HunterSeven Foundation

We all know that traumatic brain injury is not always an isolated injury to the brain, especially when it is repeated.

More importantly (and what many do not know) is that repetitive blast exposure can trigger changes across the brain, immune system, nervous system and gut, and some of those changes may persist long after the initial exposure as a result of the inflammatory response rush.

Researchers from the University of Washington and Puget Sound VA studying repetitive blast-TBI found:

• Neuroinflammation was still present 3 months after repetitive blast exposure.

• Blast caused a significant inflammatory response throughout the body and brain.

• The gut microbiome changed within hours of injury (Leaky gut, IBS-like sx. etc.)

• Blast-exposed subjects developed increased risk-taking and alcohol-seeking behavior later on.

• Most interestingly, early vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) blunted key inflammatory signals after repetitive blast-TBI and reduced some of those later behavioral changes.

Why does this matter?

Because the vagus nerve (CN X) is one of the primary communication pathways between the brain, immune system, heart and gut. And it may represent a completely different way of approaching the secondary injury that happens after a blast, not simply treating symptoms months or years later.

This doesn’t mean VNS will fix all your problems, but it does mean we need to stop viewing TBI as something that happens once, inside the skull, and then ends.

The injury may be neurological. The consequences are systemic.

Save this one. Because VNS devices like nuropod / gammacore / pulsetto and nurosym could be a cost-effective game-changer for neuroinflammation and the gut-brain axis in TBI research 🧠

📸: Clandestine Media Group

Today, we honor more than a warfighter who fought cancer. We honor a pioneer who changed military aviation forever.

LtCol. Deb Lee, USAF (Ret.) served from 1991 to 2015. In 1997, she became the first female B-1 bomber pilot in history, earning her place in a community built around one of the most powerful and demanding aircraft in the United States arsenal.

She went on to deploy repeatedly, flying hundreds of combat missions in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And she made history again.

While deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq in 2009, Deb became the first woman to command a remotely piloted aircraft squadron, leading the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance and Attack Squadron (46 ERAS). Her career would later include missions supporting the President and Vice President of the United States aboard Air Force One and Air Force Two.

She spent nearly 25 years serving, leading, flying, and proving that the barriers in front of her were meant to be broken.

Then, at 54, Deb was diagnosed with metastatic and on August 7, 2024, she died at just 56 years old.

Deb Lee was a combat aviator.
A commander.
A trailblazer.
A mother.
A woman who opened doors that had never been opened before, and made the path wider for every woman who followed.

Today, we remember the fight that took her.

But more importantly, we remember the life, service, courage, and history that came before it.

Fly high, Spoofer 🇺🇸

The Wound That Speaks.

They pin a medal onfor bleeding.
But no one decorates you for what bleeds after.

Viktor Frankl wrote that suffering ceases to be suffering the moment it finds a meaning.

The Purple Heart is supposed to be that meaning made metal, proof that pain was purchased for something.

But a medal cannot answer the question asked in the middle of the night: “why did I live when they didn’t?”

Dr. Thomas Joiner taught us that people die when two beliefs collide: first, that they are a burden, and second, that they belong nowhere.

Here is the cruel irony of the Purple Heart: the wound that earned it can whisper both lies at once.

The injury that makes you feel like a burden.
The discharge that takes away your tribe.

But Frankl also said this: those who have a why can bear almost any how.

The medal doesn’t give the wounds meaning, YOU do, every morning, choose to carry it forward instead of letting it carry you down.

The Purple Heart isn’t an award for being wounded. It’s a reminder that you are still here to be one thing a medal can never be: purposeful and present.

💜

“Stand for your values and beliefs. Don’t live for validation, and most importantly, give yourself permission to offend.” 💕

Rachel’s strength was forged long before cancer entered her story.

She survived a childhood marked by adversity and trauma, including the loss of both parents. She found her way forward through service, enlisting in the Marine Corps and deploying to Iraq during the height of the war. She served for ten years, built a life rooted in purpose, and met her husband, a fellow Marine.

When Rachel left the military, she still felt called to do more. She devoted her next chapter to leadership, confidence, and helping others conquer the self-doubt that keeps so many people from becoming who they were meant to be.

HarperCollins published her book, Permission to Offend (highly recommended, and she reads the words so beautifully and with such energy) and Rachel went on to share her voice through the Today Show, Lifetime, and hundreds of podcasts.

Forbes even named her one of the eleven most inspiring female entrepreneurs.

Then, in 2019, Rachel was diagnosed with triple-neg. breast cancer.

She was only forty years old.
A mother of two.
A military spouse.
A combat veteran.
And a woman with so much more left to give. 

Yet even while facing an aggressive diagnosis, Rachel continued serving others. She worked alongside the Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Battalion, helping fellow Marines navigate trauma, healing, and the difficult work of rebuilding themselves.

Rachel refused to let cancer become the headline of her life.

She always said she was more than her diagnosis. 

She called herself a breast cancer champion, a woman fearlessly fighting what others could not see. In many ways, that battle reflected the life she had already lived: quietly enduring, relentlessly moving forward, and refusing to be defined by what tried to break her.

Her strength was unwavering. Her voice was fearless. Her legacy lives in every person she encouraged to stand taller, speak louder, and stop asking permission to become who they were meant to be.

365 days later, we remember you, Rachel 🇺🇸

Not only for how fiercely you fought, but for how boldly you lived.

To the community that continues to stand alongside those who serve—thank you. Your compassion, generosity, and unwavering support have carried this family through some of their darkest days.

Today, we ask that you keep the Hudson family in your thoughts and prayers. Please lift up Aaron’s wife and their three children, who fought this battle beside him every step of the way.

Yesterday, Army veteran, and owner of Hudson Baking Co., Aaron Hudson passed away after an incredibly courageous fight. His strength, resilience, and love for his family never wavered, even in the face of unimaginable hardship.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” — 2 Timothy 4:7

Rest easy, Aaron.
You will not be forgotten.

Aaron Hudson Forever.

PLEASE HELP US GET ANTHONY A SECOND OPINION.

1/6 Marine Regiment veteran Rob Chilelli reached out to us this past week, praying someone can help get his brother, Anthony Chilelli, the life-saving care he needs.

Anthony is also a Marine who served our country in 3/1 Marine Regiment from 2007–2012, bravely fighting in Garmsir, Afghanistan, before continuing service as an NYPD officer.

On February 19, 2026, Anthony went into the hospital for brain surgery to remove a rare tumor near his pituitary gland.

What followed was months of devastating complications — significant bleeding in his brain, another emergency surgery, a stroke, brain swelling requiring part of his skull to be removed, persistent hydrocephalus and problems with the fluid surrounding his brain, seizures, and a prolonged state of severely impaired consciousness... going on for six months at Staten Island University Hospital, and his family is requesting a transfer.

His wife, Dianna, was in her third trimester of pregnancy when their lives changed overnight.

There are parts of Anthony's hospitalization that our family has very serious questions about, and those questions will eventually need answers. But right now, this isn't about blame. This is about Anthony.

We need another set of eyes on him, assuring nothing has been overlooked.

We are desperately trying to get Anthony's case reviewed by a tertiary academic Neuro-ICU and neurosurgical team at Columbia/NewYork-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell, NYU Langone, or another major neurological center capable of managing an extraordinarily complicated case like his.

Anthony cannot advocate for himself right now.

So we are going to advocate as loudly as we possibly can for him.

He's a husband, brother, a son and he is a father whose children need him.

And we are not ready to accept that there is nothing else to be done until an independent team of experts has looked at every scan, every record, every complication and every possible option.

𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦
Please help us get Anthony's case in front of the right people.

We're asking for a door to open.

Help us get Anthony a transfer to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital -Columbia/Weill Cornell for an independent second opinion. Help us get this Marine in front of another team, giving him a chance at life.

We’re packing up and heading WEST. 🇺🇸

Tomorrow, the HunterSeven team is wheels up for Portland, Oregon to attend the 2026 Pro Motocross National at Washougal MX Park, presented by Peterson CAT Rentals, for their Military Appreciation celebration this Friday and Saturday.

And honestly… we’re fired up for this one.
I mean, who doesn't like going fast and getting muddy?

There will be live music, podcasts, meet & greets, racing, and a hell of a weekend, but most importantly, HunterSeven will be on-site providing FREE cancer screenings to at-risk military veterans thanks to the generosity of Shelly & the Washougal Motocross Park LLC team!.

That is why we are going.
To meet veterans where they are.
To identify risk earlier.

And, hopefully, to find something before it becomes something much harder to fight.

In the Portland or Southern Washington area?
Come hang out with us!

If you’re a veteran or first responder, discounted tickets are available through https://www.govx.com/

If you’re a military veteran attending Washougal, register for a FREE cancer screening ahead of time so we can make sure we have you covered.

And for everyone who follows our mission from afar—help us screen as many veterans as possible this weekend. Every donation helps us put another screening directly into the hands of a veteran who may otherwise never receive one.

👉 Register to be screened or donate here:
https://www.h7fwashougalmxpk.com/

Oregon… we’ll see you soon. 🇺🇸🏁

Treat the cause... not just the symptom.

Testosterone replacement therapy can be life-changing for the right patient. It can improve energy, libido, mood, muscle mass, bone health, and quality of life when someone truly has testosterone deficiency.

But a low testosterone level is a finding—not always the diagnosis.

For service members and veterans, fatigue, low s*x drive, weight gain, poor sleep, depression, decreased performance, and erectile dysfunction may have deeper causes:

traumatic brain injury, repeated blast exposure, sleep apnea and chronic sleep deprivation/disrupted sleep, chronic pain, opioid use, pituitary dysfunction (vastly overlooked), etc.

But also, be mindful of certain medications (antidepressants) that can cause symptoms that mimic low testosterone such as Zoloft, Prozac, Effexor, Cymbalta

The concern is what happens when we skip that investigation.

Symptoms → low testosterone result → testosterone prescribed → underlying cause never identified.

TRT then suppresses the body's natural testosterone production and can significantly reduce—or even stop—s***m production.

Male reproductive organs may shrink, fertility can be affected, and some individuals may later need additional medications and months or longer to recover s***m production after stopping therapy.

TBI deserves particular attention. Research in GWOT veterans with blast-related TBI has identified abnormalities involving the pituitary gland, the part of the brain that helps regulate testosterone and other critical hormones.

A low testosterone level in someone with a history of repeated blast exposure or TBI may warrant a broader hormonal evaluation, not simply a prescription.

This isn't an argument against testosterone therapy. Its an argument for using it correctly.

Find out why testosterone is low.

Consider fertility before treatment begins.
Look at sleep, medications, metabolic health, TBI, blast exposure, and pituitary function when appropriate.

Then treat the person—not just the lab result.

Because when we treat the symptom without understanding the cause, we may create a new problem that lasts far longer than the one we were trying to fix.

Today, we share heartbreaking news.

Today, we mourn the loss of Jason “Jay” Vollmer, a career Army aviator, Special Operations pilot, air medical pilot, husband, father, grandfather, teammate, and warrior.

We met Jay just days after Christmas in 2024.

His first message to us wasn’t about fear.
It was about the fight.

He told us he had been diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic adenocarcinoma. He was enrolled in the RAMP-205 clinical trial at Siteman Cancer Center and preparing to travel to Florida for an irreversible electroporation (NanoKnife) procedure.

Like so many veterans we meet, he wasn’t asking for sympathy. He was trying to figure out how to get to treatment, how to pay for it, and how to keep fighting for more time with the people he loved.

Jay proudly served our nation for 23 years in the Army, retiring as a CW3 and CH-47 Chinook pilot. His career carried him through Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the Philippines, Iraq, and Afghanistan, where he flew mission after mission with SOAR, combat operations, humanitarian missions.

His uniform bore the marks of extraordinary service: three Air Medals, the Army Senior Aviator Badge, Senior Aircraft Crewman Badge, Parachutist Badge, and countless other honors that reflected a lifetime dedicated to something greater than himself.

Retirement didn’t slow him down.

For another 12 years, Jay flew as an ARCH Air Medical pilot, completing more than 1,200 advanced medical transport missions. While most people never meet the pilot behind the controls, thousands of patients and families are alive today because someone like Jay answered the call. Even after decades of military service, he continued showing up on the worst days of strangers’ lives with the same calm professionalism, compassion, and courage that defined his Army career.

Pancreatic cancer ultimately claimed his life, but it never defined him.

His legacy is found in every soldier he carried into battle, every patient he flew to lifesaving care, every crew member who trusted him, and every member of his family who knew the man behind the uniform.

It is an unforgiving day when we lose someone like Jay. 🇺🇸🚁

Glioblastomas are considered a “rare cancer” in the civilian world, but in the military world… they are the 3rd leading cause of cancer deaths.

We can confirm 219 known brain-cancer deaths within the community from the Global War on Terror era.

Average age at death: 45.7 years old.

Nearly two decades younger than when this disease typically claims civilians.

Brain cancer is supposed to be a disease of your 60s and 70s. In our veterans, it’s taking them mid-career, mid-family, mid-everything.

And the heaviest burden falls on special operations and aviation, which tracks with published research showing military aircrews diagnosed with cancer 12–13 years earlier than civilians.

But most importantly is the part that costs lives: the early warning signs get missed.

Brain tumor symptoms overlap almost perfectly with TBI and post-traumatic stress, so they get written off as “just the injury” or “just the stress.”

If you’ve been down that road, you know how easy it is to explain these away:

▪️ Vision changes — blurring, double vision, losing peripheral vision, or a “gray spot” that won’t clear.

▪️ Headaches that are new, worse in the morning, or wake you from sleep.

▪️ Memory gaps, word-finding trouble, brain fog.

▪️ Mood or personality shifts, irritability, “not feeling like myself”.

▪️ Balance and coordination problems.

▪️ Nausea unlinked to anything obvious.

▪️ New seizures, or strange sensory episodes.

There may be a deeper link, too: survivors of moderate, severe, or penetrating TBI show roughly a 90% higher relative risk of later brain cancer (up to ~3x for penetrating injuries), though the absolute risk remains low.

TBI, PTS, and a brain tumor can look identical from the outside. You know your body better than anyone else, if something feels off… get it checked out.



📸: //