An Interview with Chris Grenier

We sat down with Chris Grenier to talk about his experience with head injuries, what it did to his mental health, and how he recovered from them. Chirs is a professional snowboarder from Massachusetts, now currently residing in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has been in various snowboard videos ranging from backcountry to street riding, and has won an X Games gold medal for their “Real Street” series. He built a dream skate and snowboard compound at a cabin located outside of Ogden, UT. Along with all that, he most recently launched and co-hosts a podcast with E Stone interviewing snowboarders to get an inside look to the people behind the tricks. This interview takes place with Chris, Kelsey Boyer, and Melissa Riitano.

M: Jumping right in here. Being a professional snowboarder you obviously encounter bumps and bruises along the way. What has been a major injury for you?

C: Yeah I've hurt a lot of things snowboarding but I've been able to heal them. As far as exploding my spleen, ankles, and shoulders. But the concussions are definitely the thing that has slowed me down the most or taken the wind out of my sails as far as just being kind of scary and a difficult rehab process

K: The invisible part of it

C: Yeah totally.

M: When did you realize your concussions were having an affect on your life?

C: It’s and interesting one to talk about concussions and snowboarders, I personally have had only 10 concussions. My first one was maybe around age 21 and then another around 23. And you don’t really notice anything there. Then maybe around age 26 I had a couple bad concussions and I’d start throwing up when I would hit my head. Later when I started getting into 6, 7, 8 I would either dry heave or throw up. And it felt like it didn't quite take as much for me to get a concussion. Then I noticed when I started getting in to the 7, 8, 9, 10 range I’d have brain fog, and experience lot of those things football players experience like depression. I’m a naturally even keeled person I feel like. I never was depressed, that was a new thing. Even as far as suicidal thoughts from concussions. It’s kind of a weird one because its more incremental. It’s not a big event like a car accident that you notice a big difference. Where as (with his situation) you have a little more brain fog, and a little more brain fog, and a little more brain fog. And the next thing you know is, woah I’m in rough shape.  

M: It’s kind of the worst though, you don’t even realize it’s happening. One day you wake up, and you think how did I get to this place?

K: Yeah, you just keep pushing. You just say to yourself I’m fine. Everything’s fine. I’m going to strap back in and keep on going.

C: It becomes normal too. Concussions become normal, your brain fog is just your base line.

K: The new normal.

C: The new normal. And you don’t notice because you just adjust. The human body is incredible of what it can endure. We can get into some symptoms too.

M: Yeah absolutely

C: I used to sleep through the night until my crazy rat trap between my ears just kept sabotaging my sleep. The main ones were stress levels, crazy social anxiety and my memory was done. Those were all the things when I got my brain scan at Cognitive that were really low ironically.

K: Do you feel like anything with nutrition or diet or what you feed your brain made a difference? I’m just thinking from my perspective with sugar and caffeine; they (the doctors) said don’t have it after my brain surgery. Did you notice the same thing too?

C: Yeah I would say, for me before I would drink and do a lot of drugs in the summer and I think that compounded symptoms. Then when I quit drinking you naturally start to take care of yourself better. But I notice Im definitely more sensitive to caffeine. Nutrition is really important, a really big part of it is controlling inflammation. If you keep inflammation down whether it is your knee, your bicep, or your brain, inflammation is kind of the enemy in a lot of those things, especially when you're dealing with a fresh concussion. Right after I’d hit my head I’d go to cryotherapy. Or, a little trick, when I was feeling symptoms like nauseous, weirdness, or anxious. I used to crank the shower all the way cold and put my head under there and just reset my central nervous system. A little bandaid, but thats just my personal experience. There might be a doctor out there that’s like whoa that’s not right haha but it works for me.

M: What was your next step? After dunking your head in ice cold water and realizing that it wasn’t cutting it any more, did you talk to your friends about it?

C: This is kind of a cool story. It was almost divine, would be the word I’d use to describe it. I got a concussion at Mt. Hood and then I went barefoot waterskiing four days later. I didn't realize that barefoot waster skiing you're basically tomahawking across the water like full speed. I didn't really equate that to a concussion. So basically got back to back concussions in four days. I became really irritable, and I was dry heaving on the plane when I was flying back home. When you hit your head you become childish and irrational and just flying off the handle and having a short temper. My partner at the time, said “I don't know if I can do this.” She was crying and basically was like, because of your concussions I don't know if I can do this relationship. So that was a turning point for me. Okay, I need to do something. It wasn't about me any more, I need to do this for somebody else and that made it easier. That day I went up to my cabin to clear my head, and randomly Jon Overson was there. He had just found out about this treatment center called Cognitive FX. He had been dealing with post concussion syndrome as well. I had never had a conversation with him at this point, and we just started chatting, he couldn't even work because of his concussions. He sold me on it with just him being him. People can say a million things, but it had nothing to do with what he said. I saw him as a person, he was changed, and was happier. I saw the change in him, and said I’m going to try that.

I ended up making an appointment. The way it works there is you get a brain scan (fMRI) when you get there. And they are able to determine the severity of your concussion from 1 to 5. I ended up having a 3.5. There were fourteen other people in the clinic that week, and everybody else was around 1.5, 1.9, and 2.1. It actually validated a lot of my symptoms. They were able to pinpoint all of my symptoms without them knowing me or even me telling them. That made me a believer in their understanding of the brain. Then I signed up for their epic week and I went into with the mentality, I feel good now, I'm going to feel like super man when I leave. I ended up working really hard and got my brain back to a zero basically. I notice a bit difference, the people close to me have told me they notice more than me. That is my experience in a nut shell.

K: That kind of stuff is hard to believe when you're in it. One week of training, what can that really do? How did you feel during that one week of brain training?

C: It was torture, it reactivates your symptoms. It’s like if you blow out your knee and you've done nothing. Then you just start doing exercises on it, its not going to feel good. That’s how I would equate it. Those uncomfortable experiences of nausea, and sensitivity to light. Did you experience that at all?

K: Oh yeah. I was sleeping good because I was exhausted. But then toward the end I wasn't sleeping that well again, and I was worried that it wasn't working. It was exhausting.

M: How much time has it been since you're gone it CognitiveFX?

C: It was in the fall, so I guess 9 months. The thing that I noticed the most that was the biggest change for me was social anxiety. I remember I was at a movie premier for snowboarding, people everywhere. I used to dread those things, dread them! I would drink before, to make it chill but then I quit drinking. Now you just have to...be there. I hated them. During the movie premier I kept thinking and reflecting on how comfortable I was right now. I was wearing sweatpants and it was like chill haha. This is what life is like feeling comfortable in your own skin. That was one of the biggest immediate affects I had after. I was sleeping better and just feel sharper.

K: We ( Melissa) were talking last night about these episodes I used to have where I’d call her and just cry for two hours. I barley remember them, its almost like you disconnect from what happened. Thats the weird stigma with head injuries, you do things that are not you at all. It’s identifying, is this me or is this my head injury?

C: I want to add a side note. If I could go back in time, I would still go hit my head all those times. I would still go just as hard and I would still do everything I did. I don't have any regrets on going really hard on my snowboard. My game was, I’m going to get bodied to land this trick, some people are finesse; I just need to get destroyed. And once you hit your head enough times you think, okay I need to find a new approach. I think wearing a helmet is important, but I think some of the injuries I've had  (concussion) would have happened no matter what.

M: That is our over arching goal, we don’t want people to stop what they're doing. We want people to keep living their lives out right, but just knowing how to take care of their brain.

K: Thats the biggest thing, there is life after a brain injury. And you still have a snowboard career even after all of your concussions and treatments.

C: That was a big thing too, I was scared to tell my sponsors that I might have to take my foot off the gas a little bit. I’ve had ten concussions, and just spent a ton of money fixing my brain. I definitely can’t go out and just die like I used to but they’re all really cool with it. I think its important to talk about this because there are a lot of people out there struggling and have hit their heads, suffering in silence, and don't know that you can make it out of that dark place. Wether it’s suicidal thoughts or flying off the handle at your significant other, If you internalize them and don’t have hope, you’re done. So we have to talk about this so people know they can potentially heal this.

M: Do you think being a guy there is more of a stigma around mental health or a stigma in action sports in general?

C: I think generationally it’s changing. I think our parent’s generation were more like “you’re tough, guys don’t cry.” So you just end up internalizing because you don’t want to be seen as “feminine.” Being vulnerable is looked down upon from the “alpha male” perspective. I think it’s important to talk about struggles because it could save somebody's life. To know they're not alone dealing with substance abuse, depression, or concussions. Everybody inherently has struggles in life, it’s impossible to go through life with out struggles. People are realizing, other people will actually like them if they’re honest and open. I think thats a newer generation thing. I notice when our guest ( on the Bomb Hole Podcast ) open up, people gravitate towards them.

M: It makes you feel less alone in the world. Like wow, other people out there feel this too.

C: Maybe this ties in some how. I had a drinking and substance abuse problem. Maybe it was tied to concussions, who knows. I was having a really hard time, and I ended going to a group meeting with alcoholics. I remember being in that room and crying tears of joy because, oh my god everybody feels like this! I’d felt so alone in thinking I was the only one going through this struggle. Chances are, look around the room, three quarters of them are experiencing the same stuff you are. That was a big light bulb for me thinking, oh everybody struggles. That way its cool to talk about it all, especially when somebody identifies the same way you do. Like, that guy snowboards and he’s had concussions, or dealt with alcoholism. Sometimes you have to find somebody who looks like you to latch on to it.

K: People are going to hit their head because it’s part of the sport, but what if we create a safe space where somebody sees a person like you and they feel comfortable talking about it?  That could help a 12 year old for instance. If we normalized the effects from concussions, and found ways to help cope, it would be huge for the future of actions sports.

G: That’s huge, giving people hope. People in those dark places with concussions need that. As doctors and the treatments are getting better, people are really going to be able to bounce back from some big head injuries.

Things that I still do to this day are things like read, then in the morning when I wake up try to recall what I had read or I’ll be annoying and tell my significant other what I read just to prove that I remembered it.  Reading is a great tool for your brain, not just reading blankly staring at the page, but actually recalling what you’ve read. That was a part of my brain that was really damaged. Your brain is like a bicep. Say if you’re committed to the gym everyday you’re going to get strong. You have to go to your mental gym if you want to improve your brain.

M: This has all be great, is there anything you want to end on?

C: If you’re feeling weird or hit your head, it’s worth every penny to fix your brain. Because without your brain, nothing else works. I can’t emphasize enough, take care of your brain, fix it if needs it.

An Interview with Jamie MoCrazy

I caught up Jamie MoCrazy about how she sustained a TBI, ended up in a coma, and fought back to a full recovery. Before Jamie's accident she was a professional competitive freestyle skier, doing competitions like Dew Tour and X Games. She is such a driven person and getting to hear her story first hand was truly inspiring and uplifting. Talking with her now or seeing her you would never guess she went through such a traumatic event. Jamie is currently developing her professional speaking career and is a Ski coach at Woodward Park City. I am blown away by her tenacity and her family not ever giving up. Rolling into her story, April 11th 2015, a day her family will never forget.

M- What were you doing when you sustained your traumatic brain injury?

 J- Well, I want to take you on a little story. So, you are embodied in my 19 year old littler sister and it is your first ever world tour finals in Whistler, Canada. You are watching the contest that your older sister is competing in. You know how you have that person in your life who always has to be the best, always needs to compete even if it’s against someone who is eight years younger then her, she still has to compete. Well that was me, and 4th place did not cut it, I had to upgrade and get on the podium. My little sister is at the top of the course, she gives me a hug and I drop in for my run. She sees me take off the jump but can’t see the landing because of the mountain. Then she doesn’t see me hit the next jump. She hears the radios around her crackling with the words, “We need all hands on deck and a helicopter on-standby.” Without a word she looks at our coach and they ski down. As she is coming over the roll she sees me, spewing blood, convulsing on the snow and my eyes are rolled back. That moment in the blink of an eye, became the biggest trauma we both have experienced.

 M- I can't imagine what that was like for your sister. From there what happened?

 J-I was airlifted to Vancouver General hospital. When I flew away in the helicopter my first responders wrote my fatality report because I was not expected to make it to the hospital. I had a very severe critical coma, on the Glasgow Coma Scale which the scale ranges from 3-15 and I was at a 3.5. Anyone who is under an 8 has a 70% chance of mortality.

Jamie during her coma

 M- That is amazing you pulled through that! What was the next thing that happened?

J- I was in the coma for 10 days at Vancouver general hospital. Then I was airlifted in a Learjet to Intermountain Medical center in Murray, UT because I was a member of Global Rescue, so they paid for my rescue. Just to compete internationally I had to be a part of Global Rescue and I didn’t realize how important it would actually be.

M- What was it like when you came out of the Coma?

J- Once I came out of the coma I had serious amnesia. So serious that I have absolutely no memory for 6 weeks. It is kind of nice actually because I don’t have to remember being a 22 year old in diapers or reliving most of the scary parts. Which is why a lot of people talk to me about my injury because it happened to me and I always try to recognize that I recovered the way I did because of my support. Everyone needs support which is why i am such a huge fan of what you guys are doing because being able to support each other and interact is huge. The support I received from my family and since I was a professional skier it was shared globally, so I had global support and it was tremendous. My sister remembers my crash, going to the hospital and my recovery. That is a memory that she will never forget and same thing with my mom. My mom was visiting schools with my other sister in Connecticut which is where we used to live. They were at the beach when she got the call and dropped the phone and just started screaming when she found out that her daughter was in a severe coma in critical condition. So it effects the patients yes, but it effects the caregivers as well, it changes their lives.

M- It's amazing they were all there to support you. When you started the recovery process what challenges were you facing?

J- At the beginning I was basically a blank slate. I didn’t know how to speak or walk so i was in a wheelchair. I also had brain stem damage, so my right side was completely paralyzed and I had to relearn how to use it. They told my mom that I would never be walking again or living independently and she would have to take care of me for the rest of my life. My mom said,” You don’t say that in front of my daughter, we are leaving the room.” She has a masters in psychology and if you know Fruit, then you know that she is this skinny woman with hair down to her waist and a ball of energy that does not listen to things that she doesn’t want to listen to. She said, “Whatever Jamie turns into, I am going to love her but you don’t know what she is going to turn into right now.” She studied neuroplasticity before my injury and learned that you cannot predict things. It took me months to be able to move my arm but now it is back to normal. I had to attend outpatient therapy for 5 days a week for 3 hours and I would also do my moms therapy 7 days a week for 7 hours and the rest of the time I was sound asleep. My moms therapy would be taking coins and putting them into a jar, taking sand to deal with dexterity and in the beginning i didn’t know how to write so I had to go through kindergarten writing and reading again. I went through 12 years of school packed into a couple of months.

 A big one for me was the emotion that was tied into me. I was used to pushing myself physically and accomplishing things that people thought were impossible. I could see myself physically accomplishing walking but when I learned that I was done competing freestyle that was when it hit me. My injury was so severe, the doctor said that if I hit my head again, I will have really bad consequences and would be more susceptible to injury. That winter when I had to relearn everything I was just getting comfortable and my skis slipped out and I bumped my butt and didn’t even hit my head but I remember thinking, “If i hit my head again, my family is going to take care of me for the rest of their lives. I am going to crush the rest of their life. I can’t knowingly do that to them or to anyone that has supported me since the beginning.” I still ski but I take minimal risks and I have fun with it. If you were to get in a car accident, you would probably get in the car again. I was so lucky that I got to go back to skiing but I want to stay away from anything to do with pushing myself. I had to step outside of the injury because I tried to stay in it and I was miserable and cried the entire time. The years after I finally took a step back and I didn’t even talk to any of my ski friends, I completely disconnected. Now I can step back in as a ski coach. It was really challenging to see me as a peer because the first year after my injury, it defined me, I was the girl that lived.

 All of that ties into what I am really passionate about now because I received so much support I want to share my story to motivate people so when they are having days like I had and start to wonder who will care if they get up in the morning. They can recognize that they are the leaders in themselves.

Jamie & her Sister, Jeanee

M- What were some of the emotional challenges you spoke about?

J- What helped me get over my triggers was that first year when I realized that I wasn’t going to go back to who I was before. I treated my injury like a torn acl and that I would go back and it was fine. Now I am Jamie 2.0. I think Jamie 2.0s peak is amazingly beautiful but when i was learning about the development of my new self and had the harsh reality that I would never be the same, I went to psychotherapy. My mom tricked me and told me that high fives paid for me to do the therapy and if I don’t go then I would waste their money. I needed it so badly. It was so good to talk about what was affecting me, my family, ego and my life. I felt so lost. I started to learn about what to do when I feel a trigger point coming along. Finding ways to mitigate the triggers to slow them down and that is something that is still helpful for me and it is a blessing. I honestly believe at this point that I am able to regulate my emotions better than before my injury. Before my injury I was on the wild roller coaster of being a professional skier. I no longer felt as if I could be angry because my life was lucky and it was great so i would hide it.

M- What treatments do you think helped the most?

J- It’s hard to tell the impact that each recovery treatment had but I do believe that they all had an impact. I was constantly trying to do things to recover and get back because another huge thing about brain injuries is that it is years and years of a process. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me that haven’t seen me for a few years and they say, “Wow, you brain has changed so much since I last saw you.” At this point for me, it is impossible to tell if it is maturity or healing. Theres the factor of my brain plasticity and restructuring and strengthening it. I know it is a combination of both.

My sisters are involved in the medical field and helped a lot while I was in the coma. She took neurosurgery information and combined it with eastern medicine. She does Reiki massage at the moment that I arrived in the coma. She started putting things under my tongue that was cleared by my doctors. They believed in western and eastern medicine so she wouldn’t do something that she wasn’t supposed to do. My family was bringing me organic food from home. When I was on the food tube, my sister put fish oil into the tube. The doctor was saying how much it helps and how beneficial it is for patients but they do not supply it because of how expensive it is. Fish oil has been linked and tested positive to healing the brain.

In December of 2018 I went to Cognitive FX and I’ve stayed active in trying things and still do brain exercises. 6 months after my injury, I was fine and adequate. I didn’t need anything else, I had graduated from the rehab programs but that person is so different from who I am today. To get from that person to who i am today took so many years and steps.

You can’t control what happens to you but everyone can create the outcome and luck from their experiences by building these habits. It is so important to do eastern and western medicine. Because for me to be living I needed the western medicine and the eastern medicine to become who I am today. If I didn’t have both of my sisters practicing these medicines on me, I wouldn’t be who I am today without them. It is important to listen to what people are saying most of the time. Listen as far as the strict things. But also go in the sense and try different things that can be positive. My one suggestion is to be careful because there are things that have been proven already. Fish oil has been proven to help, do your research and be careful and back it up by science. All of these medicines have been proven and you don’t want to just gamble because it is your life.

M- Tell me more about about where you are currently.

J- I have been developing my professional speaking career. I do a lot of health speaking which I talk a lot about the communication and habits you can create to change your synaptic connections. Synoptic connections are your nerve pathways that the ions go through and I’m actually studying neuroscience to put scientific proof to my experiences. A lot of people after a brain injury are told it is permanent deficits that they develop and then they become permanent. You are climbing up a mountain peak and you get caught in a metaphorical avalanche that slides you down. With a brain injury, it’s dumping snow. All of your neuro pathways are covered in snow. Before the plows come during a snowstorm, everything is covered. Which is what my brain stem was like… everything was covered. In order to uncover them I had to build habits and I had to do things and it was really really difficult. It felt like walking through snow up to your neck, felt almost impossible. Not quite impossible but many people are told it is impossible so then it becomes impossible.

Jamie is a true inspiration to everyone

M- Closing things up what advise or incite do you have for somebody in the thick of it?

J- For someone who is in the thick of it i would say one of the most important things that helped me was to find different support systems. Reach out to people who have experienced this and that’s why I actually have cleared hospitals to share my information and that is why I have been contacted by different patients the years going through. I can share my information as well if you email mocrazystrong@gmail.com and ask patient or caregiver questions, I am open to being someone who has experienced it. They always say, Imagine walking in their shoes. There aren’t a lot of people that have walked all the way in brain injuries. There's a lot of people that have had brain injuries but just to be able to walk in their shoes and be like I remember when I did this… Connect with it but not leave it at that. One of the biggest things that shocked me was I went to a convention when i was 4 months out and the first thing they said was that 1 in every 2 people with brain injuries get depressed. 1 in every 6 people commit suicide and then they brought up these speakers who had first hand experience and were telling all of their problems built from their brain injury and all of their issues. It was scarring and that was the moment that we all decided that I was going to communicate that you do not have to have a worse life after a brain injury. You can climb an alternative peak that can be better and can be bigger and more beautiful and if you think it is going to be worse then you will create it to be worse. It’s okay to have bad days, recognize them and figure out what you can do to get over them. Don’t get sucked into it and dwell on it, your life does not have to be worse. Keep doing things to better your life and you might not see results right away but keep practicing and building habits. Keep taking steps, keep walking then you’ll be able to start to see things come together that you want them to be. That is one of the most misconceptions after a brain injury is that your brain is going to be worse as well as your life. It’s not true.

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 Jamie has such an inspiring story with so many amazing incites. There are a few things I wanted to link at the bottom.

The first is Global Rescue, if you are in extreme sports especially this could be life saving

https://www.globalrescue.com/landingPages/GRDifference?gcc=1029581712&gclid=Cj0KCQjwn7j2BRDrARIsAHJkxmydFWD1iPQMJsNLrwo1k6weeW8ivj2YD1zxDdVvuAOXZu9m6WmctJkaApmaEALw_wcB

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The next is parts of Jamie's healing routine consisted of:

● Arnica: We used lotion Arnica

https://www.kneipp.com/us_en/products/arnica/gel-cream?gclid=Cj0KCQjwy6T1BRDXARIsAIqCTXrDBXIgznH8CYt5k9KyqMBiYu3K8pvldsyMDJYI0XxB5MzfdjzZQkMaAiZcEALw_wcB

● Reiki

https://www.reiki.org/faq/whatisreiki.html

● We always touched her and did her personal hygiene

● Massages: Her older sister is a massage therapist so she gave Jamie daily messages in recovery.

● Essential oils/ aromatherapy

https://www.doterra.com/US/en

● Labyrinth

 https://www.gardendesign.com/baltimore/labyrinth.html

● Fresh air and sunshine

● Rosetta Stone in English

https://www.rosettastone.com

● Read stories from childhood, sing lullabies

● Music to sing/dance/recover to.

● Extra hand mobility exercises

1.    Opening and closing jars

2.    Putting coins in to a piggy bank

3.    Hand strengthener device https://express.google.com/u/0/product/15703220632190513965_17749109147318895269_12145?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=tu_cu&utm_content=eid-lsjeuxoeqt,eid-ptgtgfeotu,4181973&utm_campaign=12145

4.    We would tape down her left arm so she had to make breakfast entirely with her right hand.

5.    Pick up and make shapes with Putty Sand

https://alzheimersactivities.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/play-with-kinetic-sand/

● Fish oil through her feeding tube and then squirted into her food before she was able to swallow pills

● RevitaPOP

https://www.revitapop.com/

● Organic brain food: All her food was organic and brought from home when she began eating.

● Socializing: Had friends visit every day at inpatient rehab.

● Chiropractor/Cranial Sacral Therapy

https://www.healthline.com/health/cranial-sacral-therapy

● Hyperbaric Chamber

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbaric_medicine

● Bemer (Bio-Electro-Magnetic-Energy-Regulation)

https://united-states.bemergroup.com/en-US

● Physical trainer: After she left the hospital we had a physical trainer come over to the house and do workouts with the whole family. The exercises were geared around what was best for Jamie 4 times a week.

● Pictures and videos: We decorated her room with pictures and had friends and family send in videos of them talking to her and wishing her a good recovery.

● Personalized room and space: We brought in stuffed animals, blankets, pillows from home, and moved her bed at an angle to make the hospital room more comfortable for all of us to hang out in.

● Lots of love and fun: Every new step was treated with love, and recovering was participated by the whole family for fun.

 Thank you so much to Jamie for sharing your story. And thank you to the Save A Brain community! We are so grateful for you support!