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- Kimberly McMurrayBurn AmbassadorRoleSurvivorLocationWashingtonFun Facts
Kimberly has worked as a fire commissioner since 2020. Giving back to her community and being an integral part of a fire department has given her the gratification of feeling like she makes a difference. She is a people person and enjoys hearing other people’s life stories. She enjoys watching documentaries and true story movies and traveling with her husband. There are only 6 US states and 2 Canadian provinces to which they have not visited. They have had the privilege of exploring Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Mexico, Grand Cayman, Caribbean, Ireland, and Netherlands. She enjoys baking, gardening, and cooking, using fresh herbs and vegetables, and trying new recipes with various ingredients for her family. They have created a rating scale for her experiments as “make again” or “this was really good once.” She said she appreciates the honest feedback as it helps to refine her skills. In the summer they also enjoy time on their boat and kayaking. If she is not on the boat, she enjoys their vintage Mazda Miata convertible. She also considers herself immeasurably blessed with friends.
Kimberly's Burn Injury Journey
At 17, Kimberly experienced third-degree burns over 65% of her body when fuel was poured over an open fire pit, causing an explosion of fire to engulf her. Her 19-year-old boyfriend died from his own injuries in the incident. She spent 95 days in the Harborview Burn Center in Seattle. 8 weeks were spent in the ICU fighting for her life. While the physical challenges were enormous, she notes that the mental challenges were the most difficult to overcome. After being discharged from the hospital, she was unprepared for the cruelty of people or the insults they would throw. During her recovery, she spent many months in a valley of depression and hopelessness.
Kimberly came to the realization that to persevere she needed to accept her “new normal”, stand up for herself, and start living again. She started speaking about her injury openly at high schools, universities, churches, and burn conferences. After getting involved with the American Burn Association and the Phoenix Society she became a certified Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery (SOAR) volunteer. She has even served on the HMC Burn Center Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) and held school re-entry assemblies. Through these organizations and other community volunteer programs, she shed her cocoon and flourished. Helping others was a tremendous source of personal healing. Her favorite quote is from Chuck Swindoll; “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.” She finds it especially true for anyone who has experienced trauma.
Why does Kimberly think people should consider referring to the MSKTC resources?
When Kimberly was burned, back in 1984, there were very few resources available. All she had access to focus on was wound care post-discharge. School or work re-entry programs did not exist to assist with the traumatic transition of re-joining society after 3 months in the hospital. MSKTC has answers and help for all burn-related questions. There are resources for the basics such as itching, and more personal topics such as intimacy and everything in between; food, exercise, PTSD, etc. Some things are difficult to talk to others about, but you can get the answers and help you need from the website. In recovery, it is also helpful to talk to others who have walked this path, and MSKTC provides resources to connect with others as well. Kimberly was surprised and delighted that there were resources she could share with her friend who has multiple sclerosis in the form of wheelchair options. The website is useful and user-friendly, and if you do not find what you are looking for, they have a question box you can use to reach their team of responsive professionals.
Why does Kimberly want to be an MSKTC ambassador
In her early days of recovery, Kimberly felt lost, discouraged, and struggled with her survival. She crossed numerous stepping stones before she was able to reach a place of acceptance regarding her visible scars. When she was able to turn her internal dialogue from negative to positive, she decided to dedicate herself to educating the public about burns and advocating for people after a burn injury. As an ambassador, she can continue to be a source of encouragement, compassion, and assistance to her fellow burn survivors. She feels that the best way to support others is to walk beside them so that no one feels alone or that they must overcome their burns on their own. There are a lot of people in the MSKTC Ambassador program who are available to help and countless resources are at your fingertips through their site.
What has Kimberly done as an MSKTC ambassador?
When Kimberly gives presentations, she is sure to include the MSKTC web address and pertinent information as one of her vital resources. She is sharing the MSKTC resources through her social media and has reached out to colleagues who work in the fields of traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries to inform them of its efficacy. Kimberly reviewed and provided feedback on the MSKTC resources to ensure they are user-friendly and relevant to burn survivors.
- Kaitlyn ChaconBurn AmbassadorRoleResearch Coordinator of the Boston-Harvard Burn Injury Model SystemLocationBoston, MAFun Facts
Kaitlyn enjoys fishing and swimming and has challenged herself to take up running. She now has a new furry friend, Teddy, a mini golden doodle, to join her on her expeditions. Furthermore, she profoundly appreciates different languages and enjoys learning about other cultures.
Kaitlyn’s Burn Injury Journey
Kaitlyn volunteered for many years as a summer camp counselor and the most common burns she would see were sunburns. Although sunburns put a damper on summer activities for many, they provoked her to consider the effects of various burns. Today, Kaitlyn is one of the Boston-Harvard Burn Injuries Model System’s (BHBIMS) research coordinators. Through her work, she has witnessed the physical limitations of burn injuries and their effect on people long after they leave the hospital. Likewise, it can be difficult for people with burn injuries to access the resources and services they require outside the hospital for various reasons. The extent to which their lives have changed prompts the daily battle to “thrive, not just survive.” This mindset has helped many people look beyond their limitations and push toward achieving future possibilities. The burn community’s resilience drives Kaitlyn to advocate for fire safety, burn awareness, and overall health wellness. She is able to act as an advocate by hosting informational sessions for people at Mass General and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospitals. Furthermore, the BHBIMS team has shared fire safety, burn awareness, and overall health wellness with the local community elementary school, thus facilitating the dissemination of information at an earlier age in hopes that they, too, can help others.
Why does Kaitlyn think people should consider referring to the MSKTC resources?
What is excellent about MSKTC resources is they have a wide range of resources, so there is something for everyone. Kaitlyn has used burn injury resources to inform herself and provide information to burn survivors within her community. Helpful tips on sun protection, employment, and pain management post-burn injury can all be found on their website. The resources in English are great! Their Spanish resources have been great for her community as well. It often takes more work to find quality resources with good translations, but MSKTC is making this resource more accessible.
Why does Kaitlyn want to be an MSKTC ambassador?
Since beginning her burn researcher position, she has learned many things. The first is that individuals with burn injuries are survivors that can overcome victimization. Secondly, burn care goes beyond acute treatment; many must learn to manage their health independently! Thirdly, seeing firsthand how burn survivors adapt and overcome their challenges with the help of resources is genuinely inspiring. As a Spanish speaker, burn researcher, and aspiring clinician, becoming an ambassador for MSTKC will facilitate the dissemination of aid to the unapproached Spanish population in Massachusetts.
What has Kaitlyn done as a MSKTC ambassador?
Kaitlyn currently manages the social media platforms for BHBIMS and makes it a point to share as many MSKTC resources as possible. She has the unique opportunity to meet many burn survivors at affiliated hospitals and offer MSKTC post-injury care resources to them and their loved ones. The training on the MSTKC page has helped her better advocate for the burn population and reassure caregivers of burn survivors there are resources at their disposal. After receiving these resources, she has found that people tend to feel more confident about managing their burn-specific health even five years post-injury!
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TBI Ambassador Communication Toolkit
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File Uploads - Jeena Elizabeth JoseSCI AmbassadorRolePhysical Therapist and Clinical InstructorLocationCaliforniaFun Facts
Jeena, her husband, and two kids came to the United States in 2008 from Abu Dhabi. Her older son is in college, and her younger son is in second grade. Jeena’s life revolves around her family and work. Her hobbies are music, dancing, painting, cooking, and travel. She does miss her family, pets, and home in India, but still plans trips to visit when they are able.
Jeena’s journey with SCI
Jeena has been a Physical Therapist since 2002. She began her career working in India and parts of the Middle East and started to work in California in 2011. She has held different roles as a physical therapy assistant, physical therapist, educator, documentation auditor, and Director of Rehabilitation in all rehabilitation settings. She holds several certifications in her practice, from interests that grab her attention to new research and courses that can improve her knowledge and ability to serve her patients and their families more efficiently. Her current position is as a Physical Therapist working with various types of patient groups and diagnoses at Loma Linda Inpatient Rehabilitation.
Jeena considers herself lucky enough to have worked with some great clinicians throughout her career. With their guidance she has been able to contribute towards setting up rehabilitation clinics, SCI treatment centers, and brain injury education and training centers for the pediatric population. She now caters to all medical diagnoses and feels she learns something every day. She particularly enjoys working with SCI, TBI, and BURNS patients. With such life-changing injuries, the patient and the entire family rely on guidance from their medical professionals. Jeena hopes to carry her knowledge to educate the next generation of therapists and to parts of the world like her hometown in India, where resources such as these are invaluable.
Why does Jeena want to be an ambassador?
Jeena treats all her patients as family, so she is always on the lookout for the best educational and treatment options available, which is why she always recommends MSKTC to her patients and their caregivers. It is occasionally difficult to find new and updated research-based resources in one spot, but the resources with MSKTC are easy to navigate and the language is easy to understand. She particularly favors topics like the Wheelchair-Parts Management courses and the quizzes that test user understanding. This is particularly useful for her current work setting due to the vast amount of material she must cover in her brief time with a patient. She confidently recommends MSKTC to her patients as it helps them learn, review, and reinforce quality information relevant to them and their families. She especially appreciates how the info-comics in SCI, TBI, and BURNS can grab the attention of younger pediatric patients. As a robotics specialist, she was happy to see the most recent exoskeleton technology that is discussed and reviewed further on this website.
What has Jeena done as an ambassador?
Jeena shares the MSKTC resources with her doctors and patients and has encouraged patients to share their resources with their peer groups for increased visibility. All resources presented on SCI, TBI, and BURNS are indeed the questions and concerns of most patients and caregivers as they continue their journey of healing and rehabilitation. She sees the MSKTC resources continuing to serve a valuable role within her organization and in venues where she exercises her professional expertise.
- Megan KinzlerBurn AmbassadorRoleSpeech-Language PathologistLocationCaliforniaFun Facts
Megan is a Pittsburgh native who now lives in the Bay Area of California. When she isn’t working, she enjoys reading, hiking, and singing. Understanding that laughter serves as its own form of medicine, Megan brings her sense of humor with her wherever she goes. She has a hard time sitting still and enjoys trying out new hobbies like woodworking and traveling as much as possible!
Megan’s Burn Injury Journey
While Megan has experience working in burn units, she feels her journey with burn injury (BI) truly started when she cared for a patient with over 44% total body surface area, with 3rd-degree burns to his face. His injury took his vision, and he needed multiple facial skin grafts and flaps, all of which severely impacted his ability to speak and swallow. This patient showed Megan how crucial the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) role is to the BI population and how often their services may be overlooked for treatment and recovery. She began to better collaborate with her Physical/Occupational Therapists, attended burn unit rounds, and read about burns off the clock to maximize the care she could provide. Through her work, Megan developed a passion to help not only patients but help lead the SLP field of research and advocacy for the burn injury population.
Why does Megan think people should consider referring to the MSKTC resources?
Given her high involvement with patients with TBI, SCI, and Burn Injury, Megan finds the plethora of MSKTC’s resources to be directly relevant and beneficial for her patients. This user-friendly, free, research-based information is helpful for patients from all different backgrounds and is so easily accessible. She also loves how they have options for English and Spanish ready at the click of a button. Megan shares these resources with patients, families, and colleagues to better promote advocacy, healing, and care for her patients.
Why does Megan want to be an MSKTC ambassador?
Megan would like to be an MSKTC ambassador to promote available resources, improve patient care, improve patients’ confidence in returning home after the acute care journey has ended, and promote the role of the SLP in this patient population. She would also like to continue expanding her knowledge of burn injuries to best treat burn survivors and understand their medical complexities both in the acute stages and beyond.
What has Megan done as an MSKTC ambassador?
Megan has provided suggestions to MSKTC on how to further improve handouts and resources involving orofacial burns and stretching. She provides MSKTC resources to patients, shares handouts with coworkers, and works to increase awareness of all that MSKTC has to offer regarding burn injury, TBI, and SCI. She is currently working on ways to help advocate for the SLP role in burn care and feels as though these resources are helpful to patients and help her improve her knowledge and insight into the burn survivor’s journey through care and beyond.
- Jeena Elizabeth JoseTBI AmbassadorRolePhysical Therapist and Clinical InstructorLocationCaliforniaFun Facts
Jeena, her husband, and two kids came to the United States in 2008 from Abu Dhabi. Her older son is in college, and her younger son is in second grade. Jeena’s life revolves around her family and work. Her hobbies are music, dancing, painting, cooking, and travel. She does miss her family, pets, and home in India, but still plans trips to visit when they are able.
Jeena’s journey with TBI
Jeena has been a Physical Therapist since 2002. She began her career working in India and parts of the Middle East and started to work in California in 2011. She has held different roles as a physical therapy assistant, physical therapist, educator, documentation auditor, and Director of Rehabilitation in all rehabilitation settings. She holds several certifications in her practice, from interests that grab her attention to new research and courses that can improve her knowledge and ability to serve her patients and their families more efficiently. Her current position is as a Physical Therapist working with various types of patient groups and diagnoses at Loma Linda Inpatient Rehabilitation.
Jeena considers herself lucky enough to have worked with some great clinicians throughout her career. With their guidance she has been able to contribute towards setting up rehabilitation clinics, SCI treatment centers, and brain injury education and training centers for the pediatric population. She now caters to all medical diagnoses and feels she learns something every day. She particularly enjoys working with SCI, TBI, and BURNS patients. With such life-changing injuries, the patient and the entire family rely on guidance from their medical professionals. Jeena hopes to carry her knowledge to educate the next generation of therapists and to parts of the world like her hometown in India, where resources such as these are invaluable.
Why does Jeena want to be an ambassador?
Jeena treats all her patients as family, so she is always on the lookout for the best educational and treatment options available, which is why she always recommends MSKTC to her patients and their caregivers. It is occasionally difficult to find new and updated research-based resources in one spot, but the resources with MSKTC are easy to navigate and the language is easy to understand. She particularly favors topics like the Wheelchair-Parts Management courses and the quizzes that test user understanding. This is particularly useful for her current work setting due to the vast amount of material she must cover in her brief time with a patient. She confidently recommends MSKTC to her patients as it helps them learn, review, and reinforce quality information relevant to them and their families. She especially appreciates how the info-comics in SCI, TBI, and BURNS can grab the attention of younger pediatric patients. As a robotics specialist, she was happy to see the most recent exoskeleton technology that is discussed and reviewed further on this website.
What has Jeena done as an ambassador?
Jeena shares the MSKTC resources with her doctors and patients and has encouraged patients to share their resources with their peer groups for increased visibility. All resources presented on SCI, TBI, and BURNS are indeed the questions and concerns of most patients and caregivers as they continue their journey of healing and rehabilitation. She sees the MSKTC resources continuing to serve a valuable role within her organization and in venues where she exercises her professional expertise.
- Jeena Elizabeth JoseBurn AmbassadorRolePhysical Therapist and Clinical InstructorLocationCaliforniaFun Facts
Jeena, her husband, and two kids came to the United States in 2008 from Abu Dhabi. Her older son is in college, and her younger son is in second grade. Jeena’s life revolves around her family and work. Her hobbies are music, dancing, painting, cooking, and travel. She does miss her family, pets, and home in India, but still plans trips to visit when they are able.
Jeena’s journey with burn
Jeena has been a Physical Therapist since 2002. She began her career working in India and parts of the Middle East and started to work in California in 2011. She has held different roles as a physical therapy assistant, physical therapist, educator, documentation auditor, and Director of Rehabilitation in all rehabilitation settings. She holds several certifications in her practice, from interests that grab her attention to new research and courses that can improve her knowledge and ability to serve her patients and their families more efficiently. Her current position is as a Physical Therapist working with various types of patient groups and diagnoses at Loma Linda Inpatient Rehabilitation.
Jeena considers herself lucky enough to have worked with some great clinicians throughout her career. With their guidance she has been able to contribute towards setting up rehabilitation clinics, SCI treatment centers, and brain injury education and training centers for the pediatric population. She now caters to all medical diagnoses and feels she learns something every day. She particularly enjoys working with SCI, TBI, and BURNS patients. With such life-changing injuries, the patient and the entire family rely on guidance from their medical professionals. Jeena hopes to carry her knowledge to educate the next generation of therapists and to parts of the world like her hometown in India, where resources such as these are invaluable.
Why does Jeena want to be an ambassador?
Jeena treats all her patients as family, so she is always on the lookout for the best educational and treatment options available, which is why she always recommends MSKTC to her patients and their caregivers. It is occasionally difficult to find new and updated research-based resources in one spot, but the resources with MSKTC are easy to navigate and the language is easy to understand. She particularly favors topics like the Wheelchair-Parts Management courses and the quizzes that test user understanding. This is particularly useful for her current work setting due to the vast amount of material she must cover in her brief time with a patient. She confidently recommends MSKTC to her patients as it helps them learn, review, and reinforce quality information relevant to them and their families. She especially appreciates how the info-comics in SCI, TBI, and BURNS can grab the attention of younger pediatric patients. As a robotics specialist, she was happy to see the most recent exoskeleton technology that is discussed and reviewed further on this website.
What has Jeena done as an ambassador?
Jeena shares the MSKTC resources with her doctors and patients and has encouraged patients to share their resources with their peer groups for increased visibility. All resources presented on SCI, TBI, and BURNS are indeed the questions and concerns of most patients and caregivers as they continue their journey of healing and rehabilitation. She sees the MSKTC resources continuing to serve a valuable role within her organization and in venues where she exercises her professional expertise.
- Rob HazenSCI AmbassadorRoleIndividual with SCILocationMassachusettsFun Facts
An interview with a Harvard professor in the early 2000s left a lasting mark on Rob. In it, the professor was asked “What do you think is the fundamental element that drives us as humans to learn?” To this, the professor responded, “the joy of discovery.” This was a message that Rob immediately connected with, and he has carried it as a banner of sorts ever since. Early in his life, he bounced between different interests that sparked that joy of discovery. He went to nursing school for 2.5 years before he and his girlfriend decided to pack up some backpacks and began camping for prolonged periods. They enjoyed it so much that they eventually followed the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans, followed the coast to Key West, hitchhiking local roads and never sleeping indoors. Rob has worked as a bellhop, a rough framer, and a pastry chef, and eventually got a degree in computer science which started his career in high tech where he works to bring breaking-edge technology and people together.
Rob’s Journey with SCI
When Rob’s SCI occurred, his goals were very short-term. First, all his focus was on surviving his 3 weeks in ICU. After that, in rehab, he worked to get well enough to be off a ventilator. Then he aimed to be strong enough to feed himself. The earliest work he did in recovery-focused so much on the present, and renewed his use of “mindfulness,” a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment. He learned how to acknowledge his feelings regarding his injury, accept them, and move on to things he could effectively change.
Rob sought to be the best version of himself that he could be and worked to dwell less on the life he had before SCI. Many doors were closed for him; he couldn’t ride a motorcycle anymore, or walk his daughter down the aisle, but he found new doors that still brought him a feeling of accomplishment and purpose. He found that he could volunteer for SCI studies that would go on to help others with their own recovery journeys.
Through his volunteer work, Rob discovered a community of passionate, intelligent people. Everyone was interested in helping him, and people like him, and that community of extraordinary positivity made him feel valued when it seemed that everything else worked to make him feel forsaken. In this community, he was able to feel the spark of discovery that had driven him his whole life. He signed up for every study he was qualified for, and after his first year of rehab was able to complete his morning routine on his own, and began to drive an adapted vehicle.
Why does Rob Want to be an Ambassador?
In December of 2021, Rob was diagnosed with throat cancer. Through aggressive treatment, Rob was able to finish his chemo/radiation, putting the cancer into remission. Near the end of treatment, he suffered a cardiac arrest and was put into a 2-day coma and 10-day ICU stay. His journey left him feeling as if he had to discover his purpose once more. He decided that with all his experiences, that perhaps he would have something to offer in the role of a mentor. He enrolled as a mentor in the Boston chapter of the United Spinal Association and regularly uses Model System literature to keep up on the newest information. Through the MS newsletter, he learned about the Ambassador Program and felt that the work done aligned with the work he hoped to do. He values how easily consumable the MSKTC resources are and how useful they will be to those starting their own journeys with SCI.
What does Rob think of the quality/usefulness of MSKTC resources?
MSKTC resources are superlative. They are the opposite of anecdotal. MSKTC resources are derived from peer-reviewed journals, but these are sources that ordinary people struggle to understand or even access. What MSKTC does is take those esteemed journals and translate them in a method that adheres to the myriad of different ways people learn and absorb new information. Rob hasn’t seen what MSKTC produces anywhere else. MSKTC is fulfilling a need in the community that has gone unanswered for far too long.
What has Rob Done as an Ambassador?
Rob has come up with an approach that emphasizes his credibility as an MSKTC Ambassador by being familiar with the MSKTC mission and content, which emphasizes outreach to SCI individuals. This emphasizes outreach to caregiving organizations not so familiar with the specifics of SCI issues and concerns. He has joined multiple SCI social media groups and looks for opportunities to share MSKTC content with individuals asking about specific issues. By doing so he helps the SCI individual immediately and informs the group at large about MSKTC content, and encourages anyone to reach out to him with any questions.
- David RobertsonTBI AmbassadorRoleIndividual with TBILocationMonklands, ScotlandFun Facts
David’s accident left him with permanent double vision, a condition exacerbated by his anisometropia. Despite his impairment, David’s vision is his most cherished possession. He observes beauty and patterns in all aspects of life and uses his talents as a keen photographer to capture his vision. He has had his work published on DVD and magazine covers as well as taking photographs of a broad range of subjects for pleasure both at home and abroad.
David enjoys working on different projects and tried his hand at producing jewelry but found the intricacies of soldering and manipulating small pieces was something he couldn’t quite master.
David greatly enjoys travel. Four years after his TBI he traveled through Canada, the USA, and Mexico where he was able to watch some soccer matches and experience new places in the world. Since then, he has visited many other countries but finds himself still drawn to return to the US so he can explore more of the states. David and his partner have three boys and have recently celebrated 32 years of marriage.
David Robertson's Journey with TBI
In 1982 David fell 30 feet from a hotel window and, among other injuries, sustained a serious head injury. To this day David has no direct memory of the accident, or his time spent in a hospital in Llandudno, North Wales, only occasional instances a couple of weeks later after he was transferred nearer to home serving as his earliest memories of the injury.
After the accident David felt he had to start over; learning how to walk, talk, carry out personal care, and everything people take for granted. David felt he had the best care in rehab but then was left very much on his own by the time he was discharged and sent home.
David found it difficult to cope with the psychological aspects of a traumatic brain injury. On the outside David appeared to be fine, but he often felt that he was making guesses on how best to live. In a way, David’s injury was as invisible to himself as it was to others. He became his own worst critic, second-guessing himself constantly, and serving as a danger to himself and others.
It was only recently that David started to look at his fall and appreciate the damage it caused him. He’s begun to learn more about TBI using the MSKTC resources and wants to draw on his experiences to help others.
What does David think of the quality/usefulness of MSKTC resources?
The MSKTC resources are ideal to find specific information as well as general knowledge of different aspects of TBI. MSKTC has such a large library of resources that he has not had the time to study all it offers. It is easy to find answers or assistance in an easily understandable format. The different modes of presentation help translate the information to a wide range of different people.
Why does David want to be an MSKTC ambassador?
David would like to help those that may need assistance in finding the relevant information to help lead the best lives they can.
What has David done as an MSKTC ambassador?
David shares MSKTC resources and information with Fife Nursing School, Fife Women's Aid as well as with the Fife branch of Headways.