Charting New Paths in Healthcare with Josh Bostick

Transcript

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The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast host and guest and do not necessarily represent those of our distribution partners, supporting business relationships or supported audience.

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Welcome to Transacting Value, where we talk about practical applications for instigating self-worth when dealing with each other and even within ourselves, where we foster a podcast listening experience that lets you hear the power of a value system for managing burnout, establishing boundaries, fostering community and finding identity.

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My name is Josh Porthouse, I'm your host and we are redefining sovereignty of character.

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This is why values still hold value.

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This is Transacting Value.

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You know, it's really up to us, as patients and humans, to own our health and be armed with knowledge and stand up for ourselves whenever we are put in a position like this.

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This next conversation is not medical advice.

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Consult your primary care provider prior to any treatment changes.

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Today, on Transacting Value, who can you trust when a misdiagnosis makes you think you're crazy, or medical professionals come and cause you to question the validity of your own self-awareness?

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We're talking with a podcast host and founder of Rebel Health Collective about finding the right doctor, asking critical questions and navigating medical care to reinvigorate your sense of self.

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His name is Josh Bostick Guys, I'm Josh Porthouse, I'm your host and from SDYT Media, this is Transacting Value, josh.

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What's up man?

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How you doing?

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Doing well, doing well.

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I got a full cup of coffee and another Josh on the line, so I can't complain.

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How about you?

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I just did the same thing.

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As a matter of fact, just did the same thing.

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But, dude, yeah, I really appreciate it.

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Man, I watched a couple of your episodes and conversations earlier today on your channel and you've got something interesting happening.

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I think it's like you're not just having conversations about health and diagnoses, you're talking resources and perspectives, and stories and depth.

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Take a couple minutes here in the beginning.

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Let's do this.

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Who are you For anybody who's unfamiliar?

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Where are you from?

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What sort of things are shaping your perspective and brought you around to all these things?

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Sure, yeah, I think if you would have asked me that three years ago, I would have started off with my profession and some of my hobbies as being who I am and what I identify as.

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But today I am a father and a husband.

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Those are the four most important things in my life and the last three years have really shaped that and really transformed my outlook and really what I'm all about.

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I mean, I want to be a good employee, I want to keep my job, I want to be a good neighbor, but my son and my wife are the most important things in my life and they're my why, as to why my values have changed and why I guess really my perspective on myself have changed.

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So if anyone asks me, that's who I am.

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Those are the two most important things to me.

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But I'm out in Fort Worth, texas, so right, kind of in the heart of North Texas.

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I work for a government contracting company, for the DOD, and you know, really I'm an advocate too.

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That's probably my biggest identity.

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That made me want to start the podcast and Rebel Health Collective as a whole.

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And what is Rebel Health Collective?

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Just a catchy name and it sort of flows nice, or did it come from somewhere?

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It came from my three years and the experience that I've gone through.

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I would say that going into the last three years I was someone that did the yearly annual blood workup, went to the ER or the quick med ER places when I had the flu or something like that, but I was probably the average American in their medical.

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You know knowledge and influence in the system.

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But Rebel Health Collective came from working outside the norms.

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It's stories and community and information that you don't hear in the four walls of a doctor's office and there's many reasons why you don't hear in the four walls of a doctor's office and there's many reasons why you don't hear that.

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And to your point earlier, that's a lot of what I'm trying to bring out and build a community around is advocates, people who are truly going through it and have stories to tell, tips to give and experiences to share and just transferring that knowledge and creating a place where people can find others.

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It may not be someone that's going through the exact same chronic illness, disease, mental health issue, anything like that.

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It's just building a community of someone whose people are going through things and a safe space to bounce ideas off and a safe space to bounce ideas off.

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Okay, so you mentioned three years ago a couple times.

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What's so special about three years ago?

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So three years ago I went in and, as I mentioned, did my normal annual blood workup.

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Expecting things to come back is the same as I had before.

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Maybe cholesterol is a little high, nothing out of the ordinary.

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But I actually got a call from a nurse saying you need to go to the ER right now.

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Whatever you're doing, drop it and go to the ER.

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My blood sugar was near 400 at the time of the blood draw and then my A1c was 12.7.

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So almost 13.

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And the average American, where they want it at, is between 5.4 and 5.6.

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So definitely elevated.

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Yeah, what does that indicate?

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That indicates well can potentially be type 2 diabetes, but in a lot of instances it's type 1 diabetes.

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Well, okay, because insulin is not breaking down sugars.

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Correct.

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Yeah, so it can be the two where you're just extremely insulin resistant and you can usually see that trend over time.

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Over several years, your blood work in A1C is going to start trending upwards to a higher number.

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But from 2019 to 2020, my A1C just skyrocketed overnight, so definitely indicated that my pancreas wasn't producing insulin through the beta cells and had some autoimmune issues going on.

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Whoa.

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Wow, and so that started this whole journey for you individually, and that's also where this picked up then for Rebel Health Collective.

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Correct.

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Yeah, so that's the first time that my eyes were opened up to a different side of the medical system and really that stems with that first night in the ER.

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I was misdiagnosed right off the bat because of my age yeah, because of my age and my build.

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They basically said it can't be type one, it's type two.

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They gave me some metformin, which is a drug that helps lower your blood sugar, and I had asked do I need to get a glucose meter, check my glucose or anything like that?

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And the answer is basically no.

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Just take this medication and you'll be fine.

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And that was the guidance I was giving.

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Nothing more on diet, exercise things I can do.

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Just take these pills and you'll be okay.

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Okay, now is that really a shock, though, I mean, for everybody that goes into the ER or the hospital or to see their doctor.

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Of all the people that they see, they got to play to the average, I guess, to start for a baseline, because everybody's so different.

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You know what I mean.

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Was it that big of a?

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Not the diagnosis, that's a shock, but the process itself, the revelation.

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I don't think necessarily like someone going into the ER with the numbers that I had I mean that wasn't out of the norm or anything crazy.

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But I think the fact that it was just a one size fit all, whatever that doctor's experience was, that was what was kind of cast over me.

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There wasn't any individual treatment to it.

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It didn't say let's run some other tests.

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I mean, there's blood work that you can do to say exactly that it's type 1 diabetes.

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And why didn't we potentially run that?

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When I was there and essentially I walked out of the hospital and had thought about the urgency that that nurse had had and the treatment that I'd gotten from the ER and things just didn't really line up.

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So I typed in type one diabetes and Google brought up you know a list of symptoms and I checked every single one of them and those weren't talked about in the ER.

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We didn't walk through any of those.

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It was just your blood sugar's high.

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Here's some medication.

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What does that do to your outlook?

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I mean, that's like not the prognosis, I guess I'm sure that was pretty debilitating for a few days at minimum, but like the process itself it's.

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You don't even know your body as well as somebody else who's not in it.

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You know what I mean?

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That to me seems pretty eye-opening.

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It was, yeah, and I think that's what made me start realizing that I've got to advocate for myself and really, if something doesn't make sense, speak up.

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And I'm not trying to discredit doctors by any mean.

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I mean they do an extraordinary job, they have a ton on their plate, they have an education that there's no way I could ever complete.

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So by no means trying to knock anything from doctors, but it's really up to us, as patients and humans, to own our health and be armed with knowledge and stand up for ourselves whenever we are put in a position like this.

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You know, my gut feeling sitting on that bed was I need at least more knowledge than just take this medication.

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You know, at a minimum, if it would have been type 2 diabetes, I would have liked to have like a more in-depth conversation and I shouldn't have left until I was fulfilled with that and just from my prior medical experience that's.

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You know, I took it for what the doctor said and was on my way.

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All right, folks sit tight, We'll be right back on Transacting Value.

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Here's my bucket list for the day Read an article on a news subject, say only nice things about others and listen to everyone's opinions, because making things better requires change.

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It's not going to change the entire world, but it's going to change your world.

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Change is in you, from PassItOncom.

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At a minimum.

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If it would have been type 2 diabetes, I would have liked to have a more in-depth conversation and I shouldn't have left until I was fulfilled with that and, just from my prior medical experience, I took it for what the doctor said and was on my way.

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Well, you have every reason to trust the doctor.

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I think let's just say as a baseline here in the United States, you have every reason to trust the doctor.

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But then I think you're bringing up a good point.

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The ownership of informed consent falls to you, not the person presenting it, right, they're accountable for it, obviously, to tell you what's going on, and here's the end user license agreement for your treatment or whatever.

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But if you scroll to the bottom and hit OK, well, now it's on you.

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Right.

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Yeah, yeah, okay.

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But then I also think about I mean, you brought up concerns, you said yourself you brought up are we sure?

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Do I need to do anything else?

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Is there anything else I could try?

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For you know, these types of considerations, did you feel heard?

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I mean, how much do you say it before you're futile?

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I, I mean it goes back to what you just mentioned.

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I brought up the concerns but for whatever reason his past experiences, other diagnoses that he'd given patients he'd seen.

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He was confident with his answers and I asked the questions, he gave me a confident answer back.

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I was like, okay, sure, because he is a doctor, you do trust what.

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Asked the questions, he gave me a confident answer back.

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I was like, okay, sure, like you know, because he is a doctor, you do trust what they're saying and you know, I think that is the way it should be.

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We shouldn't go around questioning every single thing a doctor says by any means.

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But you know, in that case he stood by what he was saying and I believed him.

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Yeah Well, there's nothing wrong with that.

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We have a saying.

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Most of my career has been in the infantry in the Marine Corps, and this may be Corps-wide, this may be DOD-wide, maybe out to the contractors, I don't know.

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But trust but verify is a philosophy that floats around and permeates this entire military subculture.

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This sounds like one of those opportunities where, as long as you have the awareness to verify or know where to look or just come up with a couple of questions, even to more critically evaluate the accuracy of somebody else's assessment, you might have been better sooner or at least more in control sooner.

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Is that accurate?

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Yeah, totally.

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And I mean I think that comes to the Googling.

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When I was walking out of the parking lot.

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I mean it was that comes to the Googling when I was walking out of the parking lot.

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I mean it was a trust, but verify, I trust what you say.

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But something in my gut didn't seem right and all the symptoms lined up.

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So I was like you know, I should go see a specialist.

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I need to go see an endocrinologist that sees patients like me every single day, is accustomed to the blood work and tests that you can do to dig deeper into a diagnosis and whatnot.

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And that's when I made a specialist appointment and ultimately got the actual type one diagnosis.

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I've heard that before too.

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Going to see your primary care or general practitioner is good if you have something generic, but if you have something that doesn't seem to be as ordinary as a common cold or something to that effect a broken bone, consider somebody that specializes in it.

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Definitely yeah, and I mean with the ER.

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My look on it now is when you go to the ER, you have a limb that's hanging off and their goal is to keep you alive.

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They're not trying to be a specialist for you for the next several years, they're trying to make sure that you walk out of there and have a pulse.

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So also something to consider when you're going into a doctor's office what is their specialty and what are you trying to get out of it?

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Well, that's important too.

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Yeah, Education goes a long way.

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Self-awareness obviously on one hand, but the practical application on the other.

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And I don't know where that's taught outside of specialized medicinal schools, like nursing programs or whatever.

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To say well, for example, this is the role of an emergency room in any city planning consideration or medical trauma triage type process.

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But yeah, you're exactly right, we have a similar philosophy where if anybody gets injured, shot or whatever happens, the first thing that has to happen is get them off the X that's the expression that generally stands out with every branch Well, and maybe even outside the military.

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But the idea is, whatever the injury is, do what you need to in the most immediate sense.

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If you can't get it done within the first couple seconds and it doesn't need to be done within a couple seconds get them out of the way, first out of the kill box or whatever's happening in the kinetic environment, and then troubleshoot.

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And if for, for example, all sorts of training programs for special forces and combat arms professionals in any branch to stabilize people enough to then get them to emergency care, from combat trauma to emergency care, from emergency care to some sort of stable well, relatively more stable facility, and then whatever recovery and physical therapy.

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After that it's all a continuum, I guess is the right word.

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Yeah, yeah, where is that?

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I mean you're becoming somewhat of the resource guy.

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Where's the place that we can say, or is there a place that we can say, okay, this place maybe not by name but in capacity does these things, these places do these things.

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Or is that just in conversation and we just have to talk to each other?

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I think it's in conversation again just owning your health.

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I think there's so many platforms my podcast, a lot of what you have going on with your podcast.

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I mean it's real people.

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You definitely have doctors and experts and SMEs, but at the same time, you have just random, real people who want to tell their story and have things to give and, honestly, that's where I have found the most helpful information and the people who have spent the most time to help me is on some of those deep, dark holes of the internet.

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I mean, reddit has been my best source of diabetic information.

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I've had people get on Zoom calls, phone calls, facetimes, and we've talked for an hour and a half two hours and they've told me what's worked for them, tips and tricks and they always caveat with this may not work for you, but this is my experience and it's someone who's really going through it.

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They're jabbing themselves multiple days, multiple times a day, with insulin, they're pricking their fingers, they're having pumps that aren't working, and those are the sources that just have led me to control my diabetes so much better.

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And that's what my goal with Rebel Health is is to have that kind of a community and resource for people to reach out to.

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Yeah, that is pretty interesting and I imagine it's a fair bit fulfilling.

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It is, yeah, just the role that you're able to fill, on one hand, coming obviously first-hand experience coming from what's wrong with me, why is nothing working, what is happening, and whatever amount of questions come with that.

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To then, oh, finally now I've got some respite.

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To then, nope, never mind, that was wrong, I'm back where I started.

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Nope, nevermind, that was wrong, I'm back where I started.

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And then to get slingshot into the foreground of this is totally not what I was expecting, or whatever research you have to do, I assume, with nothing but a pamphlet or a trifold something, and then your own research skills, right, so where did you even start?

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How do you manage all those things mentally, let alone digitally?

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So when I did get the type one diagnosis, there are resources and trainings that they put you through but my blood sugar was still going all over the place.

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It was going super high.

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And then I was going super low to the point where I was like kind of getting dizzy and almost passing out throughout the day and I had a breaking point and always gets to me.

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But my wife was out on work travel, and so my son had just been born he was probably four months old at the time and we'd had dinner.

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I'd done too much insulin for the meal that I had and my numbers started just kind of plummeting.

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They're going straight down.

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I could feel the dizziness and the shaking coming on and I just knew like I've got to put my son somewhere, Like I'm not safe to hold him, I can't take care of him.

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I've got to put him somewhere safe.

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And you know, get over this, this low.

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And so I ended up putting him in his crib, just sitting backwards to his crib, listening to him, just crying, you know, as an infant does, and just sitting there, feeling completely helpless, not able to care for my son.

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Helpless, not able to care for my son, and at that point, I was just like this can't happen, this isn't who I want to be, this isn't the dad I want to be, and I started flashing through like basketball practice, baseball practices, things like that, and just thought that there has to be another way.

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Whatever I'm doing is not working and I'm trying to do what's been told.

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And that's when I really started looking into other groups you know, support groups, people's experiences, podcasts and things like that to start taking practical steps into other people who are fighting this disease and this lifestyle.

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All right, folks sit tight, We'll be right back on Transacting Value.

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Join us for Transacting Value, where we discuss practical applications of personal values, every Monday at 9 am on our website, transactingvaluepodcastcom, wednesdays at 5 pm and Sundays at noon on reedsacrossamericaorg slash radio.

00:21:06.335 --> 00:21:21.771
And that's when I really started looking into other groups you know, support groups, people's experiences, podcasts and things like that to start taking practical steps into other people who are fighting this disease and this lifestyle.

00:21:41.816 --> 00:21:42.538
Yeah, that is difficult for sure.

00:21:42.538 --> 00:21:58.067
I remember not in the exact circumstance youing, but initially hosting before listening, and it became my therapy, and so I started talking to people and working through it, because what I started to realize was the more I was trying to communicate with my son.

00:21:58.067 --> 00:22:03.988
We were long distance and he was older than yours, but we started to communicate more often.

00:22:03.988 --> 00:22:06.500
But all I could think about was work.

00:22:06.500 --> 00:22:19.226
I couldn't detach, I couldn't communicate effectively and the only thing I kept coming back to was is this the kind of person that I want to be when he's old enough to remember these conversations?

00:22:19.226 --> 00:22:23.564
Similar sort of circumstance which you were describing to you, and it's a powerful motivator.

00:22:23.564 --> 00:22:25.154
You know they say it is.

00:22:25.154 --> 00:22:26.557
Which you were describing to you, and it's a powerful motivator.

00:22:26.557 --> 00:22:27.038
You know they say it is.

00:22:27.057 --> 00:22:37.451
They say your big why generally revolves around your big who, and I think that exactly exemplifies it.

00:22:37.451 --> 00:22:50.568
Man, and to have that kind of closure, I think to know that you're not going crazy in the process, that you're actually making some headway, counts for a lot.

00:22:50.568 --> 00:22:55.962
But I think when you can attribute it and tie it to, I feel better.

00:22:55.962 --> 00:23:13.769
But I actually know it's going to make our family a more stronger unit and better for him as he's growing up and for your wife, and just to take not only that kind of ownership, but be able to take that kind of ownership and then do something with it, do something about it.

00:23:13.769 --> 00:23:15.940
What a cool feeling that must have been.

00:23:17.444 --> 00:23:32.040
It was and, as you mentioned, you know, when I started seeing that my blood sugar was leveling out, my numbers were getting better, my A1C was going down, I realized that I was starting to do so many more things that I wasn't able to do before.

00:23:32.040 --> 00:23:32.963
I was getting on the ground.

00:23:32.963 --> 00:23:34.662
I was being much more interactive with him.

00:23:34.662 --> 00:23:50.663
I kind of went from this like couch potato, kind of just not excited about anything, to being really motivated and just wanting to get back to normal, and I hadn't had that really before that rock bottom.

00:23:51.224 --> 00:23:52.326
Yeah, yeah.

00:23:52.326 --> 00:23:55.362
Well, that's cool too, and I'm not even familiar with all of the symptoms.

00:23:55.362 --> 00:24:01.186
As it applies to diabetes, is this a primary topic on your show, or what you want your primary topic to be?

00:24:02.634 --> 00:24:07.618
I mean, it definitely comes up a good bit just because it is something that I live with every day.

00:24:07.898 --> 00:24:12.622
But no it's not type 1, type 2 diabetes as a whole focused.

00:24:12.622 --> 00:24:16.404
I mean we've had different guests with different illnesses on.

00:24:16.404 --> 00:24:22.829
We've got a bunch of people lined up with lupus, different cancers, different rare diseases.

00:24:22.829 --> 00:24:24.451
So I mean it's kind of all over.

00:24:24.451 --> 00:24:42.089
But it's trying to spread information for anyone who might be interested in lupus or something like that, just a resource to hear someone's true story, not so much a science-y white paper reading, but a real life experience.

00:24:42.494 --> 00:24:43.637
Yeah, yeah.

00:24:43.637 --> 00:24:50.857
Now what is this doing for your insight into, maybe, medical facilities or medical training?

00:24:50.857 --> 00:24:55.031
I mean, is this diminishing it, enhancing it, helping it, hurting it?

00:24:55.031 --> 00:24:58.603
What is that hearing all these stories and all these experiences?

00:24:58.603 --> 00:24:59.405
What does that do for you?

00:25:00.555 --> 00:25:01.455
A little bit of everything.

00:25:01.455 --> 00:25:05.077
There's a lot of stories that are similar to mine.

00:25:05.077 --> 00:25:26.212
Okay, there's a lot of stories that are similar to mine Misdiagnoses, people going several years without being able to get a diagnosis but then, you know, I've also talked to some amazing doctors who are up to the latest and greatest trainings and techniques that are coming out, and you know, there's doctors who are incorporating things that push what they're being taught in medical school.

00:25:26.212 --> 00:25:36.847
So it's brought hope in that sense that there are a lot of good doctors out there who are trying to do new techniques, advance their skills and things like that.

00:25:36.847 --> 00:25:51.454
But it's also brought to light a lot of people who have struggled over the years due to the medical system as well, just from not having the right resources, the right support or knowing where to go or how to advocate for themselves.

00:25:52.436 --> 00:25:58.258
We have a lot of people right now who go into a doctor's office and are just given pills that mask the symptoms.

00:25:58.258 --> 00:26:07.707
And by no means am I knocking Western medicine, because there's a lot of great prescriptions and things out there that I think are 100% necessary.

00:26:07.707 --> 00:26:54.318
Whenever you go to the doctor, when's the last time they ask about your sleep, your diet, your lifestyle, your activities, your hobbies, I mean those are important things that we don't think about as medicine anymore, and that's one of the big things that I'm trying to push is the functional side of medicine and health, where getting out in the sunlight, going for walks with your significant other, spouses, family, all that kind of stuff is things that we don't talk about in the doctor's office, and those four walls that I really think are lacking in what are leading to a lot of the problems that we're having.

00:26:55.261 --> 00:26:56.224
Is that a luxury though?

00:26:56.224 --> 00:27:05.455
Do you think being able to have those conversations just because it is a business they're trying to cycle bodies through and help as many people as they can Is that a luxury cycle?

00:27:05.476 --> 00:27:08.209
bodies through and help as many people as they can.

00:27:08.209 --> 00:27:08.590
Is it a luxury?

00:27:08.590 --> 00:27:14.038
I think it's looked at as one, but it shouldn't be.

00:27:14.038 --> 00:27:15.282
I think it should be the root of where things are happening.

00:27:15.282 --> 00:27:18.336
I mean, when you go in with symptoms, you get a prescription to take care of those symptoms.

00:27:18.336 --> 00:27:24.416
But what if those symptoms are coming from a food allergy but you never talk about your diet?

00:27:24.416 --> 00:27:32.678
You're just going to be taking a prescription that could easily be fixed by not eating a certain food group seafood, gluten, things like that.

00:27:32.678 --> 00:27:42.363
I mean, with my diet I have cut out gluten and it's cleared up so many different things and it's made my blood sugar so much more stable.

00:27:42.363 --> 00:27:44.047
So weird things like that.

00:27:44.047 --> 00:27:47.382
And because I talked to somebody on Reddit that said you should do the AIP diet.

00:27:47.382 --> 00:27:57.659
It's like an exclusionary diet where you cut out all the high trigger foods, you slowly introduce them back in and, as you see symptoms come back, you know that that could be a potential trigger.

00:27:57.679 --> 00:28:05.209
I've heard of something similar like that, but for I think it was magnesium or something, something in seafood.

00:28:05.209 --> 00:28:07.395
I had a friend where she did something similar.

00:28:07.395 --> 00:28:11.444
She just scaled everything back and then slowly introduced it back in.

00:28:11.444 --> 00:28:23.445
Yeah, and obviously, you know, in not every case is that effective or obviously medical advice for everyone, but yeah, it's definitely an option, sure, just as much as anything else could be.

00:28:23.974 --> 00:28:24.656
Yeah, I mean.

00:28:24.656 --> 00:28:30.538
I just I think it's a resource that we could be using in the doctor's office that doesn't cost anything.

00:28:30.538 --> 00:28:36.323
You know, some of the prescriptions that people are on are really, really expensive and why not try some?

00:28:36.323 --> 00:28:51.605
You know natural things that we can be incorporating into our lifestyle to potentially bring back some of the symptoms, or you know causes that we're seeing bring back some of the symptoms or causes that we're seeing, Sure, but then medicine or your diagnosis got this started.

00:28:51.645 --> 00:28:52.787
I mean, that was the catalyst.

00:28:52.787 --> 00:29:02.284
Is this a new interest for you though Healthcare wellness or was this always a hobby of yours and sort of an outlet or a fascination?

00:29:03.896 --> 00:29:14.104
I would have never in a million years imagined that I had a podcast talking about healthcare transformation and like health advocacy Never, ever in a million years.

00:29:15.478 --> 00:29:19.742
And you know, really my diagnosis initially didn't kick this off either.

00:29:20.316 --> 00:29:23.361
I just thought, you know, I'll do insulin, I'll follow what they're saying.

00:29:23.957 --> 00:29:47.465
And then, and it wasn't working, and it wasn't until I met some of the people on the internet and different forums that really took so much time out of their day just for no reason other than to help a random stranger, that I started to understand how little information there is in the medical system and some of those you know education systems that you go through just because there's so many people going through it.

00:29:47.465 --> 00:29:52.483
You know they do have such a time crunch and doctors can't spend two hours with you.

00:29:52.483 --> 00:29:54.843
They just can't as much as they probably want to.

00:29:54.843 --> 00:29:58.722
Like you said, there's a business and a lot of them these days don't own the practice.

00:29:58.722 --> 00:30:10.558
So you know, even if they truly want to which I think most, 99% of them do they just can't.

00:30:10.558 --> 00:30:20.667
And so, meeting all these people and advocates, I just I got so much out of it and they gave my life back in such a way that I didn't think was going to be possible, that I want to try and do my part and continue that on.

00:30:21.996 --> 00:30:23.840
I think that's an important aspect to know too.

00:30:23.840 --> 00:30:28.396
I mean, on one hand, as far as doctors and nurses go right first, do no harm.

00:30:28.396 --> 00:30:30.137
So I doubt that's an important aspect to know too.

00:30:30.137 --> 00:30:31.858
I mean, on one hand, as far as doctors and nurses go right first, do no harm.

00:30:31.858 --> 00:30:33.420
So I doubt it's intentionally neglecting or willful omission.

00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:41.965
But I think there is a certain necessity as we get older, just as people, as we grow through life, to be able to make our own decisions, not take everything at face value.

00:30:41.965 --> 00:30:45.708
To be able to make our own decisions, not take everything at face value.

00:30:45.708 --> 00:30:52.932
And so it's important, yeah, I agree, to have different options and sometimes, like you just brought up, crowdsourcing opinion doesn't hurt anything, in fact.

00:30:59.079 --> 00:31:02.095
I think oftentimes it can be helpful, depending on what it is you're soliciting, I suppose.

00:31:03.494 --> 00:31:08.657
Yeah, I mean you're definitely going at it on your own risk when you do crowdsourcing, that the doctors are going to be providing safe protocol that is proven.

00:31:08.657 --> 00:31:11.605
You know that the FDA approves and and things like that.

00:31:11.605 --> 00:31:21.037
So when you do crowdsourcing or you know, do something by talking to someone through a forum or group, I mean you're taking that risk upon yourself and that's definitely something that you need to be aware of.

00:31:21.037 --> 00:31:24.124
You know, think through the advice that people are giving you.

00:31:24.124 --> 00:31:35.001
But, for instance, my endo and I were talking at my last appointment and we go through my charts and see why my numbers are going up and down, and he brought up one occasion and he goes what happens here?

00:31:35.001 --> 00:31:37.401
Your numbers were so good, I said I gave a presentation.

00:31:38.015 --> 00:31:50.279
Whenever I get stressed out my numbers, the cortisol your body releases, it generates glucose and so my numbers just skyrocket and no amount of insulin will bring it down until that stressor is over.

00:31:50.279 --> 00:32:01.699
I mean I was looking at my watch before coming on with you and my numbers were creeping up and he had no idea that a stressful situation like that could increase your blood sugar numbers.

00:32:01.699 --> 00:32:04.144
So it's things like that.

00:32:04.144 --> 00:32:06.875
But if you ask most diabetics, they know for a fact that an event like that will raise your numbers.

00:32:06.875 --> 00:32:07.214
So it's things like that.

00:32:07.214 --> 00:32:10.069
But if you ask most diabetics, they know for a fact that an event like that will raise your numbers.

00:32:10.711 --> 00:32:11.172
Interesting.

00:32:12.355 --> 00:32:17.457
So it's just a matter of what they're taught in school and then people who are living with it every single day.

00:32:18.117 --> 00:32:18.358
Sure.

00:32:18.358 --> 00:32:21.887
Well, yeah, and I guess that's why they call it an educated, guess.

00:32:22.934 --> 00:32:23.057
Yeah.

00:32:23.077 --> 00:32:25.078
Right, Definitely Okay.

00:32:25.078 --> 00:32:35.796
Well, so then let's talk about you for a second, because you said just a couple of minutes ago not in a million years, but I have thought I'd be doing a podcast like this about all of these different types of healthcare and wellness considerations.

00:32:35.796 --> 00:32:37.259
Why not?

00:32:37.259 --> 00:32:42.147
What was the polar opposite or what was the difference?

00:32:42.147 --> 00:32:43.155
Who were you back then?

00:32:44.818 --> 00:32:51.190
I was the person who was relatively know, was relatively healthy, could do mountain bike, could go run.

00:32:51.190 --> 00:32:55.266
You know, I did my annual healthcare checkup and everything usually checked out fine.

00:32:55.266 --> 00:33:01.347
I just I had no reason to know the other side of what people can deal with.

00:33:01.347 --> 00:33:11.305
And you know, in the struggles that come with chronic illness and mental health and just cancer and some of that stuff, I had never been privy to that world.

00:33:12.496 --> 00:33:13.657
I get it now, okay.

00:33:13.657 --> 00:33:18.709
Yeah, I thought it was like an actual aversion to having a show about health and wellness.

00:33:19.516 --> 00:33:24.563
You just meant because it wasn't a consideration Wasn't a blimp on the radar by any means.

00:33:24.994 --> 00:33:26.924
Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, I see wasn't a blimp on the radar by any means.

00:33:26.924 --> 00:33:27.709
Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, I see.

00:33:27.709 --> 00:33:33.155
Well, now then, while we are talking about you, this is a pretty good time for this segment of the show called developing character.

00:33:33.155 --> 00:33:38.465
D d d, developing character, and it's two questions.

00:33:38.465 --> 00:33:53.328
Uh, for everybody who's new to the show, the idea behind this is because my working theory is that values are a shortcut to identity and relationships and conversation and all of the self-awareness that comes with those things.

00:33:53.328 --> 00:33:55.832
To the exact point and reason you're bringing up.

00:33:55.832 --> 00:34:11.884
Sometimes it will literally save your life, and so I'm curious Now you're in a position where you have this kind of authority and resourcefulness and accountability to your audience, and so my question about your values is twofold.

00:34:11.884 --> 00:34:15.376
One of them is how all of this got started.

00:34:15.376 --> 00:34:20.938
So what were some of the values that you were raised around or that you remember being brought up around?

00:34:22.500 --> 00:34:25.985
My dad had always constantly driven into us.

00:34:25.985 --> 00:34:32.501
Do the right thing when no one's looking, and that's picking up the piece of trash that you walk by and there's a trash can right there.

00:34:32.501 --> 00:34:46.543
It's not throwing something out the window of your car, it's helping someone when they're down, and not doing it for the credit or applause but because it's truly the right thing, and I think that's really driven.

00:34:46.543 --> 00:34:51.282
We just start this health transformation community is.

00:34:51.282 --> 00:34:53.949
You know, I'm not doing it to make money.

00:34:53.949 --> 00:34:56.742
I probably never will make money off this and that's not the goal.

00:34:56.742 --> 00:35:04.043
It's to spread the information and you know, if I could do it faceless and not put my face on here, I'd prefer to do it that way.

00:35:04.043 --> 00:35:05.646
That'd be the goal.

00:35:05.646 --> 00:35:18.041
But it's just to help others, without any credit or monetary reason behind it, other than people did it for me when I was down and turned my life around.

00:35:18.041 --> 00:35:21.228
So it's just the opportunity to do that to them.

00:35:22.978 --> 00:35:23.157
Sweet.

00:35:23.157 --> 00:35:41.175
Yeah, well, I'm glad it carried through because, like I told you before we started recording, I think a lot of the material you're putting out and working to put together to be able to showcase is 100% worthwhile, and you never know what you're going to come across that's going to help somebody else, or vice versa, where you're going to come across information that might help you.

00:35:41.175 --> 00:35:49.021
So then now, though, after talking to everybody in your life personally, on your show everywhere, what about now?

00:35:49.021 --> 00:35:51.581
I mean, have any of your values changed?

00:35:51.581 --> 00:35:55.304
Have you identified more of them that put others before myself?

00:35:55.304 --> 00:36:11.358
You know, definitely the the people pleasing mentality.

00:36:12.280 --> 00:36:21.065
Um, but through this experience and working with my wife, I've really realized that you know, there's times where I have to put myself first.

00:36:21.065 --> 00:36:23.664
You know when I've had a really long day with her or not with her.

00:36:23.664 --> 00:36:25.309
Would I've had a really long day with her or not with her?

00:36:25.309 --> 00:36:26.574
I've had a really long day.

00:36:26.574 --> 00:36:30.554
I need to communicate with her and say like, hey, I'm at like 40%.

00:36:30.554 --> 00:36:36.503
I need you to pick up the other 60% with our son tonight and telling her that I can't do it all.

00:36:36.503 --> 00:36:46.164
I'm having a bad day and taking the time for me to be able to recharge and get back to where I need to be, to help her around the house and do my job and be there for our son.

00:36:46.224 --> 00:36:51.436
And you know a lot of the things that we've come through as well, as our circle has gotten smaller.

00:36:51.436 --> 00:37:03.956
You know we don't go out and we say no a lot more, and I think that's made a big difference as well, as before we felt like we owed an obligation to go out to someone's event just because we got invited.

00:37:03.956 --> 00:37:13.186
But nowadays, you know, we kind of focus on our family and us more, where, if we've had a long week and we need a week just to hang out at the house, that's okay, you can say no.

00:37:13.186 --> 00:37:28.938
And so I think, through fighting through this disease and figuring out this lifestyle, that's really led both of us to step back from the people pleasing and advocate for ourselves and our needs and putting our family first.

00:37:31.163 --> 00:37:33.688
All right, folks sit tight, We'll be right back on Transacting Value.

00:37:35.536 --> 00:37:38.425
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00:37:38.425 --> 00:37:50.090
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00:37:58.965 --> 00:38:03.346
Learn more at vagov slash disability.

00:38:06.076 --> 00:38:17.485
Fighting through this disease and figuring out this lifestyle that's really led both of us to step back from the people-pleasing and advocate for ourselves and our needs and putting our family first.

00:38:18.648 --> 00:38:25.463
Yeah, and self-advocacy not for nothing is usually pretty low on people's radar.

00:38:25.463 --> 00:38:26.864
Not for nothing is usually pretty low on people's radar.

00:38:26.864 --> 00:38:37.262
It's uh, we have we have the same sort of I guess similar concept in in the Marine Corps, right, where, uh, there's no individuals.

00:38:37.262 --> 00:38:42.844
So if you're trying to do whatever, take care of yourself first.

00:38:42.844 --> 00:38:43.826
What makes you so special?

00:38:43.826 --> 00:38:46.170
Okay, you forget the other guy?

00:38:46.170 --> 00:38:51.858
Huh, all these types of comments that are prejudicial to good order and discipline.

00:38:51.858 --> 00:39:05.842
You try to take that with you, maybe inadvertently, after your career is over and move past it, and that aspect of your identity is tough to reconcile with.

00:39:05.842 --> 00:39:13.007
In your case, you didn't have a choice but to learn to take care of yourself first until you found a better balance, and I think that's tricky to come to grips with for a lot of people.

00:39:13.007 --> 00:39:16.000
How did you start to work through that?

00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:29.210
Obviously aside from a health need, but making peace with that, accepting, okay, I can come first sometimes peace with that, accepting okay, I can come first.

00:39:29.510 --> 00:39:55.175
Sometimes it was having so many bad days, you know, they just would stack up and it was, you know, day after day after day, of trying to do events or go places and do things that were just wearing me out and then ultimately, you know, wearing my wife out because we get home and I would just be useless, and then she'd be having to pick up the slack, take care of the dogs, take care of our son, clean up around the house, and it was taking a toll on her as well, just because I wasn't able to be there as support.

00:39:57.139 --> 00:40:02.347
So then you guys, what figured it out on your own, just by chance.

00:40:03.469 --> 00:40:08.237
Yeah, I mean it was communication between the two of us just saying this isn't working.

00:40:08.237 --> 00:40:10.121
Why are we in this state?

00:40:10.121 --> 00:40:15.579
And it was definitely before I figured out how to manage my blood sugar and diabetes better.

00:40:15.579 --> 00:40:15.920
But it was.

00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:18.646
Why are we in this state?

00:40:18.646 --> 00:40:24.416
And it was because we were running ourselves ragged, trying to go to grandparents' houses so that they could see our sign.

00:40:24.416 --> 00:40:34.786
Going to friends' birthdays, going to weddings, going to work events, happy hours, all those kinds of things other than just kind of taking it easy and being our little family unit at times.

00:40:35.974 --> 00:40:38.463
Well, that may not be easy either at times.

00:40:40.018 --> 00:40:54.163
But no and that's what I mentioned where our circle's kind of gotten smaller For the people that didn't really put an effort in to be around for us, or you know, when we were kind of hermiting to our house they didn't make an effort to come over and hang out.

00:40:54.163 --> 00:40:57.043
They just kind of eventually faded off.

00:40:57.043 --> 00:41:00.621
You know, it wasn't like a hard cutout, but the circle just kind of got smaller.

00:41:01.222 --> 00:41:01.965
That's okay too.

00:41:01.965 --> 00:41:03.920
Yeah, that's okay too.

00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:17.605
Yeah, no-transcript, or, professionally, anybody else, in any career.

00:41:17.605 --> 00:41:21.382
Nobody's going to look out for your endeavors to the same extent that you will.

00:41:21.382 --> 00:41:25.920
You've got supporters, you've got cheerleaders, grandparents right, but it's different.

00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:50.626
It's different and I think, if for no other reason than that, having some degree of that informed consent or education or understanding how to research a little bit and knowing where some resources are to find answers or to find options, I think that's why it makes all the difference, because in the end, it is just you advocating for you, because nobody else knows you like you do.

00:41:50.626 --> 00:41:54.219
Yeah, absolutely so.

00:41:54.760 --> 00:42:01.730
Okay, for the sake of time, I really only have two more questions for you, and this one might be a little bit deeper than we've dug so far.

00:42:01.730 --> 00:42:17.902
But I'm curious because, with the amount of initial misdiagnoses, confusion that you had around your own symptoms, let alone what the medical staff had around your symptoms, what to do about that, how to adjust your family, how to have these conversations with people hey, watch out for these things.

00:42:17.902 --> 00:42:19.085
Help me out if you notice this.

00:42:19.085 --> 00:42:27.606
Whatever All of these things that you went through and worked through, you have no choice but to make yourself heard or you die.

00:42:31.574 --> 00:42:34.764
So that's a pretty lofty reason, I think, a pretty high bar to make sure your point gets across clearly.

00:42:34.764 --> 00:42:43.985
But in the events when it doesn't like we said, the diagnosis, diagnosis, for example and you start to question am I the one who's crazy here?

00:42:43.985 --> 00:42:45.751
Like I'm, I'm feeling these things.

00:42:45.751 --> 00:42:50.463
Can somebody at least give me a little validation, even if it's just a polite thought, something?

00:42:50.463 --> 00:42:53.657
What does that do to your worth, all of these things?

00:42:53.657 --> 00:42:53.938
Now?

00:42:53.938 --> 00:42:57.186
Has it changed how you view your own self-worth now?

00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:17.467
yeah, I think it does, and I mean that kind of goes back to not being so much of the people pleasing and understanding that you know if it wasn't the diabetes, and for those that aren't going through some kind of like a medical illness, you know diagnosis, things like that.

00:43:18.056 --> 00:43:22.717
I think we're all going to eventually hit that rock bottom.

00:43:22.717 --> 00:43:29.478
It's going to be your backup against the crib, listening to your child cry, in whatever situation you want to put it in.

00:43:29.478 --> 00:43:40.083
If you're devoting 90 hours to your job, eventually you're going to hit a point where it's not worth it and you're going to look back and say I wasted all these years with my family.

00:43:40.083 --> 00:43:45.454
I didn't go to my kids' games, I wasn't there for my dad when he was in the hospital, things like that.

00:43:45.454 --> 00:43:56.545
I just I think we're all going to hit a point eventually and it's that turning point and that's when you really understand your worth and your why.

00:43:56.545 --> 00:44:05.487
To what you mentioned earlier, I mean, from that point on, listening to my son cry, I knew from then on whatever it took for him and my wife to be happy and safe.

00:44:05.487 --> 00:44:07.398
That's, that was my goal.

00:44:08.742 --> 00:44:09.302