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EPISODE SUMMARY:
This episode of Frank About Health shines a light on invisible conditions—the illnesses and lived experiences that often go unseen, misunderstood, or minimized. Drawing inspiration from Invisible by Matthew Michael Ross, conversations from the Invisible Conditions Podcast with Jeff Pearson, and personal reflections on epilepsy and other non-visible health challenges, this episode explores how hidden conditions affect identity, resilience, access to care, and social perception. Rather than focusing solely on diagnoses, the discussion centers on dignity, validation, and the urgent need to listen to those whose struggles don’t show up on the surface—reminding us that what we can’t see often carries the greatest weight.
Invisible conditions are illnesses or disabilities that aren’t immediately apparent to others but can significantly affect daily life, work, relationships, and mental health. Because symptoms aren’t visible, people often face misunderstanding, stigma, or disbelief.
Tune in for this healthy conversation at TalkRadio.nyc
In this opening segment, Frank About Health spotlights invisible illnesses by bringing together patient advocacy and clinical insight, featuring Jeff Pearson of Invisible Conditions and Dr. Tom Ingenyo to broaden how healthcare professionals understand and address neurologically based conditions that aren’t outwardly visible. Pearson shares his lifelong experience with hydrocephalus, detailing the realities of repeated brain surgeries, shunt management, and long-term self-monitoring—underscoring the need for continuity of care, patient education, and compassionate listening across the healthcare system. Together, the discussion reframes invisible conditions as both a clinical and societal challenge, calling on providers, advocates, and innovators to reduce stigma, elevate lived experience, and integrate holistic, patient-centered approaches into future care models.
In this second segment, Frank challenges the “either/or” framing of Western vs. Eastern care, and Dr. Tom Ingegno responds by emphasizing an integrative, team-based model—one that respects Western medicine’s precision (“snake on the ground”) while adding Eastern medicine’s systems-level perspective (“eagle view”) to improve whole-person outcomes. Tom reframes acupuncture and East Asian medicine as complementary clinical tools, not “alternatives,” focusing less on “curing” a single root lesion and more on balancing function—supporting circulation, reducing inflammation, and helping the body regulate better so existing interventions (like Jeff’s shunt or post-op recovery) can potentially work more effectively and longer. The conversation then expands into stigma and the limits of symptom-only care, with Tom warning that simply masking symptoms can resemble “taping over the check-engine light,” advocating instead for individualized long-term plans that prioritize quality of life while encouraging more open collaboration across healthcare disciplines.
In this third segment, Frank shares how Frank About Health was born from his lived experience with epilepsy—and, even more pointedly, from the stigma, mislabeling, and social trauma that came from people judging what they couldn’t see, often treating the symptom (a seizure, aphasia, sudden shifts in speech) as if it were his entire identity. He reframes disclosure as a turning point: by naming his condition publicly and broadening the show beyond epilepsy, he transformed an “invisible liability” into a platform for advocacy, community education, and a more authentic relationship with care and support systems. Jeff builds on that theme by describing the visible and invisible aftershocks of hydrocephalus treatment—childhood challenges like a lazy eye and, later, intense post-op side effects (year-long migraines after 2014 surgery and major motor tics/sensory filtering issues after 2021)—then makes a strong case for both/and healthcare: surgery kept him alive, while interventions like neurofeedback and vagus-nerve–focused bodywork helped restore function and quality of life. He then explains the mission of Invisible Condition: spotlighting guests who are living and thriving after finding effective strategies, and using relatable everyday examples (like assumptions about disability parking) to teach clinicians, advocates, and the public how often invisible illness is misunderstood—and how much strength it can take to appear “fine.”
In this final segment, Frank ties the episode’s theme together by framing many “invisible” conditions as brain-driven (via neurology, inflammation, genetics, surgery history, or in-utero changes) and uses the indie film Invisible—centered on Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)—as a narrative example of what can happen when symptoms are missed, stigmatized, or untreated, and how community support plus appropriate care can help someone rebuild. He reinforces a practical call to action for patients and advocates: pursue a full “360 view” of care that blends specialist medicine, integrative approaches, and strong self-advocacy—while also noting how emerging conversations (like GLP-1 drugs’ broader implications beyond weight loss) keep pointing back to the brain’s role in whole-health outcomes. The closing moments widen the lens to the healthcare workforce itself, highlighting an upcoming March 19 Baltimore screening about practitioner burnout, and end with Jeff’s rallying message for anyone living with chronic or invisible illness: life doesn’t need to be perfect to be meaningful—don’t wait to participate fully.
00:00:53.310 --> 00:00:59.329 Frank R. Harrison: Hey everybody, and welcome to a new episode of Frank About Health. It is January 22nd, 2026.
00:00:59.370 --> 00:01:18.609 Frank R. Harrison: And I am proud to say that while I was going to be discussing invisible illnesses, I thought I was going to be doing it by myself. But today, surprise guests are those that have mastered the art of not just discussing invisible conditions, but also treating them using Eastern medication.
00:01:18.610 --> 00:01:32.470 Frank R. Harrison: And medicine, medical techniques, as well as other kinds of spiritual and well-mindfulness practices that we will discuss about today. And we will also shed light on what exactly are invisible illnesses.
00:01:32.470 --> 00:01:41.910 Frank R. Harrison: and make… or conditions, and make them more visible to the naked eye. That being said, my first guest is Jeff Pearson, who is the host of his own
00:01:42.050 --> 00:02:01.920 Frank R. Harrison: health television show on E360 TV, known as Invisible Conditions. He also has a YouTube channel that features each episode. And returning to Frank About Health is Dr. Tom Ingenyo. After last December, when he was helping me during a time when I was transitioned out of my home.
00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:17.870 Frank R. Harrison: But at the same time, at a nice, ritzy location, we were talking about a movement of bringing together communities to deal with different healthcare situations during a government shutdown, as well as other kinds of progress that we are all going to be seeking in 2026.
00:02:17.870 --> 00:02:22.579 Frank R. Harrison: Now, that all being said, this is the perfect forum to discuss invisible conditions.
00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:39.899 Frank R. Harrison: I will issue my usual disclaimer. These are not the views of TalkRadio.nyc or of Frank AboutHealth, but they are very important food for thought for you if you are suffering from an invisible condition, which could be epilepsy, autism.
00:02:39.910 --> 00:02:57.840 Frank R. Harrison: Hydrocephalus, which you'll learn more about in today's episode, as well as any other kind of myriad of conditions that are neurologically in foundation, but not visible to the naked eye. And that is what we want to do on today's episode, bring those conditions to awareness, and show how we can collectively
00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:00.579 Frank R. Harrison: Understand them as we see them in the future.
00:03:00.720 --> 00:03:17.040 Frank R. Harrison: So, welcome both to Jeff and to Tom. Jeff, as soon as you unmute, I would like you just to introduce yourself and go right into what your invisible condition is, because the only way to be frank about health is by saying it like it is.
00:03:17.300 --> 00:03:28.490 Jeff Pearson: Nice. Appreciate it, Frank. Thank you for being here. Great to see you again, Tom. This is awesome. I didn't expect this either. I thought it was just gonna be the two of us, and then here comes Tom. This is great.
00:03:28.490 --> 00:03:35.870 Frank R. Harrison: So, yeah, thanks for having me. My name is Jeff Pearson, I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I was…
00:03:35.890 --> 00:03:47.970 Jeff Pearson: I was born with a condition that is ridiculously common, but very much invisible, called hydrocephalus, which, loosely translated, a lot of people know it by water on the brain.
00:03:47.990 --> 00:03:58.630 Jeff Pearson: Basically, what happened to me is at 2 weeks old… well, I was born with the condition, and then at 2 weeks old, they detected it through a CT scan. They did the…
00:03:58.630 --> 00:04:08.759 Jeff Pearson: You know, did all those measurements they do when a baby's born, you know, how long is the baby? How much does the baby weigh? And then they do a measurement right here, around the cranium, around the top of the head.
00:04:08.950 --> 00:04:15.939 Jeff Pearson: And that measurement didn't quite match up with the one they did at birth. It was a little bit outside the norm. They said.
00:04:16.260 --> 00:04:21.489 Jeff Pearson: You know, Mom and Dad, let's get a CAT scan. It's probably nothing, but let's get a CAT scan just to be safe.
00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:29.689 Jeff Pearson: Turns out, it was something, and it was, it was one of the ventricles in the brain that… those ventricles really are just…
00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:45.349 Jeff Pearson: to drain that fluid that the brain is always producing, and one of those was not working right. It was blocked, and so that told the doctors that I had hydrocephalus, and the solution in 1977, when I was born, is
00:04:45.490 --> 00:04:56.600 Jeff Pearson: very close to the solution now, and that's brain surgery. And so, that was my introduction to the world. At 2 weeks old was emergency brain surgery. So, at 2 weeks old, I went under the knife.
00:04:56.610 --> 00:05:15.470 Jeff Pearson: And they drilled a hole through my skull and threaded a little tube in there to access that fluid in my brain that wasn't draining, and attached a shunt to it, which is behind my right ear, under the skin, and then a tube to that that kind of drains that fluid somewhere else in the body to reabsorb. It's kind of like an artificial drainage system.
00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:29.729 Jeff Pearson: And that is a very common treatment for people with hydrocephalus. That is probably the most common thing they do to treat it, which is, which is pretty invasive, but it's effective, apparently. They've been using it for a long time.
00:05:29.730 --> 00:05:35.730 Frank R. Harrison: So anyway, that was my introduction to the world. That's the condition that I've lived with my entire life.
00:05:35.730 --> 00:05:37.470 Jeff Pearson: And it has,
00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:44.590 Jeff Pearson: That has, caused me to have about 15 surgeries over my lifetime. 7 of those are brain surgeries.
00:05:44.630 --> 00:05:58.650 Jeff Pearson: 3 of those brain surgeries were in my childhood, and 4 of those brain surgeries have been between 2014 and 2021. So it's been… it's been a wild ride around here, the last 10 or 12 years, but, we're still here.
00:05:59.080 --> 00:06:15.379 Frank R. Harrison: Well, it's amazing, because I know you're talking about the cerebral spinal fluid that goes up and down from the brainstem through the spinal cord, and back and forth, trying to release whatever toxins are going on in our normal, everyday brain processing. So what would be the basis of you
00:06:15.380 --> 00:06:21.560 Frank R. Harrison: Having been born with hydrocephalus, was it genetic in nature, or was it due to something in utero?
00:06:22.470 --> 00:06:41.390 Jeff Pearson: No idea. They don't really look at why. I think that's a… I think that question's kind of… especially now, 48, almost 49 years later, the question why is useless. I don't care why. It doesn't really matter, it's not gonna… it wouldn't matter why, it's just, let's fix it. Let's get to the bottom of how we can make this…
00:06:41.410 --> 00:06:44.979 Jeff Pearson: Better, you know, for the child, so…
00:06:45.300 --> 00:07:05.009 Jeff Pearson: I mean, I was born through an emergency C-section because the cord was apparently wrapped around my neck a couple times, so that probably… maybe that had something to do with it? I don't know. It's possible, but at this point, it doesn't really matter. The point… the main thing now is, how do we maintain,
00:07:05.010 --> 00:07:08.210 Jeff Pearson: Maintain the best health you can, and yes.
00:07:08.230 --> 00:07:12.950 Jeff Pearson: Just pay attention to what your body's doing, so that if something does need to be…
00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:16.669 Jeff Pearson: addressed, medically, I pay attention, you know?
00:07:16.670 --> 00:07:17.040 Frank R. Harrison: Absolutely.
00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:17.600 Jeff Pearson: So…
00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:30.440 Frank R. Harrison: So, I guess, if anything, almost like a car getting recalibrated when it has an engine misfire, you had to do these brain surgeries to get a shunt replacement, or some kind of readjustment made, right?
00:07:30.440 --> 00:07:46.460 Jeff Pearson: Right, exactly. Every… every time I've had that shunt replaced, it's been for a little bit different reason, but the underlying cause is because there's something in that shunt that malfunctioned, whether it was the tube that goes directly into the brain that got clogged, or the…
00:07:46.460 --> 00:08:02.330 Jeff Pearson: the functionality of the shunt failed, or the cord, that was when I was 18 years old, the cord wasn't growing at the rate that I… it wasn't sliding, you know, growing with me, and so it was… it was causing the shunt to literally pull out of my head.
00:08:02.330 --> 00:08:13.070 Jeff Pearson: which was extremely painful, and so I had pretty, pretty mind-numbing headaches for my whole junior and senior year until we finally did the surgery after… right after I graduated.
00:08:13.400 --> 00:08:30.860 Jeff Pearson: But yeah, it's, the symptoms are… are consistent, but a little different every single time, because the cause is usually different every time. But the main thing is the shunt is failing somehow, and you can't have a failing shunt. It's… you're kind of dependent on that, so…
00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:31.450 Frank R. Harrison: Right.
00:08:31.450 --> 00:08:36.099 Jeff Pearson: Yeah, you gotta get the… gotta get the… replace the new one, get the new one in there, so… yep.
00:08:36.100 --> 00:08:46.400 Frank R. Harrison: So, I gather this means, hopefully, in quite some time from now, you'll be doing another brain surgery to get an adjustment? God, I hope not. I'm done… I mean, I hope not, too. I'm good.
00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:52.429 Jeff Pearson: who knows, maybe it could be digital or something. Who knows, man? I… you know what? Personally, I… through some other…
00:08:52.500 --> 00:09:03.320 Jeff Pearson: some other non-medical, non-invasive alternative… I don't like that word, but I'm gonna… I'm gonna use it, because people understand what it means. Right. Alternative, therapies.
00:09:03.350 --> 00:09:16.359 Jeff Pearson: I'm really not planning, it's a kind of a longer story that we don't have time to get into now, but I'm really not planning on any more brain surgeries, if I… if I can help it, based on some of the things that I've done in the last year or two. So, I mean, I'm, you know.
00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:28.669 Jeff Pearson: If God says I need to have another brain surgery, I'll have another brain surgery, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm good. I'm calling in at 7, so… I got too much to do, man. I can't be doing brain surgery all the time.
00:09:28.980 --> 00:09:45.339 Frank R. Harrison: Well, you know, when Tom was last on the show, I was in the middle of my Voices of Disruption campaign, and it sounds like, to me, you would have been such a person during that time back in 2025, where you have been born with a disruption of sorts that you've had to manage through surgery.
00:09:45.370 --> 00:10:02.969 Frank R. Harrison: So what have you done about it to improve on your life? You obviously became an advocate, and I know you've created your own show about invisible conditions, but what was the motivation behind it? Like, what did you want to bring to the public awareness? The issue of hydrocephalus, or something else as a result of it?
00:10:02.970 --> 00:10:17.350 Jeff Pearson: Well, so, kind of funny, so we… so first, before the TV show, I created a non-profit called Hydro With Hope, and that was sparked because I was sitting in the waiting… sitting in the exam room after the brain surgery I had to have in 2018,
00:10:17.350 --> 00:10:21.379 Jeff Pearson: Sitting there with my wife, waiting for the neurosurgeon to come in and go over things, and…
00:10:21.380 --> 00:10:38.139 Jeff Pearson: And I… I could hear, you know, those walls are not very thick in those clinics, you know? You can kind of… you can't hear the words that are saying… being said, but you can hear the tone of the conversation, and it wasn't great. There was somebody in the next room that was not having a good day, and so the first thing that popped into my head was.
00:10:38.210 --> 00:10:48.160 Jeff Pearson: I wonder if that's a family that's finding out their child is gonna have to have brain surgery again to treat this crazy thing. And all I wanted to do was run next door to that room, burst through the door.
00:10:48.170 --> 00:10:57.609 Jeff Pearson: give them a hug, tell them it was going to be okay, and answer their questions, because I've got experience at this. This is… this is my sixth brain surgery I've had. You know, let me help you, you know?
00:10:57.610 --> 00:11:08.319 Jeff Pearson: But HIPAA doesn't like that, when you go… the doctor's offices don't like it when you just burst in the door. So I didn't, and I… but on the way home from that appointment, my wife and I were thinking, you know, we gotta do something.
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:14.949 Jeff Pearson: We gotta do something, and then we… so in 2022, we ended up landing on Hydro with Hope. We did it… we…
00:11:15.020 --> 00:11:26.660 Jeff Pearson: created it online, so we could help anywhere on the… anybody on the planet. And so… and then through that, I was promoting that nonprofit at a conference, and I happened to meet Julianne.
00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:41.020 Jeff Pearson: Through an introduction at that conference, and the rest is history, and I launched the show Invisible Condition on April 4th of 2023, and we've been on twice a week, ever since. It's been almost 3 years, so…
00:11:41.020 --> 00:11:47.949 Frank R. Harrison: I'm sorry, excuse me, finish that lesson, it's been on twice a week, and what… what happened from there?
00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:57.050 Jeff Pearson: every… every… every Tuesday and Friday at noon Eastern for an hour, we've been on since April 4th, and… and that's… I mean, the rest is history. We've, we, you know, we've…
00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:09.920 Jeff Pearson: We've just, kept plugging along, kept finding amazing guests, and and you're next, Frank, you gotta be on the show next. We talked about it, I know we're talking about it, we gotta get you on, too. I know, I know.
00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:13.070 Frank R. Harrison: When we get to my invisible condition, definitely, I guess.
00:12:13.070 --> 00:12:14.979 Jeff Pearson: We're in. I'm in. Let's do it.
00:12:14.980 --> 00:12:30.029 Frank R. Harrison: to that. That would be awesome. But the thing that I am interested in, though, is that, I guess, even with any of the invisible conditions that I was discussing at the beginning of the show, the one thing that continues to pervade all of us is stigma.
00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:43.549 Frank R. Harrison: And social repercussions, because people only perceive what they see. And especially if you're not the type of person, which I know I wasn't for so many years, to just say, hey, I've got epilepsy, you know,
00:12:43.890 --> 00:13:00.839 Frank R. Harrison: now I use it as a badge of honor, because it's the reason why I'm doing all of my different business ventures at this point, and my healthcare advocacy on Frank AboutHealth. But at the time, not knowing that it was actually, I don't know if you call it a superpower or my weapon to use for the benefit of the greater good.
00:13:01.580 --> 00:13:18.899 Frank R. Harrison: what… I mean, I guess I'm hearing that you were able to just obviously create invisible conditions because you had the compassion hearing about another child possibly having such a condition that you wanted to help out, but aside from your empathy and your desire to share.
00:13:19.060 --> 00:13:28.940 Frank R. Harrison: Did you become, like, a fighter of sorts to try to remove stigma, or did you have a mission that you really wanted to bring to the forefront?
00:13:28.940 --> 00:13:47.240 Jeff Pearson: You know, I think I just wanted to normalize it. I, you know, when I was growing up, my parents could have gone two very different directions. They could have treated me as a very sick kid, and hid me from society, and told me, you're sick, you need to be in a bubble, or they could have did what they… what they did, and that's, you're normal, everything's cool. Every once in a while, you might have to have surgery.
00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:53.739 Jeff Pearson: Go play. Go, go, go skin your knees, go skateboard, snowboard, play tennis, play whatever. Don't play football.
00:13:53.740 --> 00:14:09.810 Jeff Pearson: You know, don't bang your head against things, you know, be smart. But so they gave me that freedom, and I think that is what has helped me, and that is what has given me the fortitude to be able to want to reach out and help others. So, because I think if I had been sheltered, I probably would not have…
00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:11.400 Jeff Pearson: Been excited to do that.
00:14:12.350 --> 00:14:27.750 Frank R. Harrison: Well, Tom, you introduced me to another fine leader, and I can't wait to get your overview on everything we've just heard from Jeff, but as, you've probably been seeing the signal, we're about to go to our first break. So everybody, please stay tuned as we are discussing invisible conditions
00:14:27.750 --> 00:14:39.209 Frank R. Harrison: And we will, of course, talk about your show, Invisible Conditions, later on in the hour. But, everybody, please stay tuned right here on talkradio.nyc, on our YouTube, Facebook.
00:14:39.210 --> 00:14:48.549 Frank R. Harrison: LinkedIn and Twitch channels, and if you have any questions, we're live. Just go ahead and go into the chat box, and we will answer them right here for you. Please stay tuned.
00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:02.990 Frank R. Harrison: Hey everybody, and welcome back.
00:16:03.090 --> 00:16:13.910 Frank R. Harrison: So, Tom, overall, what I'm amazed at is that I've always thought that epilepsy, for example, was the only invisible condition. It's about electrical discharge.
00:16:13.910 --> 00:16:14.310 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: She's nothing.
00:16:14.310 --> 00:16:22.890 Frank R. Harrison: no physical ailment, such as a tumor, or something, some scar or whatever. But yet, when I've learned more and more.
00:16:22.890 --> 00:16:35.150 Frank R. Harrison: about our common friend Anshar, for example, how he's become a genius while living with autism, or even speaking to Jeff and hearing his story again right now for the last 15 minutes.
00:16:36.340 --> 00:16:51.830 Frank R. Harrison: there is still this common thread that I know Western medicine is just not equipped, or maybe they don't do enough research, to manage other than the symptomology. So, you, obviously, being a student of Eastern medicine and acupuncture.
00:16:51.830 --> 00:16:59.089 Frank R. Harrison: Can you tell me what would be your view as to how, for example, Jeff could be
00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:06.679 Frank R. Harrison: treated without having to go for another surgery. Maybe there's something you know of that you could help explain from your practice.
00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:11.809 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: So, you know, it's… let me… cause you said a lot of great stuff in there, and I'm gonna have to, like.
00:17:11.810 --> 00:17:31.840 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: clear up a little bit of a, kind of a misconception, right? I think even when I was in school, when I first started school, it was kind of like this us versus them mentality, right? Like, oh, we're gonna… we're gonna do… and Jeff used the word that's still being thrown around all the time, is that alternative, right? We're gonna do the alternative to all of this, right? Best word we have.
00:17:31.840 --> 00:17:36.950 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: But it doesn't really give it credence, and when we look back through history.
00:17:36.950 --> 00:17:48.669 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: The practitioners of acupuncture, of East Asian medicine as a whole, were also surgeons. They were daifu, they were doctors, right? It wasn't one or the other, it was whatever helps get the patient better.
00:17:48.670 --> 00:18:05.119 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Now, what I will say is, there isn't, and especially now, look, I'm wearing scrubs, I just came from the office. I'm wearing scrubs because I want to be aligned with those Western practitioners, right? I want to be on the same page as them, because when you have a team
00:18:05.150 --> 00:18:11.519 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: of healthcare providers looking at you from every angle, that's where you really get the best outcomes, right?
00:18:11.520 --> 00:18:12.060 Frank R. Harrison: Right.
00:18:12.060 --> 00:18:24.370 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: And the viewpoint is different between Eastern and Western. That's the biggest thing, right? Western practitioners, and rightfully so, want to find that smallest. Is it an atom?
00:18:24.830 --> 00:18:32.269 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: That is out of place, and what do I do? Do I take that out? Do I fix it? Can I turn it off?
00:18:32.270 --> 00:18:48.560 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Right? And that's maybe a little bit more functional medicine than let's throw drugs and surgery at it, but East Asian medicine and more traditional practices, and I don't want to generalize on all of them, is what is that 10,000-foot view?
00:18:48.700 --> 00:18:58.639 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Right? So, the expression is snakes and eagles, right? Right? We need the snake to be there on the ground, looking at the littlest bit, but we also want the eagles so we're not missing anything.
00:18:58.810 --> 00:19:03.050 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: And East Asian medicine really… looks at…
00:19:03.050 --> 00:19:24.639 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: your whole being health, right? What's your mental status? What is your psycho-emotional status? How does that play in to your physical body, right? We, you know, we have somatic therapy now, and these things, and it's like, well, what is your body telling you about your mental state, and vice versa, right? Oh, I got off the phone call with somebody I owe money to. Oh.
00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:34.979 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: you know, I'm very tight. Well, where's that hitting us? East Asian medicine as a whole takes that into consideration, right? So, when somebody comes in.
00:19:35.300 --> 00:19:41.669 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Especially, like, and I know Jeff has talked about this on his show, Frank, you probably have too, things like fibromyalgia.
00:19:41.930 --> 00:19:47.719 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: We call that a syndrome. Why? Because it's not really a disease, it's a collection of symptoms.
00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:58.699 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Now, you'll even have people say, well, that doesn't exist, right? And it's like, no, it does. Why? Because most of the people that have it
00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:08.880 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: have similar experiences, we don't know exactly what it is. We have some theories, we know, we press here, here, here, here, you say yes to a certain number of points, great, you got it.
00:20:08.940 --> 00:20:16.230 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: But we don't have a correct way of treating it from a Western standpoint, because it's not one…
00:20:16.430 --> 00:20:18.169 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: You know, pathway.
00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:27.370 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: And Chinese medicine, East Asian medicine as a whole, wants to look at the sum total of all those. And rather than pigeonhole you.
00:20:27.370 --> 00:20:43.649 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: into a, this is your diagnosis. Here's these tendencies, here's these patterns that we see, and here's how we counteract that, right? How do we balance that out? So we're not curing something, we're not trying to fix a problem, we're trying to balance out the system
00:20:43.650 --> 00:21:02.130 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Which is where we tend to have our biggest successes. When we really try and fix something, yeah, I might be able to get you out of some pain, I might be able to do this, but no, what I'm trying to do is stimulate your body to work better, right? So, for things like Jeff, right? I'm not the one you want putting that stint in.
00:21:02.230 --> 00:21:21.290 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Right? Like, don't do… one, I will pass out if you put a hole in somebody's head. Definitely going down, you don't want me in the OR. But, what can I do to increase circulation to the head and the brain stem? What can I do to reduce inflammation? Can I help?
00:21:21.370 --> 00:21:24.100 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: what those Western practitioners did.
00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:43.050 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: work better, last longer, those kind of things in that role. So how can we be partners in this is really where I think those patients are served the best. So, yes, I've had patients come in, go, I don't want to see a Western doctor, and then I'm like, well, look, you're an adult.
00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:46.679 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: you do what you want to do, I would strongly recommend…
00:21:46.810 --> 00:22:05.700 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: And if we crack that open, and we really go, well, what happened? And it might be a horrible experience due to a hospital system, due to a doctor that wasn't knowledgeable in their condition, and maybe I can sneak in a little, like, how about you see one of my friends? You know? And it's not like, you know.
00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:18.909 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: I'm trying to get them to jump back on that horse just for the sake of that, but, like, maybe I know somebody that can look at this a little bit more openly than just, this is the part that's wrong, and here's how we take that out, or tweak it.
00:22:19.370 --> 00:22:30.090 Frank R. Harrison: That was a long ramble there, Frank. No, but I learned a lot from you, because here I am getting answers to my questions, such as, okay, you've got… in Jeff's case, he has a shunt.
00:22:30.090 --> 00:22:40.230 Frank R. Harrison: like, I think you said, next to your right ear, the back of your right, or… okay, so that's your right ear. And I… I can only imagine that the cerebral spinal fluid is going
00:22:40.230 --> 00:22:58.099 Frank R. Harrison: through it, and filtering through it, and not leaking into the brain matter and other kinds of things. So, I know that when I have done acupuncture in the past, to slow down my brain waves, I would think maybe there's a slower pathway for the cerebral spinal fluid to travel.
00:22:58.120 --> 00:23:01.109 Frank R. Harrison: through acupuncture points, I mean, I don't know, I'm just guessing.
00:23:01.270 --> 00:23:10.700 Frank R. Harrison: And I thought maybe it would reduce the need to have ongoing surgeries because the efficacy of the existing shunt could be prolonged, right?
00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:25.259 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Well, that's the core of it. How do we stimulate proper function? Is really at the core of what we're trying to do, is, you know, my mentor one time described the needles as little arrows.
00:23:25.260 --> 00:23:41.450 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Right? And not like something you shoot out of a bow, but this, like, hey, we need some attention along this pathway. We need some attention in this area. Hey, this point relates to, let's say, the back of the brain. Well, that might be on the ankle.
00:23:41.600 --> 00:23:46.490 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: But, I know when I put that needle in, I'm having an effect at the other end of the system.
00:23:46.670 --> 00:23:55.409 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Right? And, oh, this is how we're getting those signals to fire. This is how we're telling the body, hey, you need some more attention here.
00:23:55.810 --> 00:24:05.240 Frank R. Harrison: Absolutely. And so, have you, by default, treated people with hydrocephalus, or any kind of instruments in their brain that.
00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:19.669 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Yeah, yeah. So, not so much hydrocephalus, and I think it may be something where this is, like, my failure to educate, right, how it could be good. But, we see,
00:24:19.790 --> 00:24:38.789 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Chiari malformations. And that is, that is something very weird, because it's related, it's not the same, but basically, you got this foramen magnum, this big-ass hole, oops, sorry, this big hole in the base of your skull that your brain, its stem comes through.
00:24:38.870 --> 00:24:52.839 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Well, sometimes, your brain's too big. You don't have enough room. And it puts pressure on the back of the brain, and you get all these weird signs and symptoms. Now, the intervention is surgical.
00:24:52.870 --> 00:25:09.500 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: make that hole bigger, take a chunk of bone out so we have some room, but the recovery is where I've actually been able to help a few patients, right? It's not that we're remapping their nerves, it's not that we're, like, restoring so much, it's just, can I get inflammation out of that area?
00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:15.810 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Right. Like, that's a big area we don't want inflamed. We don't want inflammation excessively anywhere.
00:25:15.810 --> 00:25:16.470 Frank R. Harrison: Right.
00:25:16.790 --> 00:25:28.860 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: core body functions in that brain, we don't want them to go away. So I've been able to help a lot with that, and a lot of those people, even post-surgery, even though the risk of death goes down.
00:25:28.860 --> 00:25:41.140 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: migraines, headaches, neurological symptoms, that's the occipital lobe, vision problems. So we're working with a lot of that, and that seems to be a little bit more common, and even that is not…
00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:48.850 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: On the tips of the tongues of people who are recovering from those conditions, you know?
00:25:48.850 --> 00:25:56.709 Frank R. Harrison: Interesting. And, you know, the way I look at it, even from hearing Jeff's story, and of course, your description, Tom, is that
00:25:56.710 --> 00:26:10.089 Frank R. Harrison: the whole secret, which I perceive that Western medicine is not looking into as clearly as they should, probably because it's not as profitable, is that the human system is a system
00:26:10.450 --> 00:26:16.180 Frank R. Harrison: And if it's looked at from a procedural, holistic view.
00:26:16.410 --> 00:26:20.579 Frank R. Harrison: You can have better quality care, probably more affordable by virtue.
00:26:20.580 --> 00:26:21.739 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Two of it.
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:39.659 Frank R. Harrison: and as such, even a higher quality of life and more longevity compared to the way that things are already in place. I think it's… what makes the condition invisible even more so, it's almost forced to stay invisible. That's what I'm perceiving.
00:26:39.670 --> 00:26:44.119 Frank R. Harrison: Please tell me if I'm wrong, because I don't want to issue anything without eye.
00:26:44.120 --> 00:26:52.060 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: God, I would love to hear Jeff's opinion on that, but I do think we have a society that's like, can I mask the symptoms?
00:26:52.060 --> 00:27:04.920 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Right? If I can't fix it, right, this drug will at least take that away. And in some cases, that is literally putting electrical tape over the check engine light in your car, right? You'll be fine until you're not.
00:27:05.290 --> 00:27:05.690 Frank R. Harrison: And he's like.
00:27:05.690 --> 00:27:22.099 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: You know, and it's not a bad thing, because we don't want people suffering, right? If you're in a lot of pain, and you need the painkiller to get by every day, I'm not shaming you for that. The problem is, when that is the only option.
00:27:22.100 --> 00:27:28.470 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: And we don't have a long-term, you know, treatment plan to kind of get you back to…
00:27:28.490 --> 00:27:42.420 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: how do I feel without this? How do I… how do I go on day-to-day without having to drug myself up where I'm barely functional? And… and I'm not saying that's a… that's a, you know, hey, we're doing it right, they're doing it wrong kind of thing, because
00:27:42.420 --> 00:27:55.620 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: that's not an answerable… that is an N of 1 that's a specific person, and their decision, and talking with their healthcare team, and how do you solve that is not a cookie-cutter model.
00:27:56.080 --> 00:27:57.410 Frank R. Harrison: No, it isn't.
00:27:57.590 --> 00:28:16.580 Frank R. Harrison: Wow, you know, this is a perfect segue into our third section, which will cover all of the different things that I've been dealing with, but also, Jeff, I think that there is definitely a lot more to uncover and unpack. I want to hear more about your show, Invisible Conditions, because I think you have been unpacking them with your guests.
00:28:16.670 --> 00:28:17.850 Frank R. Harrison: But,
00:28:18.090 --> 00:28:33.139 Frank R. Harrison: let's just go to the break, and then we can just start fresh in the next, minute or two. So that being said, everyone, please stay tuned as we are being frank about invisible conditions right here on talkradio.nyc, and on all of our socials. We will be back in a few.
00:29:33.550 --> 00:29:48.710 Frank R. Harrison: Alright, everybody, welcome back. Now, I guess I've already told both of you my story, but everyone who knows that I've been on TalkRadio.nyc for almost 5 years as of May 2020,
00:29:50.270 --> 00:29:58.450 Frank R. Harrison: That was actually, I would call, Frank AboutHealth 2.0. I originally started with the network in 2016,
00:29:58.860 --> 00:30:09.739 Frank R. Harrison: almost 10 years ago. And it was all dedicated to epilepsy. The name of the show was going to be called Frank About Epilepsy.
00:30:09.800 --> 00:30:13.509 Frank R. Harrison: Why? Because, for me, living with epilepsy.
00:30:13.550 --> 00:30:29.230 Frank R. Harrison: was a constant struggle. Thanks, Tom, I appreciate that. But the truth is, is I was literally being stigmatized. I was either known as lazy, stupid, a drug addict, absent-minded.
00:30:29.230 --> 00:30:38.159 Frank R. Harrison: Every name in the book, people were trying to get at me because they couldn't perceive why I would all of a sudden have a convulsion on the floor in front of them.
00:30:38.170 --> 00:30:42.480 Frank R. Harrison: Or why I would be staring at them, and I wouldn't even know how to process…
00:30:42.740 --> 00:30:56.919 Frank R. Harrison: a word. I would be twitching and making reactions that came out of nowhere, or I would switch in mid-sentence what I was talking about, because a misfiring was occurring on my left temporal lobe. So…
00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:10.940 Frank R. Harrison: what I was living with was not only trying to find the treatment to stop the seizures, but I was living with the constant attacks, ridicule, isolation, and other kinds of things, and that, to me, was more emotionally…
00:31:11.230 --> 00:31:16.220 Frank R. Harrison: Upsetting, or more painful than the condition itself.
00:31:16.390 --> 00:31:20.200 Frank R. Harrison: I was used to living with epilepsy. I started at age 16 with it.
00:31:20.380 --> 00:31:37.140 Frank R. Harrison: That's over 40 years ago. The thing is, though, that those last 10 years prior to launching the podcast, I had faced more emotional and traumatic abuse from people, because it's very interesting how, when you are aware of your invisible condition.
00:31:37.230 --> 00:31:40.020 Frank R. Harrison: Yet, me not communicating it.
00:31:40.060 --> 00:31:59.109 Frank R. Harrison: I'm living my life, but in a way that's unexplainable to people. They don't understand why I may be stochastic, or maybe hiding certain information, or giving an excuse for something that is more serious than it should be, so you end up with a new character description that isn't even true.
00:31:59.280 --> 00:32:05.530 Frank R. Harrison: So, being that my name is Frank, I wanted to be truthful, about epilepsy.
00:32:05.820 --> 00:32:14.240 Frank R. Harrison: Alright? Yes, I have it, and this is why, and this is what we're gonna do about it. Of course, thanks to Sam Leibowitz at TalkRadio.nyc.
00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:29.919 Frank R. Harrison: there was a marketing issue here, I'm only going to attract epileptic viewers, or epileptic doctors, or I'm not going to really get the community that I'm reaching, so we called it Frank About Health. And, by virtue of releasing to the public.
00:32:30.590 --> 00:32:36.320 Frank R. Harrison: about epilepsy and other health issues along the way, especially when COVID came to town.
00:32:36.490 --> 00:32:43.969 Frank R. Harrison: I was able to be a better version of myself than I would have been if I didn't disclose epilepsy at all.
00:32:44.100 --> 00:33:00.139 Frank R. Harrison: So, I guess that's kind of the secret in having an invisible illness. If you notice it being what people would perceive as a liability or a weakness, but it actually is your strength that you can manifest into something that helps the larger community.
00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:08.880 Frank R. Harrison: That's when you can use it as an asset, rather than the stigma that everyone wants you to believe it is, or the liability that everyone wants you to believe it is.
00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:11.529 Frank R. Harrison: So, that being said.
00:33:11.900 --> 00:33:31.519 Frank R. Harrison: I look at epilepsy as just preliminary invisible illness. Something like you, Jeff, what you have, is very serious. I've even seen it displayed on my favorite show, Grey's Anatomy, I think season 1 or 2. You know, if you ever watch the show, Derek Shepard was operating on a person that had to get a shunt replacement.
00:33:31.590 --> 00:33:35.809 Frank R. Harrison: for hydrocephalus, and I did remember, in that storyline.
00:33:36.410 --> 00:33:41.710 Frank R. Harrison: The post-op reactions, he was very angry at his children. He didn't even know they were his children.
00:33:41.790 --> 00:33:52.419 Frank R. Harrison: But the point is, is that whole aphasia, or that whole post-operative reaction, was only settled after everything went back to normal, and he was healing.
00:33:52.420 --> 00:34:03.829 Frank R. Harrison: similar to what you said, Tom, and the role that you play, helping patients heal quicker through your acupuncture and stuff like that. The whole thing is holistic and community-based, but…
00:34:03.830 --> 00:34:17.009 Frank R. Harrison: to have an understanding of empathy within individuals who don't understand, I guess, is the challenge, and I would say all three of us have been able to try to capitalize on those challenges
00:34:17.010 --> 00:34:25.979 Frank R. Harrison: by creating platforms, as we each have, as one measure of owning your healthcare. But I would like to know, Jeff, in particular.
00:34:26.110 --> 00:34:30.599 Frank R. Harrison: If you had something that people could see, especially the doctors.
00:34:30.900 --> 00:34:46.619 Frank R. Harrison: I don't think you've had the kind of stigmas that I've faced, but you must have had some other social challenges that maybe you wanted to combat, and I gather that's probably discussed in your show, Invisible Conditions. Would that be fair to say?
00:34:48.040 --> 00:34:49.009 Frank R. Harrison: Oh, I need…
00:34:49.010 --> 00:34:50.680 Jeff Pearson: So, yeah, I mean…
00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:59.190 Jeff Pearson: Yes, I'll say this. I… yes, I have had things over my lifetime, like, for instance.
00:34:59.690 --> 00:35:07.190 Jeff Pearson: the trauma to the brain at such a young age actually caused me to have a really lazy eye when I was a kid.
00:35:07.190 --> 00:35:30.200 Jeff Pearson: And so that was noticeable, you know? And I've had two eye surgeries to, to attempt to correct it. It kind of… kind of went a different way, but we don't have time to talk about that. But two eye surgeries later, it's not quite as bad as it was, but that was… that definitely affected me when I was a kid. Nobody likes to be, you know, stared at, and… and pointed at, and, you know…
00:35:30.200 --> 00:35:33.250 Jeff Pearson: Especially when you're a kid in elementary school.
00:35:33.350 --> 00:35:47.489 Jeff Pearson: I also… my most recent brain surgery in 2021, all four of them in the last 12 years have left me with some pretty wicked side effects. And some of them were visible from the outside, and some of them weren't.
00:35:47.550 --> 00:36:00.250 Jeff Pearson: I mean, everything from… I had, I had non-stop migraines, like, 24-7 non-stop migraines from, for about a year following, surgeries I had, brain surgeries I had in 2014.
00:36:00.250 --> 00:36:10.380 Jeff Pearson: And then I had, large motor tics that looked like the entire right side of my body was just shaking all the time after the 2021 surgery. And…
00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:15.449 Jeff Pearson: thankfully, and this is something I wanted to address because of something you said, Tom.
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:23.539 Jeff Pearson: you're talking about… you're talking about the different worlds, right? The medical world and the alternative world that people call it alternative world.
00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:41.280 Jeff Pearson: I wouldn't be here if it weren't for both. Like, I… you can't craniosacral your way out of brain surgery for hydrocephalus, you know what I'm saying? Like, you have to go to the sur… you have to have a neurosurgeon, and an anesthesiologist, and a whole team, and an abdominal surgeon, and a… you… like, you can't just…
00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:45.109 Jeff Pearson: you know, acupuncture your way out of that. Sometimes you have to have surgery.
00:36:45.220 --> 00:36:56.200 Jeff Pearson: That being said, in 2014, I had non-stop migraines for a year after that surgery, like, 24-7. What got rid of them? A chiropractic neurologist and neurofeedback.
00:36:56.200 --> 00:36:59.639 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Those two things. Neurofeedback, after a month of that.
00:36:59.930 --> 00:37:14.410 Jeff Pearson: Gone. Migraines were gone. I've never had another one like it. Same thing with the most recent one in 2021. I had… I had that large… large motor tics all the way down my right side of my body, the filter in the brain that blocks out background noise, gone. It was a mess.
00:37:15.030 --> 00:37:17.169 Jeff Pearson: Pressure point therapy on the vagus nerve.
00:37:17.810 --> 00:37:24.059 Jeff Pearson: Somebody just went down, all up and down my body, and just… just… Ran the… just took…
00:37:24.230 --> 00:37:27.509 Jeff Pearson: Took it serious on that vagus nerve, and it hurt.
00:37:28.080 --> 00:37:45.800 Jeff Pearson: But those ticks are gone, and the filter is back. So it's… you… you… surgery has kept me alive. You know, Western medicine has kept me alive. The, the alternative world that people talk about is what gave me my life back. Like, that is what has…
00:37:45.920 --> 00:38:04.310 Jeff Pearson: help me to integrate back into society and be able to function again. I mean, if I had been… if I had listened in 2014, I'd probably still be on the couch with migraines, taking a pretty heavy dose of pain meds. But I… I wanted to explore and see if we could make it better.
00:38:04.390 --> 00:38:10.269 Jeff Pearson: So, the options are out there, you know. So, I'm sorry, if that went off topic from your question.
00:38:10.270 --> 00:38:12.239 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: That was perfect, man.
00:38:12.570 --> 00:38:24.390 Frank R. Harrison: I mean, it reminds me of why I did acupuncture, too, because I knew that the different types of, meridians, or whatever they call them, all over the wrists and the.
00:38:24.390 --> 00:38:24.830 Jeff Pearson: ankle.
00:38:24.830 --> 00:38:27.429 Frank R. Harrison: And even in the middle of the forehead.
00:38:27.560 --> 00:38:34.010 Frank R. Harrison: I would… I would come out of there with more energy, and I felt a slowness or rhythm in my whole brain processing, so…
00:38:34.130 --> 00:38:42.690 Frank R. Harrison: it was doing its part. And by the way, Tom, that guy you referred me to, I haven't heard back from him, but, you know, it's been bad weather and stuff.
00:38:42.690 --> 00:38:48.669 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: So, I think he's actually in Santa Fe this weekend teaching a seminar. So…
00:38:49.100 --> 00:38:49.969 Jeff Pearson: No bad weather there.
00:38:50.190 --> 00:38:55.259 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Just so you know. Hey, I'm sure he's not stubbing you.
00:38:55.260 --> 00:39:00.159 Frank R. Harrison: No, no, no, I know It was a little digression, forgive me, I didn't mean that.
00:39:00.160 --> 00:39:01.369 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: It'd be your fault.
00:39:01.370 --> 00:39:17.849 Frank R. Harrison: I wanted to get back to, Jeff and your show, Invisible Conditions. Can you… can you explain about how your show helps you communicate about your condition with your guests, or maybe they talk about other invisible conditions that we haven't covered?
00:39:17.850 --> 00:39:22.390 Jeff Pearson: Absolutely, thank you. Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity to talk about it. Yeah, we…
00:39:22.600 --> 00:39:31.469 Jeff Pearson: So every Tuesday and Friday at noon Eastern, we're on for an hour, and and the idea behind the show was that…
00:39:31.540 --> 00:39:49.280 Jeff Pearson: We… first of all, we knew we couldn't call it the hydrocephalus Hour, similar to you not being able to call it the epilepsy hour. Like, we knew that purely people wouldn't tune in after very long, you know? So we decided to open it up and kind of generalize it a little bit, and there are so many invisible conditions out there, we knew we wouldn't have a shortage.
00:39:49.430 --> 00:40:00.239 Jeff Pearson: The caveat is that people that I have on my show, I want to be having people on the show that are living and yet thriving, despite that invisible condition. I don't…
00:40:00.520 --> 00:40:05.660 Jeff Pearson: I've been that guy that's on the couch in pain constantly, all the time.
00:40:06.330 --> 00:40:08.540 Jeff Pearson: I can't… I… that's not…
00:40:08.740 --> 00:40:24.429 Jeff Pearson: I wouldn't have wanted to be on a TV show if I was in that shape, right? So I don't want to bring people on that are in that much of a problem phase during their condition, right? So I want to bring them on after they've figured out what to do, and they're in that thriving
00:40:24.500 --> 00:40:40.400 Jeff Pearson: phase, right? So, maybe they've figured out the right mix of medication for that bipolar diagnosis they got, and now they're a world-class speaker, or they're a best-selling author, or they're, you know, they've figured out how to control that fibromyalgia, and now they're, you know.
00:40:40.400 --> 00:40:44.900 Jeff Pearson: created an organization to help others. Like, those are the kind of guests that we have, and it's…
00:40:44.900 --> 00:40:58.130 Jeff Pearson: awesome. And I have had so many amazing guests. Tom's been a guest. Frank's gonna be a guest. I've had so many incredible people on the show. I even had my wife and oldest daughter, who remembers all that craziness back in
00:40:58.130 --> 00:41:07.150 Jeff Pearson: 2014 and 2018, and talked about her perspective watching Dad go through all that. I mean, we've had some crazy topics on the show.
00:41:07.150 --> 00:41:18.379 Jeff Pearson: And, it's been so cool, and I learn something new every single time, no matter who is on the show, because everybody's story is so different, and so inspiring.
00:41:18.380 --> 00:41:27.580 Jeff Pearson: That it's… I always leave recording a show feeling better, no matter what. It's just so fun to hear stories, so…
00:41:27.580 --> 00:41:34.490 Frank R. Harrison: So that being said, I won't go too much on this show about epilepsy, because I want to save it for when I appear on your.
00:41:34.490 --> 00:41:35.280 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Ringo.
00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:53.759 Frank R. Harrison: But at the same time, one fundamental reality that I could say about epilepsy, which probably mirrors even your condition, hydrocephalus, is that we are living with symptom management throughout our whole lives, but it really, like, the epileptic brain…
00:41:54.440 --> 00:42:04.580 Frank R. Harrison: I'm having… my brain is not acting in the normal pathways, and I'm consciously speaking with you right now. So the seizure is the symptom.
00:42:04.830 --> 00:42:05.310 Jeff Pearson: Yes.
00:42:05.310 --> 00:42:20.219 Frank R. Harrison: It's not the core illness that everybody thinks it is, and therefore, oh, when you have a convulsion, you're no longer worthy of getting the job you want. Or you're no longer worthy of getting the right, social support programs because you don't qualify based on
00:42:20.220 --> 00:42:29.380 Frank R. Harrison: how old you are, or when was your onset? Is it genetically based? Was it due to being in a coma, or did you have brain surgery, or whatever the situation is.
00:42:29.380 --> 00:42:29.710 Jeff Pearson: Yeah.
00:42:29.710 --> 00:42:38.370 Frank R. Harrison: The stigma is all based on the viewpoint that I perceive. People view the symptom as the illness, and not…
00:42:38.590 --> 00:42:54.950 Frank R. Harrison: the attributes of the person that, okay, if you have epilepsy, or you have hydrocephalus, or you have autism, or you have whatever, okay, so you're gonna live differently than a lot of other people? Show us your worth that can help contribute.
00:42:55.200 --> 00:42:59.399 Frank R. Harrison: That whole discussion is what I look forward to sharing on your show.
00:42:59.400 --> 00:43:07.729 Jeff Pearson: Totally. And I… and that reminds me, I… so, everybody's seen this. Everybody listening, everybody watching has seen this, so… so…
00:43:09.020 --> 00:43:28.029 Jeff Pearson: You pull up to the… you're sitting in the supermarket parking lot, you see the car pull into the handicap spot with the plates, like, they're legit, they have the plates, okay. They see the guy get out, guy, girl, whoever, get out, kind of walk briskly into the store, walk back out with their groceries, put them in the car, and leave. What's your first thought if you're… if you're not…
00:43:28.240 --> 00:43:46.159 Jeff Pearson: like, sensitively minded about this, your first thought is, that jerk stole grandma's car with the handicap plate so they could park closer to the supermarket. But what you don't realize is maybe that person has fibromyalgia, maybe they have chronic fatigue syndrome, and they had to take a 2-hour nap and take an extra dose of meds to get
00:43:46.160 --> 00:43:52.220 Jeff Pearson: the energy to do that errand, and then they're gonna go home and crash for the rest of the day. That's the only outing they could
00:43:52.300 --> 00:43:53.609 Jeff Pearson: Have the strength for.
00:43:53.770 --> 00:43:56.369 Jeff Pearson: That's the kind of awareness that people don't have.
00:43:56.490 --> 00:44:06.770 Jeff Pearson: So, that's the kind of thing we like to bring light to on Invisible Condition. So, because people, people everywhere are dealing with this, and they're being awesome in spite of it.
00:44:07.660 --> 00:44:15.510 Frank R. Harrison: We're about to take our final break, but I want to respond to Jesse, who is a DID system, by the way.
00:44:15.820 --> 00:44:18.190 Frank R. Harrison: 18 personalities.
00:44:18.300 --> 00:44:21.500 Frank R. Harrison: And he, or she, sorry, was on…
00:44:22.370 --> 00:44:37.840 Frank R. Harrison: Frank About Health about 2 years ago, talking about the system, and it's interesting. Now it's 22 personalities, according to what I just found out, and what makes it invisible is that the one host personality that we all see
00:44:38.150 --> 00:44:46.370 Frank R. Harrison: Is the one we identify and relate to, but she has been able to have it under control in a way so that
00:44:46.480 --> 00:45:01.869 Frank R. Harrison: she can use the talents of each personality to present as an integrated individual. And that… it's an invisible condition, but it's a perfect segue for the final segment of the show, because the common thread in all of these conditions
00:45:02.020 --> 00:45:05.260 Frank R. Harrison: Is the brain is the core of it all.
00:45:05.520 --> 00:45:12.790 Frank R. Harrison: And, that being said, just please stay tuned for the next scene. This is TalkRadio.nyc, Frank AboutHealth, and we'll be back in a few.
00:46:14.230 --> 00:46:19.360 Frank R. Harrison: Okay, everybody, and welcome back. As I had said prior to the final commercial break.
00:46:19.470 --> 00:46:38.610 Frank R. Harrison: The brain is in control of the illnesses that are rendered invisible. If you have autism spectrum disorder, if you have DID, if you have hydrocephalus, if you have epilepsy, if you have chronic fatigue syndrome, if you have anything else that we have already mentioned, even but briefly.
00:46:39.160 --> 00:46:49.750 Frank R. Harrison: It is all stemming from the brain's reactions through inflammation, through surgeries, through genetic programming, through other kinds of mental and neurological
00:46:49.770 --> 00:47:04.379 Frank R. Harrison: changes that may have happened in utero. In fact, I just showed you a clip from a movie called Invisible on Amazon Prime by director Matthew Michael Ross, who features a,
00:47:04.380 --> 00:47:11.189 Frank R. Harrison: kind of like an adventure mystery of an individual who is suffering from CRPS.
00:47:11.360 --> 00:47:26.910 Frank R. Harrison: which is a neurodegenerative disease. I forgot what the acronym stands for, but forgive me. The thing is, is what is interesting, as you, the viewer, are watching this movie, you see the lead character, who goes by the name of CB,
00:47:27.010 --> 00:47:29.400 Frank R. Harrison: Looking for his friend Adam.
00:47:30.150 --> 00:47:33.920 Frank R. Harrison: You find out at the end of the movie, He is Adam.
00:47:34.620 --> 00:47:48.659 Frank R. Harrison: His CRPS was not treated, was not represented correctly. He started becoming drug addicted. He started becoming homeless. He was having bouts with, with,
00:47:48.690 --> 00:48:03.499 Frank R. Harrison: his girlfriend, who he didn't recognize anymore. The whole myriad of neurological changes that were occurring because what originally began as stiffness in his joints and other kinds of untreated symptoms
00:48:03.500 --> 00:48:09.289 Frank R. Harrison: It went to the brain, and he developed a disassociation from his own identity.
00:48:09.320 --> 00:48:11.679 Frank R. Harrison: And when you realize at the end of it.
00:48:11.960 --> 00:48:14.899 Frank R. Harrison: That he realizes that he was the person.
00:48:15.600 --> 00:48:34.080 Frank R. Harrison: he gets the treatment he needs, he joins the community support groups that he was supposed to begin with, and then he rebuilds his life and moves forward. The interesting narrative in that movie, and most directors, I guess, do this in Hollywood or even in the independent film market, is they let the audience decide what they're watching.
00:48:34.540 --> 00:48:47.760 Frank R. Harrison: Now, if you are people like us, healthcare advocates, podcasters, television showrunners, whatever, all trying to erase the stigmas or the invisibility of such conditions.
00:48:47.800 --> 00:49:00.940 Frank R. Harrison: you're gonna be looking at, okay, what message are you doing? You're not discussing the illness, but you're showing me a person with it. So you're educating the individual viewer how to remove the stigma through lived experience.
00:49:01.110 --> 00:49:15.300 Frank R. Harrison: Now, I would highly recommend this movie for those of you out there that want to see how a person's life struggles have been due to not managing or even being aware of his illness of CRPS.
00:49:15.440 --> 00:49:25.939 Frank R. Harrison: However, not everybody is fortunate enough to all of a sudden confront the condition. Some people end up homeless and eventually die off from it without resolution.
00:49:26.110 --> 00:49:39.139 Frank R. Harrison: But we're not focused on that. We're focused on activating awareness in each of us that might be suffering from some condition, whether or not we have any evidence of it. Always do what you can to
00:49:39.140 --> 00:49:53.009 Frank R. Harrison: speak to your primary care physician, or your specialist, or your acupuncturist, you know, so that you could really get the whole 360 view. That's a metaphor, Jeff. The whole 360 view of…
00:49:53.320 --> 00:49:55.620 Frank R. Harrison: Your life, who you are.
00:49:56.110 --> 00:50:02.559 Frank R. Harrison: we've talked during the last 45 minutes about Eastern medicine versus Western medicine. How about…
00:50:02.900 --> 00:50:08.850 Frank R. Harrison: Your own self-advocacy medicine and choosing one or the other, or both.
00:50:09.040 --> 00:50:12.440 Frank R. Harrison: That's the whole nature of it. I think we lost Jeff.
00:50:12.690 --> 00:50:14.720 Frank R. Harrison: But…
00:50:15.130 --> 00:50:18.139 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Again, at the same time, we're still running, so…
00:50:18.140 --> 00:50:29.400 Frank R. Harrison: I hope he finds his way back on. But the thing is, is, in terms of being able to go ahead and understand invisible conditions…
00:50:29.960 --> 00:50:34.329 Frank R. Harrison: A lot of it really stems from making oneself-aware.
00:50:34.860 --> 00:50:39.460 Frank R. Harrison: I hate to say this, Tom, but I think I lost my way after we lost Jeff.
00:50:39.720 --> 00:50:43.449 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: That's alright, you kind of wrapped it up there, I think? Oh, yeah.
00:50:43.450 --> 00:50:43.820 Frank R. Harrison: Cool.
00:50:44.290 --> 00:50:45.749 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: So, but are you?
00:50:46.160 --> 00:50:49.900 Frank R. Harrison: I don't know what to do in this particular case, I guess.
00:50:50.870 --> 00:50:57.949 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: You know, this is… this is when technology, it doesn't have its advantages, and it's nice to be in the same room with somebody.
00:50:58.150 --> 00:51:00.369 Frank R. Harrison: Yes, exactly, exactly.
00:51:00.520 --> 00:51:05.030 Frank R. Harrison: Oof, that's a lot. That's what I see he commented on.
00:51:05.450 --> 00:51:10.749 Frank R. Harrison: And, okay, that's about the alters. Alright, complex regional pain syndrome, yes, that's.
00:51:10.750 --> 00:51:11.130 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Yeah.
00:51:11.130 --> 00:51:23.370 Frank R. Harrison: That's what it is. And essentially, I found it to be a very influential film, but I guess if you're in the entertainment industry, you're gonna take a look at it from a critic's point of view, or…
00:51:23.380 --> 00:51:34.140 Frank R. Harrison: you know, how the entertainment value of it. If you are in the medical profession, you might be able to look at it as a model to help illustrate whenever you're working with fellow colleagues and.
00:51:34.220 --> 00:51:38.709 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: And probably teach them about an experience of someone with CRPS.
00:51:38.740 --> 00:51:55.010 Frank R. Harrison: You know, and things like that. But it is also emphasizing what I said earlier, that that movie Invisible is a must-see, especially when you want to know the in-depth nuances of one's brain and how it influences personality and lifestyle, and of course, treatment.
00:51:55.340 --> 00:52:04.269 Frank R. Harrison: You know, I think we still have time on the show. I… I don't know, Jesse, what do you think we should do? Would… are you able to get,
00:52:04.380 --> 00:52:06.680 Frank R. Harrison: Jeff back on…
00:52:06.680 --> 00:52:09.659 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: He just texted me. He said his laptop died.
00:52:09.660 --> 00:52:13.100 Frank R. Harrison: You had your battery fall out, Jeff? Is that what happened?
00:52:14.190 --> 00:52:16.740 Frank R. Harrison: Or, or… oh, you have to unmute.
00:52:18.010 --> 00:52:22.290 Jeff Pearson: I don't know what the heck happened there. I thought it was plugged in, but apparently not, so…
00:52:22.290 --> 00:52:23.560 Frank R. Harrison: That was my fault.
00:52:23.840 --> 00:52:28.419 Frank R. Harrison: I'm glad… I'm glad we still have, like, I think 3 or 4 minutes left.
00:52:29.170 --> 00:52:30.400 Frank R. Harrison: We lost you for the rest of the show.
00:52:30.400 --> 00:52:33.010 Jeff Pearson: No, you're good. No, I was quick, man.
00:52:33.570 --> 00:52:35.110 Jeff Pearson: Sorry about that. My fault.
00:52:35.110 --> 00:52:46.230 Frank R. Harrison: Awesome, awesome. And Tom said that I finished my point of view by the time you got off the phone. I hope you got invisible and CRPS was clear for you as well.
00:52:46.230 --> 00:52:50.819 Jeff Pearson: Oh, man. So, what'd I miss?
00:52:50.820 --> 00:52:52.730 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Just recap it.
00:52:52.730 --> 00:52:53.200 Jeff Pearson: Okay.
00:52:53.200 --> 00:53:06.220 Frank R. Harrison: Okay, so to recap, this past hour, we've been talking with both Jeff Pearson and Tom Ingenyo about invisible conditions. We've talked about Jeff's Invisible Conditions show on E360.
00:53:06.660 --> 00:53:14.539 Frank R. Harrison: Excuse me. E360 TV, available on your Roku devices, your Amazon Fire Stick, or even on the internet.
00:53:14.650 --> 00:53:33.230 Frank R. Harrison: Simultaneously, we've talked about my experience with epilepsy, as most of my viewers already know, and how I've manifested it into this platform, Frank About Health, and we've talked about how I will be on Jeff's show in the near future to really discuss how I've manifested it into a career driver.
00:53:33.230 --> 00:53:36.909 Frank R. Harrison: And that's my way of advocating for my invisible condition.
00:53:36.910 --> 00:53:46.799 Frank R. Harrison: It's an issue of lifestyle that I've been forced to live with, but I'm glad to live with it because it's giving me rewards that I never anticipated. So, that being said.
00:53:47.200 --> 00:54:06.250 Frank R. Harrison: I think each of us that deal with conditions, such as yourself, Jeff, are doing our best to manifest the kind of world we were meant to live, or the kind of life we were meant to live, based on our limitations as well. It's part of our toolbox now, rather than being the weight to bring us down or drag us down.
00:54:06.730 --> 00:54:18.219 Frank R. Harrison: You know, and then I… and then I close the show out by talking about a movie, Invisible, by director Matthew Michael Ross, available on Amazon Prime, Prime Video.
00:54:18.220 --> 00:54:29.980 Frank R. Harrison: And has won a lot of festival circuit awards, and is getting a lot of notoriety in the independent film market, showing the lifestyle of a person who was suffering from complex regional pain syndrome.
00:54:30.140 --> 00:54:45.990 Frank R. Harrison: And each of these invisible conditions is just putting a, emphasis on how they really begin with the human brain. And if everyone is more aware of how powerful this 3-pound organ is.
00:54:46.320 --> 00:54:58.869 Frank R. Harrison: It can help answer all the questions in the world about various conditions, not just the physical ones, but also the invisible ones. And I did say on my last episode of Frank About Health, I showed a clip
00:54:58.870 --> 00:55:13.049 Frank R. Harrison: About Oprah Winfrey on The View, talking about GLP-1 drugs. They're saying that even though people are taking those drugs to lose weight or to prevent diabetes, it now is completely revamping our healthcare systems and
00:55:13.050 --> 00:55:23.910 Frank R. Harrison: are Western healthcare cures for things like cardiac illness, prevention of Alzheimer's disease or dementia. None of that is FDA approved yet, or whatever, but
00:55:23.910 --> 00:55:37.899 Frank R. Harrison: They're saying that they have the power to influence our healthcare system internally because GLP is a neurotransmitter in the brain. So, I guess that's another reason why I brought that up. It's showing again how
00:55:37.910 --> 00:55:43.719 Frank R. Harrison: The brain helps govern our healthcare in our personal lives and in our advocacy work.
00:55:44.020 --> 00:56:02.909 Frank R. Harrison: Alrighty, I guess that's pretty much the nuts and bolts of this episode of Frank About Health. I am so grateful to both of you, Jeff and Tom, for being here on this show. Would either of you, because we have 2 minutes, before we end, would either of you like to talk about other work that is coming up, in your.
00:56:02.910 --> 00:56:13.230 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: You know, Frank, I think we… another mutual of ours, Todd Otten, is having, his… movie.
00:56:13.350 --> 00:56:17.119 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: screening in Baltimore this March.
00:56:17.320 --> 00:56:25.020 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: And it's all about practitioner burnout. You know, you guys are really going deep on the patient side.
00:56:25.030 --> 00:56:37.719 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: But people need to know that practitioners are, hurting, too. So suck it up, Buttercup, go ahead, go to their website, or you can go to our podcast's website to buy tickets for this on March 19th.
00:56:38.120 --> 00:56:38.820 Jeff Pearson: Love it.
00:56:39.390 --> 00:56:40.900 Frank R. Harrison: So, the tickets are on sale now?
00:56:40.940 --> 00:56:42.839 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: Yes, we just got them up.
00:56:44.030 --> 00:56:44.940 Jeff Pearson: Great title.
00:56:46.130 --> 00:56:48.389 Dr. Tom Ingegno, DACM: It really is. I love it.
00:56:48.390 --> 00:56:49.210 Frank R. Harrison: Excuse me.
00:56:49.210 --> 00:56:50.040 Jeff Pearson: I love it.
00:56:50.300 --> 00:56:51.110 Jeff Pearson: Oh…
00:56:51.110 --> 00:57:00.599 Frank R. Harrison: I'm getting over that. At the same time, Jeff, I think I'll email you as to what dates in February look good for me to be.
00:57:00.930 --> 00:57:18.599 Jeff Pearson: That'll work. I'll send you a calendar. We'll figure it out, don't worry about that. The last thing I want to say, though, for everybody is, like, no matter what condition you're dealing with, life doesn't have to be perfect to be awesome. So you don't have… I don't care what you're living with, please don't wait for it to be perfect. Get out there and do your stuff. Do your thing.
00:57:19.520 --> 00:57:23.120 Jeff Pearson: rocket. Doesn't have to be perfect to be awesome. So…
00:57:23.280 --> 00:57:29.419 Frank R. Harrison: Absolutely. Well, thank you again, both of you. Thank you, Jesse, behind the scenes.
00:57:29.480 --> 00:57:48.899 Frank R. Harrison: Thank you, to everyone watching this episode. It'll immediately be available on YouTube, and I will be back next week with another episode of Frank About Health, and I will… I've cleared my throat by then. And everybody, thank you again. We will see you all next week.
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