because
people see you with yourheadphones and assume you're
(24:20):
working and you're focused andthey're less likely to walk up
to you and just start a casualconversation unless it's work
related, and that's the otherthing too.
I mean that helps support,focus, efficiency and
productivity.
So when I hear about and seemanagers not support these
accommodations, they're justbasically shooting themselves in
(24:44):
the foot.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I agree, when you have friends and family, people
who are close to you, they spenda lot of time with you and
you're able to function, youhold a job, you have a
relationship, you run errands.
They look at you and and Ithink a little bit is maybe
wishful thinking thateverything's great, you're all
(25:07):
healed and they don't have tohelp you, they don't have to
accommodate your needs for yourdiffering ability or disability
and they just want to put thewhole injury behind them.
But for us it's a lifelongchallenge or challenges.
But for us it's a lifelongchallenge or challenges.
How do you talk with yourfamily so that they don't also
(25:34):
become one of those people whoare just kind of like you look
in air quotes, normal, just getover it and get on with your
life?
I'm tired of dealing with this,and sometimes they don't say
that directly, but theirbehavior communicates that to
you.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah, I was really fortunate that my family was
super supportive, so thankgoodness I didn't have to deal
with that.
But I have had patients andcaregivers kind of report those
type of issues and as a providerI've had to do education.
And when I take care of apatient I take not only care of
them but I take care of theirfamily too, and so I would do a
(26:17):
lot of education.
That this, you know, for somepeople the change is permanent.
They'll learn to adapt and moveon, but they're not going to be
their old selves, and for sometraumatic brain injury survivors
, the day of their head injurywas a day they died but their
(26:40):
body survived, and so you mayfind yourself in a relationship
with a total stranger.
Personally me, after my caraccident, things started
settling down.
I would look in the mirror andI did not know the person that
was looking back.
I saw my face but I didn't knowwho I was anymore.
There really isn't a gettingover.
(27:01):
It's moving forward andadapting and embracing the new,
and that's kind of what I try torecommend for families and
being a provider, it's kind ofnice to say the things that the
patient needs to be said, butthe family can't get mad at me,
(27:23):
you know, because I'm saying it.
So it helps reinforce that.
So, definitely, having a innerintervention done by a provider
and that could be like yourcounselor, a psychologist, it
could be your generalpractitioner, it could be the
physical medicine, rehab, yourpt person, have them speak up
for you and educate yourcaregiver and now they have this
(27:46):
podcast and your wonderfulwords and insights to educate
their families.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
So you're really helping, kelly.
Is there anything else you wantto leave the listeners with?
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yes, if you want to know more information about me
and my work and um the uhcontent I create to help educate
TBI survivors and their lovedones, please go to
kellytuttleorg.
That's kellytuttle, t-u-t-t-l-edot O-R-G.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Perfect.
Thank you so much for beinghere, kelly.
I'd love to have you back nexttime, some other time, and talk
about more conversations we needto have with care providers and
family members and alsoempowering the TBI survivor to
know that they can create theirnew normal and live a big life
(28:40):
after brain injury.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
I would love to be back, thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
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