Today, we're sharing a story about what happens when the organ you rely on most—your brain—stops working the way it used to.
Our guest, Kelly Tuttle, is a neurology nurse practitioner who treats traumatic brain injury patients every single day. But before she was the expert, she was the patient who fell asleep at the wheel, couldn't make coffee and toast at the same time, and had no idea her brain was screaming for help.
Kelly's story is raw, real, and proof that invisible injuries are just as devastating as the ones you can see—and that recovery, while messy and slow, is absolutely possible.
📅 This episode drops Thursday, December 12, 2025, at 3 AM ET Kelly on Traumatic Brain Injury, Neurofatigue, and the Fight to Feel 'Normal' Again
One car accident. One T-bone collision on a country road. Kelly thought she'd shake it off and get back to life. But three months later, she fell asleep at the wheel and woke up just in time to avoid hitting a tree. Instead of calling her doctor, she started taking naps on the side of the road between work and home.
That's when a friend—a neurology nurse practitioner—told her the truth: that is not okay.
Kelly's traumatic brain injury changed everything. She couldn't focus. She couldn't make simple decisions. She was exhausted all the time, and no one could see it. But she didn't give up. She got treatment, did the work, and slowly rebuilt her life—one baby step at a time.
Now, 10 years later, Kelly helps other brain injury survivors navigate the exact struggles she lived through. She's living proof that you can go from not being able to make coffee and toast at the same time to writing a book and changing careers.
This episode is for anyone who's ever felt like their body or brain betrayed them. For anyone fighting an invisible battle. For anyone who needs to hear: you will get better. It just takes time.
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🔥 Special Shout-Out: Women Supporting Women
🌟 Meet Angie Hawkins
Angie Hawkins is an Inner Glow Coach who helps high-achieving women stop dimming their light to be loved—and learn to love themselves so deeply the world can’t help but reflect it back.
She’s also the author of Running in Slippers, a vulnerable memoir about resilience after emotional rock bottom.
✨ Ready to find your glow? Book a free Find Your Glow session or join her next Unshakable You masterclass to start shining from the inside out. 🔗 https://www.runninginslippers.com/
💬 Mental Health Quote of the Week
"Don't do it alone. The warrior fell down seven times, but stood up eight—but how many times was that warrior picked back up by comrades, family, and friends?" — Kelly Tuttle
Use this worksheet to explore what "normal" means now, how you navigate invisible struggles, and what it looks like to honor your brain's new rhythm.
🎤 Episode Spotlight: Kelly's Story
What happens when the person staring back at you in the mirror doesn't feel like you anymore?
Kelly Tuttle knows that answer intimately.
In 2015, Kelly was driving home from work to her karate school when another car pulled right out in front of her. She T-boned the vehicle. Airbags deployed. Her car was totaled. But Kelly thought she'd shake it off and get back to life. She even went to work the next day.
At work, her colleagues noticed something was off. Kelly's speech wasn't right. She told everyone to meet her at "Star Trek" instead of Starbucks. She got the lecture from her coworkers and went to her general practitioner, who diagnosed her with a concussion and took her off work for two weeks.
Kelly thought resting for two weeks meant she'd be all better. So she went back to life.
And she failed.
About three months after the accident, Kelly was driving home from work when she fell asleep at the wheel. The car bouncing off the side of the road woke her up just in time to slam on the brakes and stop before colliding into a tree.
And here's how well her concussed brain was working: instead of calling her doctor, Kelly decided she would just take naps on the side of the road between work and home.
Fortunately, she had lunch with a friend—a neurology nurse practitioner—who asked how her recovery was going. When Kelly casually mentioned falling asleep at the wheel and taking roadside naps, her friend said, "No, that is not okay."
That conversation changed everything.
Kelly finally got a brain scan, saw a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, and was taken off work for three months. She went to speech therapy, neurotherapy, and all the treatments she needed. And slowly, painfully, she started to recover.
But recovery didn't mean going back to who she was before. Kelly was suffering from neurofatigue—a condition where your brain only has so much energy each day, and once it's gone, there's no reserve to pull from. Your brain will shut you off. You'll fall asleep. You can't talk. You can't walk. It's serious, and it's common after brain injuries.
At her worst, Kelly couldn't make coffee and toast at the same time. She'd make the coffee and forget the toast. Or she'd put bread in the toaster, start the coffee, sit on the couch, and wonder why she was hungry. Her husband would find dried bread left in the toaster.
But Kelly didn't give up.
She wrote a book—After the Crash: How to Keep Your Job, Stay in School, and Live Life After a Brain Injury—because when she was preparing to return to work, she couldn't find the tools and strategies she desperately needed in one place. So she created them.
And now, 10 years later, Kelly has changed her entire career. She's a neurology nurse practitioner who helps brain injury survivors every single day. She knows what they're going through because she lived it. And she tells them the truth: there is hope. You will get better. But you have to embrace the new you, be patient with your recovery, and take baby steps.
Kelly's story is proof that invisible injuries are just as real as the ones you can see. That recovery takes time. That you don't have to do it alone.
And that even when your brain feels like a stranger, you can still build a meaningful, fulfilling life.
🧩 From the Conversation
💬 The heartbeat of this episode
Invisible injuries are just as devastating as the ones you can see. Neurofatigue is real. And recovery isn't about going back to who you were—it's about embracing who you're becoming, one baby step at a time.
🫂 A quote that stuck with us
"After my concussion, I could not make coffee and toast at the same time. And now I've written a book, and I changed my career. So you can. There is hope that you'll get better, but you do have to embrace the new you." — Kelly Tuttle
🎙️ Real Talk from Us
""When Kelly said she was taking naps on the side of the road instead of calling her doctor, I was like, girl, no. But also—I get it. Sometimes your brain is so injured that you can't even recognize how badly you need help." — G-Rex
"Kelly's story hit me hard because so many of us are walking around with invisible injuries that no one believes. Hearing her say 'don't do it alone' felt like permission to finally ask for help." — Dirty Skittles
📓 Reflection Prompts to Sit With
What invisible struggle are you carrying that no one else can see?
When was the last time you gave yourself permission to rest without guilt?
Where in your life are you still waiting to go back to "normal" instead of accepting the person you're becoming?
🌱 Gentle Reminder
Recovery doesn't mean going back. It means moving forward into a new version of you—and that version is worthy, capable, and enough.
👨🏫 Meet Our Guest — Kelly Tuttle
Kelly Tuttle joined the "head injury survivors club" (as she calls it) in 2015, the night another car pulled in front of her while she was driving. It wasn't until three months later that she realized something was seriously wrong. Kelly's traumatic brain injury (TBI) marked the beginning of a new life and a personal journey of self-rediscovery.
Today, Kelly is a neurology nurse practitioner with a front-row seat to patients struggling with many of the same things she experienced in her recovery. She strives to share her coping strategies and tools and help them continue to work and study while they heal. Kelly wants TBI patients to know there is hope. She got better, and they can too.
Kelly is a member of the California Association for Nurse Practitioners, the California Association of Nurses/National Nurse United, and the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. She earned her master of science in nursing from Gonzaga University and her bachelor of science in nursing from California State University.
A longtime martial arts student, Kelly has a second-degree black belt in kenpō karate and a blue belt in Brazilian jujitsu. She is also an obsessed knitter without enough storage space for her yarn and a lover of adult coloring books and pencils.
Kelly's book, After the Crash: How to Keep Your Job, Stay in School, and Live Life After a Brain Injury, was born from her own struggle to find strategies and tools in one place when she was preparing to return to work after her injury. She wanted to create the resource she desperately needed—so other survivors wouldn't have to search the way she did.
✨ Traumatic brain injuries are invisible—but the struggle is anything but. ✨ Neurofatigue is real, exhausting, and common after brain injuries. ✨ Recovery doesn't mean going back to who you were—it means embracing who you're becoming. ✨ Don't do it alone—warriors are picked back up by their comrades, family, and friends. ✨ There is hope. You will get better. It just takes baby steps and patience. ✨ Even if your brain doesn't work the same way, you can still build a meaningful life.
💪 Actionable Steps
1️⃣ If you or someone you love has experienced a brain injury, see a doctor. Don't wait. Don't assume you're fine. Get checked out.
2️⃣ Give yourself permission to rest without guilt. Neurofatigue isn't laziness—it's your brain healing.
3️⃣ Find one person who understands invisible illness and let them in. You don't have to explain yourself to everyone, but you deserve support.
4️⃣ Redefine "normal" for yourself. It doesn't have to look like it used to. It just has to feel true to you now.
5️⃣ If you're struggling with cognitive changes, write things down. Use alarms, lists, and reminders without shame.
6️⃣ Share this episode with someone who needs to hear that healing is possible—even when it's slow, messy, and invisible.
💬 Listener Engagement
What part of Kelly's story hit home for you? Have you experienced an invisible injury or illness that no one else could see?
Reply to this email or tag us on Instagram @grex_and_dirtyskittles with your favorite takeaway.
We read every message. Always. 💛
⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review
If Kelly's story reminded you that healing is possible—even when it's slow, messy, and invisible—please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the show on your favorite platform.
Your words help new listeners find us and keep this community growing.
❤️ Closing Remarks
Sometimes the hardest injuries are the ones no one can see.
Kelly survived a crash. But the real battle came after—when her brain stopped cooperating, when exhaustion became a full-time job, when making coffee and toast at the same time felt impossible.
And she didn't just survive that fight. She learned to thrive in it. She became the nurse practitioner she needed when she was lying in that hospital bed, wondering if she'd ever feel like herself again.
Ten years later, Kelly still lives with neurofatigue. She still measures her energy in spoons. But she's also written a book, changed her career, and helps brain injury survivors every single day. She's living proof that recovery doesn't mean going back—it means moving forward into a new version of you.
Wherever you are in your own healing—whether it's from a brain injury, chronic illness, trauma, or just the exhausting work of being human—remember this:
You are not broken. You are rebuilding. And that is everything.
You don't have to go back to who you were. You just have to keep moving forward, one baby step at a time.
We're so proud of you for being here. For listening. For still showing up, even on the hard days.
And we're honored to walk this messy, brave, beautiful journey right beside you.
With so much love,
G-Rex & Dirty Skittles Changing the way we talk about mental health, one real convo at a time.
G-Rex & Dirty Skittles
It's ok to be not ok, just make sure you're talking to someone
