From Concussion to Coach

Tanika Connesero is a brain injury survivor and health care coach whose personal journey emboldened her to assist family members. Multiple people in her family had TBIs and her mother had a stroke. We all have experienced those life challenges where our children get injured in sporting events or just falling in the shower. Do I need to seek medical advice? Do I just monitor them at home? Tanika, because of her concussions, was in a unique position to identify the TBI signs, navigate through the diagnostic process, and advocate for her family members. Listen in as you hear her share her story, how nutrition plays a critical role in recovery, and why you should never give up because you are a walking miracle.

Guest Social Media info - 

https://www.instagram.com/aloholisticwellness/
https://www.facebook.com/AloHolisticWellness 

Transcript

Tanika: 0:00

And you know, just take it one day at a time. And it, because we're in the thick of it, it can be hard to see how far we've come and the progress that we've made. But just remember, you're doing great. You're here, you're taking strides. Um, and yeah, just keep doing what you can to, to find joy, you know, and to, to bring joy into your life.

Bernard: 0:33

Opinions shared by the guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the hosts bindwaves or the Brain Injury Network. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and it's not a substitute for professional medical advice, the diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Speaker 2: 0:57

Thank you.

Karl: 1:01

Hi, I'm Karl a TBI survivor, and a member of BIND.

Carrie: 1:05

And hi, I'm Carrie, a stroke survivor, and a member of BIND as well. And today we're gonna welcome Tanika Connesero a brain injury survivor, health coach, doula, and a mother, a single mother of three boys. So welcome Tanika.

Tanika: 1:19

Thanks So glad to be here with you guys today.

Carrie: 1:21

We're excited to have you. So I guess just to get started, tell us and our listeners a little bit about you. Yeah. Um. I don't know. I'm a single mom. I have three kids. Um, in my family, we've all had a brain injury of one form or another, whether that was, it's been traumatic or non-traumatic. Um, yeah, I am a doula and a health coach and, um, just really trying to be a part of people's teams and, uh, support network to help them live their healthiest, happiest lives. So. That's great. And just so y'all know, so this is probably episode one of Tanika'cause we've got lots of other ideas maybe coming down the pike to have with her. So we're excited.

Karl: 2:07

Well, we understand that you're not the only one who's had a brain injury in your family. Can you expand on that and tell us a little bit more?

Tanika: 2:16

Yeah. Um, so I had my brain injury back almost. It's been almost 10 years. Um, August 3rd, 2016. Oh, wow. Um, is when I had my, I fell and I got my concussion and, um, it was life changing. So the doctors told me, you know, Hey, it's, you'll be fine in a week. Um, you know, you'll be able to get back to normal life after that. And I wasn't. So, um, yeah, that, that was me. And then. My oldest son had had, um, some head injuries playing soccer and just kind of a random freak accident where he kind of passed out in the shower, um, one time. And then, um, my middle son has, uh, seizures. He has epilepsy. Okay. Um, so that's been ongoing for most of his life. Um, and then, um, and he also has autism and, um, intellectual development, disability. Um. Amongst other things. And then, um, my mom just recently this summer had multiple strokes on both sides of her brain, so

Carrie: 3:24

Oh,

Karl: 3:25

oh Lord.

Carrie: 3:25

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're not kidding, you say everyone in your family, you mean everyone in your family. So, yes. Um, this wasn't, and I had written down, but maybe think so. Do you think having had your concussion, um, I'm guessing, I don't wanna guess that. So let me rephrase that. Did you have your concussion before your oldest son had his.

Tanika: 3:48

Yes.

Carrie: 3:48

Okay. So that's what I was gonna say. Do you think that helped or hindered you with helping him progress with his symptoms?

Tanika: 3:57

I think it most definitely helped me. Um, I mean, I was able to kind of know what he needed as far as like therapies went. Um, you know, at the time my. My middle son was already going to all of the therapies at Children's. Um, so we had a good working relationship with therapists there, um, OTs, PTs, um, speech therapists. And so I kind of knew, um, you know, not just from, from my perspective, but also, you know, in talking to them. And so we kinda knew what to do, how to get him help. Um, and then it also just helped me be able to advocate for him better, like when it came to school and the things that he needed.

Carrie: 4:37

Okay, so the original question I was gonna ask, so you knew you had a concussion then your son probably, you know, from soccer concussions. Mm-hmm. How do you, and we know that you're not a medical doctor, this is just kinda your personal experience. How do you know that? If you think maybe you don't know for sure if they've had a concussion, what do you know about it or how do you decide I need to get. My son to the doctor.'cause I think he's had a con concussion. What?

Tanika: 5:05

Absolutely. Yeah. What were the warning signs

Carrie: 5:07

or the triggers for you to know, I guess is what I'm asking?

Tanika: 5:10

Yeah. So, um, part of it for me is just seeing or knowing what that impact was, how hard of a hit or fall, um, did he, did they take right. Um, where was it that they hit? Um, so those are like a couple of the base. Questions or like assessments that I do. Um, I'll also look at like, okay, what are their eyes looking like? Mm-hmm. How is their speech? Um, what is, can they remember? Are they conscious? Um, you know, so there's, there's kind of a, a little bit of a list that I'll go through, um, and just kind of assessing like how they're feeling and what's kind of going on, um, in their system.

Karl: 5:53

Okay.

Tanika: 5:54

So that makes sense

Karl: 5:55

to me. Good. More specifically, what steps did you take in particular with your brain injury? Concussion. And, and how were your sons different? I know you got, you were able to help them with your experience, but mm-hmm. Did they have different problems and did they have different things to handle? And, and how did they do with that?

Tanika: 6:16

Yes. So for me, I felt like it was a lot harder because I didn't know anything. Um, the very first day that it happened, I jumped up, I grabbed all my bags'cause I was on my way to work, uh, when I fell. And I, all I could think of was, oh, I gotta get to work. I have all this stuff that I need to get done. So I didn't think about my health or what was going on at all, even though I was in immense pain. Um, you know, I couldn't listen to the talk radio. I couldn't like, just everything hurt in my body. Um, so I made it to work. Uh, I was there for a little bit and then I came home because I just, I couldn't handle it. And, uh. I had to take that trip in steps, um, you know, drove a little bit, parked, took a nap, drove some more, went home, took a nap. I didn't realize that I actually needed to go and get medical, um, seek medical attention. And so it wasn't until a couple of friends, um, had told my mom like,"Hey, yeah, you need to take her into the hospital. She could have a brain bleed. Anything could happen. Don't let her sleep. So, that was step one, like just not knowing, right. Um, you know, what to do in that event. So, um, you know, after that, of course, immediately, okay. You know, you hit your head, let's assess, let's, you know, get you into medical attention and just determining what level that needs to be, whether it's emergency or you know, a primary care. Um, I mean now we have neurologists, so we can try, just try to get in with them. Um. But that would probably be the biggest thing that's been different is just kind of knowing the signs of what a concussion is, um, and being able to kind of take almost immediate action.

Karl: 8:00

You were able to see it in your sons then you, you recognized they needed immediate attention, I take it.

Tanika: 8:07

Yes. Yeah. Uh, yeah, absolutely. Um, I mean, one of my kids, um. It happened to just kind of slip and fall in the shower and he hit his head and so I was like, okay, like let's go.

Carrie: 8:21

Right. Um, you just had an over precaution?

Tanika: 8:24

Well, I mean, to be fair, he had, he was kind of clumsy because he was the kid that grew really tall really fast, but you know, didn't have a whole lot of great coordination. So he was always falling, I feel like, and getting. His head hit or getting concussions, you know, whether they were really mild or a little bit more serious. So with him, I just kind of knew. Um, and yeah, it, I, I guess that's basically kind of like the main way that things differed, um, between me and my kids was just kind of having that, that knowledge and also. The big thing with me, mine was not sports related, so it did take me a very long time to get in to actually see a neurologist. After having gone to the er. Um, it took me about a month

Carrie: 9:15

Oh wow.

Tanika: 9:15

To get in because nobody, everybody that I called, everybody that was recommended to me asked if it was sports related. And because it wasn't, I couldn't get in. Um, that's great. And so I just had to wait. Yeah. Yeah. It was wild. So at that point, I was out of the acute phase, I was into the chronic phase. Before I, I really got any treatment. Um, and so just knowing how time is of the essence also, um, you know, makes a difference. Sure.

Carrie: 9:42

Now, and so this, so you said your youngest son has epilepsy. So my middle son. Middle son. Okay. Mm-hmm. So that's totally different. I mean, that's not like a concussion. I mean, that's totally different route, right? It is,

Tanika: 9:55

yes. Yeah. That is a non-traumatic brain injury. Right. Um. And basically some of his seizures are so long, they can be 20 minutes long. Oh, wow. Even after having given like rescue medication and things like that, um, he does sometimes have trouble with breathing, um, during some of his, uh, seizures and things like that. And so every time he would have a seizure, he would regress. Right? Mm-hmm. And his abilities and his knowledge and what his, uh, he was able to do. Um, and so it was always kind of the stair step, uh, with him. And so yeah, it, it's just, it's been different. I've been having to learn about the brain and Right. Neurology for the last 14 years, roughly. Yeah. In one way or

Karl: 10:44

another. Give a class on it.

Tanika: 10:47

Uh, yeah. I it's, it's a lot. It's a lot for sure.

Carrie: 10:50

Yeah. Absolutely. And do you think, you know, I'm gonna say probably not, but. One of the members asked this question, do you think, you know, when you have a concussion, the severity of it, it's probably smart not to think, you know, the severity, but to wait and get

Tanika: 11:08

Yes.

Carrie: 11:08

Medical advice of how severe or non-severe maybe it is

Tanika: 11:12

Exactly. Yeah. Um, the majority of traumatic brain injuries tend to be mild.

Carrie: 11:20

Mm-hmm.

Tanika: 11:21

But that constellation of symptoms that one can experience, can. Come on gradually. Right? And so it's always hard to really know and to gauge yourself. Like for me, I was like, am I really forgetting something? Like I, my brain filled off, you know, I, I just, and so it was a more of a feeling then like, yes, this is for sure what's happening. Um, and then I knew for sure it was happening after a while. Right. But yes, that's definitely something that I, I would recommend going to a doctor, getting all of the assessments done. They can tell you. Right. Um, you know what the severity is.

Carrie: 12:00

I know. I tell everyone if you fall, just I go, I say out of precau, you know, precaution. It doesn't hurt to go to care now.

Tanika: 12:07

Yeah.

Carrie: 12:08

And say, I like I had a pretty bad fall. Feel fine, but just check me out.

Tanika: 12:13

Exactly. Well, you never know if there's gonna be a brain bleed or not, or you know. It could be anything.

Carrie: 12:20

Yeah.

Tanika: 12:20

Right. So,

Carrie: 12:22

well, and we know,'cause you know, with being with the clubhouse, um, falls are the number one cause of brain injury and yeah. People fall for all kinds of reasons. It's not, you know, you're clumsy, you slip on the ice, you hit the curb wrong, whatever.

Tanika: 12:37

Yeah. Yeah. That I fell. Yeah. You know, I try not to step on my mom's one eye mini chihuahua, uh, after my head injury. The dog, if he was in my way, he got kicked. Sorry, y'all.

Carrie: 12:50

No, I, you know, I understand.

Karl: 12:54

What are some common misconceptions then about your particular. Uh, brain injury, you know, it's, uh, you know, concussions are generally concussion is expected in a sports event, as you said, so you are denied therapy immediately. That's very sad. But what are, what can you say specifically, or are the events that surrounded your, you know, what, what did you experience as losses?

Tanika: 13:25

Yeah, I mean, for me, I think some of the misconceptions and some of the things that I was told were number one, oh, you'll be fine. Don't worry about it. Just rest for a week. Um, you know, basically be in a cave in an absence of everything. Um, you know, and you'll be fine. Um, you know, now we know different, right? Mm-hmm. You need, you actually need to kind of have input and do things. Um, to help you recover. Um, and then I would say another big one for me was, um, you know, just, oh, you'll be fine. Like, recovery is the same for everybody. But we know that life factors play a part. Um, women tend to heal more slowly from brain injuries than men do. Um, whether that's from hormonal shifts or the amount of stress and just kind of lifestyle factors that impact us. Um, and so yeah, that, I feel like those were a couple of really big ones. Um, I'm trying to think. I don't know.

Karl: 14:31

Brain injuries are a tough animal, aren't they? So they're So you learn the hard way by having one. Yes. You never expect that. You don't learn in high school what to do in case you have a broke Mm. Brain injury and the learning process is half the battle.

Tanika: 14:48

Absolutely. And you know, actually I remember now what I was gonna say. So. I had a doctor tell me, oh, well, you know, where you're at after two years is the end all be all.

Carrie: 14:56

Mm-hmm.

Tanika: 14:57

That, I feel like was the biggest misconception once I heard that and once I hit my two year mark, I, I was okay.'cause I was trying to fight and I was trying to like, you know, recover and then I just got depressed.'cause I was like, well, I'm at my two years. He said he and I just need to find a job at McDonald's basically. And you know, like, this is it. And I was 35, 36 at the time. I was like, I, and you know, had little kids. What am I gonna do? How Like this can't be

Carrie: 15:27

right. I, yeah, that, I mean that's that. And Karl and I have talked about that. We tell new, new survivors all the time. That is the worst thing that I think doctors do is they give a time set. And we know from experience, like I said, I am 16 year. Post, you know, recovery Karl's 19 years, and we both know that we still continue to heal in different ways and recover. So it's a life time recovery. I mean, yes, it would be nicer if they said, you know, you might kind of see a plateau. At around two years, it doesn't stop. I mean, you do hit plateaus and kind of go into those peaks and valleys all throughout, but it doesn't ever, ever stop. That's what I try to always tell new survivors.

Tanika: 16:09

Yes,

Carrie: 16:09

the more you put into it, the more you're gonna get, and you just keep on keeping on. So that is, I think, one of the most mis frustrating misconceptions that. You're at a certain point, you're done. What you've got is what you're gonna get is not fair. I'm gonna take a quick little break and just remind our listeners to click that like button click, click that subscribe button, click that follow button, click the notify button on YouTube. If I missed a button, it has a thumbs up, just go ahead and click it. So, okay. Um, now I'm gonna kind of switch a little bit'cause kind of going off of both your brain injury, your concussion, and then your being a health coach. Mm-hmm. Do you think or does nutrition play a role in healing, helping the healing process from any brain injury? We won't just say concussion, but

Tanika: 16:59

Yes. Yeah, most definitely. Um, you know, I always think of it and always say brain health is whole body health, right? And whole body health is brain health. So, you know, any good nutrition. Is going to help, you know, getting in your vegetables, you know, those good green leafy vegetables and fruits, um, you know, that's really gonna kind of help you and nourish your body, give you the things that you might need. Um, a lot of times when we get sick or when we, um, get injured, we're already depleted, right? Of nutrients and minerals and things like that. So just bumping that up. And just giving your body the opportunity to do what it needs to do and to try to heal and to try to work more optimally is always gonna be key. Um, also there are certain nutrients and vitamins and minerals that have been shown to actually help, um, heal the brain and heal the body. Um, you know, one of which is magnesium, right? Mm-hmm. Magnesium is used for hundreds of different processes in the body. So if we're deficient in that, then you know, it just, it's a little harder. Um, yeah.

Carrie: 18:12

Okay. And like I said, that might be another episode later on that we get a little more focused on that, so, yeah.

Karl: 18:18

Okay. What are some of the signs that somebody may have had a concussion brain injury? Do you have any specific signs that, well, you've, you've seen problems with your sons, so,

Tanika: 18:32

yeah. Um. Some big ones I would say are balance, um, issues or movement issues. Um, sensitivity to noise or to lights. Um, speech issues, right? Memory issues for me, and I know a lot of other people, um, it can be tinnitus or that ringing in the ears for me. I also had, um, my, I guess ears are, were so sensitive just to pressure. You know, coming in through the air vents in the car or the windshield wipers going. Um, so I call it kind of my superpower, right? I have hypersensitive hearing. I can hear water run through walls sometimes, or the electricity. Um, but yeah, those are some of the, the main big ones. I would say also, you know, headache, um, joint pain or pain, you know, from the fall, whatnot, that can also be, um, indicative.

Karl: 19:30

Interesting.

Carrie: 19:31

Yeah. Yeah. Is, and I'm gonna ask a different question.'cause this question that I have written down is basically the same question you just asked, so I'm gonna skip it. Um, but I mean, I guess one of the key things that I'm kind of hearing, and I wanna make sure our listeners are understanding, I mean, we say it all the time, you know, once you've seen, met a brain injury, you've met one brain injury, they're all different. So, I mean, you've had a concussion, your son's had a concussion, but I mean. Y'all aren't, I mean, your symptoms are not the same. Correct? And your

Tanika: 20:02

Yes.

Carrie: 20:03

Steps to recovery, I'm guessing are probably different. Y'all had different paths to heal because there were different things that you needed to heal. Am I? Yes. And also my kids were younger, right. So I felt like mm-hmm. You know, again, not a medical professional, uh, but I feel like the brain, the younger you are, it's able to adapt. Right. And kind of make different connections a little bit more easily to kind of adjust and, um, kind of work around. Sure. Some of those, uh, deficits maybe. Um, but yeah, definitely, um, there, there definitely are differences we're, yeah. All kind of different in the way that we've come out, you know, on the other end. Sure. So, um, also I think the number of concussions. Okay. Can impact and make a difference as well. Yeah, that's probably true.'cause the more you have, the more damage you're gonna get. Mm-hmm. Think about that

Karl: 20:59

in different places,

Tanika: 21:00

right? Yeah. Yeah. Um, also I did wanna say too, um, people that have brain injuries or concussions are also more likely to have, um. Behavioral or emotional changes as well. Mm-hmm. Um, things like depression or anxiety, or excuse me, or symptoms of A DHD or might exacerbate their A DHD. Um, so those can also be signs and like for me, I've noticed, you know, my tension might not be the same as it used to be. Um, you know, I kind of go down rabbit holes. Um,

Karl: 21:37

I get it. Yeah. Yeah. Been there, done that.

Carrie: 21:43

Absolutely. And I know we kind of talked about this, but um, like what would you say are like some of the best ways that you advocated for yourself and for your child, your children, to make sure that you are being heard and that you are getting what you need? Because I feel like a lot of times as new brain injured, that's where we fall short and it's not. For lack of us wanting to, it's for lack of us knowing any better, knowing what we don't know exactly.

Tanika: 22:14

And I feel like for me, that's a lot of it. I've done a lot of self-educating, a lot of reading, a lot of watching videos and um, conferences and things like that. Um, or attending conferences. And so I think that's really kind of the biggest thing that I've done, and just them being able to go to say the school and for instance, my oldest son his senior year had a concussion right towards the beginning of the year. Mm-hmm. Um, and so I had to advocate for accommodations. Well, in some states like Colorado, they will actually give you accommodations for a brain injury, which, I mean, think about it, you have a brain injury, so your brain, you are struggling to think. Mm-hmm. But in the state of Texas, or at least in our district at the time, they, because it's considered as a temporary, um, injury and not a permanent injury, it doesn't necessarily fall under the Americans with Disability Act.

Carrie: 23:08

Wow.

Tanika: 23:09

Yeah. And so I had to push and fight and ask for accommodations and get the letters from his therapists and everything like that to help him. And thankfully his teachers were willing to work with him. Um, but yeah. Yeah.

Carrie: 23:23

That's interesting. I didn't know that. That's Now I'm, I'm sorry. My brain is spinning on other ideas for topics and because I didn't know that that's frustrating. I'm gonna have to find me some learning disabled teachers and get them in here and figure out what they know or don't know. Yeah. But um. I'll just ask before we wrap up, I'm seeing the sign over there. Um, is there any like last words or big, you know, tidbits of advice that you'd like to give to new survivors out there to let them know they're not alone? Yeah. Keep working or, you know, anything you wanna share.

Tanika: 23:56

Um, I would say one, you are a walking miracle. Right. So

Karl: 24:02

Exactly.

Tanika: 24:02

Yeah. Could be six

Karl: 24:04

feet under.

Tanika: 24:05

Exactly. And you know, just take it one day at a time. And it, because we're in the thick of it, it can be hard to see how far we've come and the progress that we've made. But just remember, you're doing great. You're here, you're taking strides. Um, and yeah, just keep doing what you can to, to find joy, you know, and to, to bring joy into your life.

Carrie: 24:29

Absolutely. Okay. Well thank you so much, Tanika. Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you for sharing your insights and like I said, I'm already thinking about what we could talk about next and we'll have you on again'cause I think that'd be exciting. And again, thank you to all our listeners for listening. And remember, you can find us on all your favorite platforms every other Thursday. So until next time,

Tanika: 24:48

bye. Thank you

Karl: 24:49

Bye

Bernard: 24:55

We hope you've enjoyed listening to BIND Waves and continue to support Brain Injury Network in our nonprofit mission, we support brain injury survivors as they reconnect into life, the community, and the workplace. And we couldn't do that without great listeners like you. We appreciate each and every one of you. Please remember to click the like button, the share button, and the subscribe button on YouTube. And follow us on Instagram at BIND Waves and Brain Injury Network on Facebook. You can email us at BIND waves at the BIND dot org or go to our website BIND waves.org or call us at(972) 769-2463. Please continue watching. Until next time.