Gabriella Rebranded | Healing After Trauma, Spiritual Growth, Brain Injury Recovery & Dark Humor

Ep 18 | Invisible Disability: Life After Brain Injury

• Gabriella Tranchina • Season 2 • Episode 18

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This episode is dedicated to brain injury survivors and caregivers of. Today I sit down with my physiatrist, Dr. Seth Herman. Dr. Herman has been with me from week one of the coma until now and for the forseeable future.  My recovery has been entirely guided by Dr. Herman and I and my brain would not be where we are today if it wasn’t for him.

As the Medical Director of Traumatic Brain Injury at California Rehabilitation - where yours truly was posted up for a bit - every day he sees patients at all stages of brain injury recovery from the moment their surgery is over and stands by their side as they reassimilate into life. He is still making tweaks to my medication and I  started working with a new neuropsychologist a few months ago at his recommendation.

No one knows the struggle of brain injury rehabilitation better and an invisible disability than someone who sees it present in all different cases every day. Tune into this episode and catch a true glimpse at the reality of having and living with a brain injury.


Win most, lose some 


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but sometimes we just don't know until you try. And I’ve had a lot of patients that we didn’t think they’d be able to do it and they surprised us. I actually tend to be a little aggressive, maybe is the word, in saying ‘let’s give it a try,’ ‘let’s give it a shot’ yeah. Whether it’s with driving or return to work or yeah yeah return to living on your own. I mean, we want to have some safety measures but sometimes we don’t know until you try.


Almost dying taught me how to live. Being struck by a car left me in a three -and -a -half -week coma with 15 broken bones and 16 surgeries to complete, including brain surgery. However, I woke up from that coma in an even greater place than I ever off for myself. How? The universe will guide you out of the darkness and into the light if you allow it. Often spirituality comes off as too highbrow. I'm not about that. Welcome to the podcast that talks and teaches about it through the lens of humor. Together, we'll harness positive energy and use it to work with the universe, all while giggling the entire time. Welcome to Gabriela rebranded, win most, lose some. Oh my God, this is so crazy. 


This is my first episode of season two. And I knew I was when you told me you were willing to do a podcast episode, I was like, you need to be the premiere episode of season two because this podcast was started, obviously, because of my brain injury. That's the main bulk of everything I've had going on. And nobody knows about brain injury better than you. This is Dr. Herman. all recommended by him. I have only recovered as well because of Dr. Herman. I still go for check -ins every few months, which is, I suppose, better than every day, which it was at one point. No one knows the struggle of brain injury, recovery, and rehabilitation better than someone who sees it every day in all cases. So my brain injury family, as I call you, This episode is for you and Caregivers of. Welcome. Oh, thank you for inviting me. Quite a privilege to be here. Thank you so much for coming on. And you, we are all so lucky to have you. And your current role is that you at, your current role is that where I was posted up for a little bit, California rehab. You are a medical director of traumatic brain injury. Yes. So I work at the California Rehab Institute in Century City, Los Angeles, and I'm the brain injury medical director. I also, I work for Cedars. Cedars, yes. I have a clinic through Cedars and do consults. And then I also actually do consults at some other places like St. John's, And I have an appointment at UCLA as well. Oh, well, I know California rehab is a collaboration between Cedars and UCLA, right? Yes. So just a brief history, it opened. I think Cedars had their own rehab. UCLA did. Los Angeles is a very big town. They probably didn't have enough rehab beds. And this organization Select Medical, who runs rehab hospitals all throughout the country, came in and said, look, you guys are under rehab. know I wanted to start with this question. Tell everyone what a physiatrist is and what a physiatrist does because no one really knows when I tell everyone that you're my physiatrist, they're like, you're what? And I didn't know for the longest time. I referred to you as my main overseer for years. And then it was only when I met another brain injury survivor in the past year that they were like, I think that's her physiatrist. And I was like, I don't know, this is what they do. and she was like, yeah, that's your physiatrist. spinal cord or burns and amputations. And so these doctors were not only managing their medical issues, but they realized that, you know, these people, these soldiers aren't functioning as well as they would like to. What can we do to also improve that? So they started working with physical therapists and occupational and psycholog to very much. So we, so we think about how you are functioning with this injury. So that's sort of, so a physiatrist, it's, we look at the whole person. I like to say holistically W -H -O -L and holistically H -O -L -I -T -I -C -A -L -L -Y. So it's very, it's all about how you're functioning with, within this medical issue. Okay. And so it's It's called physical medicine rehab. The other term is physiatry, as you noted. Yes. And it, you know, physiatry, it's like healing of the body. Unlike, like psychiatry, healing of the mind. So that's sort of how it developed. And in fact, one of the first patients was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It's m understanding. You know, because it also coincide with the polio epidemic. Yeah, yeah. So that's what we do. We think of how are you functioning with this illness? And what can we do to improve it? Well, I think that's very important because so the misconception about a brain injury and that I live with every day is that, and all your patients do, is that like, it's over, like once you're out of the hospital, like it's over, it's done, and it's never done. Yes, It's a very good point. You know, in fact, it used to be and thought of it's just an event. Yes, exactly. And then it's over. But it's really considered, actually, it's considered a chronic illness now. Just like diabetes or hypertension, it's not just an event that happens. And sort of the way I look at it is broadly, you know, one, it affects all systems. It's the brain. Exactly, yeah. And And the brain controls everything. So I sort of break it down into, you know, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, physical problems, language. You know, those are sort of broad category. So we're really thinking about the whole function. And to be honest, when I was in medical school, I kind of liked everything. I liked neurology, I liked psychiatry, orthopedics. And this is somewhat of a combination of a little bit of everything. So that's what I like about it. Okay. Is that how you wound up getting into this? Because just like give a brief overview of your journey. Interesting. So I actually, interestingly, when I was a kid, I used to caddy at this country club. And I didn't quite realize at the time. But one of the guys I caddied for was a physiatrist. Okay. Do you still play golf? I do. Oh my but ultimately I came back to physiatry and mainly when I really learned about brain injury because I realized brain injury combined a lot of my interests in like psychiatry and a lot of my physical interests as you know through like orthopedics and things like that so so I thought it was a good combination and and so I did have an early introduction in other words unlike a lot of people That's like, it's very interesting to be like, I thought it was a good combination of like a very big topic. Like the brain is probably, it's like neurosurgery I know is like one of the hardest things to get into when you're applying for residency. And I imagine physiatry isn't different. Yeah, so I learned early on that, you know, for some reason my brain and my hands don't always work that well together. So I wasn't the kind of person that liked to take things apart and put them together. So surgery was not. So I wasn't going to operate on people. But I thought that this field was I could help take care of people after the surgeries. And then often we are doing sort of pre -surgery stuff as well are just, you know, some people suffer brain injuries and are many people do and there's no surgery. Yeah, most brain injuries aren't surgery. Exactly. Yeah. Probably at least, you know, well over 80 % of them aren't. Yes, that's true. Yeah. So that's what that's what I liked about it. Okay. I could actually, you know, I like to talk to people. I like to listen. So it combines a lot of that. Yeah. And it's a lot of listening because, I mean, things 


Things change all the, like, thing, they're, because I know you can have, my neuropsychologist was telling me about a patient that, like, recovered like I did, that she had, like, recovered I did, had like a really good recovery, and then 10 years out seizures developed. So, like, the brain, it's just like you never quite know what's going to happen. So you always have to be listening. Yes, and exactly. And that's why we consider consider it chronic. You can get better. You can keep improving your function, but you have to be aware of sort of potential complications. There's things that you can do that you've got to be careful of. Like, for instance, you know, you want to make sure you're sleeping well and you want to avoid, you know, excessive alcohol use or even caffeine, you know, because these things, you know, could maybe precipitate needs. social life, but now it's like I'm fine with like a reduction in alcohol. But like coffee is the one thing. Yeah. That it's hard for me to reduce that. But like that's actually what prompted my neuroped my neuroped my neuropist to be like, you know, I had another patient like you. And she recovered really well. And then 10 years out. Like she was like, she was like, you're not out of the, because I came to every session with a coffee. And she was like, you're not out of the woods girl. It's a common thing, a lot of people, you know, because fatigue sometimes be a common symptom. Oh, my God. I say I haven't, I literally, there has not been a day since before my injury that I've felt well rested. Every day, it's just a matter of how tired I am, but I've never felt, I have not felt well rested since before my injury. Yeah. Very common. So, you know, that's why maybe I'm getting ahead. And the other thing that I that I was really interested in, too, was exercise. Yes, which I'm very into. Exactly. Yeah. Exercise is one of the main treatments. And I think that, you know, it's, we really appreciate that even just 30 minutes of walking a day can really help with your overall recovery. I think a lot of my patients, if they're listening, we'll probably giggle because I'm always asking about their exercise. Do you find that most of your brain injury patients do or don't exercise? I think that I hammered in enough that they really give it a good effort. They really give it a good effort. Because I considered a medication. Yeah, I mean, it is. It is. I'm not even going to give you a medicine if you're not exercise. Well, I wasn't super into exercise before I got hurt. And then I wanted to get back to doing the bare minimum because I could barely do anything. And then, like, someone told me that exercise was good for the brain. Probably you. Someone told me that exercise was good for the brain. And I just wanted to recover. I was still under the feigned hope that this was going to all be over one day. And parents even notice in the beginning when I would get upset about something before I did a workout, I would be so upset and spiraling. And then after I did a workout, I'd be like, I got it. It's fine. Yeah. Agreed. 100%. Maybe even without a brain injury, but clearly, exercise is just a great treatment. Yeah. Yeah.


Now, you care for people after the surgery, basically. But you started at the started the very beginning. You started day one. You were there with me, not day one, but like day three or something when I was, because it took us a little bit to get paired because I wound up, or my family knew someone who was like, this is the doctor that you need to see. And then you came into, just changed all my medicines and everything. But you work with patients right from the moment they're out to surgery for the rest of their life. Yeah. How much of your day, would you say, goes to patients freshly in the hospital and patients who are back and re -assimulating to life? Good question. Yeah. So I kind of think of it, I treat people sort of from coma to community. coma to community. I like that. I didn't make that up. I either think I may have read it somewhere. But so when I met you, so that part of my job is when I go in, I'm doing like a concept. Yes. So I was called in to do an evaluation. And at that point, you know, I did a good behavioral exam and we realized, okay, she's not really in coma. She actually is minimally conscious. So, and we can go through those stages briefly. But so, So, and then we were like, well, what can we do to help improve this? So, you know, at that point, you were getting more stable in terms of, you know, vital signs and blood pressure. So we really tried to get you off of sedating meds. And then we started a medicine that's probably one of the best or more, you know, more recent advancements in brain injury. It's called amantadine. Yeah, I was going to, I was going to say, because I remembered that a little bit. I was like anatrazine? Okay. I mean, spent, though, in rounding and seeing the patients in the rehab hospital, where now, you know, you've forgotten out of sort of the ICU or the acute care hospital, even, and now you're starting to work on your actual rehab. So I'll spend my morning there. But then, and then, so it's interesting. I have the ICU. I have then the acute rehab. And then I'll go to the clinic where now I'm seeing people that have moved on out of the rehab Hospital and now we're getting them back to trying to similarly in the community. Like me now. Yeah, back to work, back to driving, which was a big thing for you. Oh, yeah, that was, yeah. So I sort of, I'm literally, my, each day I'm sort of seeing that whole journey, not necessarily in the same patient, you know, but like this patient's getting out of the ICU, this patient's now in acute rehab, and then this patient, wow, they had their first day of work. That's so great, just for a doctor to be through every phase in physiatry because you're probably one of the only medical positions that does that. Like most doctors, like, they're a surgeon or they're not with patients for every step. Like you're either a neurologist or a neurosurgeon. You don't, Yeah, I mean, I think that's one of the things I… you're doing, you know. I did that and it was, it was so crazy because we like walked, we didn't see everyone, but we saw a couple people, we saw a few people. And there were people who, I mean, I looked so different. But as soon as they saw me, they were like, oh my God, dude, I just remember one of them said, dude. I thought that was so funny. But I vaguely remembered a couple of their faces. Like a couple of them when they started talking, I was like, I wrote like, I have a snippet of you. Like I remember. Yes. So I did my fellowship there at Harvard. And then I took over and started a brain injury medicine fellowship, which was I did that for a good almost 13 years, I think. And also do you do something with the Boston Red Sox, right? Yeah. So I had a clinic and we'll probably, you know, that was sponsored by the Red Sox. Which I am a Yankee fan, but whatever. I She grew up a Yankee fan myself. It was a joint thing. The Boston Red Sox and Mass General Hospital, they called it the home base program. The home base program. So we were treating soldiers generally from Iraq and Afghanistan that had had traumatic brain injuries. You mean headaches, as Donald Trump said? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So just headaches. Yeah. But, You know, these are very complicated patients because not only did they have the brain injury, but they were also in these, you know, life -threatening situations. And, you know, they often had PTSD, you know, which we see in civilian traumatic injury, too. But, yeah, that was a very interesting clinic. I learned a lot. And one of the things I think that we might hit on is to this concept of the, you can't necessarily see the brain injury sometimes. And so some of these soldiers that, quote, had mild. Headings, yeah. Or the, you know, I don't like the term mild, but yeah. You can't see it, but they were suffering. Exactly. And sometimes they'd be like, but, you know, their compatriot might have lost an arm or a leg. And you can see that. Yeah. There is, no, I so often run into the experience where it's like I should be treated like someone in a wheelchair and like my injury deserves the same respect and it's not like it's so like I think a lot of times when I mention things and I'm like hey well like what about this accommodation people think I'm just using the brain injury card and it's like no I'm not it's like every day I live with overstimulation every day I live with all these like, you know, just sporadic emotions that like I've gotten better as I've healed and also Limatrogine is like a big savior. But it's like every day I'm dealing with complex post -traumatic stress disorder. Every day, like it's hard for me. Like visual mapping is very, very hard for me. I'm forgetful. Like there are just things that I'm constantly dealing with and people are like, but people can't see it. So they're just like, after a brain injury. It's hard, yeah. It can be, you know, everything coming in at you. So it's just, it's just, you really have to listen and just be sort of open and compassion to what they're feeling. Because everybody's a little bit different but there are certain things that we know. Like, as you said, over -stimulation. Yeah. It's, I actually just went to a concert with my friend, wore earplugs. But I just, I actually just went to a concert with my friend and we were going to go together. And Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Perfect sense. Yeah. It is, it's just a whole crazy thing. 


But you, like, see people every day at, like, every place and, like, every point in the recovery. And I was just wondering, like, this podcast as a whole, like, it's also about spirituality. That's very important. Do you think, like, one, what are the most inspiring things you've seen? Because there's a lot of bad things about brain injury, but what are some of the most inspiring things you've seen? And then also has your work in the brain injury field, and you can't answer wrong, because it's your true opinion, has your work in this field made you strengthen to your relief that, like, there's something up there or has it made you like, no, there's nothing? Yeah, good question, putting me in the spot. But I'd say, you know, one of the things that's, you know, really inspiring is how the families and the loved ones, you know, come together. Yeah. Because, you know, a brain injury doesn't just affect the injured person. No, it affects their caregivers. Yeah, the whole family. So that, that response that people will just put, you know, ideally, you know, people's lives stop or change, sometimes forever. So the response of family members to me is very inspired. Yeah. I mean, my family was amazing and just like my mom is like now like one of my best friends and I call my mom every day. And at first it was I had the deal with me moving back to LA was that I had to call her every day. But now I just do it and like me and my mom are so close and like everyone who knows me knows that. And every so often I, like, will drop on people. I'm like, you know, we weren't close before my accident. Like, like, she was lucky if she got a call for me once a week. Right. Interesting. Exactly. And then so the second part of your question was... Has it, like, has it strengthened your belief or kind of squashed your belief? No, I mean, I think, okay, so the thing is, like, it's like two people can seemingly have the same injury,

like even on a CAT scan. And, you know, some people recover more fully than others. And, you know, I don't always know why that is. That's sort of the heterogeneity of how each brain injury is different. But I do think that it definitely has strengthened in, you know, sort of my belief in spirituality and maybe in some higher power. But It's just have gotten to this place. I don't think I ever would have gotten to this place without my family. And I also, like, think where I am kind of, like, backs that up where, like, people did not think I'd be here by now. Like, it's a very, I know it's very surprising to certain, like, my dad, who is a doctor, that I'm able to live by myself. That was, like, not something we were sure was ever going to happen. Yeah, Totally. I remember that. 


And that's one of the hard things is sometimes, you know, that people will come to me and it's like, I don't really know. I don't know. Yeah. But maybe we got to give it a try. Sometimes you don't know until you try. And I've had a lot of patience that we didn't think that they would be able to do it, and they surprise us. So I actually tend to be a little aggressive, maybe is the word, in saying, well, let's give it a try. Let's give it a shot, yeah. Whether it's with driving or return to work or, yeah, return to living on your own. I mean, sometimes you just don't know. You know, we want to have some safety measures, but sometimes we just don't know until you try. I know driving was something that, like, everybody made me feel like it was going to be so scary, so I was so scared. And then when I did it, I was like, oh, wait, I know how to do this. Yeah, except for backing up, I had a couple issues with, I would get into, like, minor accidents while backing up because my death perception, but never while driving. It was always while backing up. Yeah. Yeah, thankfully, you know, some cars are so, you know, with the cameras. They're so good now. They're so good now. My car will start beeping if I get even close. So I do think technology has helped in that regard. I mean, and then fortunately, in some ways, if you can't get back to driving, we have alternatives, you know, with Uber or now Waymo and who knows, you know, maybe one day people can actually own a driverless car. But I think that I definitely sort of have this full. know until my parents were passionately against it. And I say it definitely didn't work out. Like, I mean, I'm here, so it did work out. But I move back way too early. But I always say that like, but I wouldn't redo it in a different way because the only reason why I'm here now is because I did move back way too early. Like we're all of some of our experiences. And I really like where I am now. And I only got here because I moved back way to early. Yeah, maybe it was a little early. It was a little early. But I was telling you this earlier. My dad has always said that, like, he can give me all the advice, but at the end of the day, I'm going to do what I want to do, and I wanted to get back here. I wanted to get back here. I mean, it's hard. I'm sure you don't see it because it's not as common that young people have brain injuries. But it's really hard when you're, you know, in your 20s, teens for some people. And it's like, well, you've got to stop your life. It feels like you have to stop your life. And, like, you just want to get back to it. Yeah. Well, actually, in fact, the reality is that it's a little bit sort of trimodal. But, you know, we know there's brain injuries in the very young and the older adults. But there's blip and in young adults and in fact it used to be you know we used to think that young adults was you know they're actually more brain injuries you know and those and adults but it seems like we're seeing a lot more and older older adults with falls but we do see you know the young sort of reckless nothing's ever going to happen to me you fully believe that nothing's ever going to happen to you when you're young body surfing on the car I mean I've seen all of these you know, just sometimes Exactly. And then it's like, oh, you're not. 


What are the biggest struggles you see for patients after a brain injury when they're trying to re -assimilate to life? Good question. Okay, a few things. I think one is, and you went through this too, as you're, you know, you might think you can do more than you can. Oh, yeah, 100%. Okay. And then your loved ones don't, and they're hovering over you, and you have 24 -hour supervision, and you just want to try to do things on your own. But we're not sure that it's safe. And, you know, you think you can do it, but then you're told you're impulsive and you have poor insight and your awareness isn't good because those are some of the harder things to treat. So I think that that's something that's difficult is when are you ready to not have 24 hour care? When are you ready to take that next step? I think that's difficult. And we sort of talked about how a lot of these injuries, you can't see it. Yes. Okay. And then you do it and it's like, oh, she can't do that. Yeah, exactly. And then any little thing you do, any little mistake, you forget your keys, you leave the door open, you forget to turn off the stove, you know, it's your brain injury. It's your brain, yeah. But maybe it might have happened before. But, you know, I mean, I can't, you know, so we just, to me, I like to just, you know, there's this concept, the good old days. Yeah. Well, before my brain injury, I could remember. But we have to understand your pre -injury personality or your pre -injury functioning. Like, maybe you were a little impulsive before. Yeah, you're going to be a little bit more now. Or maybe you had some issues with even balance before. Like some people have always been clumsy. But you had a brain injury. So that's what, you know, so it's trying to understand that. Yeah. Well, I know what's been told to me is that like  It's Harrison Ford, and he has a brain injury, a gunshot wound, actually. And he kind of became a better person after. I feel like that movie somehow influenced me, but that's sort of the exception. Yeah. But that's, if anybody hasn't seen it, I would recommend this movie regarding Henry. It's an older Harrison I thought, and it takes you a little bit through somebody's journey with a brain injury. But, yeah, that is a very difficult thing to cope with. You know, patients will be screaming and swearing and their family is like, they never did this before. Done that. Well, actually, I sometimes, I did sometimes do it before, but it like went to the power of well after my brain injury. And it gets better. You're kind of going to ride the storm a little bit. Yeah, exactly. It does get better. I would say that, like, if I had to evaluate myself, I think my experience has actually made me a better person 95 % of the time, because 95 % of the time, like, I'm way more positive. Like, people always describe me as bubbly. That's what I always say. And, like, so friendly and so, like, no one would have ever described me as bubbly before my accident. And, like, I was definitely someone who kind of looked at the negative or harped on the negative, and now, like, I'm a lot more positive. A little too positive, kind of working on that in neuropsych a little bit right now. But, because it's definitely a little bit of a mask that I put on. But, like, 5 % of the time, when I get angry, when I get upset, I get angry, I get upset. And like, especially to my parents, because unfortunately, your parents kind of, your family, if you're close with their family, not my brother, but like, I'm close with my brother, but he hasn't gotten this part of me. But my parents, like, I've said terrible things to my mom and dad, which unfortunately is part. And luckily, my dad as a doctor is like, this is how it goes, like, and he's able to take it. But like, yeah. It can be hard. Yeah. You'll appreciate this, but, you know, I, one of the reasons I, one of the markers for getting better, at least for you, too, is your ability to handle the parking garage at my office. Okay. Parking garage, California, right? Yeah. Very difficult. And you've, and the, I could see in the beginning. Like, sometimes you, you couldn't even get into the office. No. aren't related to the brain. So it's largely normies, as I call them. And when you go in that parking garage, the valet is really directing. They are, I don't want to use the word aggressive, but they're strongly assertive in how they speak to you and how they direct you and they're like kind of yelling at you. And like I, the overstimulation was going and I could not take it. I would get so upset. And now I can handle it. Exactly. balance. It's just, so you just, you know, you just got to really listen and just, you know, try your best to help. All right. 


My last question for, well, actually, I have another question to follow up. Okay. But my last question that for the bulk of the episode is, what is the one thing you wish the public? Because the public largely doesn't know about brain injury unless you have someone in your life that has one. Yeah. So what is the one thing you wish that the public knew about brain injury? Okay. Good question. We've hit on some of this. So maybe one that I think that it's important to know that it's not just an event. Yeah. It really is sort of a chronic illness. I think that's very important.

So I think maybe they're getting a little better, you know, maybe because with football and concussion, people realize, but those are repetitive concussions. It's a little different. So I think that and just that, you know, the reality is that no two brain injuries are the same. So, you know, if you've, so that's what makes it hard to predict. But at the same time, and this is why it's, you know, we just really have to understand that sometimes, you know, people just, you know, just have, can have a little difficulty controlling impulses and thoughts. And you might speak a little louder or you might make a rash decision, you know, and it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just harder to sometimes control those thoughts. So I think, I think if people just had a better understanding of that, you know, then maybe they would, you would, you know, cut people a little slug. Bu yeah, I think a lot of the stuff we talked about, the invisibility of it, that it's chronic, it's not just an event. Yeah. Those are, yeah, those would be the things I wish people knew to that, like, one, this is never going to be over and two. I'm not playing the brain injury card. This is an actual legitimate thing. And you should treat me like the disability is very real. But the last, oh, I was just going to say, so I've had, you know, I've had some close friends that had brain injuries. And it's sort of, that's even, quote, mild, you know, like without any findings on a cat's. And they've struggled and it's really, you know, and I knew these people before. These are people that loved their job, their life, and I've seen their struggle. So it really, you know, hones in. And this is brain injury. It's a, you know, it's a serious illness. But it can get better. And it does get better. It does get better. The brain wants to heal. process. It's not easy. Yeah. It's not easy. 


But the last thing I wanted to ask you is in every episode, I recommend a resource. And remember, I put this in the email. And when I have guests on, I give them, I let them recommend a resource. And you kind of already did it with Dear Henry. But if you had to recommend one thing, and it could be Dear Henry. But if you had to recommend one thing, I'll be a book, a movie, a TV show, a stand -up, a podcast, whatever, for the public, just either to learn more about brain injury or whatever you think is important, what would that be? It's a good question. Okay, so I think one, just the, you know, maybe the Brain Injury Association of America website has a lot of good material on it, okay? Just something to Google. I actually really have in, I think it's very helpful to read memoirs. There's a lot of memoirs written of people that families are people that have suffered brain injuries. I'm writing one. You are. So I think that, and I read them. And I had, you know, I think it helps just to really understand what people are going through. So I think wars. Yeah. And be very, very helpful. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I'm so glad that you are my first episode of this season's debut and just so special. And I really want to drive home that the ultimate goal of this podcast, because I got really, you know, zeroed in on it after we did all of season one and we took a break is like really what it's about is community and letting people like who have gone through all types of trauma like there is like the ultimate goal of spirituality like there's a better way to be but also like there is a community there is someone who has gone through the trauma you have gone through you're not alone because I know I felt so isolated in my brain injury and I this is so important to me this episode because I've talked about lots of different kinds of trauma in my episode and overall what's happened to me, but this episode was truly for… go to, I don't know, but I don't know if they're like just, I don't want to say book an appointment with you because that's hard, but just anything about you. I mean, you know, I do see patients in my clinic, so you could reach out. I guess I could, my clinic is in Century City and my, the number is, let's see, 310.423.6400. So yeah, I'd be happy to see anybody in consultation for anything related to the, you know, brain or brain injury. Okay. Yeah. Thank you so much. And as usual, like, subscribe. Please, please, please leave a review. If you're feeling really, really nice, those help me a lot. And this has been Gabriella Rebranded win most lose some. We are back. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.


Hey, guys. I know I just said bye to you, but now I'm back. And Actually, I was saying goodbye to Dr. Herman, not goodbye to all my listeners, because I just wanted to pipe in here and say, thank you so much. This second season would not at all be possible without you and the support and just the reinforcement and just the love that has come from this glorious creation of mine and letting me know that this is definitely on the right path and this is definitely what I should be doing and it's just it's so great and it's so affirming and it makes me so happy and I'm falling more and more in love with Gabriella rebranded and all the things that I'm learning about and all the things that I'm doing every single day and it's just really incredible so thank you so much and um I in a lot of ways I'm more excited for this season than last obviously last season was my debut season it was a dream come true there to the world. I know for a fucking chore and this season is about really doing it. So the support is even more encouraged this season, but it's going to be really incredible. And at its core, what this podcast is about is trauma can be so isolating. I would know that trauma can be the loneliest experience in the world living through your trauma. And what I needed to know to pull me out of that feeling of loneliness and isolation, what I needed to know is that something was there for me, something was supporting me. That is the universe. The universe is always there for us. It is always supporting us. None of us are ever alone. But to see that manifestation in person, what is an aided, an aided asset to really help you see that in real life is community. is people, is just being able to connect. And so this podcast is to really aid in that. Each episode, I am hoping to engage with and explore another aspect of the myriad of aspects that are trauma. And I'm hoping to meet all kinds of guests, which will be so exciting, all kinds of experts that can shed light on things I know nothing about, which is most things in this world that I know nothing about and really what I want to do of this podcast is bring a piece of that community to you and be another resource that lets you know you're not alone I want to be the voice for everyone that I needed when I was going through the worst of it and I want to bring on guests who are experts or no more way about or have lived for themselves all kinds of trauma that I haven't lived and I don't know anything about. And that is really what this podcast is about. And this second season is when we are really going for doing that. It's when we're focused on the growth and letting as many people fucking know, reaffirming for them, you're not alone. So thank you guys so much. Thank you to my community. Thank you to the communities that are not part of my community, that hopefully one day may be a part of my community and just all the communities in the world. and really


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Gabriella Tranchina

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