Amy & Avery: Rebuilding After Life Changes — Chronic Pain, PTSD, and Fighting to Be Heard | Part 1

One car accident changed everything for Amy and Avery Nubson — their health, their marriage, their business, and the future they thought they had planned. In Part 1, G-Rex and Dirty Skittles sit down with Amy and Avery for a raw conversation about invisible injuries, chronic pain, PTSD, medical trauma, and what happens when you know something is wrong but getting someone to listen becomes a battle of its own. Awards & Downloads Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries. Feedback We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave us written or voice feedback here: https://castfeedback.com/67521f0bde0b101c7b10442a Mental Health Quote “Pain doesn’t have to be visible to be real, and progress doesn’t have to be fast to matter.” — Inspired by Avery Nubson Trigger Notice + 988 Crisis Reminder This episode includes discussion of chronic pain, PTSD, medical trauma, medication dependence and withdrawal, invasive medical treatment, and suicide risk. Please take care while listening. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis in the United States, call or text 988 or visit: https://988lifeline.org/ For crisis resources outside the United States: https://findahelpline.com/ Episode Description A car accident that looked minor on paper changed nearly every part of Amy and Avery Nubson’s lives. After Avery was hit from behind while stopped at a red light in 2014, he walked away without broken bones or obvious external injuries. But what followed was anything but minor: debilitating pain, PTSD, panic attacks, flashbacks, bladder and pelvic health complications, sleep problems, mobility limitations, and eventually a traumatic brain injury diagnosis that took years to uncover. In Part 1 of this deeply honest conversation, Avery tells G-Rex and Dirty Skittles what it was like to have his body become unfamiliar territory while repeatedly hearing that tests looked normal or providers didn’t know what came next. He opens up about male pelvic floor therapy, the shame surrounding intimate health problems, opioid withdrawal after insurance coverage changed, EMDR, implanted medical devices, and the exhausting reality of having to continuously advocate for care. Amy shares the other side of that journey: watching the person you love disappear beneath pain, trying to understand symptoms nobody prepared you for, and learning how to support someone through a recovery that doesn’t follow a clean timeline. This isn’t a story about magically “getting better.” It’s about persistence, invisible disability, medical self-advocacy, and finding hope in inches, not miles. Keywords: chronic pain, PTSD recovery, medical trauma, invisible disability, traumatic brain injury, EMDR therapy, men’s mental health, pelvic floor therapy, chronic illness, pain management, healthcare advocacy, anxiety after car accidents, caregiver support, mental health recovery, patient advocacy Meet Our Guests — Amy & Avery Nubson Amy and Avery Nubson have spent more than two decades building a life, businesses, and creative projects together, but a 2014 car accident forced them to completely rethink what partnership, healing, and success looked like. Amy now helps women reclaim their voices and tell their stories, while Avery brings his background in design, web development, marketing, SEO, illustration, and game design together with a growing desire to speak openly about chronic pain, men’s pelvic health, PTSD, and the treatments that helped him rebuild his life. Website: http://www.nufiremarketing.com Amy Nubson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amynubson-business-coach/ Avery Nubson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/averynubson/ Avery’s Games: https://humerusgames.com Key Takeaways An injury does not have to be visible on a scan for the pain and trauma surrounding it to be real. PT