Relentlessly Resilient Podcast

Michelle Scharf and Jennie Taylor are joined by Timothy Hawkes (Utah House of Representative - District 18) to remember Timothy's late-mother — MaryJane Davidson Hawkes. He opens up about how his younger brother, Ben, struggled with mental illness at an early age, how Ben's substance abuse and mental illness impacted his family, and the moments that led to Ben taking their mother's life after suffering from a schizophrenic episode.

Timothy also talks about grieving the loss of his mother, how he has commemorated her, and how 'Coco' inspired Timothy's family to keep his mother's spirit alive.

You can see the lessons that Timothy's mother taught him that he talks about in the episode at: lessonsmymothertaughtme.blogspot.com

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In this week's episode, Jennie Taylor and Michelle Scharf are joined by Ganel-Lyn Condie (award-winning journalist and the former editor of Wasatch Woman magazine) to talk about how the pandemic is affecting our mental health and why she suspects a rise in cases of suicide due to the various effects of COVID-19.

Ganel-Lyn also talks about how losing her sister to suicide after struggling with mental health issues, tips for better understanding the signs of suicide, and how to open the conversation with a loved one or a friend on if they are having thoughts of self-harm.

Then she discusses the importance of being honest with your emotions with those around you, how to help others who are dealing with grief, why you need to have SOS friends and what it means to be an SOS friend yourself.

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In part two of this week's episode, Michelle Scharf and Jennie Taylor are continuing their conversation with Tiffany Vendela about her and her husband, Travis's, journey after he suffered a serious injury while deployed in Iraq.

Tiffany opens up about how some of life's most simple activities became much harder after the accident, Montel Williams giving them a surprise wedding, and the moment Travis was able to join Tiffany on the stage when she graduated with her doctorate in physical therapy.

She also talks about the pain that Travis started to feel after receiving prosthetics, their struggles with managing pain medications, and what an impact their new smart home had on their lives.

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In this week’s episode, Michelle Scharf and Jennie Taylor are joined by Tiffany Vendela to talk about how she met her husband, Travis Vendela, how they fell in love, and how deployment to Iraq led to Travis suffering a catastrophic injury that changed their lives forever.

She explains the events that took place on February 7th, 2007 that cost Travis both of his legs after a humvee he was in was hit by an IED (Improvised explosive device).

Tiffany then talks about the extent of Travis’s injuries, what his recovery process has looked like over the years, and how Travis’s recovery further solidified their relationship’s bond more than they could ever imagine.

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In this week’s episode, Michelle Scharf and Jennie Taylor are joined by Sarah Galvez, who is the daughter of recent guests, Tony and Amy Galvez. She talks to us about how suddenly passing out in a bathroom led to her being diagnosed with limbic encephalitis after a series of misdiagnoses.

Then Sarah talks about the steps she had to take to reduce the swelling in her head, how the swelling led to her having short-term memory loss, and why she is ultimately going to need brain surgery to relieve some of the remaining issues relating to the swelling.

Sarah also dives into the hardest part about not being able to make her own decisions following her diagnosis, how her kids handled the adjustments their family had to make, and how Sarah’s kids are still impacted by her diagnosis to this day.

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In this week’s episode, Michelle Scharf and Jennie Taylor are joined by Aimee Winder Newton to talk about her experience when she was told by doctors that her then two-year-old daughter, Aubree, was going to require brain surgery after doctors found a tumor growing in her brain.

Aimee also opens up about how her family was able to stay positive after surgeons were only able to remove 25% of the tumor and why it was so mentally challenging to stay positive after the tumor began to grow at a rapid rate — ultimately requiring a second surgery.

She also talks about what the recovery process has looked like for Aubree, the moment her family found out the tumor miraculously disappeared, and how Aimee’s relationship with gratitude has evolved over the years.

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