One of the biggest fears on the path of recovery from a stroke and/or brain injury is reverting. In this episode, Joe and Lauren discuss their own personal struggles and fears with reverting either in their recovery progress or reverting back to bad habits and negative mindsets they had before their brain injuries. They cover the importance of reframing, accepting their new “normal” and celebrating every victory no matter how small it may seem. Various characters throughout fiction and fandom, who have famously battled reverting on their hero’s journey, are also explored.

“Be the hero of your own story, but not as your origin story for being a villain.” The super villains discussion continues from last week’s episode in today’s episode 7, part 2 of ‘Chillin With The Villains’. Joe and Lauren compare one-note villains to villains with purpose and try to pinpoint what characteristics make a villain truly great. They also touch on some of Joe’s recovery stories that relate to his favorite villains. Who’s your favorite villains and why?

We all have villains we love to hate. The main thing that makes a super villain great is their relatability. As the Joker once said to Batman, “all it takes is one bad day, that’s how far the world is from where I am.” In this episode, Joe and Lauren discuss their favorite villains in comics and cinema from Loki to Mr. Freeze to The Terminator to Killmonger. They also touch on the power of the mind to create your own inner villain or hero and how refocusing on the positive versus the negative can be the difference between just surviving and thriving in your brain injury recovery journey.

Who is your support group or mentor on your stroke and/or brain injury recovery journey? In this episode, Joe and Lauren discuss how important it is to reach out for help on the path to recovery. They share the struggles they had with asking for help and how having a support team made the whole recovery process easier to face. Just like every great super hero has a team or mentor, a brain injury survivor hero needs their team and mentors as well so Joe and Lauren delve deep into some of the best super hero and fictional support teams and mentors of all time.

The Avengers: Infinity War trailer just came out this past week and Joe and Lauren have a lot to say about it! In this episode, they share their review of the trailer, predictions for the movie and overall excitement about it’s release. They also get into some memory issues Joe was experiencing this past week and how he coped plus a really special story from one of our listeners who could relate personally to Joe’s latest blog post, ‘My Doctor Strange Moment & The Occupational Therapist Who Helped Fix Me.’

Diving more into Joe and Lauren’s nerdom, in this episode, The NeuroNerds cover all their deepest and nerdiest interests from their nerdy nicknames, Hogwarts Houses, their origin stories and more. Joe shares how gaming helped with his recovery and how he came to terms with accepting the scar he sustained from surgery due to his stroke by turning it into a literal badge of honor with a commemorative Harry Potter/Star Wars inspired tattoo. Plus Lauren and Joe share more tips from their recovery processes.

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month and co-hosts Joe Borges and Lauren Manzano dedicate most of this episode to sharing their brain injury stories as well as spreading more awareness on how to decrease your chance of having a stroke; what to do in the event of a brain injury plus how to know the signs; and post stroke and concussion depression along with other symptoms you may experience after suffering a brain injury.

This is the first episode of The NeuroNerds podcast and in honor of the premiere, this is an extended episode in length. Co-hosts and fellow brain injury survivors, Joe Borges and Lauren Manzano, introduce themselves and share their brain injury stories as well as explain what The NeuroNerds podcast is all about which is to create a community for like-minded nerds and fans of pop culture who have suffered from brain injuries.

This is the first episode of The NeuroNerds podcast and in honor of the premiere, this is an extended episode in length. Co-hosts and fellow brain injury survivors, Joe Borges and Lauren Manzano, introduce themselves and share their brain injury stories as well as explain what The NeuroNerds podcast is all about which is to create a community for like-minded nerds and fans of pop culture who have suffered from brain injuries.