The Game On Glio Podcast

SEASON 2 Ep. 12 ”How Do We Create Space for Love in the Midst of Grief?” with Guest Marie Alessi

Our guest today, Marie Alessi, is a celebrated author of the book "Loving Life After Loss" and podcast host of Upspiral Grief. Marie unexpectedly lost her husband and father to their two boys in 2018 to a sudden brain aneurysm. Using her own tools and strong intuition, she created a path back happiness and now shares that with others across the globe.

In our last episode of Season 2, Marie and I tackle the myths and peel back the many layers of grief and loss, and how to ignite happiness again. Don't miss out on this stirring episode! 

Subscribe to our podbean channel, to our website at thegameongliopodcast.com, and to our Instagram channel @gameongliopodcast to get the latest news, stories you won't hear on the show, AND a sneak peak into Season 3!!!

 

Season 2 Sponsor:

GammaTile Therapy

SEASON 2 Ep. 11 ”An Honest Reflection of A Spousal Caregiver” with Guest Andrea Tom

"I (insert name here) take you (insert name here) to be my lawfully wedded husband/wife. To have and to hold from this day forward. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death parts us."

Sound familiar? When we say those vows, we say them theoretically. As if we know that this is what we truly vow, it's what we mean, but we never expect to have to uphold some of them so soon. Being a spousal caregiver is so nuanced, so delicate. It's a tightrope that no one else can understand. For those who are blessed enough to have that dream marriage; a love that redefines what soulmate truly means, the task of being a caregiver is the most heart-wrenching and difficult task you will ever be given in this life.

Our guest today, Andrea Tom, knows this kind of caregiving as well. Like me, she became a caregiver to her husband in her 40's when he was diagnosed with Glioblastoma five years ago. She shares her experience; she reflects on what it honestly means to be a spousal caregiver and how she has "soldiered" on. She finds new meaning and has redefined what being a widow and a woman in her 50's looks like.

 

Season Sponsor

GammaTile Therapy

SEASON 2 Ep. 10 ”Being a Grieving Spouse with a Grieving Child,” with Guest Sara Deren

    It's hard enough being a parent (at least from everything I witness and see). So, what do you do when you suddenly become a widow, grieving the loss of your spouse while also trying to help your grieving child?

Whether the loss is a caregiver, a parent, or even a sibling, a child that experiences loss is going to experience grief differently than we as adults do. Young children may not even understand what death means, or that people who have died won’t be coming back. So, how do we wrap our arms around these tender souls while also still trying to cope with our own grief?

In this episode we speak to Sara Deren, Founder and CEO of Experience Camps. Experience Camps is a national non-profit that gives grieving children experiences that change their lives forever.

 

Season Sponsor:

 

GammaTile

 

SEASON 2 Ep. 9 ”Cancer isn’t a sniper shot, it’s a grenade” with Guest Dr. Randy D’Amico

    The themes around Episode 9 will have us all reflecting a bit more this holiday season. You wouldn’t know it from the title, but we talk a lot about the act of forgiveness–what it takes to forgive. Not just in forgiving others, but forgiving ourselves.

The title, “Cancer isn’t a sniper shot, it’s a grenade,” is a loaded title. In my conversation with our guest, Dr. Randy D’Amico, he expresses how cancer isn’t a single shot, it isn’t a sniper that has one bullseye–it’s a grenade that scatters everywhere and impacts everyone around you. And I thought that was very powerful, because cancer doesn’t just impact the patient, it impacts all those connected to the patient. It has a ripple effect, and everyone is forced to find a way to deal with the aftermath of the diagnosis of their loved one or friend. This is where forgiveness plays its part.

This episode is full of insight, clarity, forgiveness, love, and fight. 

 

From all of us at The Game On Glio Podcast, have a wonderful, gratitude filled Thanksgiving.

 

Season Sponsor:

GammaTile Therapy

 

Episode Sponsor:

MimiVax LLC

SEASON 2 Ep. 8 ”Embracing Grief While Being a Mindful Survivor” -with Guest Dave Stevenson

When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience. Trying to be mindful while in the midst of grief can be challenging. However, learning to lean into it while also leaning into love, loss, and moving forward are part of being mindful in grief.

Finding a way to embrace grief while also finding a way to survive in a mindful way is precisely what our guest, Dave Stevenson, has done.

In this episode, Dave opens up about being a widower, the challenges he's faced as a male grieving his spouse, and what it means to embrace grief while also finding a way to mindfully move forward.

Seasonal Sponsor:

GammaTile Therapy

 

Episode Sponsor:

MimiVax LLC

SEASON 2 Ep. 7 ”Success could be right around the corner. We can’t give up,” with Dr. Anne-Marie Carbonell.

  I've been thinking a lot lately about my path, specifically, how I got here. All the pieces on the chess board had to move just so in order for me to arrive to exactly where I am today. The Universe has a funny and ironically dark way of pushing us in a direction; priming us for a duty, action, or journey that will require certain skills. Before Mike was diagnosed, I was doing part time radio hosting work outside of my "then" full time job as an associate publisher. Before that, I published a novel, worked in trauma as a social worker (many of you may not know I have a Master's degree in SW), and was accepted and attended Yale University to become certified in Storytelling in Modern Media. All of these steps primed me for the path I am now on since Mike's death (a death for which I would give all of these skills back if it meant he were here with me).

Our guest today, Dr. Anne-Marie Carbonell, co-founder at OncoSynergy Inc, has had to take a very similar journey.

In this episode, we explore her journey into neurosurgery and the "actions" the Universe put in her path to lead her away from saving people's lives in surgery to saving people's lives by finding better treatments. Think of the premise for "Doctor Strange" (the Marvels Universe movie and comics).

Season Sponsor:

Gamma Tile Therapy

 

Episode Sponsor:

MimiVax LLC

SEASON 2 Ep. 6 ”Can an app change the Way We Share Information on Brain Cancer?”- with Dr. John Ruge

In episode 6 we sit down with Dr. John Ruge, a pediatric neurooncologist in Chicago, IL. His passion for finding better treatment options has led to his developing the app Medeligo Oncology. 

Dr. Ruge has worked with both adult and pediatric brain cancer patients and families. His philosophy these days is-- "When I walk in the hospital to meet with a new family that has just received the devastating news, I want the latest information or treatment options at my fingertips that could help their loved one go the distance."

These are the revolutionary doctors that we feature on The Game On Glio Podcast. They fight alongside us and they won't give up!

Listen to this insightful episode and learn more about Medeligo.

This episode is brought to you by:

Gamma Tile Therapy

&

Mimivax LLC

SEASON 2 Ep. 5 ”Manipulating a protein in our bodies to fight Glioblastoma”- with Dr. Mike Ciesielski

I think it's interesting that a protein in our bodies, that we develop when we are young and shuts off as we get older, that's labeled "Survivin" can actually be used to fight Glioblastoma and potentially other rare cancers. A protein called Survivin has the word "survive" in it. Isn't that thought provoking! It's like the Universe is giving us what we need to fight this deadly cancer.

Our guest today, Dr. Mike Ciesielski, is a co-inventor of the survivin vaccine (SurVaxM) technology on which the company MimiVax was founded. He sits down with us to talk about how this little protein is being manipulated to "vaccinate" our bodies, including the brain, again further GBM growth and cell proliferation. It's a fascinating episode you won't want to miss!

 

Season Sponsor: Gamma Tile

 

Episode Sponsors: Mimivax & OncoSynergy Inc.

SEASON 2 Ep. 4: ”Giving Our Loved Ones One Last Wave” with Guest Dan Fischer

When we think of loss--of the grief we suffer from it, we don't typically see grief as a strength.

Grief can either consume us or be used to shatter our fears and sadness and teach us a strength we never knew we had in us. In this episode we talk about the obstacles of moving through grief- the understanding and patience that is needed. Seeing the hope that floats up through our grief is a powerful tool, and our guest Dan Fischer talks about how he used his grief to find new hope and to honor his late father by giving him one last wave. That led to an amazing project that is now helping thousands of people across the globe move through their own grief to heal and find new hope in their own journeys. 

 

**movie discussion (Hope Floats with Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr.)

 

Season Sponsor- Gamma Tile Therapy

Episode Sponsor- OncoSynergy Inc.

SEASON 2 Ep. 3: ”Tell People You Love Them & Live Life!” Brain Cancer Patient Ian Youngblood

Being a front-line worker at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic is hard enough. What happens when you go from front-line work to patient? Episode 3 hears the story of Ian Youngblood, a 29 year-old nurse sent to NYC as COVID-19 started to ravage our country. He quickly went from treating others to being treated, but not for COVID, for a grade 3 Anaplastic oligodendroglioma--brain cancer. Three years later, Ian talks about that day, and how he sees the world now.

 

Season Sponsor: Gamma Tile Therapy (GT Medical Technologies)

 

Episode Sponsors: Highmark BCBS of WNY, OncoSynergy Inc.

**Music credits to Ronald Lynn Dickison for their song "Mourning"