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SEASON 4 EPISODE 29: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (2:30) SPECIAL COMMENT: The correct question has been lying there, invisible in the forest, for the trees. It was Mary Trump who finally saw it – and asked it: “Why the hell (do) they KEEP giving him cognitive tests?” That’s IT - isn’t it? THAT'S the question. None of the details, none of the giraffes versus elephants, none of his stupid boastful insults about it, none of the small stuff. It's the big picture. Why the hell DO they keep giving him cognitive tests? And I’ll add a corollary to Mary Trump's burst of simple genius: Why the hell do they KEEP giving him cognitive tests almost exactly six months apart? Friday October 10, 2015 at Walter Reed, which he boasted about on board Air Force One this week. And Friday April 11, 2015, which he had also boasted about on board Air Force One last spring. Those dates are almost six months apart. 182 days. If they’re not giving him pre-scheduled cognitive tests every six months that’s a helluva coincidence. Why the hell do they keep giving him cognitive tests? And I’ll add a second corollary to Mary Trump’s question: why did they give him an MRI? Is it the first MRI to accompany a cognitive test? What was it an MRI of? I mean it may be irrelevant (I once had an MRI to see how my sinuses were draining correctly). You really CAN get MRIs for almost trivial stuff. But you don’t get cognitive tests for trivial stuff. Why the hell do they keep giving him cognitive tests? PLUS: Trump says the Constitution prohibits him from running for president again. Again, mid-flight, after boasting about things that aren't real, he said: “If you read it it’s pretty clear. I’m not allowed to run." So that’s that, huh? That’s what all the experts say. The same experts who said there was no Presidential Immunity. So – what happens next? He just changes his mind? Or decides this term is eight years not four? Or he just cancels the 2028 election? This isn't bluster and it isn't trolling. They might get away with it and they might not, but there are plans. And the more we're convinced they can never pull them off, the more likely we are to see another "presidential immunity" ruling from The Supreme Court. Or another Aileen Cannon. Or another January 6. B-Block (24:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Steve Bannon wants to expel Zohran Mamdani from this country. Hell, we should expel Bannon. If we can find a truck that can carry that much blubber. There's a media writer named Rich Greenfield who has extrapolated from the possibility that Comcast might buy CNN and merge it with MSNBC and he has the exact right person to run it: Charlie Kirk's widow (a bible student). And as ludicrous as that sounds, the guy now running CNN wasn't even home from his visit to the White House to try to butter up Trump and the Trumpists when one of the Trumpists mocked him on twitter for visiting. Today, appeasers not only lose, they get flamed on social media. C-Block (36:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: With the Dodgers in the World Series again it is time to hurry back to the greatest moment in their Los Angeles history: Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit homer even though three-quarters of his body was barely movable, to win Game One of the 1988 World Series and set them on the path to one of the greatest upsets in baseball history, over the vaunted Oakland A's. Gibson's homer was a surprise to everybody. Except me. Because I predicted it just before the first pitch of that final inning began. And there's a WITNESS.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What does it mean to see beneath the surface — of the human body, the brain, or even the universe itself? In his new book, The Future of Seeing: How Imaging Is Changing Our World, Prof. Daniel Sodickson of NYU explores the future of imaging: How technology is transforming not just medicine, but our very ways of perceiving the world. With the rise of AI-driven “digital vision,” Sodickson, a pioneer of MRI innovation, argues that imaging is no longer just a diagnostic tool — it's becoming a new language of discovery.In this conversation, Sodickson explores the promises and pitfalls of this promising new technology. Reflecting on the history of scientific discovery, we examine what the next generation of imaging might reveal about life itself. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
What happens when a doctor gives you six months before a wheelchair? Bitsy Hamilton said no. In this powerful episode, Bitsy shares her journey from teacher to ICF-certified life coach while battling a devastating MS diagnosis. She refused the prognosis. Through radical self-advocacy, inflammation control, and daily creative practice, she achieved completely clear MRIs five years later. Her Own It Framework emerged from navigating career shifts, divorce, and health challenges simultaneously. "If you don't have your health, you don't have anything," her father told her. She listened. Now through EA Hamilton Coaching, Bitsy helps others navigate major transitions. Her question for you: Who do you want to be authentically at the end of this transition?Elizabeth "Bitsy" Hamilton is an ICF-certified life coach, author of the forthcoming Own It: A Guide to Confidence, Clarity, and Unshakable Trust, and founder of EA Hamilton Coaching and Consulting. With over 20 years as an educator and coach, she guides individuals through major life transitions using her signature Own It Framework. After defying a devastating MS prognosis through radical self-advocacy, Bitsy now helps clients navigate divorce, career shifts, and identity rediscovery. A Forbes Coaches Council member and upcoming TEDx speaker, she lives in Austin, Texas, blending traditional coaching with nature-based methodologies while maintaining her lifelong creative practice.About The Show: The Life in Transition, hosted by Art Blanchford focuses on making the most of the changes we're given every week. Art has been through hundreds of transitions in his life. Many have been difficult, but all have led to a depth and richness he could never have imagined. On the podcast Art explores how to create more love and joy in life, no matter what transitions we go through. Art is married to his lifelong partner, a proud father of three and a long-time adventurer and global business executive. He is the founder and leader of the Midlife Transition Mastery Community. Learn more about the MLTM Community here: www.lifeintransition.online.In This Episode: (00:00) Refusing the MS Prognosis(01:04) Teaching Career to Life Coaching Transition(08:28) Rediscovering Creativity Through Art(16:41) MidLife Transition Mastery Ad(22:21) Creative Expression as Emotional Healing(26:46) The MS Diagnosis Journey(30:15) Six Months to a Wheelchair Warning(34:02) Taking Control Through Self-Advocacy(42:50) Transition Mastery Coaching Ad(48:44) Hope and Working for What You Want(50:20) The Own It Framework Question(57:23) Finding Your Spark and ClosingLike, subscribe, and send us your comments and feedback.Resources:Website: https://coachbitsy.comInstagram: @coachbitsyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-anne-hamiltonForthcoming Book: Own It: A Guide to Confidence, Clarity, and Unshakable Trust (Winter 2025)Email Art BlanchfordLife in Transition WebsiteLife in Transition on IGLife in Transition on FBJoin Our Community: https://www.lifeintransition.online/My new book PURPOSEFUL LIVING is out now. Order it now: https://www.amazon.com/PURPOSEFUL-LIVING-Wisdom-Coming-Complex/dp/1963913922Explore our website https://lifeintransitionpodcast.com/ for more in-depth information and resources, and to download the 8-step guide to mastering mid-life transitions.The views and opinions expressed on the Life In Transition podcast are solely those of the author and guests and should not be attributed to any other individual or entity. This podcast is an independent production of Life In Transition Podcast, and the podcast production is an original work of the author. All rights of ownership and reproduction are retained—copyright 2025.
First, a good chuckle from The Lincoln Project: The Epstein Memorial Ballroom. Brilliant!------President Donald Trump challenging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to take the same cognitive test given to patients under physicians' scrutiny for dementia or Alzheimer's Disease isn't the "own" he thinks it is, but it begs the question: why's a guy who's had two MRIs in six months and showing clear signs of decline still in office when it was his party that had massive(ly overblown?) concerns about a similar (was it?) scenario just a year ago? ------Steve Bannon's confident there'll be a third Trump presidency (wouldn't Trump need to be alive and in good mental health?) in 2029, but polling indicates that Americans are remembering why they soured on a Trump presidency the first time. Trump's hemorrhaging Hispanic American support (this should surprise no one), but he's also under water with Georgia voters. New Atlanta Journal Constitution polling shows about one in five Republicans agree the nation is on the "wrong track." Overall, GOP support for Trump remains stubbornly strong, but not as strong as disdain for him from outside the GOP. His clout in 2026 races? Not that big a deal, according to likely GOP voters, but then neither is the endorsement of Governor Brian Kemp. ------Are CNN staffers right to be concerned their boss is gently nudging his network to lighten up on coverage of the East Wing demolition? Hmm; why, after his visit to The White House would he be doing that? Also, is it that Americans can actually visualize Trump destroying our nation's institutions and it's a bad look?------Frequent show guest, Jay Bookman with the Georgia Recorder, has weighed in on the 2026 Democratic field for Georgia's governor's race, boiling it down to a likely generational rumble between the 72-year old Mike Thurmond and 42-year old Jason Esteves. His reasons for discounting the early polling leader (Keisha Lance Bottoms) aren't new to consider on this show, but noteworthy, still. Also noteworthy, he didn't even mention Rep. Ruwa Romman, who's galvanizing energy with a small army of campaign volunteers and already door-knocking and doing interviews aplenty to grow awareness of her and her progressive bona fides.On with me to discuss his time with Rep. Romman is Atlanta Voice editor-in-chief Donnell Suggs.------Then, state Senator Nikki Merritt joined me to discuss her bold idea: asking Governor Brian Kemp to call for a special general assembly session to tap into the state's $14.6 billion in reserve funds to keep SNAP benefits going for the state's 1.3 million recipients. She and other members of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus held a press conference Monday to validate their rationale, and there's plenty of merit in it.------This one's wild: a Cobb County school board member (it's vice chair!) is fielding calls for his resignation after he and a business of his has been named in a $250,000 civil lawsuit. On with me to discuss this story, Cobb County Courier's Rebecca Gaunt.
People who live the longest aren't always the ones with the “perfect” body weight. In fact, research suggests that being slightly overweight can actually increase your life expectancy. It sounds counterintuitive, but the science may surprise you. Listen as I explain what's really going on. https://healthland.time.com/2013/01/02/being-overweight-is-linked-to-lower-risk-of-mortality/ Ever since the dawn of the Internet, we've been told to guard against hackers — but today's biggest threat isn't hacking, it's scamming. Cybercriminals are more cunning than ever, tricking millions into giving up money and information every day. If you think you are too clever to be taken by cyber-scammers, think again. Eric O'Neill — former FBI undercover operative, national security attorney, and cybersecurity strategist — reveals how modern scams work and how to stop them before they get to you. He's the author of Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime: Cybersecurity Tactics to Outsmart Hackers and Disarm Scammers (https://amzn.to/4nRvvv1). Imagine medicine without X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs. It's impossible — these imaging breakthroughs revolutionized how doctors diagnose and treat disease. Yet not long ago, the idea of seeing inside the body without a single incision was pure fantasy. Dr. Daniel K. Sodickson, chief of innovation in radiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and author of The Future of Seeing: How Imaging Is Changing Our World (https://amzn.to/3KNz3zS), shares the fascinating story of how imaging transformed modern medicine — and what's coming next. Sarcasm might seem like just a clever way to joke around but it's actually good exercise for your brain. Using and understanding sarcasm requires multiple parts of your mind to work together. Listen as I explain why being sarcastic might make you sharper. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49283&utm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Have you or a loved one experienced anxiety before, during or after cancer scans? You're not alone! You may feel like cancer takes away your control, but there are some things you can do to make your life better in this challenging time. Listen to learn why it happens, how it affects both patients and families, and what you can do to manage the emotional rollercoaster of uncertainty. https://bit.ly/4o7eAojIn this Episode:01:56 - Remembering Michael Caine03:29 - Arizona: The Red Ghost and Tamale Pie06:49 - Scanxiety: Stress or Anxiety Related to Cancer Imaging or Scans09:25 - The "What If" Cycle10:41 - Family Members & Care Team Can Also Get Scanxiety11:30 - Strategies to Cope with Scanxiety13:06 - How to Stay Calm and Confident Before, During and After Scans16:49 - Outro#Scanxiety #CancerAwareness #EveryoneDiesPodcast #CancerSupport #MentalHealth #CopingWithCancer #CancerSurvivorship #HealthAnxiety #PatientSupport #MindBodyHealthA normal part of cancer survivorship is to have what are called "surveillance scans" which are an important part of keeping you healthy during survivorship. "Scanxiety" is the anxiety and fear experienced before, during, and after medical imaging tests, such as CT scans, MRIs, or PET scans, and it is a common challenge for people living with a cancer diagnosis. This includes feelings of dread, fear, and uncertainty that can interfere with sleep, appetite, focus, and overall well-being. Learn strategies to cope so you can stay calm and confident through this difficult time.Support the showGet show notes and resources at our website: every1dies.org. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | mail@every1dies.org
Broadcast from KSQD, Santa Cruz on 10-23-2025: Dr. Dawn opens with a passionate plea about E-bike safety after observing riders ignoring stop signs and wearing inadequate helmets in Santa Cruz. She explains the physics of collisions, noting that force equals mass times acceleration, and a car hitting an E-bike rider at 20 mph delivers impact equivalent to falling from a two-story building. She emphasizes that 97% of bike fatalities in New York involved helmetless riders, and brain injuries result from the brain striking the skull twice during impact - once on the impact side and again on the opposite side during deceleration. She urges drivers to honk at helmetless riders and calls for stricter helmet law enforcement. An emailer asks about hydroxyapatite in toothpaste. Dr. Dawn traces its origins to NASA research in the 1960s by Dr. Bernard Rubin studying crystal growth for preventing bone and tooth mineral loss in astronauts. Japanese company Sangi acquired the patent and created the first hydroxyapatite toothpaste by 1980, receiving official anti-cavity recognition in 1993. Studies show it matches fluoride's cavity prevention effectiveness by filling microscopic cracks where bacteria take root. It also relieves temperature sensitivity by sealing micro-fractures in enamel that expose the dentin layer, making it especially helpful for people who clench their jaws. Researchers from UC Berkeley and the Allen Institute used electrodes and lasers to study how mouse brains process optical illusions like the Kanizsa triangle. They discovered specialized IC encoder neurons in the visual cortex that fill in missing information, creating complete shapes from partial cues. When these pattern-completing circuits activate inappropriately, they may trigger hallucinations in conditions like schizophrenia. Dr. Dawn explains that illusions occur when the brain perceives something different from actual visual input, while hallucinations create perceptions with no external stimulus. She discusses frontotemporal dementia where visual hallucinations result from protein deposits in the occipital cortex, and notes that a 2021 British Journal of Psychiatry study found hallucination rates varying from 7% in young people to 3% in those over 70. An emailer describes unbearable chronic lumbar pain with degenerative disc disease shown on MRI. Dr. Dawn emphasizes that MRI findings don't necessarily correlate with pain levels, citing shopping mall studies showing equal degenerative changes in people with and without back pain. She stresses checking for sciatica symptoms including leg pain below the knee, sensory differences between sides, calf size asymmetry, and ability to walk on tiptoes and heels. Without these red flags, the degenerative disease likely isn't causing the pain. She warns against unnecessary surgery citing frequent "failed back" syndrome when surgery for a disk image doesn't "fix" the pain. She recommends water jogging with a ski vest, McKenzie exercises, abdominal strengthening, ergonomics, removing wallets from back pockets, and alternating heat and ice therapy. She discusses mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy for pain management. A caller references Daniel Levitin's book "Your Brain on Music," discussing research using functional MRIs showing distinct brain activation patterns in musicians versus non-musicians due to integrated auditory, visual, and kinesthetic training. Dr. Dawn describes how infant brains develop from three to six layers with increasingly complex synaptic connections resembling circuit boards. She highlights a blindfold study where college students' visual cortices began responding to sound within two weeks as the auditory cortex expanded. She shares her husband's remarkable recovery demonstrating adult brain plasticity through intensive rehabilitation. Learning new musical instruments helps dementia patients by activating multiple brain regions simultaneously and improving standard cognitive test performance. A caller describes an eight-day chest cold with thick white phlegm. Dr. Dawn recommends guaifenesin as a mucus-thinning expectorant to prevent bacterial growth in respiratory secretions that serve as "bacteria chow." She emphasizes the importance of current flu, COVID, and RSV vaccinations. Secondary bacterial infections develop when bacteria colonize viral-induced mucus in the lungs and invade tissues. She advises aggressive hydration and chicken soup, which research shows helps clear mucus. Another caller provides additional information about Daniel Levitin as a musicologist, neurologist, and musician who runs the Music Perception, Cognition and Expertise laboratory at McGill University.
Sarah AND Susie had MRIs (separately, but still), and let's just say it didn't go well. Hear them trauma bond about it. We learn that cows have accents depending on where they live, and even their mood and what they're mooing about. And we learn how we even know that. We discuss how inspired we are by the work and life of Jane Goodall, and how her legacy will live on. We talk about how there are different expectations for different circumstances and how standards change all the time and expectations affect our perceptions. We learn about a school that is limiting the number of times students can use the bathroom, and we debate whether this is a good policy or not. And Sarah reveals the difference between having an orgasm with a woman vs. having an orgasm with a man.Brain Candy Podcast Presents: Susie & Sarah's SpOoOoOoOoktacular Spectacle, October 30, Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado: Get your tickets! Brain Candy Podcast Website - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/Brain Candy Podcast Book Recommendations - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/books/Brain Candy Podcast Merchandise - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/candy-store/Brain Candy Podcast Candy Club - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/product/candy-club/Brain Candy Podcast Sponsor Codes - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/support-us/Brain Candy Podcast Social Media & Platforms:Brain Candy Podcast LIVE Interactive Trivia Nights - https://www.youtube.com/@BrainCandyPodcast/streamsBrain Candy Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braincandypodcastHost Susie Meister Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susiemeisterHost Sarah Rice Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imsarahriceBrain Candy Podcast on X: https://www.x.com/braincandypodBrain Candy Podcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/braincandy (JOIN FREE - TONS OF REALITY TV CONTENT)Brain Candy Podcast Sponsors, partnerships, & Products that we love:Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BRAINCANDY at https://www.oneskin.co #oneskinpodDownload Hily from the App Store or Google Play, or check out https://highly.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In this special live episode of the SHE MD Podcast, Olivia Munn joins Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi, Mary Alice Haney, Dr. Shari Goldfarb, and Kristen Dahlgren, for a powerful Breast Cancer Awareness Month panel in New York City. The event coincided with NBC's Today Show coverage and the lighting of the Empire State Building in pink — marking the launch of a national conversation around early detection, AI, and prevention.Together, they explore how lifetime risk assessments, dense breast screening, and AI mammogram prediction tools like Clarity Breast are transforming breast health. The panel also discusses cancer vaccine research, genetic testing, and the importance of women knowing their individual risk scores.Listeners will hear Olivia's personal story of early detection after a high-risk score prompted further imaging, leading to her diagnosis and recovery. This episode offers clarity, action, and hope — empowering every listener to become their own health advocate and partner with their medical team.Subscribe to SHE MD Podcast for expert tips on PCOS, Endometriosis, fertility, and hormonal balance. Share with friends and visit the SHE MD website and Ovii for research-backed resources, holistic health strategies, and expert guidance on women's health and well-being.What You'll LearnHow lifetime risk assessment tools can identify breast cancer risk before symptoms appearWhy dense breast tissue requires supplemental screening beyond mammogramsHow AI predictive tools like Clarity Breast are revolutionizing early detectionThe promise of vaccine research and genetic testing in future breast cancer preventionKey Timestamps(00:00) Live event intro and Breast Cancer Awareness Month context(03:30) Olivia's story: risk score, MRI findings, and early diagnosis(13:00) Dr. Aliabadi and Dr. Goldfarb on dense breast screening and AI tools(16:00) Cancer vaccine and immunotherapy discussion with Kristen Dahlgren(27:00) Genetic testing and family history: understanding your risk(34:00) Audience Q&A: emotional recovery and advocacy(42:00) Is there support for young women being diagnosed with breast cancer?(51:30) Clarifying the term Risk AssessmentKey TakeawaysEvery woman should know her lifetime breast cancer risk scoreDense breasts may obscure cancers — MRI and ultrasound can save livesAI mammogram tools are changing detection from reactive to predictiveResearch into cancer vaccines offers hope for prevention and recurrence reductionAdvocacy and awareness remain key — early action leads to better outcomesGuest BiosOlivia MunnOlivia Munn is an actress, health advocate, and breast cancer survivor. After receiving a high lifetime risk assessment score, she underwent further imaging that revealed cancer across multiple quadrants, leading to a bilateral mastectomy. Since publicly sharing her diagnosis in 2024, she has dedicated her platform toward raising awareness about early detection, risk assessment, and empowering women with knowledge about their breast health.Dr. Shari Goldfarb, MDDr. Shari Goldfarb is a breast medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering, with a clinical focus on early and advanced breast cancer. Her research centers on survivorship, symptom management, fertility, sexual health, and quality of life for breast cancer patients. She participates in clinical trials aimed at improving outcomes for women during and after treatment.Kristen DahlgrenKristen Dahlgren is a former NBC correspondent who, after her own stage 2 breast cancer diagnosis, left journalism to found the Cancer Vaccine Coalition. She collaborates with top cancer centers to accelerate immunotherapy and vaccine development in breast cancer and advocates for preventive strategies beyond current standards.LinksOlivia Munn – https://www.instagram.com/oliviamunnDr. Shari Goldfarb – https://www.mskcc.org/profile/shari-goldfarbKristen Dahlgren – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-dahlgren-886519292/Donna McKay – https://www.bcrf.org/teamResources MentionedBreast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) – Funding for innovative breast cancer research and prevention programs
The Alberta Legislature is back, and Premier Danielle Smith is swinging at everyone in sight. This week, Cheryl and Erika debate the government's plan to legislate teachers back to work, the unprecedented strike that led here, and what a “work-to-rule” classroom could look like for Alberta families. Plus, they dive into the province's move toward two-tier healthcare and whether paying privately for MRIs and bloodwork will fix the system or quietly bleed it dry. And: the so-called “Wyant Report” the Premier's office claims to be cleared of wrongdoing in Alberta's health procurement scandal — except it wasn't. Cheryl unpacks what the report actually says, why journalists missed the story, and how the government's spin turned into a masterclass in message control.
We loved recording this episode! The main topic was the article that rocked the athletic world last week, which asserted that many protein powders had unsafe amounts of lead contamination. We broke down the numbers to reach a much more nuanced conclusion that should help you feel better about it all. And that led to a broader discussion on the perils of advocacy being presented as science. We also talked about a shocking study on 45 asymptomatic people, which found labrum defects in 69% of hips! MRIs are complicated, unveiling mysteries of the human body and the strange line between structural and inflammatory issues. We discuss what it all means!And this one was full of great topics! Other topics: recovery cake, Megan's beastly bike workout, our attempt to program AI with 22 sexy concepts in athletics, a study on actual v. planned carb intake in races, Courtney Dauwalter doing another marathon, a hypothetical about Cole Hocker in ultras, breaking up moderate running with sub-threshold intervals, how grief impacts training, energy deficits in multi-day events, preparing for heat, period parties, and when to FAFO.We love you all! HUZZAH!Prepare for some shockingly high-grade fish,-David and MeganClick "Claim Your Sponsorship" for $40 free credit at The Feed here: thefeed.com/swapGet First Endurance Multi-V: https://thefeed.com/products/first-endurance-multiv-90ct Buy Janji's amazing gear: https://janji.com/ (code "SWAP")For training plans, weekly bonus podcasts, articles, and videos: patreon.com/swap
MOPs & MOEs is powered by TrainHeroic, the best coaching app on the planet. Click here to get 14 days FREE and a consult with the coaches at TrainHeroic to help you get your coaching business rolling on TrainHeroic. MOPs & MOEs delivers our training through TrainHeroic and you can get your first 7 days of training with us FREE by clicking here.To continue the conversation, join our Discord! We have experts standing by to answer your questions.This week we're back for round 2 with Brian Carroll. You should definitely go back and listen to our first episode with him before you dive into this one. We brought Brian back to ask a variety of follow up questions, some our own and some provided by you guys in your responses to the initial episode. The most frequent piece of feedback we got was about his interpretation on MRIs. We get to that a little later in the episode, so stick with it.Other topics for this discussion include the psychology of recovering from injury, the complexity of the relationship between pain and injury, and for our video viewers he even breaks out some spine models to demonstrate a few of the concepts he discusses.He mentions Michael Shacklock and neurodynamics a few times, if you want to learn more about that check out their page. He also mentions a few videos they're making about MRI interpretation, here are links to the first two:"MRI Case Study: Why They Matter and Why They Don't Tell the Whole Story""Does Your MRI Tell the Whole Story?"Brian also asked that we include the following clarification in response to his exchange with Alex about Elon Musk's role in SpaceX engineering (this is copied directly from Brian's email): "Elon Musk actually does design rockets and create technology for various aspects of rocket science and aerospace advancement. He oversees engineering and development projects for SpaceX yet only holds bachelor degrees in both economics and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He began (but did not complete) a PhD program at Stanford before launching PayPal etc, he lasted 2 days in the program. He credits mentors and reading many books and studies, as have I with MRi's. "
As a nurse practitioner, I feel a deep responsibility to my listeners and community to ensure that every guest I bring on shares accurate, evidence-based information. A few months ago, I decided to remove two podcasts from earlier this year to make way for an expert who could speak specifically and authoritatively on breast cancer health. So, I am honored to welcome Dr. Robin Roth today, better known as The Boobie Docs, on her popular breast health social media platform, where she shares information about breast cancer in a fun and educational way. Dr. Roth is an associate professor of radiology, specializing in breast and abdominal imaging. She is also the host of The Girlfriend's Guide to Breast Cancer podcast, created to support those navigating a breast cancer diagnosis or caring for a loved one. In our discussion today, we dive into misinformation about breast health and breast imaging. We explore the importance of acknowledging disinformation on social media, risk factors for early breast cancer screening, significant and modifiable risk factors, and the effects of dense breast tissue. We examine breast imaging, exploring ultrasound and mammography, the differences between 2D and 3D mammograms (the gold standard), and when to use MRIs. We clarify why thermography and QT imaging are not the gold standard, and why we need to request different types of imaging modalities. We discuss the importance of screenings, challenges, including diagnoses like DCIS, personalized approaches to breast cancer screening, breast cancer staging, and issues with imaging after mastectomies and with implant placement. Dr. Roth also explains how 80% of breast biopsies end up being benign, how to manage anxiety and callbacks for mammograms, how to understand lab reports in plain language terms, and the benefits of supportive resources like cancerbesties.com. With her expertise and approachable style, Dr. Roth reminds us that proper information can make all the difference when it comes to breast health. You will not want to miss this conversation, especially during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: How online platforms fuel confusion around breast health and imaging Disinformation may influence breast cancer screening decisions Modifiable factors that can reduce or increase your risk of breast cancer Why dense breast tissue matters for imaging accuracy Ultrasounds, 2D and 3D mammograms, and MRIs Thermography and QT imaging are not gold standards Why every individual DCIS diagnosis needs a personalized approach Breast cancer staging and how it guides treatment 80% of biopsies are benign, but still essential How to manage anxiety around callbacks and make sense of lab reports Connect with Cynthia Thurlow Follow on X Instagram LinkedIn Check out Cynthia's website Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com Connect with Dr. Robyn Roth On her website Social Media: @the boobie docs Preorder a copy of Everyone Has Boobies
In this episode of Bendy Bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein is joined by neurosurgeon and social media educator Dr. Betsy Grunch to tackle complex questions around spine health, chronic pain, and the unique challenges faced by people with hypermobility and connective tissue disorders like Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS). Together, they explore why “normal” MRIs don't always tell the whole story, when surgery is (and isn't) the right option, and how the healthcare system sometimes overlooks the needs of patients living with invisible or misunderstood conditions. Dr. Grunch shares what she's seeing in the OR, what she's hearing from patients online, and how she's trying to change the narrative, one compassionate conversation at a time. Takeaways Dr. Grunch explains how patients can feel intense pain even when imaging appears "normal"—and why that doesn't mean the pain isn't real. Learn why people with EDS or joint instability may need a different approach—and what surgeons should know before operating. Dr. Grunch talks about the importance of timing, accurate diagnosis, and avoiding unnecessary procedures when conservative options could work. From TikTok DMs to comment sections, Dr. Grunch shares how social media is reshaping her perspective on what patients need. Through open communication and education, Dr. Grunch offers a refreshing take on how specialists can avoid bias and embrace curiosity. References: Ep 137: https://www.bendybodiespodcast.com/signs-of-tethered-cord-you-shouldnt-ignore-with-dr-petra-klinge-ep-137/ Want more Dr. Betsy Grunch? https://www.x.com/ladyspinedoc https://www.instagram.com/ladyspinedoc https://www.facebook.com/ladyspinedoc https://www.youtube.com/@ladyspinedoc https://www.linkedin.com/in/drgrunch/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ladyspinedoc Want more Dr. Linda Bluestein, MD? Website: https://www.hypermobilitymd.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bendybodiespodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hypermobilitymd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BendyBodiesPodcast X: https://twitter.com/BluesteinLinda LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypermobilitymd/ Newsletter: https://hypermobilitymd.substack.com/ Shop my Amazon store https://www.amazon.com/shop/hypermobilitymd Dr. Bluestein's Recommended Herbs, Supplements and Care Necessities: https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/hypermobilitymd/store-start Thank YOU so much for tuning in. We hope you found this episode informative, inspiring, useful, validating, and enjoyable. Join us on the next episode for YOUR time to level up your knowledge about hypermobility disorders and the people who have them. Join YOUR Bendy Bodies community at https://www.bendybodiespodcast.com/. YOUR bendy body is our highest priority! Learn more about Human Content at http://www.human-content.com Podcast Advertising/Business Inquiries: sales@human-content.com Part of the Human Content Podcast Network FTC: This video is not sponsored. Links are commissionable, meaning I may earn commission from purchases made through links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a textCancer is the second leading cause of death, and while it sparks fear for good reason, 40% of cases are preventable. In this episode, I outline six practical, evidence-based steps that can help reduce your risk.We begin by understanding which cancers are most common based on gender—breast, colon, and lung in women; prostate, colon, and lung in men. While some rare cancers (like pancreatic or ovarian) evoke greater fear, the focus here is on the ones we're more likely to face and can meaningfully act on.Next, I break down risk factors into two categories. Some are unavoidable—your sex, age, or family history. For example, if a close relative had breast or colon cancer, early screening or genetic testing may be warranted. However, only about 5–10% of cancers are directly linked to inherited genetic mutations (American Cancer Society).The more empowering list? Avoidable risk factors—where our actions matter most. Smoking remains the leading modifiable cause of cancer, responsible for about 19% of all cases. Excess weight and obesity account for another 8% and are especially tied to hard-to-treat cancers like pancreatic and ovarian (ScienceDirect) and PubMed). Visceral fat appears more predictive than BMI alone. Alcohol, especially in large quantities, is also linked to liver, GI, and breast cancers.Some risks are cancer-specific. HPV causes nearly all cervical cancers, and melanoma is largely driven by UV exposure. Air pollution, especially particulate matter, may slightly increase lung cancer risk (ASCO Global Oncology).Step three is to act on what you can. Quit smoking, aim for a healthy weight, wear sun protection, and ensure your kids get their routine HPV and Hepatitis B vaccines. Exercise plays a major role too—high activity levels correlate with 10–20% lower risk of several major cancers (JAMA). In colon cancer survivors, regular exercise reduced recurrence by 30% (PubMed).Step four is awareness: don't ignore new symptoms like unexplained bleeding or lumps. Early detection can be life-saving.Step five is screening. If you're 45 or older, colonoscopy is now recommended. Women should get regular mammograms and PAP smears, and individuals with smoking history may benefit from lung CT scans. For rarer cancers with family history, targeted screenings may apply. I also address why whole-body MRIs and liquid biopsies aren't ready for routine use.Step six? Don't put your hope in supplements. Large trials show omega-3s, vitamin D, beta carotene, and vitamin C offer no real protective benefit (NEJM VITAL Study, Meta-analysis on Vitamin C, JNCI on aspirin).Takeaways: You can reduce your cancer risk by modifying lifestyle factors like smoking, weight, and activity. Don't delay screenings—they catch cancers early when treatment is most effective. And remember: no supplement replaces proven preventive strategies.Visit drbobbylivelongandwell.com for more evidence-based tools, and listen to the full episode for actionable steps to help you live long and well.
In this episode of Bendy Bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein is joined by neurosurgeon and social media educator Dr. Betsy Grunch to tackle complex questions around spine health, chronic pain, and the unique challenges faced by people with hypermobility and connective tissue disorders like Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS). Together, they explore why “normal” MRIs don't always tell the whole story, when surgery is (and isn't) the right option, and how the healthcare system sometimes overlooks the needs of patients living with invisible or misunderstood conditions. Dr. Grunch shares what she's seeing in the OR, what she's hearing from patients online, and how she's trying to change the narrative, one compassionate conversation at a time. Takeaways Dr. Grunch explains how patients can feel intense pain even when imaging appears "normal"—and why that doesn't mean the pain isn't real. Learn why people with EDS or joint instability may need a different approach—and what surgeons should know before operating. Dr. Grunch talks about the importance of timing, accurate diagnosis, and avoiding unnecessary procedures when conservative options could work. From TikTok DMs to comment sections, Dr. Grunch shares how social media is reshaping her perspective on what patients need. Through open communication and education, Dr. Grunch offers a refreshing take on how specialists can avoid bias and embrace curiosity. Find the episode transcript here. References: Ep 137: https://www.bendybodiespodcast.com/signs-of-tethered-cord-you-shouldnt-ignore-with-dr-petra-klinge-ep-137/ Want more Dr. Betsy Grunch? https://www.x.com/ladyspinedoc https://www.instagram.com/ladyspinedoc https://www.facebook.com/ladyspinedoc https://www.youtube.com/@ladyspinedoc https://www.linkedin.com/in/drgrunch/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ladyspinedoc Want more Dr. Linda Bluestein, MD? Website: https://www.hypermobilitymd.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bendybodiespodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hypermobilitymd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BendyBodiesPodcast X: https://twitter.com/BluesteinLinda LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypermobilitymd/ Newsletter: https://hypermobilitymd.substack.com/ Shop my Amazon store https://www.amazon.com/shop/hypermobilitymd Dr. Bluestein's Recommended Herbs, Supplements and Care Necessities: https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/hypermobilitymd/store-start Thank YOU so much for tuning in. We hope you found this episode informative, inspiring, useful, validating, and enjoyable. Join us on the next episode for YOUR time to level up your knowledge about hypermobility disorders and the people who have them. Join YOUR Bendy Bodies community at https://www.bendybodiespodcast.com/. YOUR bendy body is our highest priority! Learn more about Human Content at http://www.human-content.com Podcast Advertising/Business Inquiries: sales@human-content.com Part of the Human Content Podcast Network FTC: This video is not sponsored. Links are commissionable, meaning I may earn commission from purchases made through links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
"You've had a zoo experience..." As the show continues to use Monday Night Football's free use music until someone tells them not to, Zaslow is shocked to learn Greg sleeps criss-cross apple sauce, Tony insists he's had more MRIs than anyone, and Billy is ready to launch a new podcast: The Little Things And That Kinda Thing with Larry Little and Greg Cote. Also, is Dan okay? No, seriously. What's going on? Like, is this a body double? Dan? DAN? If you want to attend The Monster Masquerade at Zoo Miami Saturday 10/18, log onto http://zoomiami.org/monster and use code RONMM25. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I am excited to have Dr. Yvonne Karney with me for a two-part series focused on breast imaging options and the importance of informed consent. In Part 1 today, we discuss the limitations of current breast screening options and how to protect yourself if you choose to get mammograms or MRIs. We also introduce you to QT Imaging, which is the future of breast imaging. Benefits of early detection: It allows for procedures like lumpectomy instead of extensive surgery Early-stage cancers often require less chemotherapy or radiation Detecting cancer early generally improves the chance of recovery and survival Smaller interventions preserve appearance and more tissue Early treatment can be quicker, simpler, and less traumatic Yvonne Karney's Bio: Yvonne Karney is a medical doctor, traditionally trained in gynecology, and a former United States Air Force physician, who converted to integrative medicine when she realized she didn't have the right tools to help her patients achieve true health. She is the founder of Vitality Renewal Functional Medicine in the Chicago suburbs, where her newest venture is to revolutionize breast imaging by offering an option that has the image quality of MRI WITHOUT radiation, IV contrast, or painful compression. She's on a mission to give women options for breast imaging and educate them about the risks and benefits of the current breast cancer screening recommendations. In this episode: How mammograms are pushed without real informed choice The value of early detection How false positives tend to fuel fear and lead to extra procedures Risks that come with breast compression and radiation How overdiagnosis leads to overtreatment The problems associated with MRIs How true 3D imaging could change the future of breast screening Links and Resources: Guest Social Media Links: Vitality Renewal Breast Imaging Yvonne Karney on YouTube Yvonne Karney on Instagram Vitality Renewal Functional Medicine Relative Links for This Show: Try Halo (Salt) Therapy for respiratory and skin health. Call 319-363-0033 to schedule your session. https://yourlongevityblueprint.com/product/glutathione-60-ct/ https://yourlongevityblueprint.com/product/coq10-100-mg/ Follow Your Longevity Blueprint On Instagram| Facebook| Twitter| YouTube | LinkedIn Get your copy of the Your Longevity Blueprint book and claim your bonuses here Find Dr. Stephanie Gray and Your Longevity Blueprint online Follow Dr. Stephanie Gray On Facebook| Instagram| Youtube | Twitter | LinkedIn Integrative Health and Hormone Clinic Podcast production by Team Podcast
Send us a textIn this episode, we cover the anatomy and functions of the menisci, the mechanisms behind various types of meniscal tears, and clinical assessment techniques. We also discuss when to opt for conservative care versus surgical treatment, and reviews special tests and imaging standards like MRIs. Tune in to enhance your understanding of knee meniscal injuries and improve your clinical practice.00:00 Introduction to Bets Snacks Podcast00:23 Overview of Knee Meniscal Tears00:54 Anatomy and Function of the Menisci03:03 Types of Meniscal Tears05:58 Clinical Assessment Techniques08:15 Imaging and Diagnosis09:04 Conservative vs. Surgical Treatment12:03 Conclusion and Additional ResourcesBeamer BS, Walley KC, Okajima S, et al. (2017). Meniscal Repair vs Partial Meniscectomy: A Comparative Analysis of Clinical Outcomes. Arthroscopy, 33(9), 1635–1643.Englund M, Guermazi A, Gale D, et al. (2008). Incidental Meniscal Findings on Knee MRI in Middle-Aged and Elderly Persons. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(11), 1108–1115.Logerstedt DS, Scalzitti D, Risberg MA, et al. (2010). Knee Pain and Mobility Impairments: Meniscal and Articular Cartilage Lesions. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT) Clinical Practice Guidelines, 40(6), A1–A35.LaPrade RF, Geeslin AG, Everett CR, et al. (2015). Diagnosis and Treatment of Meniscal Injuries: A Review. Sports Health, 7(2), 147–154.Stensrud S, Risberg MA, Roos EM. (2012). Effect of Exercise Therapy on Meniscal Tear Outcomes in Middle-Aged Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. British Medical Journal (BMJ), 344:e533.Go to PT Final Exam using this link to access great studying options to conquer the NPTE!Support the showStay Connected! Make sure to hit follow now so you don't miss an episode! Got questions? Email me at ptsnackspodcast@gmail.com or leave feedback HERE. You can also join the email list HERE Need CEUs Fast?Time and resources short? Medbridge has you covered: Get over $100 off a subscription with code PTSNACKSPODCAST: Medbridge Students: Save $75 off a student subscription with code PTSNACKSPODCASTSTUDENT—a full year of unlimited access for less! Prepping for the NPTE? Get all the study tools you need to master it at PT Final Exam. Use code PTSnacks at checkout to get a discount! Want to Support the Show?Help me keep creating free content by: Sharing the podcast with someone who'd benefit. Contributing directly via the link...
DianeKazer.com/PATIENT DianeKazer.com/RESOURCES DianeKazer.com/EXPLANTSOLUTION DianeKazer.com/PEPTIDEPOWER DianeKazer.com/SHOP DianeKazer.com/VIP DianeKazer.com/PURCHASEPEPTIDES DianeKazer.com/PURCHASEPEPTIDESVIP For decades, we've trusted the message: Catch it early, save your life. But what if the very tools built for “early detection” — mammograms, MRIs and scans — are exposing us to radiation, inflammation, and fear that may actually fuel disease instead of prevent it? This week's episode dismantles the myth of modern cancer screening — and uncovers a deeper truth about what really drives healing and prevention.
Start with a laugh, stay for the clarity. We open by poking at flat‑earth tangents and headline noise, then zero in on what actually moves health: the words we use, the food we choose, and the daily habits that tell our cells whether to panic or repair. I break down why calling disease “chronically fermenting cells” changes the frame from doom to metabolism, then map the core strategy—remove impediments, restore essentials, let biology work.We go deep on NAC versus glutathione in plain English. NAC supplies cysteine, the rate‑limiting amino acid for glutathione; healthy cells use it quickly, while dysfunctional cells often don't. That's a smarter redox play than pushing IV glutathione that can be hijacked. From there, we slice through diet myths—kale and oxalates, soy, seed oils, lignans, “anti‑nutrients”—and rebuild a human plate that supports detox, microbiome resilience, and autophagy: plants in their colors, fiber as a rule, time‑restricted eating, and finishing meals five hours before bed for overnight cleanup.The Q&A gets gritty and useful. We challenge “baseline” MRIs that don't change action, talk parasites the right way (botfly larvae need extraction; tapeworms need properly dosed cycles like albendazole, praziquantel, niclosamide, nitazoxanide), and outline child‑safe, weight‑based regimens with liver support. Severe autism? Consider supervised chelation (DMSA/EDTA), real food, vitamin C and D at meaningful levels, and gentle juice fasts. Juvenile arthritis? Think triggers, toxins, mold, and gut permeability—then treat cause, not just inflammation. On a tight budget, I give the short list: vitamin C, D3/K2, mixed carotenoids and E, melatonin, iodine/thyroid guidance, fasting, movement, and sleep before supplements sprawl.When cases are advanced—lung lesions with brain spread—we add integrative oncology: IV vitSend us a text Join Dr. Lodi's Inner Circle membership and unlock exclusive access to webinars, healthy recipes, e-books, educational videos, live Zoom Q&A sessions with Dr. Lodi, plus fresh content every month. Elevate your healing journey today by visiting drlodi.com and use the coupon code podcast (all lowercase: P-O-D-C-A-S-T) for 30% off your first month on any membership option. Support the showThis episode features answers to health and cancer-related questions from Dr. Lodi's social media livestream on Jan. 19th, 2025Join Dr. Lodi's FREE Q&A livestreams every Sunday on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok (@drthomaslodi) and listen to the replays here.Submit your question for next Sunday's Q&A Livestream here:https://drlodi.com/live/Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/DrThomasLodi/Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/drthomaslodi/ Join Dr. Lodi's Inner Circle membership and unlock exclusive access to webinars, healthy recipes, e-books, educational videos, live Zoom Q&A sessions with Dr. Lodi, plus fresh content every month. Elevate your healing journey today by visiting drlodi.com and use the coupon code podcast (all lowercase: P-O-D-C-A-S-T) for 30% off your first month on any membership option. Learn to Thrive with ADHD Podcast Welcome to the Learn to Thrive with ADHD Podcast. This is the show for you if you're... Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Join Dr. Lodi's informative FREE Livestreams...
Deb from Australia shared her journey with rheumatoid arthritis, which she experienced for about four years before receiving a proper diagnosis. Initially, her GP attributed her chronic pain to other issues and suggested topical treatments. A physio at Nambbor General Hospital recognized her symptoms and referred her to a rheumatologist, who confirmed the diagnosis through blood tests and MRIs.Deb was prescribed methotrexate and folic acid but sought an alternative due to her desire for a healthier lifestyle. She turned to low-dose naltrexone (LDN) upon her integrative GP's recommendation. After starting on LDN, she experienced nausea and dizziness but persevered. Eventually, she reached a dose of 4.5 mg and became completely pain-free, significantly improving her quality of life.Deb expressed gratitude for LDN and noted feelings of euphoria and a boost in her overall health. Although her rheumatologist advised her to continue methotrexate for potential bone erosion, Deb felt fantastic on LDN and is looking forward to her next appointment. Additionally, she mentioned her background as a social worker, her previous burnout, and the possibility that autoimmune conditions run in her family.
Send us a textWelcome to PT Stocks podcast! In this episode, we dive into the fundamentals of using MRIs in physical therapy. MRIs are a great tool, but we need to learn how to use them appropriately to maximize their effectiveness. We'll explore key topics such as common asymptomatic MRI findings, when to order imaging, and how to educate and empower patients. Expect to learn about the cervical and lumbar spine, knee, rotator cuff, and hip labral tears, and get actionable tips on integrating MRI with clinical assessments. Tune in for practical takeaways that will enhance your diagnostic skills without over-relying on imaging.00:00 Introduction to PT Stocks Podcast00:55 Understanding MRIs: Asymptomatic Findings03:42 Clinical Examples of MRI Findings08:59 When to Order an MRI12:34 Cases Where MRI May Not Be Needed14:50 Conclusion and Additional ResourcesBrinjikji W, Luetmer PH, Comstock B, et al. Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2015;36(4):811–816. doi:10.3174/ajnr.A4173Culvenor AG, Øiestad BE, Østerås N, et al. MRI features of knee osteoarthritis in patellofemoral pain: a cross-sectional case–control study. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52(12):817–823. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-098349Tempelhof S, Rupp S, Seil R. Age-related prevalence of rotator cuff tears in asymptomatic shoulders. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 1999;8(4):296–299. doi:10.1016/S1058-2746(99)90148-9Yamaguchi K, Ditsios K, Middleton WD, Hildebolt CF, Galatz LM, Teefey SA. The demographic and morphological features of rotator cuff disease: a comparison of asymptomatic and symptomatic shoulders. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2006;88(8):1699–1704. doi:10.2106/JBJS.E.00835Register B, Pennock AT, Ho CP, Strickland CD, Lawand A, Philippon MJ. Prevalence of abnormal hip findings in asymptomatic participants: a prospective, blinded study. Am J Sports Med. 2012;40(12):2720–2724. doi:10.1177/0363546512453291Cardinal E, Buckwalter KA, Braunstein EM, Pope TL, Montgomery WJ. MGo to PT Final Exam using this link to access great studying options to conquer the NPTE!Support the showStay Connected! Make sure to hit follow now so you don't miss an episode! Got questions? Email me at ptsnackspodcast@gmail.com or leave feedback HERE. You can also join the email list HERE Need CEUs Fast?Time and resources short? Medbridge has you covered: Get over $100 off a subscription with code PTSNACKSPODCAST: Medbridge Students: Save $75 off a student subscription with code PTSNACKSPODCASTSTUDENT—a full year of unlimited access for less! Prepping for the NPTE? Get all the study tools you need to master it at PT Final Exam. Use code PTSnacks at checkout to get a discount! Want to Support the Show?Help me keep creating free content by: Sharing the podcast with someone who'd benefit. Contributing directly via the link...
Psalm 119:67, which says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.” *Transcription Below* Doug Rumbold is a child of the living God, a loving husband to Jessica, and father to Jada, Oliver, and Pierce. Currently he is the Pastor of Counseling & Discipleship at Northfield Christian Fellowship where he has pastored since 2006. He desires for others to be transformed into Christlikeness through authentic relationships. He holds a biblical counseling certificate from CCEF, a Bachelor's in Youth Ministry/ Adolescent Studies, and a Master's of Ministry in Theology. Connect with Doug on Instagram, Facebook, or schedule a counseling session through his website or order Doug's Book. Presence over Pain Podcast When did you experienced your first major loss? What are the three types of suffering you see laid out in the Bible? Will you share one of your conversations with the Lord where He responded with alliteration? Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here) Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“ Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“ Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” *Transcription* Music: (0:00 – 0:09) Laura Dugger: (0:09 - 1:38) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here. I want to say a huge thank you to today's sponsors for this episode, Chick-fil-A East Peoria, and Savvy Sauce Charities. Are you interested in a free college education for you or someone you know? Stay tuned for details coming later in this episode from today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A, East Peoria. You can also visit their website today at https://www.chick-fil-a.com/locations/il/east-peoria. Doug Rumbold is my guest today. He is a pastor of counseling and discipleship, and he has recently written a book entitled Presence Over Pain. With Doug's biblical foundation and his sense of humor, he's now going to share some personal stories of suffering and God's continued faithfulness. He illustrates how a yearness of God is oftentimes born through trial. So, regardless of what each of us are walking through today, Doug's going to remind us that we have the opportunity to turn toward Christ. Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Doug. Doug Rumbold: (1:39 - 1:42) It's exciting to be here, even virtually. Laura Dugger: (1:42 - 2:02) Well, and its always kind of special to have a local friend join me as a guest on the podcast. But for those who don't know you yet, I think it would be really helpful to hear your story and gain some context around what led you to write this book. So, will you just begin by sharing your story with us? Doug Rumbold: (2:03 - 6:09) Yeah, I love stories in general. I think when I look at Scripture, three-quarters of it, roughly, is a narrative. It's a story. And so, God's heart for story is just critical, even in His communication of truth and His love for us. So, it means everybody's story matters. So, my little story matters. And I think mine's an interesting one. To begin with, I was born and raised in Morton, Illinois. And I was born the seventh of eight children. So, my parent's kind of did this, like, unbelievable quantity of births in a short amount of time. I'm not a woman, so I don't understand how this works. But I assume that having eight children in 10 years is crazy. And they somehow managed to do that. So, I grew up in a loving Christian home. My dad was a phenomenal example of intention and direct when it came to conflict, merciful and forgiving when it needed to be called upon. My mom was and still is somebody who she could have a conversation with anyone. I love my mom, her ability to just dive deep into conversation. I remember my college years. My friends from college would actually love to come home to be with my parents, which is kind of odd. A bunch of college guys like, “Hey, can we come back from the big city of Chicago and go hang with your parents in the farm town?” Sure. Yeah, enjoy. So, I grew up seventh of eight. My oldest sister passed away before I was born at the age of four. She was actually buried on her fourth birthday, sadly. She passed away from leukemia. And then my youngest brother passed away my freshman year of college, which I talk about in the book a little bit. So, for all of my growing up years, there were seven of us, not eight. And then the family just kind of continued to expand. Everybody eventually got married and had children. And now on my side of the family, there's 35 grandkids. So, those are like pre-Medicaid type family backgrounds. You know, like you get together and everybody's going to take a Tylenol before because it's gonna be nice and loud and crazy. But I would say from just a believing perspective at eight years old, I remember being in the basement of my church in Morton. My Sunday school teacher just giving a really compelling description, not just of how like, oh, you're going to burn, but more of a what does it look like to be separated from God for eternity? What might that be like? And I was terrified but also had enough of these people pleasing mentality that I also didn't want to be the person who asked another question and held the class up. So, later on, I found out that it was easier for me to have that conversation. I think my mom discovered me kind of in tears, maybe even later that day. And it was like, I don't think I know Jesus. And she's like, well, we can like, let's have a conversation. What's that look like? And let's pray together. And so, at eight was when that became a reality in my life. And then really at 15 years old, coming home from a mission trip to Mexico, I ended up having just an awesome experience there and got baptized by a minister from our church. His name was Dwayne. He was awesome. And then as I think through just, I mean, I mentioned it already, our family is really well acquainted with loss. My oldest sister, my youngest brother, and then just some of our ongoing journey. My wife has an ongoing illness that requires a lot. It is a challenge for sure for her. And then I think all of that kind of balls up together to frame a lot of where the content from my book comes from. Just living a life of non-ease has really kind of brought me to this place of if it's not going to go away or if it hasn't been taken away, what is it that sustains and how do I move through it and past it? Laura Dugger: (6:09 - 6:32) And I definitely want to hear more elements of the book. But first, I'm just thinking through this. You said seven of eight and your youngest brother and you all are close in age. So, to bring us into your story further, what age were you when you suffered that major loss of your brother and how did he pass away? Doug Rumbold: (6:32 - 9:06) Yeah, that's a great question. So, my parents had all of us in 10 years. So, in 1969, they were married. 1970 is when they started cranking out children. And then 1980 was when my brother after me was born. And then it was 1997. So, it's actually Halloween night of 1997. So, I was a freshman in college. I just moved away. This was before cell phones. It's almost hard to imagine. But I was lying in my bed at night. And my brother, my other brother, Ed, was at college with me as well as my sister, Jennifer, in the West suburbs in Elgin. And my brother tried to contact me because Ben had been in a car accident. So, he had been taking a walk with this girl he was getting to know. And we live out in the country in Morton. So, you'll recognize these road names just because we're local. But if you know Tennessee, Tennessee and Harding, there's that intersection. And my family grew up on Harding. But going down Tennessee Avenue, going north, a gentleman who actually ended up being our neighbor was coming over top of the hill. And he was changing a cassette tape, also a relic of the past. And he was changing the cassette tape. And my brother was walking on the side of the road with traffic. So, his back was to oncoming traffic. And the car struck him from behind. And he was essentially and effectively dead at the scene, but kind of for the benefit. And I will talk about this in the book a little bit. The benefit of us, my other two siblings and I in Chicago, they, you know, rushed him straight to the hospital and then put him on life support. But he never had brain activity or anything from the moment that he arrived at the hospital till the following morning. We were asked, you know, how we wanted to continue. And probably in the hardest decision that I've watched my dad make was to pull the power cord on life support. I mean, my dad was all about responsibility and he wasn't going to let somebody else do that. And my dad was also very quick in his ability to make a decision, even if the decision was hard. And so, he just knew this was not, you know, technically Ben could have survived on life support. But he would have none of the vitality that he had had his entire 17 years prior. And so, that just was not an option. Laura Dugger: (9:07 - 9:29) Goodness, Doug, I can't imagine that's one of those decisions you hope to never have to make as a parent. And then with your family grieving this sudden loss and then also working through forgiveness of a neighbor. What did that look like? Doug Rumbold: (9:30 - 14:14) That's actually one of the most redeeming. I mean, again, God does this where he just kind of the Genesis 50 moment where it's like what the devil intended for harm. God meant for good. And I remember his name was Mark. He's since passed. It happened in 97. And I remember him coming to the door, you know, how people come to your house, and they provide condolences after a loss. And so, Ben was well known at high school. He worked with special needs children and was in the performing arts. And so, he was just really well liked. And so, there was a high school kid. So, there's a steady stream of people coming, grieving kids, all that. And I remember coming back from college and I remember not saying, I literally did not say a word for three days. My way of processing then was very inward. And so, I just remember being very silent. I should correct myself. I didn't say a word other than what I'm about to tell you. Mark came to the house and Mark was in his mid-40s at the time. And he was crushed. I mean, can you imagine what that would be like? And so, he shows up at the house. And as he's coming up to the door, I remember my dad saying he pulls all of us kids aside. He says, “I want to tell you something. Mark is here. He's coming up to the door. And right now, you have a choice. Forgiveness is never about how you feel. It's about obedience. If you will forgive him now, I promise you will never struggle with bitterness toward him in this way. But it is an act of your will. You must choose to forgive. But I'm not going to make you do so, like if you don't want to forgive him, that's fine. But I'm telling you right now, forgiveness is key.” And I remember walking out to the door and greeting Mark and just giving him a hug and then looking at him in the eyes as a 19-year-old freshman in college and saying, “hey, Mark, I've done what you've done 100 times. You know, I've swerved off the side of the road. And so, I just want to let you know, I hold no ill will against you, and I completely forgive you.” And he didn't really know what to say, just kind of mumbled some level of gratitude, I think. But it was kind of quiet. I had no idea the power in that moment that was happening where I was not bound to hold it against him. And my dad was right. How many years are we removed from this? And I still had I never once thought, oh, what a jerk. I can't believe you. I never struggled with anger toward God over the loss of my brother. These were things that I think could have happened had I held on to not being forgiven and not released Mark from that. And probably the greater redemption happened over the years where over the next seven years, he would see my parents or my family around town, and he would always kind of hang his head. And my dad would always make it a point to say hi and to try to contact him and be kind. But Mark was just sullen, and it was difficult. And then later on, Mark ended up having a pretty aggressive form of cancer. And by this point, my wife and I got married in January before. And I'll never forget. We went to Carolina Beach. We lived in North Carolina at the time for just a quick getaway, the two of us. And we were coming back. And on the drive back, I remember receiving a call from my dad and he's crying on the phone. He says, “Well, Mark just passed away.” And he goes, “but before he did, he invited your mother and I up to his hospital room.” And when we walked in the room, he looked at me, he said, “Gary, I have I have often wondered why and how. Why would you forgive me? How did you muster the strength to do such a thing?” And my dad, in his simplicity or whatever, was like, “Well, it's easy. I've you know, I've been forgiven. Do you know how much I've done? Do you know what hurt I've caused other people?” And he says, “It's only natural that I should forgive you for what happened. It wasn't your intention. Jesus forgave me. And so, I forgive you. Just real simple.” And in that moment, Mark then began to ask what motivates. And my dad got to explain a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so, literally on his deathbed, just prior to passing, Mark turned his heart over to the Lord. I mean, it was awesome. And so, just such a powerful story of forgiveness. Laura Dugger: (14:16 - 19:48) And now a brief message from our sponsor. Did you know you can go to college tuition free just by being a team member at Chick-fil-A East Peoria? Yes, you heard that right. Free college education. All Chick-fil-A East Peoria team members in good standing are immediately eligible for a free college education through Point University. Point University is a fully accredited private Christian college located in West Point, Georgia. This online self-paced program includes 13 associates degrees, 17 bachelor's degrees and two master's programs, including an MBA. 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We ask that you also will share by sharing financially, sharing The Savvy Sauce podcast episodes, and sharing a five-star rating and review. You can also share any of our social media posts on Instagram or Facebook. We are grateful for all of it, and we just love partnering together with you. Now, back to the show. What are the three types of suffering you see laid out in the Bible? Doug Rumbold: (19:50 - 21:29) Yeah, I'm not a theologian by any stretch, and so I'm sure I might be missing some. But I think when I look at all of Scripture, I guess I just kind of come away with three different forms of suffering. I see the first one that you kind of come across is the most poignant one is the suffering of Job. Here's somebody who didn't do anything wrong, and he experiences catastrophic pain. So, the suffering that God allows in his sovereignty is the first form. The second one is the suffering that I caused. Now, obviously, this is the one we first confront in Scripture, in the narrative. We see it in Genesis 3. But the story that most poignantly points this out to me is the story of David and Bathsheba. Here's a king who has everything he needs and wants, and he should be out protecting and defending his kingdom. And instead, he's on his rooftop looking and taking what is not his. And so, there's suffering that I cause. My pastor in college used to say, “You choose to sin, you choose to suffer.” And I think it's an apt description. And then the third form of suffering is the suffering that my faith brings. I think about the apostles where they are called in by the council and arrested and beaten and told not to speak in the name. And what do they do? They walk out rejoicing, like, yes, we've been counted worthy to suffer. Like, yeah, that's so different than the American version of Christianity at the present moment. We don't necessarily think that way. So, in short order, the suffering that God allows in his sovereignty, the suffering I cause in my sin, and the suffering my faith brings with persecution would be the three. Laura Dugger: (21:30 - 21:42) Well, and I loved one of your quotes where you write, the earnest desire of my heart is that you come to understand the presence of God in and through suffering, no matter its cause. Doug Rumbold: (21:43 - 22:03) Well, when I think about that, think of your own life, Laura. When you go back through ever since you just you surrendered your heart to Jesus, can you point to where were the deepest learning moments for you? What do you think? How would you answer that question? Laura Dugger: (22:04 - 22:26) I do feel like I may be an anomaly here because some of it is from those seasons of grief or searing loss. But also, I would say in the really good times, the gratitude and joy that he provides, those have been some of my greatest leaps in faith. Doug Rumbold: (22:28 - 24:32) Yeah, I think that's huge. I think it's one of those reasons why you see in Scripture this idea of we're supposed to be people who are thanking God even through our suffering. I think it's that rhythm or that habit of gratitude that can transform even what may appear hard or difficult. In the book, that quote that you just read, I think comes from this idea that God communicates his presence to us in different ways because of the form of suffering or hardship that we're facing. If I'm somebody who is suffering because of what God has allowed, I look at the idea of our daughter with cancer, for example, and I think, okay, the hardship that she faced, it would not make sense for her to frame her life and her hardship with suffering in terms of confession and forgiveness of sin. She didn't sin to get sick. And so, the idea of how God's going to communicate his presence to her in the suffering that he allows is more about what does it mean to endure with patience and joy? How does she endure hardship with patience and joy? In those ways, in that way, rather, I think that's how God begins to communicate his presence to her. His nearness to her means he's not far because something is wrong with her and she needs to be discarded. It's more that he is quite near, and it's the recognition of that. It's this like my heart can be glossed over by the pain I'm facing, whether God allows it, I cause it, or my faith brings it. It can be glossed over if I have an inward curve, if I have like this inward turn of sin and I can miss. How does God want to communicate his presence to me through this? I think that overall, most of us focus more on the suffering that we're experiencing at times than we do on God's provided presence. Laura Dugger: (24:33 - 24:54) And that reminds me of something else where you later write about Psalm 119:67, which says, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word.” So, Doug, how did you experience the truth of this scripture through your experience with your daughter Jada? Doug Rumbold: (24:56 - 27:57) Yeah, I think probably the safest and quickest description is pain has a way of getting our attention. Like your toe is just fine when you're walking to the kitchen at 2:00 a.m. to grab a drink of water and go back to bed. And then your toe makes its presence known when you kick the chair, right? And you're like, oh, and then you're acutely aware of it. You know, you go back to bed and it's throbbing. You might put some ice on it. Now it's cold. And pain is like that where it gets my attention when it's hit. And so, I was not aware, I don't think, of the depth of my self-reliance until every bit of control was removed from me. So, particularly when I think of Jada's challenge, you know that before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. There's this mercy in suffering that says ever so slightly, we are people who easily turn to ourselves and our resources before we will turn to God. My wife would say it this way, and I agree with her. I think it's an excellent understanding of parenting. We both view parenting as a form of stewardship. So, if I get paid, which I do, you know, for my work as a pastor, I get paid, I steward that money. It's not my money. The Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills, right? So, if he owns everything, he owns even the finances that are put into my back pocket. And the way that I steward it is the degree to which I am surrendered to him. And so, parenting is like that. God has given you the currency of children, and you have children that you are to steward back to God as an offering to him. And my wife would say this, I just didn't know. I'm supposed to lay them down every day before the feet of God in full reliance and trust that he is a better parent than I will ever be. What happened in particular with our daughter showed how quickly we will take them back again, how quickly we will be people who will say, “Oh, well, I actually think I can make a better decision here than the Lord will.” We would never say that out loud, but our control and our actions will illustrate that every day. It's one of the reasons why it's so easy to get offended when your kid sins against you. It's one of the reasons why it's so easy to be overwhelmed when your kid is far from you. We can get to a place where though we are to steward our children back to God, like finances given to us, like children given to us, there's this idea we are supposed to be stewards. And so, I learned that I went astray from God. And I still do every day. It's a thousand opportunities to return to him. Does that make sense or am I talking crazy? Laura Dugger: (27:58 - 28:24) No, that makes that makes sense. And even I think you're talking about something probably a lot of us are relating to as parents of certain times where we really grasp we are not in control. So, will you even take us to that day where that first became a realization for you? Because you're a parent of I believe she was a five-year-old at the time. Is that right? Doug Rumbold: (28:25 - 37:11) Yes, that day was awful. I would never want to repeat it. Jessica had it's not really a day, but a kind of a progression from kind of like a Thanksgiving time frame until January. So, the short order is my wife was pregnant with our youngest and her date for delivery was supposed to be right after January 1st, because I remember thinking, are you kidding me? I'm going to miss the cutoff for claiming this dependent. And anyway, Thanksgiving, we had gone down to visit some dear friends of ours. So, a shout out to John and Katrina. I'm sure they'll listen to this who live in Oklahoma. It's where I did my internship in college on like this orphan boys ranch. It was awesome. I loved it and grew a great friendship with them. So, we were down there visiting them. And my wife has this gallbladder attack. And the way she describes it, she felt like she was dying. And of course, she didn't wake me up because, you know, women can apparently experience pain and not make a big deal of it. Men, that doesn't work. So, there's definitely a gender difference there. And so, she realizes as she's homeschooling Jada, this is not tenable. I can't keep this up, especially if I'm going to have a child and everything. And so, we decided, oh, no big deal. We'll have just come back from our trip and decided we were going to put Jada in public school just for the last part of kindergarten. And Jessica was going to give birth to the child and hopefully get the treatment that she needed because we took an ultrasound, and they discovered a bunch of gallstones. And it was rough. And so, we get back, and we go to the school, get the forms. And basically, it was just filling out a couple of forms. Oh, yes. A bunch of check marks here, and a bunch of check marks there. Get the dental form and all that. You need one last thing that we can't just sign away. You need to do a quick physical. Now, Jada was feeling great doing everything. You know, all of her markers were fine. We go to a doctor from our church at the Tremont Medical Clinic and he performed just a simple physical. And Jada was, you know, everything was just fine. And as he's palpating around her stomach, he's just kind of pressing there. And I don't know how doctors do this where they, you know, press on your stomach and they're like, OK, your organs are in the right place. OK, I trust you. So, his face, like his countenance, just shifted. And Jessica and I were both in the room and he just kind of looks at me because I just can't reconcile this. But to rule anything out, we're just going to have her get an ultrasound and be on our way. I remember thinking I had a hernia when I was young, maybe six months or something. I can't remember how old I was. And so, Jessica and I went home that night and I mean, we were shedding tears like, oh, my goodness. Our sweet daughter has a hernia. Can't believe it. What does this mean? She's going to have surgery, all this stuff. And never were we prepared for what happened next. You know, the next morning she wakes up, and she takes Jada and Oliver, who's two at the time, to get the ultrasound in Peoria at a place called Peoria Imaging. And I stayed home. I was writing a sermon. So, I'm sitting there working on a sermon from Mark, Chapter eight. And Jessica goes and I'm not hearing from her. I'm not hearing from her. And then about three hours later, I got a call and she's like, so, they did an ultrasound and then they did like another one. And then they ordered a CT, and they just got done with the CT. And she goes and I just looked out in the waiting room and it's full and nobody's coming in. And now they said that she needs an MRI. And I'm like, “What?” This doesn't seem like a hernia. And she said, “Honey, I just asked the nurse, and they won't commit.” “Like they won't say anything,” I asked. I kept asking if it's a hernia. And finally, I just asked one of the nurses, “Is it bad?” And the nurse said, “That she thinks it's significant.” And I'm like, oh. And I remember that day then calling my dad or my parents and just kind of giving them updates along the way. Like, okay, you know, Jay is going in for a quick ultrasound, probably a hernia. But then I remember calling my dad and my dad's on the phone with me right after I got off with Jess. And I just said, “So, it went from just a quick ultrasound to CT to an MRI.” And I said, “They just finished the MRI or they're in process.” And they said, “That after the MRI, they want to send her to the hospital for blood work.” And my dad's only response was, “Oh, boy. I mean, it was just like,” and his voice quivered. You know, the quiver of like the I don't know if I'm ready for this sort of quiver. And I can only imagine what's going through his head, having already lost two children and particularly one to cancer. He knows that feeling. So, the day only got longer from there. I got a ride over there with my sister-in-law to Puri Imaging. And then we went to the hospital together and had to get blood drawn and all that stuff. And that's a whole story in and of itself, the trauma of that for her. But I remember leaving the hospital and Jessica and I know at this point with the full weight of this is not a hernia, but we still don't have answers. Like every time I'm asking a question to a doctor or a nurse, they are deferring and deferring and deferring. And my anger internally is kind of growing. And so, I'm a little, I'm not aggressive, but I'm assertive. And I remember driving away from OSF in Peoria. And as we're driving away, Jade is just in the back seat looking out the window. And Jessica and I are in the front seat, just crying, but trying to hold it together, you know. And I look in my rearview mirror. I'm like, “Hey, sweetie.” And she's like, “Yeah.” “Like, what are you thinking about?” She goes well. I just can't decide what smoothie I want at Smoothie King. That was the day where they, you know, the scan that she had to have was an NPO, which means she can't have any food or liquid unless it's clear. And so, she was starving. And at this point it was like 6:30 at night. So, she's super hungry. And so, we went to the first location and the second location. They were all closed between Christmas and New Year's. So, no Smoothie King for her. And that was the last time we remember eating at McDonald's as a family. And then that night the diagnosis finally came. We got back home. We were home for 10 minutes. And we received a call from what ended up being her surgeon from Illinois Medical Clinic. And we were asked to come back into an after-hours appointment, which those are never good. And so, we walk in the door. We sit down. There's not even a secretary. The lights in the building are off. We were walking down this hallway to this last, you know, exam room. And Jada is just sitting there on the table. Jessica is about ready to pop pregnancy-wise. And the doctor walks in and says, so, I assume you know why you're here. And I said, actually, we haven't been able to get a straight answer. And we have no idea what's happening. And she goes, are you kidding me? She's like, I have to be the one to tell you this, that your daughter has kidney cancer. And I think the thing that caught me was Jessica sitting on a chair kind of at the foot of the exam table. And instinctively, I mean, it was like it wasn't even – it was no coaching. There was no – Jada just kind of crumbled and her body just kind of fell onto Jess. And Jess's mom has walked through cancer twice. And so, Jessica has lived this journey as well, just the difficulty of it. And so, for her, she's just like I know what this required of me when my mom had it. And I had to take care of her when I was in junior high and then again when I was in college. And now I'm pregnant and now my daughter has cancer. It was unreal. And then I wrote about it in the book, but the walk from the front door to the van where Jada's face was buried in my neck. And the warmth of her tears and just her body just kind of melted into mine as we're walking back to the van. And it's like I never want to forget that because the usefulness of it, how helpful it is for me to recall some things, to live in that place of like this is what you redeem, this is what you restore. But it was hard as heck. And so, that would be what I remember from the day of diagnosis. Laura Dugger: (37:13 - 37:26) It is so hard to imagine what that would look like to get that news. And I'm just wondering for you and Jess, what did your faith look like and what were your conversations like with the Lord at that point? Doug Rumbold: (37:29 - 39:10) You know, I – because of the loss of my brother earlier, I don't – I mean that's a great question. And I don't mean this how it might sound or come across, but my faith was never – I don't think that my faith was an issue in terms of am I still going to cling to Jesus. It was just more of a – it was just – it was so hard. I really wish I had words for it. I talk about this in another podcast that I did. I remember just feeling so overwhelmed and more of a feeling like we were treading water in the middle of an ocean. And someone – you're like begging for a life raft and they hand you a cinder block. And you're like, not helpful. So, my faith, our conversations with the Lord, they were hard, and we were certainly super sad. My wife would probably talk about how she was broken and quiet and learning afresh what it means to surrender. But she is methodical and consistent in her pursuit of the Lord and extremely faithful. And so, hers was sitting in solitude and just waiting and cry and lament and work through it all and then come out the other side stronger. I process things a little bit more verbally. But I think our faith was strong. We were just shattered for the pain that she was experiencing for sure. Laura Dugger: (39:11 - 39:35) That's a great way of putting it. And just like He promises, I have spoken – Mark and I have talked with you and Jess before. And you've shared how God continued to be an ever-present help in these times of trouble. But will you share one of your conversations with the Lord where he responded to you with alliteration? Doug Rumbold: (39:35 - 45:50) Yeah, the one that I think of is – and I write about it a little bit in my book. But I just remember thinking kind of two questions that I would ask. One was right after Pierce was born and we obviously weren't having any sleep. So, if you look at the timeline, Jada was diagnosed on the 30th of December. The 2nd of January was Jessica and my anniversary. The 3rd was Jada's surgery. The 10th was when her pathology came back. And the diagnosis went from 95, 98% cure rate, survival rate just fine to like 40 to 60% survival rate. And a different stage of cancer and the size of the tumor was much larger than they originally anticipated. And so, we came home that night from the pathology report and wept and wept and wept. And then Jessica started labor that night. And it was a blizzard. Our midwife didn't make the birth. And then Pierce is born on the morning of the 11th, which is the same morning that Jada and I were supposed to go back in now to have more MRIs, more blood work to determine had the cancer metastasized throughout her whole body instead of just in that one tumor. And it was assumed that it had and so, that's why they were checking everything. And so, it was an urgent, you need to get there for this. I just kind of felt like the one question, one of two questions I was asking, but one of them was with conversation with the Lord was when will you relent? Won't you just relent? So, I was never like struggling in my faith to the degree that I was going to toss it, but I was angry with God. I was like, come on, like, how does this work? Can you give, throw me a bone, basically. So, that was one conversation. But the conversation that's most poignant is after he started to frame those things up a little bit and give more of a trellis to build on. I remember treatment had begun, which timeline, if you're looking at it, the 11th is when Pierce is born. The 13th is when Jada started treatment. So, from like the 13th to the 18th, she had radiation. And then after that, for the rest of the year, eight months, whatever, she had chemo. I remember one morning I never slept at the hospital. It was just not comfortable. It was always beeping, stuff like that. So, I would often go down to the playroom. There's an activity room at the end of the hall on the sixth floor there at OSF. And I'd be down there with a lackluster cup of coffee and my Bible and journal. And I'd watch the sunrise over the city of Peoria. And it would just be kind of like; I really couldn't hardly read. It would be more of me just like, because no one was awake. That was the only time when it was semi quiet. And I would just have these out loud conversations with the Lord. Like, what's happening? And the conversation, the question that I kept asking was, Lord, how in the world are we going to do this? How in the world are we going to make it through? That's really when he began to kind of press back in. And I'm not, I don't know how to explain this, but more of a, I had a very tangible sense that as I'm sitting there on the sixth floor, that he was almost in the chair next to me. And he's just, he's like, okay, tell me more about your struggle. What's it like? Help me to understand the pain of your heart. And so, I'm, I'm unloading these things to Him. And all of a sudden I noticed the time and it's like, oh, Jada is going to be waking up soon. I need to get back there before they do rounds, you know, and the whole dance starts again. And so, I kind of like, oh, I want to return. It's like when you wake up from a dream and you're like, oh no, I want to finish the dream. And you try to go back to sleep quickly. That's a little bit of how that conversation was working out. And I remember going back to the room and jotting a few more things down in my journal. And then after that it goes, okay. The day was now full of motion. And I had forgotten about the conversation quite honestly. And until that evening, I was like, okay, I'm just gonna, I told Jada, I'm like, “Honey, I'm going to run home real quick and shower, get a change of clothes and maybe get some real food. And then I'll be back. Okay.” Don't worry. And so, I hopped in my car, I turned on my headlights, and I got out of the parking garage, and I got on 74. And right as I was getting on the bridge to cross over the Illinois to go back toward Tremont, it was, I mean, I don't know how people feel about this. So, sorry if I start a theological controversy on your podcast, but, um, I, as I'm sitting there as audible as you and I talking back and forth, there's this sense of my spirit of like, you asked how you're going to get through Christ community and confession. But there was really beyond that, there was really no discussion. You know, it was more just like those three words got tossed out. And so, I remember driving down the highway and almost like, uh, you're in a zone where it's like, you see the headlights, you know, going like right past you and, and nothing is distracting to me. And I remember thinking some of those things made sense to me, like, you know, yes, Christ suffered. Yes. I need community around me, things like that. But confession was the one that I struggled with the most. Like what do you mean by that? You know, because I had a courtroom idea of confession, like, okay, I got caught doing something I shouldn't have. I need to confess. What I did was wrong. And there definitely is that element. But I came to learn later that confession is the Hebrew word. One of the Hebrew words for it actually means praise. And so, there's this, there's this idea of caught up, being caught up in understanding the presence of God and you're confessing. It's the word that actually, more accurately, fits is declaration. And so, I'm like, oh, wow. Okay. So, what you're saying then is these scriptures that I've been studying for years now, I I'm actually, it's about declaring them in praise over my life, over my circumstances, over my daughter as a way of help to get us through. Okay. Laura Dugger: (45:51 - 47:09) By now, I hope you've checked out our updated website, thesavvysauce.com so that you can have access to all the additional freebies we are offering, including all of our previous articles and all of our previous episodes, which now include transcriptions. You will be equipped to have your own practical chats for intentional living. When you read all the recommended questions in the articles or gain insight from expert guests and past episodes, as you read through the transcriptions, because many people have shared with us that they want to take notes on previous episodes, or maybe their spouse prefers to read our conversations rather than listen to them. We heard all of that and we now have provided transcripts for all our episodes. Just visit thesavvysauce.com. All of this is conveniently located under the tab show notes on our website. Happy reading. And I just want to go back to something that you said, because you use the word relent. God, how long until you relent? And yet he flipped that word and taught you that he will relentlessly continue to pursue you with his presence. Doug Rumbold: (47:10 - 49:26) I'm glad that you draw that out because I think the relentless pursuit is in that question of when will you relent? It was one of our darker moments, even in marriage where my wife and I were both stretched to the max, totally thin and struggling. And it was an argument, you know, where I'm lying on the ground after my wife and I had just kind of like, I need you to take care of this. And she's asking me to take care of something I'm not wanting to, and I'm holding my ground and I'm tired. She's tired. And aren't your best moments between midnight and 7am anyway? And so, I remember laying on the ground. That moment was laying on the ground at the foot of my son's crib in our bedroom. And he was not sleeping. He's a newborn. Newborns don't sleep easily. And I remember pounding the ground and actually saying, you know, when, when will you relent God? Like when will you let up? And to see the connection between my question was the assumption that God had left the building that God had kind of punched the clock. Okay. I'll be back by five. You know, like when instead, the way that He wants to communicate His presence to me in my suffering shows that He's relentlessly digging through every bit of self-reliance that I've set up to try to manufacture outcomes. And so, there, there's a way that His relentless presence is like, like waves on a shore one after the other, the rhythmic nature of it, the dependable nature of it, you can't stop it. Nature of it is the way that He can and will use any circumstance trial in your life to communicate His presence to you. So, yeah, that's right. Its relenting is a releasing and letting go, but relentless pursuit is also this like dogged pursuit of us. it's been said before that, that God or Christ is the hound of heaven, you know, like a blood hound with your scent who won't give up until He finds you. And so, similar to our experience for sure. Laura Dugger: (49:27 - 50:00) Well, and you go into these stories and then also offer hope and offer so much scripture where you have poured over to help us make sense of suffering. And even see things where it's a very upside-down economy as God often has, where there's blessing in the affliction, but yet to close the loop on this story. Can you give us a picture of where your family is at today? Even the ages of your children and Jada's status? Doug Rumbold: (50:01 - 52:27) Yeah, for sure. So, it's been a long journey for sure. Jada now is 18 and we are in preparation for her. She is going to be going to Arizona Christian University in the fall. So, a nice short 24-hour drive away. And so, again, we're learning afresh what it looks like to lay down our children, but we're super excited about it. We are super excited about the new friends she'll make. My wife and I have always said Jada is a spread your wings and fly sort of girl and cancer only proved that. So, we're super excited about that for her. Our son, Oliver, who was two at the time, is now 14 where he's a freshman. He turns 15 this summer and I'm sure we'll be driving soon after. No concerns there. And then my son, Pierce, is in sixth grade. And yeah, they all have their own interest's kind of across the board. Jada loves music and singing and playing piano. Oliver is relationally. He's just this guy who enjoys mature conversation. So, like when we get together with our life group, you'll find him talking to the adult men just because he fits there. He's more of an old soul. Pierce is our creative kid. He's always doing trick shots. And I mean, it's pretty crazy the stuff that he does. He's kind of fun like that and loves fishing and things of this nature. So, yeah, all of my kids are very interesting and different like that. My wife is doing homeschooling for the boys, and she continues to be somebody who is a silent influencer in the lives of many, usually and primarily through prayer. But I am amazed at how often the Lord uses her in the lives of other people to bring about change and transformation. She's just an excellent gifted counselor of people with the word of God and prayer. So, that's kind of where our family's at. I've been at the time that Jada was ill, I was the youth pastor at Northfield and I'm still at Northfield though. I'm in a different role. I'm pastor of counseling and discipleship here at Northfield. So, I have never left this community. So, I'm trying to think if there's anything else update wise. I don't think so. I think it's pretty much it. Laura Dugger: (52:27 - 52:30) And so, Jada is in remission. Doug Rumbold: (52:30 - 55:11) Yes. She did have one other occurrence where she started having really acute headaches in 2013. Then, those acute headaches turned into taking her back for a checkup and the checkup revealed a lesion on her frontal lobe. So, a brain tumor. We had to wait eight weeks to scan again. Those eight weeks were the hardest and worst that I think we've faced even from the first cancer. It was like, “Oh my goodness, we're going to have to go through this again.” And then we had this season of waiting, you know, the eight weeks and then she was going back in for another scan to determine scope and growth. Also, you know, what type of craniotomy or brain surgery they were going to perform, to address it or whether it was going to be treated medically. Or how was that going to happen? And so, that all took place. Then, they did the scan, and we had to wait. Normally we would have these scans, and it would be like a four-to-eight-hour turnaround. And you know that same day or even the next day we get a call from the St. Jude office, and they would say all clear. This one went one day, that was two days. And I called and they said, “Oh, well, you know, the doctor will call you.” And I'm like, “Come on Beth.” You know, she was the head nurse that I've had relationship with for a while. And she's like, “No, you know, the doctor will tell you.” And I'm like, “That's never good.” And come to find out, we had to wait until the end of that week. So, it was not one day, not two days, not three days, not four days, but five. So, it went from Monday to Friday. And on Friday, the doctor called me after hours. And I thought for sure it was, you know, here we go treatment time. And, um, she called back and said, the reason it's taken so long is because I had to have conference calls with, uh, Memphis, DC, LA, all these different cancer centers and looking at the imaging together. But when, when we laid the last image that shows the lesion over the newest one, the newest one shows nothing like it's completely gone. And she goes, and it's definitely here. It's definitely something that requires intervention. And now it doesn't. And so, she goes, I just wanted to confirm the anomaly. I'm like, that's not an anomaly. That's a healing. And so, uh, Jada has been in remission, ever since. So, she's been, she's been doing good. In fact, her last cancer follow-up appointment was like three weeks ago and got the all clear. So, praise God. Laura Dugger: (55:11 - 55:44) Praise God. What an awesome, miraculous healing. I'm so thankful you shared that and really Doug with your unique career that you're in and the journey that you and Jess have been through and your love of scripture, you're putting all of this together and it really is such a gift, this book that you've written. So, can you tell us just a little bit more of who this book is for and what people could expect to find when they read it? Doug Rumbold: (55:45 - 57:54) Yeah. So, the book is for anyone because, and you would know this as well, but you're either heading into a trial, you're in the middle of a trial or you're on the backside of a trial. And there's never a moment in which you can say, “Oh, okay, well now I've learned and now I've arrived and now we're good.” I do think that the preparation of our heart for trial is critical because it's going to come like we are going to face suffering of some form at some point. And so, it's good to know how to approach it. It's for anybody who wants to learn and grow and be encouraged. But specifically, one of the things that I struggled with during our trial, and it's ongoing, you know, because of some of the stuff that we mentioned before ongoing health issues in our family and stuff like that. But I, what I found was people would be like, “Oh, here's a book.” It's only 320 pages on suffering. I'm like, really? Thanks for that. I've got no capacity to do that. So, I purposely wanted to write a book that you could personally sit and read like in an afternoon. It's so, it's short. It's like, you know, a hundred pages and it's digestible. So, you could jump from one chapter to the eighth chapter if you wanted, and you would, you would still hopefully gain something. So, I wanted to make it uniquely accessible and heart focused. So, you'll find kind of like throughout the chapters, I have these like, so, truth to life. And what I'm basically doing is trying to say, “Okay, we talked about something at a 30,000-foot view. What does it look like boots on the ground here?” I don't usually just spell it out for you. I usually ask questions that are going to force you to address heart issues because scripture is pretty clear that all of our conduct flows from a heart that's filled with good or bad. So, people can expect to be challenged. They can expect to not have something that's too long and too hard to read, but they can also expect to find it kind of built around story a little bit. That's one of the reasons why I use those different stories from scripture. I think we relate well and explain things well in a story. Laura Dugger: (57:55 - 58:14) Definitely agree. We learn so much from Jesus's stories. Those stick with us and yours do too. So, thank you for sharing all of those today. And if anyone desires more help and healing after today's conversation, where would you direct them? Doug Rumbold: (58:15 - 59:59) The first thing that I would do is just encourage prayer. The idea of silence and solitude is where you can be begun to become aware of the healing that you may need and being able to just journal it down and have it right in front of you. That is probably one of the first steps. Second thing I would say is to lean into community. COVID has kind of wrecked things in some ways where some people have gotten used to this idea of either online attendance or whatever. Nothing, nothing, nothing replaces the body of Christ in the tangible way. And so, the idea of being with and around other like-minded believers is critical. But in terms of myself, the book that I wrote, it's available on Walmart, Amazon, Barnes and Noble. You can just search Presence Over Pain in a search engine and find it pretty easily. I am currently in the works of working through like an audio version of it because some people prefer that. So, that will be forthcoming. You can find me on Facebook or Instagram. I provide biblical counseling in person or virtually so, people can contact me through those platforms if they want to have a conversation. And the cool thing is those things happen. There's a number of different connections that God has made where people have either read the book or they know someone who read the book and my name was recommended and here I am a couple of months later having a conversation with someone who found me online. And I love technology for that purpose. How can we come together and build around something in Christ? It's pretty awesome. Laura Dugger: (59:59 - 1:00:31) That is awesome. And we will certainly add all of those links in the show notes for today's episode. In addition to the link to your own podcast where you dig a little bit deeper into the book. And the name of that is also Presence Over Pain podcast. And Doug, you know that our podcast is called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for you today, what is your Savvy Sauce? Doug Rumbold: (1:00:32 - 1:04:48) I love the question because practical is helpful. So, I think probably just some brief stories and then a couple of suggestions. So, I remember when I was younger, all seven of us children kind of growing up in the same house. My dad had such a passion for us to know the word of God that he wanted us to all like sit down at the same time. And he was going to read a chapter of Proverbs. Well, can you imagine seven kids on a Tuesday morning trying to get ready for school? And then your father saying, “Okay, everybody sit down.” Like nobody's going to be able to do that. And so, after a few failed attempts, what my dad did was he would, he would have a section that he was going to read, and he would start with the oldest child, and he would follow them around literally like follow them. And he would just, he would read the word of God to them and then he would move to the next one and to the next one and to the next one and the next one. And I have memories of like even walking out the door, going to get on the bus and my dad following me right up to the door, reading the last bit of Proverbs to us. And so, practically speaking, you really cannot underestimate the value of intentionally diving into God's word daily personally. Like don't let somebody else do it for you. It's so, personal. It's so, needed. And just when you feel like it's not going to matter, the fruit of it will come forth. So, that's, that's one. And then the other story that kind of points to a practical reality is my wife grew up through her parents splitting up when she was, I think, second or third grade. And just the difficulty of that, like the life of a single mom as she and her sister watched her mom go through that. But Jessica tells a story often of like not understanding and now understanding, but like she would knock on her mom's door and she would hear her mom crying and she would, she'd open the door and her mom would be face down on the floor, just, just praying and weeping. And she's like, hold on, honey. Mommy just needs to be with Jesus. And it communicated this idea. And my wife has carried this on in our own family and in her practice of just like prayer and particularly prayers of lament are huge. And so, practically speaking, what's that look like? I mean, I have an exercise. I'm sure you are being a counselor by nature would, would appreciate this. But one of the things that you can do to learn how to lament is to look at a good number of the Psalms are lament Psalms. Like they're sad Psalms. Like Lord, my life stinks. The wheels have fallen off and you're nowhere to be found. So, being honest with God is critical, but a simple assignment would be to read a lament Psalm, like Psalm 13 or Psalm 88 or Psalm 77, Psalm 42, any of those. And then as you read that Psalm, just the simple assignment is to like write your own Psalm of lament and then read it back to the Lord. You know, Lord, I felt like you were absent when my daughter was diagnosed with cancer, but I am going to trust in your unfailing love. Like you see those pictures all throughout the Psalm. So, that's a practical, simple way to engage God. I think the last thing that I would say in terms of practical is the idea of rest from a perspective, you know, biblically it's called Sabbath. Do you have a 24-hour period of rest? Because what you do when you Sabbath is you say something to God and to everyone else. It doesn't depend on me. When I choose to rest, I'm choosing not to be productive. I'm choosing not to perform. I'm choosing only to receive. I'm choosing to rest. I'm choosing to fall back into his arms. Rhythmically reminding ourselves of that for me, the way that that works out is like, you know, I'm a pastor. So, Sundays are a workday. So, once I get home after Sunday until like noon, the following day is the time when it's like, okay, this is where I'm not going to be on my screen. I'm going to take a walk with the family. We're going to have dinner together. Things that are filling and receiving are critically helpful. And I would say savvy. Laura Dugger: (1:04:49 - 1:05:08) That's so good. And Doug, Mark and I are just so grateful to know you and Jess. We learn from both of you, and we've learned from your stories. They've been so impactful today. So, thank you for writing this resource and thank you for being my guest today. Doug Rumbold: (1:05:09 - 1:05:11) It was a total pleasure. Thank you for having me on. Laura Dugger: (1:05:12 - 1:08:54) One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, he made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, would you pray with me now? Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you. Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me, so me for him. You get the opportunity to live your life for him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to im
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Send us a textI share my four-year journey with elevated PSA levels and prostate health monitoring. After seeing my PSA jump from 0.9 to 2.7 in two years, I embarked on a thorough medical investigation including multiple biopsies, MRIs, and ultimately successful treatment with Dutasteride.• PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) should ideally stay between 0-4 in men• Rising PSA levels warrant investigation even when within normal range• Underwent comprehensive testing including two 12-point biopsies, both negative for cancer• Dutasteride treatment successfully lowered my PSA from 5.09 to 1.54• Risk factors for prostate cancer include age, family history, and certain ethnicities• Regular PSA testing is crucial for early detection and high survival rates• Prostate cancer awareness shouldn't be limited to SeptemberGet your PSA checked regularly. Don't allow September to be the only month that we are aware of prostate cancer. Do it annually. I do it twice a year. Reach out to me and I will provide the resources and information to help you take this important step for yourself and your family.Support the showPlease like and follow each of Stories Inside the Man Cave Podcast social media links on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok.
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Are they really going with a "Justice For Leka" mantra??? It seems like Stephen is going to have some words about that. Also coming up on this week's episode of The Right Reality, more Turbo in a speedo, MRIs and why does no one want to be partnered with Olivia??? YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/DO-Xl48b8FM Welcome to The Right Reality Podcast — your not-so-serious, definitely hilarious weekly recap of The Challenge: Vets and New Threats (and every messy season after that). Each week, we break down the latest episode with just enough analysis and way too many jokes. Expect unfiltered opinions, wild theories in Conspiracy Corner, and the one and only Ass of the Week — because, let's be honest, priorities. If you're tired of podcasts treating The Challenge like it's the Super Bowl, hit subscribe. We're here for the drama, the chaos, and the hot takes — not the draft boards.
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What is your data trying to tell you? In this episode, John Dues talks to Andrew Stotz about why most leaders misread data, overreact to single results, and miss the real story. Discover how Deming thinking exposes when change is truly happening and how to use a process behavior chart to listen to the real story. Plus, find out why nine years of ‘stable' results may still demand transformation. Tune in and rethink data-driven leadership! 0:00:02.2 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz, and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, I'm continuing my discussion with John Dues, who is part of the new generation of educators striving to apply Dr. Deming's principles to unleash student joy in learning. The topic for today is understanding variation is the key to data analysis. John, take it away. 0:00:27.8 John Dues: Andrew, it's good to be back. Yeah. So, we've just started the school year in Ohio, so I thought doing a session on goal setting would be a good place to kick off the year. And I was thinking a lot of leaders, school leaders and leaders in general, are setting goals around this time period. And I was really thinking about having this Deming lens. I was thinking, how did I set goals before I sort of started understanding this approach? And it's, you know, this is one of those things where if you really stop and think about it, goal setting is a lot harder than it seems at first glance. Things like, how do you set a reasonable goal? And then once you've gotten to that place, how do you know if things are improving? How do you know if things are getting worse? And I was thinking how powerful this understanding variation method is for folks that may be struggling with those questions. 0:01:32.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. In fact, that's a great question for the listener and the viewer. Like, how do you set goals? How did you set goals in the past? How have you improved that? And I was thinking when you were speaking, I didn't set goals. I gave proclamations. You know, 20% of I want to see this and that. And they were just stretch targets without any means or methods. So yeah, interesting. 0:01:55.2 John Dues: Yeah. How do you set the target? Was it arbitrary? Is it based on some standard that you heard somewhere? A lot of times you have no idea sort of what's behind that target or you've sort of associated it to something that's familiar. Like in my case, we often sort of set goals that sort of mimic the grade scale. So, you know, 80% is a common goal for something like test scores, you know. 0:02:23.7 Andrew Stotz: But they don't even call them goals anymore. They call them, let me remember, I think it's called KPIs. 0:02:30.0 John Dues: KPIs, targets, you know, lots of different things for sure. And I think what I've seen is that a lot of the reason that goal setting is so hard is because you, well, one, you misinterpret your data in the first place. And a lot of that misinterpretation, at least in the education sector, is because leaders don't have the knowledge. They don't know about natural variation. They're typically making comparisons between some current performance level, some previous value. But those two things, those two data points don't show you, don't convey the behavior of that data across time. So, what we do and what I did before I sort of discovered this method is you overreact to a single data point. Probably less frequently, you underreact to the data because you don't have this understanding of, you know, how much is the data moving up and down sort of naturally almost no matter what you're doing. Now, that's not always the case, but that's the case that I've found in a lot of situations. And so until you start to take that into account, those natural ups and downs, then you just misinterpret the data over and over again, usually by overreacting is what I've seen. 0:03:54.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. 0:03:56.0 John Dues: So there's, you know, I think as a starting point, people in the Deming community will be familiar with, a lot of people. But others listening to this probably have never heard of this idea of dividing variation into, I've heard it described as like two flavors. There's the routine variation, what I call natural variation, things vary naturally no matter what you're doing. And then there's exceptional variation where things are so different that there is reason to pay attention to this. And what I found through studying this is, the key is knowing how to tell the difference between those two types of variation. And don't do that, lots of confusion, lots of wasted effort. And so that's really where the power of this methodology comes into play. And for anybody that's studied this, you sort of realize that you have to have a tool to make that differentiation. It's not arbitrary. And so that's where what I call the process behavior chart, some people call the control chart, where that comes into play because that tool allows us to tell what type of variation is present. And it also allows us to tell if the system is predictable or unpredictable. And once we have that understanding, then we can chart an improvement sort of roadmap that makes sense. 0:05:21.8 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. In fact, I've applied two of the things, you know, one of the things to my pass rates and admission rates, I applied the process chart, the control chart, based upon your recommendation a long time ago. And it did help me to kind of think if, you know, in my case, I wanted to break out of that standard outcome that I was getting. And so I realized, something has to change substantially in the system in order to get a different result than this variation that I was getting. That was the first thing. And then the second one, a couple of nights ago, I was giving a lecture and I was using your work that you and I have talked about, as well as Mike Rother's stuff on goal setting and having the target. And then there's that obstacle. And what I realized when I gave a little talk on it and I used the diagram and I showed the obstacle, it became kind of apparent to everybody like, oh, yeah, there's an obstacle there that we don't know how to solve. 0:06:27.6 John Dues: Yeah. 0:06:28.3 Andrew Stotz: And that's where PDSA came in. And we started talking about that, as you have taught previously. So, yeah, I'm excited to hear what you have to say today. 0:06:38.2 John Dues: Yeah. And the Mike Rother model, I mean, he does have this target that's this long term target that's pretty hard to hit. And you don't really know what you're going to do. But the difference there then in the situation I'm describing is that that in Mike's model, that target is knowingly outside of the current sort of capability of the system. And they're coming together as a team and saying, how do we get to that target six months from now or a year from now? And we're working towards that rather than someone has just arbitrarily set some target, without a realization that the system isn't capable of hitting that currently. Those are two completely different scenarios. Yeah. So, I think I'll share my screen. Well, actually, before I do that, I would just say, too, because I know sometimes when I introduce these things, a lot of times people get scared away because they think the math is hard. And what I would say there is that there's the creation of a process behavior chart probably takes about fourth grade level math skills. You really only need to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 0:07:49.3 John Dues: That's it. But the thinking, I think, actually can be taught all the way down to the kindergarten level. And I've actually seen kindergartners explain the data on a process behavior chart. So, if anybody gets scared away at this part, the math is simple and the thinking is also pretty simple and powerful once you sort of have the basics. So, I'll go ahead and share my screen so the folks that are watching have a visual to follow along on. And for those that don't, I'll do my best to describe it. When we're talking about a process behavior chart, and this one's sort of an annotated version so that things are clear. But basically a process behavior chart is just a time sequence chart. It has upper and lower natural process limits, and we plot data for some measure that we're interested in. And the chart typically has a central line so that we can detect a trend of those plotted values toward perhaps either limit. So, this particular chart, the data is the percent of students who scored proficient or higher on the Ohio third grade reading state tests from spring 2004 through 2015. 0:09:06.8 John Dues: So, I've labeled sort of some of those key parts of the chart. So, just kind of call those out. Again, the red lines are the lower and upper natural process limits, sort of bound where you'd expect the data to be in a stable system. 0:09:21.1 Andrew Stotz: And those are 1, 2, 3 standard deviations or what? 0:09:28.1 John Dues: Well, this particular chart, it's what I call a process behavior chart. So it's actually, it's not standard deviation. It's based on a measure of dispersion called the moving range. And then there's a formula that smarter people than me figured out sort of how to use that moving range to set the red lines. But the important thing to know about the limits is that they're set empirically. And that just means that they're based on the data. And so they are where they are, not where I want them to be necessarily. I don't get to choose where they are, how wide they are, where they're placed numerically is based on the data itself. And then that green center line for this particular chart is the average of all the blue dots. And then the blue dots is each year of, again, testing data. 0:10:19.4 Andrew Stotz: 2004 to 2015 as the x-axis, yep. 0:10:27.0 John Dues: Yeah. So, you have a decade and a half or so, or sorry, a decade plus of data here. So, a good amount of data. So, you can kind of see how things are performing over time on this third grade reading test. And so the purpose of the chart, like we talked about, is to separate those two flavors of variation, the routine and the exceptional. And this chart is a really great example of just natural or routine variation. So, I'm looking for patterns in the data, like a single data point that would be outside the end of those red process limits. And you don't see that. The results for these years instead are just bouncing around an average of about 78.5%. Now there's some years where it's a little higher than that and some years where it's a little lower. But the point is none of those increases and decreases are meaningful. There's only that natural variation present. But the problem is, in the typical data analysis method, what I call the old way, the simple sort of limited comparison, is that a leader will rely on comparisons between the current figure and some previous value. 0:11:48.9 John Dues: And probably the most common and why I chose this data, at least in my world, is a leader will compare last year's test scores and this year's test scores. That's very, very common. But the problem is, again, that what I'm calling a limited comparison, the comparison between two years of data, it doesn't take natural variation into account. So, what happens is we try to ascribe meaning to those increases or decreases between data points when in reality there's often no difference to be found. And I have a really great example of this. Let me switch my screen here. So, there's a lot of information here, but it's pretty simple to understand. So, this is a snapshot from 2017/2018 state test results. And so this is a document that was published by our Department of Education here in Ohio back during those school years. And the thing is, it may be eight or so years old, but it's as relevant today as when it was published eight years ago. We're still making the same sort of mistakes. So, we're basically, when we look at the data in this chart, we're basically being led to believe that there's been this meaningful decline in performance in third grade ELA. 0:13:16.4 John Dues: That's what's signified by that red arrow in the first row of the table. So, you have the ELA data says that in '16/'17, 63.8% of our third graders were proficient. And in the following year, 61.2% were proficient. And there's this red down arrow to say, oh, things got worse this school year, at least when it was published. But then if you look at the blue box, the text for those that have video, in the text it says we're not supposed to worry because, "third grade saw decreases this year, but has maintained higher proficiency than two years ago." So. Then you start to think, well, which is it? Should I be worried about my third grade ELA state test scores because of the most recent decrease, you know, as of when this was published? Or should I not worry because the scores are better than they were two years prior to that? 0:14:21.7 Andrew Stotz: And that depends what side of the argument you're on. 0:14:24.4 John Dues: Depends what side of the argument you're on. What story do you want to tell with this data, right? 0:14:30.3 Andrew Stotz: So, it's bad enough to be potentially misled by this probably common variation, but then to have both sides of an argument be misled at the same time. 0:14:41.0 John Dues: Right, yeah. Ultimately it seems like what they're trying to do is show improvement because you have this big headline up here that says, Ohio students continue to show improved achievement in academic content area. 0:14:55.2 Andrew Stotz: Yay! 0:14:58.5 John Dues: But there's a way to actually answer these questions definitively using this method, right? And so what I did was I took the data from the three years of the state testing for third grade ELA from this state education department publication, and I just plotted it on a process behavior chart. And then I continued plotting it for the more recent data that's happened since this, because three data points isn't a lot, so I kept plotting it. And so now we have, going all the way back to the first year of data in this state testing document, we have 2015/2016 data, and of course now we have data all the way up through the end of the last school year, 2024/2025. So, we have nine data points. So I plotted it, right? It looks like this. So, here's those same data as the first three data points, spring 2016, spring 2017, spring 2018. 0:15:58.3 John Dues: That's from the table from the previous slide. And then I've continued plotting things for, you know, spring of 2018, '19, '21, '22, '23, '24, and '25. So, now we have nine years of data. And what we can see is, just like what I would have predicted, even if I had only had those three years to work with that were from the state testing document and not the more recent data, but there's no evidence of improvement. It's definitive. And so you see these nine data points. They're just simply bouncing around this average of 61%. That's what the green line shows. It's almost perfectly balanced, in fact. So, three of the points are actually below the average. One point is almost right on the line, the average line. And then there's five points above. And if you follow it from point to point, it increases, then decreases, then increases, then decreases, then increases very slightly for a couple or three or four years in a row. Right? But there's no signals or patterns in this data to indicate any changes of significance. Right? So claims like, you know, yeah, we've declined in this most recent year from that testing document or, oh, we shouldn't worry too much because it's better than two years ago. All of that is nonsense. 0:17:24.6 Andrew Stotz: So, the title should have been nine years of no improvement. 0:17:29.7 John Dues: Nine years of no improvement. Nine years of stable data. And the thing is, a lot of data looks just like the state testing data over time. Not only in education, but in other things. And how I've heard this described by people that use this methodology is that, claims of improvement are often nothing more than writing fiction. And I think that's a very good description for what we see here. And the thing is, is like, I'm not trying to throw the person that wrote that document under the bus. All I'm saying is that there's a better way to be looking at data like this, a way that makes more sense. 0:18:24.9 Andrew Stotz: It made me think of the Mark Twain quote, rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated. 0:18:39.9 John Dues: Give me one second here. My screen switched on me. There we go. Okay. So, when I think about this data, there's no real decline in performance, there's no real increase in performance. It's just stable performance. I think the key for leaders, systems leaders especially, is that this system, the way we would describe it is it's producing predictable results, and it's performing as consistently as it is capable. And so it's a waste of time to explain the natural variation in a stable system. Because what people would say is that there's no simple single root cause for this noise. 0:19:24.5 Andrew Stotz: And I think it's even better way of saying it. It's not a waste of time, it's a waste of your career. 0:19:32.6 John Dues: That'd be a very apt way of describing this. 0:19:36.0 Andrew Stotz: It kind of goes back to the point that Dr. Deming said, which was that, a manager could spend his life putting out fires and never improve the system. And every little thing above and below was a little, little mini emergency or a response was made every year because of the under or over, you'd just spend, you know, it would just be whack-a-mole. 0:20:01.9 John Dues: Yeah. But I think the thing for people to understand is I'm saying this system is performing as capable as it is, or as the performances is what this particular system is capable of. But that doesn't mean just because it's stable and predictable, like this one is, you know, it's up above 61% one year, and then it's down below it a little bit or right on the line. That doesn't mean that stable means acceptable. It doesn't mean stable is satisfactory. 0:20:37.1 Andrew Stotz: I'm thinking that this is neutral, you know, it's an observation rather than a judgment. 0:20:42.5 John Dues: Yeah. It's just what is. It's the process is producing what you would expect it to produce because it's stable and predictable. 0:20:49.8 Andrew Stotz: I want to just mention that my mind's wandering because I know that you help people with these types of charts. And when I was working with a hospital here in Thailand, they had a great room that they set up that was all blacked out and it was full of these great computer screens and guys in their technicians, like 10 of them in this room. But the room was dead silent, blacked out 100%. And they were radiologists and all the x-rays, MRIs, and everything that were being done on the machines outside were coming into them and then they were making their judgments on it. And then they would submit that and then the doctors would very quickly get a read on that. And I was just thinking, imagine being a person that just all day long looking at these types of charts. Like just any system can be described by the... And then what's your judgment on this? Yep, common cause. That's it. 0:21:50.9 John Dues: Yeah. And I think it obviously doesn't mean that there isn't work to be done. Like in this case, even though it's stable and predictable, so if I was putting a bet down on what the results are for spring 2026, at the end of this school year, I'd put my money somewhere between, let's call it 55% and 65%. And I'd be right almost every single time, I think, as long as nothing changes. But that doesn't mean, like I said, it doesn't mean there's not work to be done because when you look at this, this means that about 60% of third graders are proficient in any given school year on this Ohio third grade state test, which means that two in five students are not reading proficiently. So, the improvement roadmap, there has to be some fundamental changes to how we do third grade reading instruction, curriculum, assessment. Something fundamental has to change if we want to get a different set of results. 0:22:54.8 Andrew Stotz: And one of the things that I've kind of come to believe in my life, right or wrong, I'm not exactly sure, but it's like having traveled to so many countries and seen so many places, I kind of feel like people get what they demand. Like the population of a country, if they don't demand certain behavior from politicians, they don't get it. And so on the one hand, this is a neutral thing, but I think you can also make a judgment that the population of Ohio is not in a continuous uproar to see this change. 0:23:39.0 John Dues: Yeah. Well, I would say very few people even have this picture in their head, whether it's educators or the general public, because every time we get one of these state testing reports, it usually has only two or three years of data. So no one even remembers what happened. 0:24:01.9 Andrew Stotz: I agree that they don't have clarity, real good clarity like you're bringing us here. They have an understanding of what's happening generally. And this is what, so the reason why I'm mentioning that is because part of the benefit of trying to understand the state of a system is to understand that the level of change or work or new thinking that has to go into saying, modifying, let's just say that the population was in an uproar and they decided that they wanted to get to 90% proficiency from 60%. The level of rethinking is such a huge thing. And I think what this chart tells me is like, that's kind of what's set in stone. And in order to move beyond what's set in stone, there is a whole lot of work and a whole lot of new thinking that has to go into that. And it must be continuous. And that's part of the constancy of purpose. And you do it for three years and then a new guy comes in and he changes it. And then next thing you know, it's not sustained. 0:25:17.4 John Dues: Yeah. I mean, yes, you'd have to do something significant and then you'd have to stick with it. That constancy of purpose phrase is right on because you'd have to, first you'd have to develop the right plan and then you'd want to test it. But then once you started seeing some evidence of improvement, you'd have to stick with that plan for a decade or more to see those types of results. And that's really hard when the political will shifts, the focus shifts, you have a pandemic, whatever the thing is, you have less money for school, whatever that thing is or any combination of that, it makes it very challenging to sustain. 0:25:57.8 Andrew Stotz: And the reason why I'm raising this point is because it just kind of really hits me that take away Ohio, take away education, take away all of those things and just produce a control chart on any process in any business, in any school, and you're gonna see the current state. 0:26:17.3 John Dues: Yep, absolutely. Yeah. You can use this in any setting, any data that occurs over time, you could use this methodology. 0:26:24.8 Andrew Stotz: And one of the questions I have in my mind as I was thinking is like, why change it? The level of effort required to sustainably change that is just incredible. And you could argue that, okay, there's companies that build a competitive advantage by saying, that's not the status quo that we want to exist in and therefore we're gonna create a whole new business built around something different that produces a result that's considerably better than that. But it happens for sure, but we're much more likely in our lives if we were to see that to just let it be. 0:27:03.6 John Dues: Yeah. Yeah. And when you get it down, when you sort of zero in and get down to the sort of local level, there are schools that sort of performed in this sort of general fashion that made changes at the building level and then got significantly different results. So, it becomes a little easier. It's not easy, but it becomes easier when you're talking about a single school building and coordinating the efforts there versus trying to do that across all the school buildings. 0:27:32.9 Andrew Stotz: And I think this is what, when Dr. Deming talks about leadership, this is what he's talking about. 0:27:39.1 John Dues: Yep. Yep. And I think, you know, the good thing is here, if this is resonating with you, whether you're a school leader or the leader of some other type of organization, you know, you've probably struggled to interpret your most important data. So, before I discovered this method, I didn't really have a method per se. I'd put numbers in a table and then try to look at them and try to sort of ascertain what was happening on. And so I think it's, you know, if you've never heard of this, it's totally fine. Most of us were never taught how to understand variation in our data. But I think there's two sort of big ideas I would take from this as we've talked about this. The first is just taking natural variation into account. Just meaning plot your data over time, plot your dots, and look at how it's moving up and down over time. So, that's the first big idea, this idea of natural variation. Things are going to move up and down just naturally, no matter what's happening, even if nothing of significance has occurred. 0:28:47.6 John Dues: And then big idea two is that you can use this chart, this process behavior chart methodology to differentiate between those two types of variation that I talked about, the routine or natural variation, and then the exceptional variation. And then once you do that, you're gonna get some very powerful insights into what your data looks like, because people are gonna say, oh, I know why that happened. I know why that looks like that. Now that I see it like this, I have an understanding for why the patterns look like they do. And then you can start to turn that sort of type of analysis into better outcomes. And that's really the point of doing this is that you, you know when to react, when not to react, you are making sound decisions based on a logic, a logical model, a logical data model. And the best part is it's very simple. Like I said, a fourth grader can do the math required to create the chart. And I've seen kids as young as five or six interpreting the data in a chart. So, that means that we can all do it for sure. It's not actually that difficult. 0:30:00.6 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And I was just thinking of Newton's law of inertia, meaning an object stays at rest until acted on by an outside force. 0:30:12.7 John Dues: Yeah. 0:30:13.8 Andrew Stotz: And I think what you're showing is the state of inertia. 0:30:18.5 John Dues: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The state of inertia. And I think it's just, you know, you don't know what you don't know. But once you see this and, I did some of the figuring this out on my own reading about it, listening to other people talk about it, but I talk to a lot of people and got a lot of guidance. So if this has piqued your interest, my suggestion is reach out to somebody that has done this before, at least at the start. Because there are a lot of, you know, while I am saying you can create a chart with fourth grade math and I've seen kindergartners analyze the charts, there is some learning, there is some technicality to it. And so I think if you have a coach, even better because you're gonna learn it so much faster and be able to sort of turn that learning into results so much faster. 0:31:07.0 Andrew Stotz: And maybe the starting point is trying to figure out of all the different measures that I've got in my business, in my school, in my life, what's one that I get regularly? And I like data that comes out more than annual because then it's just such a long process. So if I have daily data, weekly, monthly, you know, those types of data points, then from that, you know, and what's one thing in your life that would be a data point that you'd like to look at? And I would even argue the first step is just to start collecting it into, let's say, an Excel file and just collect that raw data. And you can make a chart of that raw data. And the benefit of the process, you know, control chart and the process chart is that what you're seeing is, you know, tools within that chart to help you interpret. But even if you just start by figuring out what data point you wanna look at, start collecting it, do a month or two of getting that data, and then you can start saying, okay, now I'm gonna apply these tools, nothing wrong with that. 0:32:21.2 John Dues: Yeah. And you wanna show it to people, like whether that's teachers or students, you wanna show them the data that you're collecting because they're gonna be a part of that improvement process, no matter what type of data that you're looking at, at least in schools, you're always gonna want the front line people to be a part of that process. 0:32:39.4 Andrew Stotz: And the way I did that in my area of research when I was an analyst and I had a research, was I wanted to see the data of the output of our research operation. How much did we produce? I didn't have a strong opinion as to whether we should produce more or less or whatever. I just wanted to understand them. And so I started plotting that data on a weekly basis, and I labeled it pretty well. And then I just put it up on the wall, and I didn't talk about it. And I put it up, and people looked at it, and I didn't go and explain it, and I didn't put control limits or anything like that. I just put the data up. And I remember a Thai lady that worked for me came to me, and she said, I figured you out. And I was like, what are you talking about? And she said, I was out to lunch with a friend of mine, and she asked me, how many reports do you publish a month? And she said, my employee said, I publish six reports in a month. And my friend said, what? 0:33:45.4 Andrew Stotz: And she said, how many do you do? She said, I only do two in a month. And she said, what are Andrew's targets for you? My God, to get six reports. And then my employee said to her, he doesn't have any target for me. And then that employee of mine came back to see me after that lunch, and she said, I get it. You just put it up on the wall, and it raised the awareness for all of us, and we all looked at it, and then it influenced the way we thought about our job without you telling me, get four or six or two. And so sometimes, and I did that exact same thing when I worked at Pepsi when I was in 1989 when I joined Pepsi in the factory in Buena Park in particular, where I would put up on the wall, here's everybody's error rates from last night. And I would post that, and then the employees would just look at it and go, that's wrong. Okay. Fine, great, tell me. Let's look at the data. 0:34:44.8 Andrew Stotz: And I kept all the underlying data that was manual in my hands in stacks, and then they would go, oh, okay, so I did get that wrong. Let me fix that. And then I fixed it and put it back up, but it didn't look much prettier after I fixed it. And then all of a sudden, people started looking at it, and then they started having new information they never had. And I hadn't studied with Dr. Deming by that time, so I didn't even understand anything to do with the chart, but just putting up the chart without any major commentary is fascinating. 0:35:12.9 John Dues: Yeah. It starts those conversations, starts getting people sort of more involved, more engaged with the work. Yeah, I think those are all really smart moves that we often don't do. 0:35:25.2 Andrew Stotz: And I think that was why my boss suggested I go to a Deming seminar, because he saw me starting to do that, and then he had heard about Deming and knew a little bit, and then he was like, yeah, this guy could be suited for that. 0:35:36.6 John Dues: Yeah. It sounds like it was fate or something like that. 0:35:41.6 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Definitely. So, I'm going to wrap up just by saying that, for the listeners and the viewers out there, I think a big takeaway is figure out that one data point, just one. You don't need five, just one that comes out consistently, daily, weekly, monthly, you know, something that's relatively regular, and then start collecting that data. Write it down on a, you know, I do have times that I just write it down on a manual chart, in my notebook. Write it down there. You don't even need Excel. Just start collecting that data and thinking about the collection of the data, what time of the day you get it or what time of the week or what time of the month, and then start collecting it. Then the second stage is start to, you know, obviously, if you can go to an expert, someone like John or others, reach out to them, LinkedIn or other place, you know, and say, hey, I've got this data. Can you help me? And then they can easily do the calculations and then send you back the Excel file and say, here it is with all the calculations, which you did to me on one of mine, and that was great. And then get that help, and then start to move yourself slowly into the process because I think one of the things that I take away from it is that this really is the present, and it is an accurate representation of what the system is capable of. 0:37:10.2 John Dues: That's right. Yeah. 0:37:10.8 Andrew Stotz: And if you don't understand that, then you're just going to be beating your head against the wall. So, anything you would add? 0:37:18.9 John Dues: No, just beat your head against the wall and you make stuff up about what is happening. That's often what happens. Yeah. 0:37:27.0 Andrew Stotz: Then you become AI. You're hallucinating. 0:37:30.1 John Dues: Yes. 0:37:31.0 Andrew Stotz: Well, John, on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, I want to thank you again for this discussion. And for listeners, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. And you can find John's book, Win-Win: W. Edwards Deming, The System of Profound Knowledge, and the Science of Improving Schools, on amazon.com. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming, and that is that people are entitled to joy in work.
In this raw and deeply personal episode of Everyday Epigenetics: Raw. Real. Relatable., Susan opens up about her terrifying journey with Gadolinium Deposition Disease (GDD), a condition triggered by contrast injections commonly used in MRIs. What started as a routine scan for hip pain spiraled into months of excruciating suffering, disbelief from doctors, and a desperate search for answers.Susan is joined by Dr. Richard Semelka, one of the world's leading experts on MRI safety and the physician who has dedicated his career to researching, identifying, and treating GDD. Together, they shine light on a condition too often dismissed, ignored, or misdiagnosed, and discuss why awareness could be life-saving for countless people undergoing MRIs with contrast.This conversation is equal parts personal testimony, medical expertise, and call to advocacy. If you or someone you love has ever had, or may need, a contrast MRI, this is an episode you cannot afford to miss.In this episode:Susan's unfiltered story of surviving GDD and finding validation after years of pain and dismissalWhat Gadolinium Deposition Disease actually is, its symptoms, and why it's often overlookedWho is most at risk, and why some people may react while others don'tThe latest research on heavy metal toxicities and how GDD is treatedThe critical role lifestyle and immune system regulation play in recoveryWhy informed choice matters when doctors recommend contrast MRIsThis episode is not only about awareness, it's about reclaiming your voice, listening to your body, and refusing to be silenced when you know something is wrong.Learn more about our guest Dr. Richard SemelkaDr Semelka's career is shown to be the #10 in MRI, # 12 in Medical Imaging worldwide by Scholar GPS. He has written 6 editions of textbooks on MRI of the abdomen and pelvis, 5 editions of a textbook on MR physics, a textbook on quality improvement in Radiology and over 380 peer-reviewed articles, including the broadest range of subjects on safety issues in Radiology. Most recently he has described the entity Gadolinium Deposition Disease, on which he has written more than 16 articles. He has lectured around the world on topics in Radiology over a 35 year career. Presently he devotes his medical career to treating individuals with Gadolinium Deposition Disease and other metal toxicities. He is the president of the nonprofit GadTTRAC, an organization devoted to helping sufferers with Gadolinium and other heavy metal toxicity.RESOURCES:Connect with Dr Richard Semelka:Website: gadttrac.orgWebsite: www.richardsemelka.comFind all of Kate and Susan's Resources and links in the show notes: https://healthyawakening.co/2025/0915/episode74Connect with Susan: https://healthyawakening.co/Connect with Kate: https://theradiantlifeproject.com/Visit the website: healthyawakening.co/podcastFind listening links here: https://healthyawakening.co/linksP.S. Want reminders about episodes? Sign up for our newsletter, you can find the link on our podcast page! https://healthyawakening.co/podcast
Show LinksSelf-Paced Resources:Subscribe To The Daily Podcast: https://yourlevelfitness.com/podcastNew To The YLF Philosophy? Start Here: ylf30.comDaily Accountability And Structure For Your Self-Paced Inside/Out Process: https://yourlevelfitness.com/daily-emailQ&A Response YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjSupgaY5KA66MD2IdmCwFhLFbDe-pk1lIndividualized Guidance From DarylJoin The YLF Experience: https://app.moonclerk.com/pay/5t93iox9udm3Compare All Service Levels: https://yourlevelfitness.com/coachingGet Your Merch, Mugs & Wall QuotesShop The Current Collections: https://yourlevelfitness.shop/collectionsEpisode DescriptionIn this episode of The Daryl Perry Podcast, I'm talking about two things that are very much part of my life right now. First, Taco Tuesday has officially become a lifestyle. Every week I look forward to grabbing the La Torta Loco taco special, and honestly it has become a little weekly anchor for me. It even helps me avoid unnecessary restaurant runs the rest of the week because I know the tacos are coming.The other piece of my current reality is dealing with my ankles. I'm recovering from pretty severe internal bruising on one side and increasing discomfort on the other. That means MRIs, physical therapy, and a structured daily routine of stretches that are basically workouts themselves. The sessions range from twenty to thirty minutes depending on which set I do, and they're hitting the exact areas that need support. The real challenge is staying calm, not rushing, and keeping perspective while managing all this with cerebral palsy in the background.So today's mix is tacos and CP. I'd love to hear about your favorite food specials, whether it's Taco Tuesday or something else. If you have a spot I should know about, let me know. Heather and I love to check out local food whenever we're traveling, so send your recommendations.Thank you as always for listening. I'll talk to you again real soon.Please share this episode with anyone you think would be interested in listening to it.Visit darylperrypodcast.com for links to the show page on each of the major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share this pod.For comments, questions, topic ideas, possible collaborations please email daryl@yourlevelfitness.com
Lauren Rosenberg, a highly experienced Physician Associate, has dedicated nearly two decades to Internal Medicine and Health Optimization. Driven by a passion for preventative care, Lauren founded Vent Health to shift the focus from disease treatment to prevention. She specializes in a personalized approach that blends genetics, epigenetics, biomarkers, and lifestyle factors to tailor health interventions that extend and optimize each patient's healthspan. Lauren's practice includes prescribing peptides (GLP, CLP/GIP) for weight loss, insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, etc. This episode concentrates on MENOPAUSE. Lauren and Heather discuss what symptoms could be related to Menopause. Lauren will speak about hot flashes, heart palpitations, frozen shoulder, brain fog, lack of libido, itchy ears, anxiety, trouble sleeping, hair changes, urinary tract infections. They will discuss what can you do at home and what treatments can be beneficial from professionals, such as GLP 1's for weight gain and hormone replacement options. Lauren is a frequent speaker at the Age Management Medicine Group (AMMG) and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) conferences. Lauren's practice includes Cardiology prevention: Diagnostics and AI analysis to detect dangerous plaque and calcium; advanced lipid testing and cardiovascular genetics Longevity biomarkers: DNA methylation for biological age, VO2 max testing, Telomere health; Therapeutic plasma exchange Cancer prevention: methylated DNA screens, preventative MRIs, tumor marker testing. Lauren's Website: https://myventhealth.com/about/ Heather's Website: www.heatherthomson.com Social Media: IG: https://www.instagram.com/iamheathert/ You Tube: https://youtube.com/@iamheathert?si=ZvI9l0bhLfTR-qdo SPONSORS: BLISSY: Blissy is offering 60-nights risk-free PLUS an additional 30% off when you shop at www.Blissy.com/HEATHERPOD and use code HEATHERPOD. Your hair and skin will thank you! AIRDOCTOR: Go to AirDoctorPro.com and use promo code HEATHER to get UP TO $300 off today! AirDoctor comes with a 30-day money back guarantee, plus a 3-year warranty—an $84 value, free! Get this exclusive, podcast-only offer now at www.AirDoctorPro.com using promo code HEATHER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The 49ers rallied late for a 17-13 comeback victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Lumen Field. While San Francisco's defense produced several key performances, a surprising face on offense made the play of the game when third-string tight end Jake Tonges stepped up in George Kittle's injury absence. Matt Maiocco and Jennifer Lee Chan break down the roller-coaster ride that was the 49ers' Week 1 win, from outstanding defense and gritty offense to their erratic special-teams play.--(1:00) 49ers hold on for late win in wild finish(3:00) Tonges delivers with game-winning TD(7:00) Jauan Jennings, George Kittle will have MRIs on injuries(12:00) CMC a main reason 49ers won(17:45) Jennifer details postgame vibe in 49ers' locker room(21:00) 49ers' special teams roller-coaster continues(23:00) How long can Jake Moody remain 49ers kicker?(26:00) Special teams as a whole must be fixed(29:00) Biggest player personnel takeaways from Week 1
Compassion is the difference that makes the difference. The book Wonder Drug written by Stephen Trzeciak MD and Anthony Mazzearelli MD discusses how compassion and empathy increase a persons ability to heal and they bring the reciepts. The book discusses studies of bloodwork, MRIs and research projects all proving the amazing benefits of compassion. Listen along as we discuss compassionomics and how you can better improve the health and life of the people and animals you treat.
Neurons. Immune systems. MRIs. Weed gummies? One of the greats in neurology, Dr. Aaron Boster, takes time to chat all about Multiple Sclerosis, a neurological autoimmune disease close to our hearts. Alie's mom, your grammapod a.k.a. Fancy Nancy, was diagnosed with MS over two decades ago, and this episode explores in depth the factors that can cause MS, therapies that do – and don't – show promise, how diet, exercise and mindfulness actually can help folks who have MS, the oftentimes agonizing journey to a diagnosis, and advice for those who've MS for a while – or are newly in the community. Also: yeah, weed. Visit the Boster Center for Multiple Sclerosis and follow Dr. Boster on YouTubeA donation went to MS Views and NewsMore episode sources and linksOther episodes you may enjoy: Disability Sociology (DISABILITY PRIDE), Diabetology (BLOOD SUGAR), Post-Viral Epidemiology (LONG COVID), Dolorology (PAIN), Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES), Psychedeliology (HALLUCINOGENS), Cardiology (THE HEART), Somnology (SLEEP)400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topicSmologies (short, classroom-safe) episodesSponsors of OlogiesTranscripts and bleeped episodesBecome a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a monthOlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!Follow Ologies on Instagram and BlueskyFollow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTokEditing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake ChaffeeManaging Director: Susan HaleScheduling Producer: Noel DilworthTranscripts by Aveline Malek Website by Kelly R. DwyerTheme song by Nick Thorburn
Endometriosis is more than just painful periods—it's a chronic condition that can impact fertility, digestion, bladder health, and your overall quality of life. In this episode of Cycle Wisdom, Dr. Monica Minjeur unpacks why diagnosis is so often delayed, why ultrasounds and even MRIs may miss it, and when to seek surgical expertise. Through Lena's story, you'll see how restorative reproductive medicine provides a more comprehensive, cycle-informed approach to uncovering endometriosis and guiding treatment. Ready for answers beyond “it's just normal pain”? Book a discovery call today at radiantclinic.com
In this episode Andrea Samadi revisits a popular interview with Dr. Dawson Church about his book Bliss Brain and the neuroscience of meditation. They explore how simple, evidence-based practices can quiet the brain's default mode, trigger blissful neurochemicals, and reshape stress and happiness networks. Listeners learn why happiness must be trained, how meditation helps people live more in the present, and practical tips to start a daily meditation practice using guided tools like the free Bliss Brain meditations. Welcome back to SEASON 14 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren't taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I'm Andrea Samadi, and seven years ago, launched this podcast with a question I had never truly asked myself before: (and that is) If productivity and results matter to us—and they do now more than ever—how exactly are we using our brain to make them happen? Most of us were never taught how to apply neuroscience to improve productivity, results, or well-being. About a decade ago, I became fascinated by the mind-brain-results connection—and how science can be applied to our everyday lives. That's why I've made it my mission to bring you the world's top experts—so together, we can explore the intersection of science and social-emotional learning. We'll break down complex ideas and turn them into practical strategies we can use every day for predictable, science-backed results. For today's Episode 369, we are moving forward on our journey of the mind, to our next interview review, with our goal of building off of our past reviews, and sharpening our saw for improved well-being, productivity and success in 2025 and beyond. To review our last 3 episodes, with our interview with speaker Bob Proctor, we learned that “If we want to improve our RESULTS, we must focus on the six faculties of our mind—reason, intuition, perception, will, memory, and imagination.” “Devoting a year to developing each one would be time well invested, elevating us to greater heights and setting us apart from others.” Next, we looked at how we need to become extremely clear with our vision of “what we really want” and keep in mind that…. Our External Environment Reflects Our Internal World What exactly does this mean? It means that if we don't like what's happening in our external world—whether it's in our job, relationships, results, or any area of our life—we must first look inward. Our circumstances mirror the beliefs and thoughts we hold within. As James Allen reminds us in As a Man Thinketh: our outer world is always a reflection of our inner state. For today's Episode 369, we'll turn inward—sharpening our inner world so that we can transform the outer one. Today we go back EP 98[i] our interview with Dr. Dawson Church, that was recorded back in December of 2020, where we looked at the science behind implementing meditation into your daily routine. This interview is currently our most watched YouTube interview with over 11K views. This week, in our review of EP 98 with Dr. Dawson Church and his book Bliss Brain, we will explore how meditation can rewire the brain for happiness and presence. We will learn: ✔ Since happiness didn't evolve naturally, we must train our brain to achieve it. ✔ Our brains default to the past or future, constantly scanning for threats, instead of resting in the present moment. ✔ Extreme states of happiness are possible for all of us when we implement meditation consistently. ✔ How to commit to a daily meditation practice using the free meditations that come with Bliss Brain, or explore other guided programs until you find one that resonates with you Just a reminder-Dr. Church is the author of the book called Bliss Brain: The Neuroscience of Remodeling Your Brain for Resilience, Creativity and Joy.[ii] He's an award-winning science writer who blends cutting-edge neuroscience with the stories of people who've had firsthand experience of brain change. Neural plasticity—the discovery that the brain is capable of rewiring itself—is now widely understood. But what few people have grasped yet is how quickly this is happening, how extensive brain changes can be, and how much control each of us exerts over the process of our thinking. It's been almost 5 years since this interview, and it feels like yesterday to me. I remember at the time, one of my dogs was barking in the yard when the landscapers came, and I was worried it would distract our interview. It didn't. I don't even think Dr. Church could hear them. There were also two other things that stuck out in my head from this interview (other than the fact I was wearing glasses trying to prepare for Lasik surgery and couldn't really see the questions) but I'll also never forget that American entrepreneur and biohacker Dave Asprey, who's well known for his interest in helping others achieve these elevated brain states, wrote the Foreword to his book. I also won't ever forget Chapter 1, of Bliss Brain, where Dr. Church shares how he and his wife lost their home and pets in the 2017 Santa Rose Fire, yet they chose to focus on gratitude and rebuilding their lives with joy. This story highlights his teaching that even trained minds struggle under pressure, but with meditation and practice, we can shift into a bliss or flow state. Church's EcoMeditation method, (that he covers in his book) supported by science and praised by Dave Asprey in the Foreword, helps quiet the brain's Default Mode Network[iii] and quickly releases calming, pleasurable chemicals—in as little as four minutes. Dr. Church has a strong following, and there are many powerful testimonials at the start of his book. One we spoke about in our interview was from Toni Tombleson who wrote: After a week of putting out a handful of mini-fires that often accompany the start of a new school year in my world, I can see why these lessons to handling both major life crises and everyday challenges, by learning to cultivate a “Bliss Brain” should remain a top priority for resilience, productivity, and well-being, for all of us. VIDEO 1 Click Here to Watch Which brings me to Video Clip 1 of our review. Watch video clip 1 with the link in the show notes. Historical Context: Dr. Church begins by reflecting on The Buddha, who over 2,000 years ago sought to relieve human suffering. He also reviews other spiritual teachers, including Plato, who grappled with the same question. Biological Explanation: Dr. Church emphasizes that suffering is a biological problem, a feature of how the human brain evolved. How our lives have become easier than they were 2,000 years ago. He explained to me how people are 3x as wealthy now, than they were 40 years ago. In terms of longevity, our lifespans have doubled in the last century. There are many markers like this that show us that we live in a much more secure and safe world than we used to. Key Point: While we live in a safer environment today, than 2,000 years ago, our brains were not designed for where we are today. We are not suffering he reminded me because we are bad people, we lack will, or haven't read enough personal growth books… “We simply didn't evolve to be happy because there was no survival benefit in being happy.” Tip #1: Since happiness didn't evolve naturally, it's something we must train our brain to achieve. Practical Application: This is the basis of his book Bliss Brain, where he explains how meditation helps us train the brain to reach a bliss or flow state. It's in his book that we learn how to achieve this state that will change not only our brain, (our internal state) but our outer results in our everyday lives. In Chapter 2, he shows us why most people find it so hard to meditate. The difficulty has nothing to do with willpower or intention. It's simply due to the design of the human brain. When you understand this clearly, you'll be equipped to work around it. Chapter 3 describes the ecstatic states that you can achieve in meditation. He examines the regions of the brain that you activate, and what each one does. He also lists the extensive health and cognitive benefits that you get from activating each of those regions. In Chapter 4 you'll hear the story of his own personal failed meditation experiences. He learned many different styles of meditation, but could never establish a consistent practice. His breakthrough came from science. When he combined seven simple evidence-based practices together, found a formula that puts people into deep states automatically and involuntarily. No effort required. When he and his colleagues hook people up to EEGs and MRIs, they find that using these seven steps, even non-meditators get into profound states in less than 4 minutes. Sometimes in less than 50 seconds. Historically, the secrets of these states have been available to only about 1% of the population. Thanks to science, they're now available to everyone. Chapter 5 he goes into the seven neurochemicals of ecstasy. We learn how each one is like a drug that makes you feel good. But combine all seven together, and you have a potent formula that takes your brain into bliss. Meditation is the only way you get all seven at one time. The star of the show is a neurotransmitter called anandamide, aka “the bliss molecule.” When you trigger these ecstatic states daily, they change your brain. Chapter 6 is about the extensive brain remodeling that occurs in seasoned meditators. Stress circuits shrink, while happiness networks grow. But you don't need to be an adept to trigger this rewiring. It begins the very first week you meditate effectively. Chapter 7 is about post-traumatic growth, and how the brains of meditators make them resilient to the inevitable upsets of life. Medical crises and financial disasters included. It provides practical examples of how meditation can make you resilient even during global upheavals like the coronavirus panic that was happening at the time of this interview. Whatever challenges confront us, we will be well equipped to handle large and small life challenges. If we truly want to find happiness, then we will need to rewire our brain to accomplish these states. VIDEO 2 Click Here to Watch Watch video clip 2 with the link in the show notes. Question asked: “How can we learn to be more in the present moment, instead of somewhere else?” Dr. Church's explanation: The brain is hardwired to identify threats for survival. Today, most of us don't face immediate threats, but the brain's Default Mode Network (DMN) keeps scanning for danger. Without real threats, it replays past negative experiences (even from years ago or childhood) and projects fear into the future (“what if it happens again?”). This keeps us stuck in the past and future, not the present moment. Monks & meditation: Monks, after years of deep meditation, trained their brains differently. Brain scans showed structural changes—the brain literally began to shrink in areas related to stress and overthinking. Key Point: Our brains are not naturally wired to live in the present moment—they default to the past or future, scanning for threats. Tip #2: Get serious about meditation. Example: Australian astrophysicist & TV journalist Graham Phillips remodeled his brain in just 8 weeks of meditation practice. VIDEO 3 Click Here to Watch Watch video clip 3 with the link in the show notes. In this clip, Dr. Church explains how “meditation changes everything” and why “20 years ago, he decided to make this commitment to daily meditation” sharing how his whole world changed after this. These are noticeable changes that were behind his motivation to write this book, Bliss Brain, to show the world how they too can reach these states of extreme happiness. He told us to go back and study historical figures who were clearly in altered states of being, like the Italian Catholic Preacher, Saint Francis of Assisi, who appears in a blissed-out state as we see in a drawing, where it looks like he is communicating with God or something divine. This beautiful blissful state, that goes beyond happiness, is available to all of us. We will cover more about the changes our brains undergo with meditation as we go back to review our interview #28 with clinical professor of psychiatry from the UCLA school of medicine, Dr. Dan Siegel[iv], on a later episode, but for now, we can conclude that we can in fact change our outside world, in a significant and powerful way, by dedicating ourselves to a daily meditation practice. Key Point: We can ALL reach this state of extreme happiness by implementing a daily meditation practice. Tip 3: We can get started with our own meditation practice (if we are not currently implementing one) by using the FREE mediations that come along with the Bliss Brain Book Or use whatever meditation program resonates with you. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION Episode 369 Wrap-Up: Bliss Brain Review with Dr. Dawson Church This week, in our review of EP 98 with Dr. Dawson Church and his book Bliss Brain, we explored how meditation can rewire the brain for happiness and presence. Key Point from Clip 1: Although we live in a safer world than 2,000 years ago, our brains weren't designed for today's environment. “We simply didn't evolve to be happy because there was no survival benefit in being happy.” Tip #1: Since happiness didn't evolve naturally, we must train our brain to achieve it. Key Point from Clip 2: Our brains default to the past or future, constantly scanning for threats, instead of resting in the present moment. Tip #2: Commit to meditation—like astrophysicist and TV journalist Graham Phillips, who saw powerful changes after just 8 weeks of his daily practice that helped him to focus in the present moment. Key Point from Clip 3: Extreme states of happiness are possible for all of us when we implement meditation consistently. Tip #3: Start small. Use the free meditations that come with Bliss Brain, or explore other guided programs until you find one that resonates with you I highly recommend watching the full interview with Dr. Church[v]—especially if you've struggled to stay consistent with your own practice. Even Dr. Church himself shares moments where he lost momentum, which is a reminder that this is a journey for all of us. Personally, I've cycled through different meditation programs—starting with John Assaraf's work, then moving on to Dr. Dan Siegel's Wheel of Awareness, using Dr. Church's Bliss Brain meditations, and now practicing Dr. Joe Dispenza's chakra-focused work. The program you choose matters less than your ability to make it a consistent daily practice—that's when the real brain changes occur. We'll see you next week as we continue exploring the Journey of the Mind, working on connecting practical science to improve our inner and outer world. See you next week! RESOURCES: VIDEO CLIP 1 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DkeDGwbShwU VIDEO CLIP 2 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a5O3eI7qKro VIDEO CLIP 3 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Zatnfj4MPok FREE ACCESS TO BLISS BRAIN RESOURCES, MEDITATIONS https://blissbrainbook.com/ REFERENCES: [i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 98 “Dr. Dawson Church: The Science Behind Using a Meditation: Rewiring Your Brain for Happiness, Resilience, and Joy” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-dawson-church-on-the-science-behind-using-meditation-rewiring-your-brain-for-happiness-resilience-and-joy/ [ii] FREE ACCESS TO BLISS BRAIN RESOURCES, MEDITATIONS https://blissbrainbook.com/ [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 204 “The Neuroscience of Happiness” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-the-neuroscience-of-happiness/ [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 28 with Dr. Daniel Siegel on “Mindsight: The Basis for Social and Emotional Intelligenvce” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/clinical-professor-of-psychiatry-at-the-ucla-school-of-medicine-dr-daniel-siegel-on-mindsight-the-basis-for-social-and-emotional-intelligence/ [v] YouTube Interview with Andrea Samadi and Dr. Dawson Church https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH8yVKHjFN4
You are getting very sleepy…listen to our voices… Hopefully you haven't fallen into a trance-induced hypnosis just yet as there is a new episode to listen to! This contentious episode explores both the history of hypnosis and its more modern understanding. There's a surprising amount of science behind this favored Victorian party trick that also has roots in spiritual practices. Strap in as we discuss magnets, mesmerism, MRIs, and…The Pope? Episode Resources: What is hypnosis and how might it work: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6357291/ James Braid: https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2022/01/james-braid-the-father-of-modern-hypnosis/, How does this all work: Hypnotic induction decreases anterior default mode activity: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19782614/ The neurophenomenology of neutral hypnosis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22579225/ Functional Brain Basis of Hypnotizability: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4365296/ Hypnosis for the management of chronic and cancer procedure-related pain in children: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22917107/ Hypnosis and clinical pain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12848218/ Review of the efficacy of clinical hypnosis with headaches and migraines: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17365074/ Efficacy, tolerability, and safety of hypnosis in adult irritable bowel syndrome: systematic review and meta-analysis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24901382/ Use of Hypnosis Today: Where the imaginal appears real: a positron emission tomography study of auditory hallucinations: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9465124/ Hypnotic visual illusion alters color processing in the brain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10910791/ The brain under self-control: modulation of inhibitory and monitoring cortical networks during hypnotic paralysis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19555654/ Mesmerizing memories: brain substrates of episodic memory suppression in posthypnotic amnesia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18184572/ Hypnotic illusions and clinical delusions: hypnosis as a research method: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19866383/
(00:00-23:40) The Colonel Gabe DeArmond of Power Mizzou joins us talking about the Tigers' big win last night. Quick audio of the caller who was eating chicken wings on the potty last night. People just trying to be like Tiger Terry. Pribula impressive in his first college start. Both injured players getting MRIs today. Just some unfortunate "football" plays. The offensive line had a couple issues last night but it's game one. Drink wanting the offense to be more explosive. The Wildcat. The passing of Ben Arnet.(23:49-40:10) They call it auto-lemminating, you gotta be flexible. Timmy Trumpets was back. Wildcat Gate. It's Beau Time. Warson Woods Wacko is on the phone. Is he ready to admit he was wrong? Fiddlesticks Brothers. He owes Harrison's Brother Master $100. Lotta backtracking from WWW.(40:20-45:19) Mt. Rushmore of trumpet songs. You've never heard of Herb Albert, have you? Drops of the Week.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Welcome to the squared Circle Podcast! I am your host Marie Shadows! Today, I'm talking about: Is AEW a Safe Working Environment? I have asked this question before, gave my opinion, facts, and proof that it is not. The AEW Sickos: bots/burners/people (maybe real people) all silenced me and others from ever talking about this topic again. Well, Dustin Rhodes calls out Kyle Fletcher for having to the hospital to get invasive surgery, MRIs, cat scans and has a hole in his leg. Now why would someone want to just name drop Kyle Fletcher like that? Why put the heat on him if people think it's a work? Let's talk about it.https://marieshadows-shop.fourthwall.comhttps://marieshadows.substack.comhttps://youtube.com/squaredcirclepodcasthttps://rumble.com/c/squaredcirclepodcastwithmariehshadowshttps://rumble.com/c/crossroadsinterviewsandeditoralshttps://buymeacoffee.com/marieshadowshttps://open.spotify.com/show/1xiOxkejNwRRSnqFV1tcF8?si=f02398362124411d
Send us a textIn this episode of PTs Snacks Podcast, host we dive deep into the topic of spondylolythesis, discussing what it is, the different types, how to evaluate it, and typical treatment approaches. We explore several classifications, including dysplastic, isthmic, degenerative, traumatic, and pathologic types, and explains common symptoms and patient presentations. We also covers diagnostic tools such as radiographs and MRIs, and outlines treatment and management strategies, stressing the importance of creating a healing environment and referring patients to specialists when necessary. 00:00 Introduction to PTs Snacks Podcast00:21 Understanding Spondylolysis02:57 Types of Spondylolysis06:02 Diagnostic Imaging for Spondylolysis07:23 Treatment Approaches for Spondylolysis08:56 When to Consider Surgical Intervention10:21 Conclusion and Additional ResourcesSupport the showWhy PT Snacks Podcast?This podcast is your go-to for bite-sized, practical info designed for busy, overwhelmed Physical Therapists and students who want to build confidence in their foundational knowledge without sacrificing life's other priorities. Stay Connected! Never miss an episode—hit follow now! Got questions? Email me at ptsnackspodcast@gmail.com or leave feedback HERE. Join the email list HERE On Instagram? Find unique content at @dr.kasey.hankins! Need CEUs Fast?Time and resources short? Medbridge has you covered: Get over $100 off a subscription with code PTSNACKSPODCAST: Medbridge Students: Save $75 off a student subscription with code PTSNACKSPODCASTSTUDENT—a full year of unlimited access for less!(These are affiliate links, but I only recommend Medbridge because it's genuinely valuable.) Optimize Your Patient Care with Tindeq: Get 10% off with code PTSNACKS10: [Tindeq] ...
In this episode, we talk with Dr. Christina Shenvi about ARIA, a finding associated with an early stage Alzheimer's infusion that can impact stroke and VTE care. The MRI of choice per neuroradiology are the T2 weighted and flare images seen on most routine head MRIs. The gradient recall echo are best for bleed and microhemorrhage. These are all part of a routine MRI. I would note in the order that you are looking for ARIA. Supported by Eli Lilly and Company
Over 100,000 people around the country are on the radiology wait list, in the queue in the public health system for MRIs, X-rays, CT scans and other diagnostic tests. APEX, the union representing medical imaging technologists and sonographers, said radiology services are unravelling. Meanwhile, 45% of the health workers who answered the APEX survey said they are working with broken, outdated or unsafe equipment. APEX Advocate, Omar Hamed spoke to Lisa Owen.
Back pain is one of the most common and most misunderstood health issues out there. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. James Eubanks, a board-certified specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, to bust myths and explain why back pain is such a big problem today. We talk about why rest and fear-based approaches keep people stuck, why disc herniations can (and do) heal, and how movement can be one of the most powerful tools for recovery. Dr. Eubanks also shares what MRIs really tell us, what actually works for building strength and confidence, and how value-based spine care is changing the way patients get the right care, faster.Get to know Dr. Jim here.Want real, no-BS advice on pain, performance, and staying active for life? Join my weekly newsletter for stories, tips, and movement wins that actually matter.Welcome to the "Healthy Charleston Podcast," your ultimate guide to taking charge of your health and wellness journey. In a world where health information can be overwhelming and confusing, we strive to be your trusted source of accurate, evidence-based knowledge. Our goal is to equip you with the tools and resources you need to lead a healthier lifestyle. Tune in to each episode as we connect with inspirational community leaders in Charleston and Summerville, SC. These individuals are dedicated to creating a healthier community and they share their perspective on what health means to them. Join us as we embark on an exploration into the realms of health, well-being, and community empowerment!@healthycharleston@made2movept DON'T spend another day in pain! Request an appointment at https://www.made2movept.com/contact and get 10% off your Initial Evaluation when you mention the podcast.
Charlie Weingroff is a legendary Physical Therapist and Strength Coach who joins me to share his thoughts on:-Issues with high volume physical therapy business models-Helping people who have been told by a doctor not to lift weights due to pain and injury-How to talk to people about their pain-How pain is tied to emotion -How pain works in the nervous system-What ““We know that MRI's don't lie but they don't always tell the whole story” means-What is the interference effect and does it matter to your training?-The prevalence of high level athletes who compete with some degree of manageable injury-And much more01:21 Discussion on Physical Therapy Practices01:45 Critique of Commercial Physical Therapy04:54 Importance of Effort in Physical Therapy10:05 Strength and Conditioning in Physical Therapy12:19 Approach to Back Pain and MRI22:04 Empathy and Communication in Therapy27:56 Understanding Pain Perception29:27 The Role of Knowledge in Pain30:32 Cultural and Environmental Influences on Pain32:02 The Impact of Diagnosis and Communication33:12 Pain Management Strategies44:36 The Interference Effect in TrainingI've been putting a lot of time and effort into making these new episodes valuable for you. You can help me get these great guests and their knowledge in front of more people by:-Subscribing and checking out more episodes-Sharing on your social media (please tag me - I promise I'll respond)-Sharing with the friend you think of who needs this episodeFollow Andrew Coates:Instagram:@andrewcoatesfitnessJoin My Email List:www.andrewcoatesfitness.comGet the RP App at www.rpstrength.com/coates - use the code COATESRPUse Code ANDREWCOATESFITNESS to save 10% off at https://justbitememeals.com/Use MacrosFirst for tracking nutrition https://www.macrosfirst.com/Go to www.knkg.com/Andrew59676 for 15% off your KNKG bag.
On this episode we get to meet Andra Wochesen, a teacher and then a coach. Andra received her college degree in kinesiology education. What is kinesiology, you may ask? Physical education. Andra will tell us more and how she progressed from years of teaching to coaching to help “entrepreneurs and leaders to be in their power and conviction so they land on bigger stages, command higher fees and create meaningful impact”. Andra focuses today on helping people understand themselves and their lives. She uses tools such as examining Akashic Records. We get to learn in detail what Andra does and how she accomplishes helping people gain insights into their existence and how to move forward. I hope you find Andra's time with us informative and instructive. About the Guest: Andra supports entrepreneurs and leaders to be in their power and conviction, so they land on bigger stages, command higher fees and create meaningful impact. Purpose, Power & Presence. Along with a 25 -year background in kinesiology and education, Andra is multi-certified as a coach, with enhanced training in energetic and embodiment techniques, including Law of Attraction, Reiki, Akashic Records, Tapping and Quantum Flow. This unique combination of skills coupled with her intuitive and innate understanding of the body and energy and ability to uncover dormant soul gifts, allows her to support her clients in a deeply integrated way, creating lasting change and expedited results. She has recently received a breast cancer diagnosis and is truly being asked to walk her talk as she faces the unexpected and a lot of unknowns. Part of her mission and purpose is to share her journey to support others, and though this is health related, how to apply this to any path people are currently walking. Ways to connect with Andra: Website: https://www.andrawochesen.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andra-wochesen-purposepowerpresence/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andra_energycoach/# You-Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@andrawochesen To your listeners, here is a link for my Personal Power Activation Series https://andrawochesen.simplero.com/personalpoweractivation About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:28 We really appreciate you taking the time to listen to us or watch us and our guest Andra Wochesen who is going to talk to us about a variety of things, and one of the things that I will tell you is she has a degree in kinesiology, and she'll have to define that. I'm not going to, although I now know what it means and I know how to pronounce it, mostly because she told me. But I really am excited to have her be on the podcast today, because one of the things that I really enjoyed about and it's not necessarily the most enjoyable subject, but because of the things that she has done now in her life, she is facing personal tests to prove that what she teaches and coaches is real, because she's having to go through some of it, and I know that she will talk about that a little bit later. We'll get to it. But Andra, I want to thank you for being on a stoppable mindset. Andra Wochesen ** 02:21 Thank you so much, Michael. I'm so happy to be here, and so love what you're about and how you show up in the world, and I'm so happy to be connected with like minded people making an impact, and happy to be connected to your audience. And I hope something I share today will be of service. Michael Hingson ** 02:38 Well, I hope so, and I think that, we usually find that it is and we're we're really glad you're here to share it, which is as good as it gets. So I'd like to start by maybe learning about the early Andra growing up and so on. Why don't you tell us about some of that and kind of how that led you to maybe some of the things that you're doing now? Sure, sure. Andra Wochesen ** 02:58 Yeah. I mean, yes, I'm the end places that I'm a coach, and I work with embodiment and energy. And I think the first years of my life were me being a very active child, being very adventurous, loving to have new experiences, very much being athletic. I was a competitive gymnast in my younger years. And yeah, I think I really enjoyed being in my body and using my body as a vehicle to sort of express myself. So, definitely active, definitely adventurous, definitely independent. And yeah, really enjoyed the experience of, yeah, going new places, seeing new people, and doing some things that challenge my body in big ways. Michael Hingson ** 03:46 So what made you deviate from going into competitive gymnastics? Andra Wochesen ** 03:51 Oh, I wasn't good enough. Oh, okay, yeah, I was good enough for where I was, but yeah, it was enough. I think, yeah, I think I stopped that around 11 or 12. Actually, it's quite a it's quite a vigorous sport. And yeah, I was quite aware of my capacity and my desire, actually, to, it takes a lot to get to that, to the caliber of like, Olympic athlete or something, right? So that wasn't, I wasn't good enough, and I didn't have, didn't desire to go down that path Michael Hingson ** 04:21 well. And that's, of course, a significant part of it is there's a lot that you have to desire to do to really go down that path in whatever sport or whatever you want to compete in and be about. So I understand, Andra Wochesen ** 04:35 yeah, yeah, yeah, that commitment and choice and yeah, I think, as you speak, about unstoppable, right? There is an element that requires so much conviction on our end to be able to really commit and follow through with whatever it is that we are wanting to follow through and commit with. Michael Hingson ** 04:55 Well, so you say, around 11 or 12, you decided. That you weren't going to continue down that. What did you Andra Wochesen ** 05:04 do? Oh, I mean, I continued to still be athletic and still played. I still did gymnastics. I was, you know, still quite good at it, so I did that through high school, but played a variety of other team sports. And I think, yeah, maybe define myself less on the athleticism, but still included it, and sort of brought in more of some other interests. I think that I had maybe more around, yeah, just travel friends. I mean, that's what you do in high school and university. Michael Hingson ** 05:34 So where did you go to university? I Andra Wochesen ** 05:39 went. I'm in Canada. So I went to McMaster, yeah, which is in Hamilton. It's a great school. Now, where is that? That's in Hamilton, which is I live in Toronto now. So Hamilton is about 45 minutes away. Hamilton is between, let's say, Toronto, Niagara Falls, the main cities, you would know. So, yeah, I went to McMaster for four years for my phys ed kinese degree, and then I went to Queen's University for my teaching degree. So that's sort of my educational background. Michael Hingson ** 06:07 So you you got a teaching degree, did you want to go off and be a teacher? Or what did you want to do exactly? Or did you know Andra Wochesen ** 06:15 I was a teacher? I did very strategically choose in my growing up, I think being athletic, I also coached teams. I also was a camp counselor, so I was very much involved in guiding other people. So I think especially in athletic pursuits, and even I mentioned this, even I did volunteer at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and was a runner for someone there, helped them run track. So I think going into teaching, and especially phys ed teaching, made perfect sense. So I did. I did do that for 10 years, and then moved on to some other things. Michael Hingson ** 06:56 So how long ago was it that you were a runner at CNIB, that Andra Wochesen ** 07:01 was a long time ago. That was like, 30 years ago. Yeah, yes, that was like, sort of in my, I don't know, maybe early 20s, something like that. Okay, tell, Michael Hingson ** 07:11 tell us a little bit more about how that. I'm just curious how that process worked. So you, you worked at the you volunteered at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and you and so people wanted to run. And how did, how did you make that work? Andra Wochesen ** 07:26 So I was a guide runner. So I think I did a very, very I work with different people. There various people. And I think one, one of the young men really wanted to run track, and they had a big event at, I believe, was Variety Village, I believe. And so it was he wanted to do, I think it was 400 meters again, excuse me, it's been a long time. So it was a run. And so, yeah, to be able, I was a guide runner, so I ran, held his hands, but he obviously did the work and ran. But I was there as a as a runner to support that. Michael Hingson ** 08:00 But you had to be able to run fast enough to keep up with whatever speed he was in produce, yeah, for Andra Wochesen ** 08:05 sure, absolutely, yeah, yeah, Michael Hingson ** 08:09 yeah. I know people in the United States who are blind runners and do work with with people to guide. And of course, that's the whole point. But obviously, the the guides have to be in good enough physical shape also to make sure that they're able to let the person run at their own pace and hopefully set world records. I don't know who has but you know, nevertheless, Andra Wochesen ** 08:35 yes, to let them have their full self expression right of what they were wanting to do, and your eye was just there on the side to make sure that he was able to run as fast as and get where he wanted to go and achieve the results he wanted to achieve. Michael Hingson ** 08:52 Could when you were when you were acting as a guide. How did that work? That is to say, I'm assuming that the person couldn't necessarily run totally on their own. How did, how did you keep people running straight or where they needed to go again? Andra Wochesen ** 09:09 It's a long time. I believe it was just hands right, and my hands in front, so that, or maybe at the side right, just so that there was a hand. There was a tactile component. It wasn't voice. It was definitely cut, so it was just more like guiding, to make sure that he was able to stay no well, he knew when to start, but to stay within the lines to be able to follow the track, and then obviously, to be able to cross the finish line. Michael Hingson ** 09:35 Yeah, because they, they didn't have ropes or anything between lanes that he could follow. So he needed a person, or she, depending on who you guided, they needed your assistance. Because the bottom line is that the the tracks don't have ropes or anything like that to divide the various lanes. Yeah, Andra Wochesen ** 09:54 yes, yeah. So it was, there may be different things. Now, you know, I'm not sure, but I'm Michael Hingson ** 09:59 aware that there are. But I'm not a runner, so Andra Wochesen ** 10:01 yeah, yeah. So it's a very Yeah. It's a very Yeah. I've been involved in that sort of stuff, whether it's been volunteer or paid in my whole life, basically helping other people to sort of reach their goals and to fully self Express. And so I think that's, you know, definitely been a piece of what's led me to the work that I do today. Mm, hmm. Michael Hingson ** 10:27 So, so you taught, where did you teach? For 10 years, Andra Wochesen ** 10:32 I taught mainly. I taught in middle schools. I was, yeah, thanks. So I taught grade seven and eight. Mostly grade seven, little bit of grade six. I last year I taught grade four. I taught phys ed. The whole time I was like the the head of phys ed, so I coached all the teams and organized the track meets and did things like that. But I also had an under second teachable of French. So I actually taught French as well as math and English. You know, those weren't my favorite, but I Oh, yeah, I did love teaching, yeah, phys ed and health health, actually, I loved because that's very much like, it's kind of like coaching, right? It's actually helping, yeah, I love those, those classes as well, with that age group. Michael Hingson ** 11:16 Now, my wife, my late wife, was a teacher for 10 years, and she always said that the students she liked best were third graders, because they were old enough that they could make some decisions, but they were also young enough that they were able to be influenced, and they hadn't got so set in their ways that they were problem students like even from fourth grade on, did you have a favorite grade? Andra Wochesen ** 11:43 Yeah, not grade seven. That's why I'm not doing it. Michael Hingson ** 11:46 So I would agree with you, Andra Wochesen ** 11:49 yeah, so that was the bulk of my teaching career was grade seven. So they're not easy, and they don't necessarily want to be there. So yeah, it didn't feel like the most aligned path. I was actually certified to teach high school, but it was very hard to get into high school teaching here. And I think if I would have, I probably would still be doing that, because it's a little bit more pure in the phys ed component. So yeah, Michael Hingson ** 12:15 well, the you know, I wanted to be a teacher, and ended up going in different directions anyway, but still, I think that I do get to teach. And I think even this podcast offers teaching moments which is, which is pretty good, but I appreciate what you and Karen, my wife, say about all of that, because it is a it is a big challenge. Do you think that one of her comments and was that parents aren't really becoming as involved as they should be, and so they they kind of treat teachers like babysitters, and then the kids go home and they do whatever they're going to do, but they don't really as actively provide a lot of the guidance that they should. Did you find that up in Canada as well? Andra Wochesen ** 13:05 I would say again, it's been 20 years now. Say that for the most part, it just really depends. Like, a lot of parents were very engaged and very and then I think, yeah, there were kids that were challenging at school because they didn't have a lot of structure or support at home. So it's a, it's a, it's a, really a. It's a privilege to be a teacher, to be taking, not necessarily taking care of people's children, but you are, on some level, being an influence for them. And so yeah, I would say for the most part, there was a lot of parental support, but I know that's not always the case, and I do think, yeah, there's some kids who had not very much parental support and required more at school. Michael Hingson ** 13:52 Karen had challenges with a lot of kids until she realized something, and I don't even remember what caused it to happen, but she taught at a school where, as she put it, there were a lot of latch key kids. That is, they they were really responsible for themselves. The parents worked and so on. They went. The kids went home at the end of the day, and they were on their own. And when she realized that kids weren't going home necessarily to total parental supervision and so on, and that they in fact, the children were learning how to be responsible to a large degree on their own. That kind of changed her view and the way she interacted with kids, and apparently became a whole lot more effective and a whole lot more of a teacher who could exert a positive influence on the kids. Andra Wochesen ** 14:46 That's great. I mean, I think ultimately, we're all sovereign beings, even if we're children. And I think, yeah, whatever situations we are, sort of handed Yeah, I think there's a lot of. Um growth in that, and I think being able to support that is what we're what we're here to do, whether we're a formal teacher or a guide or a podcast host, right? We're all here to sort of meet people where they're at and also in their greatness and also in their challenges, and then also in their capacity. Michael Hingson ** 15:20 People are where they are, and we don't really have the right, much less all of the gifts to necessarily force people to change how they behave and so on. And I think the best that we can do is to try to set positive examples and and either people will see that, or kids will see that, or they won't. Andra Wochesen ** 15:43 Yeah, one of the biggest things, and you know, it's part of the work I do now around seeing people's gifts. That's part of the akashics work that I do. But I know, even as a teacher, one of the greatest strengths that supported me was that I chose to focus on the strengths in the children and really reflect that to them, and have them see that within themselves. And everybody has different approaches. Some people would be focused on, like, you need to improve here. This needs to happen. And of course, I think we all have areas of growth and improvement, but I believe, and I've seen, I've literally been in this field for 30 years, whether it's teaching, you know, young people or adults, we I have found that most people thrive when they're recognized in their greatness and their gifts, not in their areas of weakness. How do you do that? How do I do that? So, I mean, I think I did it innately. When I was a teacher, I just intuited that that was the it's easy. We can all see people's gifts, and we can all choose to focus on those gifts. We can do that in our personal relationships. We can choose. We always get choice in terms of what we focus on. So I believe that there's we all have that innate ability, whether we exercise it or not, is is up to us. And then I have, you know, certified in some different modalities that help me help people uncover what some of those gifts are. I originally did something called the Passion Test, where I help people really distill what their true passions were. And so that's a really, really helpful tool. And then I also do Akashic Records, which is like a an energetic database, which we can talk about further if you want or not. Doesn't matter, but it's, it's a I'm able to access people's records for them and really discern what their top level gifts are, and then share that with them. And so when I'm sharing it with them, it's not usually like they have no idea they most people know what their innate gifts are, but when it's reflected in a certain way from a soul level perspective, it's a very validating experience, and it helps to reignite those gifts in people, so that they are then very self aware of what those gifts are and how they can use them to both impact their themselves and their career and their family, right? There's there's lots of ways to apply our gifts if we really tune in to what they are, Michael Hingson ** 18:18 whether it's children or adults, there's always a lot to be said for the whole concept of validation. If you are really validating someone, especially when you're dealing with their gifts and you're validating them, you're praising them, you're encouraging them for what they are and what they do, that has to count for a lot. I would think. Andra Wochesen ** 18:38 I think so. I think you're speaking to a deeper level than the ego or the mind. You're actually speaking to the depth of some who someone is, and they feel that. And there's a, there's a, I'm going to say, like an embodied response to that. There's a deep feeling. Michael Hingson ** 18:56 Well, so you taught for 10 years, and then what, what made you decide to deviate from just being a professional teacher in the classroom, as it were, or or going around the field, running, Andra Wochesen ** 19:08 yes, chair, yeah, I felt like actually had a bit of a rough I'm not, I don't need to get into that. But it was, I had a tough year about year seven or eight, and it just kind of flipped the dial for me in terms of, I'm not sure this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. So I did stick it out for a couple more years. It's a lot of education and a lot of experience that I was working with, and so I did try some different things, taught different grades, but ultimately I realized that it wasn't, it was a little soul sucking for me, and in some ways, and I knew that there was more or a better way for me to actually use the gifts that I have. And so I just, I chose to to leave, which is not that common. I know it's a little different. Different in the US in terms of teaching and salaries and things like that. In Canada, I would say it's a very, it's a very good profession to be in. It's a very, it's a good salary. It's so it wasn't easy to leave it, but my higher knowing knew that it was the right thing for me to do. Michael Hingson ** 20:20 So what did you then go do? Andra Wochesen ** 20:23 So then I went, I became a Pilates instructor, and so that is movement education. And so I got to use my phys ed background and my kinesiology background to work with bodies. And I also trained the new teachers. Because, yeah, I had an expertise in teaching, and so I was a trainer of teachers. So yeah, I was involved in certifying new teachers. So yeah, did that, and then I worked one on one with clients, which was a really nice change for me, coming from a classroom of 30 people, being able to work with people in a one on one capacity and just have that so that felt very Yeah, it felt very aligned for me to be able to have a one on one connection and to be able to serve people really deeply, and yeah, I didn't have to mark tests and all that kind of stuff, right? Michael Hingson ** 21:19 There's something to be said for that, yes, for sure, and you didn't have to make out report cards at the end of the year. Yes, yes, yeah. There's a Andra Wochesen ** 21:27 lot of work that goes in there. You know, people talk a lot about summers off, but there's a lot of stuff that happens that is quite, quite labor intensive in teaching. Michael Hingson ** 21:37 My niece is a kindergarten teacher. Actually, this year she's teaching pre kindergarten, but she would definitely agree with you, and talks about all the things that they have to do during the summer and all the preparation and and more important nowadays, at least down here, the amount of money that she has to spend out of her own salary just to buy supplies that the school district, for whatever reason, doesn't have funding to provide, and the teachers spend a fair amount of money keeping their students engaged with the things that they have to buy, that they know that the students need, but that the district doesn't provide. Andra Wochesen ** 22:17 Yeah, I mean, I think that just, I can't speak obviously, to your country and how you do things, or what, what the what's involved. But I think it speaks to the desire that I'm going to say, all people have to support others. But I think teachers specifically, not even specifically, but teachers do have a big passion for helping people. And so I think that just speaks to the level that they're willing to go to in order to really support the next generation. So I think there is such a there's such a gift in and I hope that more and more people will appreciate teachers, because I think it's they are very vital, I think in shaping lots of things so well. Michael Hingson ** 23:04 I think to at least a degree, most people like to teach that is to say they, if somebody asks them a question, Will will take the time oftentimes, to answer. They'll explain why they do what they do, or they'll explain whatever the question is about. I know, when I was in professional sales and managing a sales force, one of the things that I told every person that I hired was, for the next year, at least, you're a student, don't hesitate to ask questions, because the people who are your customers and your clients, if you're asking good, intelligent questions of them, they will want to answer you and engage you, and that can only help you. And what it what you do further down the line with them as well. Andra Wochesen ** 23:52 Yeah, I think, I believe that we're all here to light the path for those behind us in whatever way we choose to do that. Michael Hingson ** 24:01 Yeah. Yeah. And it is a, it is an art to do it well. And not everybody is a great teacher, but I think a lot of people do like to import, impart knowledge, at least to some degree, which is great, sure. Yeah. So you are Pilates instructor for a while, and then what did you do? Well? Andra Wochesen ** 24:19 Then I Yeah, again, my soul always wants to expand, and I think that I felt like it was good, but it wasn't the full use of my gifts. And so that's when I sort of went down the coaching path. I realized I liked the one on one connection. I realized I'm very intuitive in general, but very intuitive with the body. So when I was working with my Pilates clients, I was able to almost tune into sort of, I'm going to say, even emotional blocks. Or I could tune into why their bodies weren't functioning the way they wanted to function. And so it just naturally evolved into desiring to bring a coaching element into the work that I did. And so for a number of years, I did both. Growth, and then after about 15 years of being at the teaching Pilates, I decided to just transition full time to coaching. So that's what I've been doing for the last, I don't know, five or six years full time Michael Hingson ** 25:13 well, so tell us more about that. What you do, and I know you've talked and referred to a few times the Akashic records and so on. So don't hesitate to talk about some of that as well. Andra Wochesen ** 25:26 Yeah, I think really what I do is help people connect to their innate power and their innate presence, so that they and their deepest gifts. So those are probably the deepest things. Purpose, power, presence is sort of how I label it, and within that, it's their sole gifts, what they're here to do, what their purpose is, what they want to really contribute on the planet. That's really who I'm helping so often it's entrepreneurs, sometimes it's leaders, sometimes it's high profile people in their industry, and so really I'm helping them connect to the depth of who they are really so that they can express that in the work that they do. So for some people, yeah, it's a it's about creating a bigger presence, a bigger platform, creating more impact, getting in front of more audiences, being able to command higher fees. All of this comes from a deep connection to your own knowing of who you are and what you how you're designed to serve. And so I really that's the it's the crux of what I do is you can hopefully see the thread throughout my whole life is really around helping people connect to who they really are at their core, how, what their innate gifts are, how they want to share those gifts, and how they can use those gifts to not only create a better, more aligned or whatever, what's what I want to say, prosperous life Experience for themselves through I love working with people who want to do what they love, right? That's really people who are trailblazers, people who want to create a new path, people who want to create meaning, want to create impact. And that's it's a I love it, and it's not an easy path. And so I really help people break through anything, holding them back from really going for it, because so many people that I work with, we are blazing new paths. Right? You do have to sell yourself. You do have to make your own opportunities. You do have to create your own platform. You have to do that in your podcast, right? There's everybody is we are here to do, I think this is what we are all here to do, is to really share our gifts in the biggest way possible. And yeah, sometimes people need help to be able to show that fully and to be able to shine as brightly as they're designed to to shine so that they can, yeah, receive Yeah, bigger opportunities, bigger platforms, more ability to continue on the path that they're on. Michael Hingson ** 28:03 Do you find that there are a number of people who don't really know where they want to go or what they want to do? They're they're kind of being a little bit more aimless than they really need to be. Andra Wochesen ** 28:17 It's interesting. I'm sure there are. When I first started, I was more of a life purpose coach, so I did, did sort of interact with people who are kind of lost and maybe a bit directionless. And so I think absolutely there, I don't even like that word that sounds very judgmental, right, just unsure of what they want to do. And so I think absolutely there are lots of people, and what I believe, and what I see now is that people wouldn't, who come to me wouldn't say that they're lost, but they something's not quite working, or they are ready for a next iteration. I believe we're always expanding and evolving, and so is our purpose and our direction, right? And so and sometimes we're going down a path and it works out really well, and we expand it. And sometimes we're going down a path and it doesn't work out so well, or we get a roadblock, as you know, I have one right now that kind of comes into our experience, and it causes us to course correct. So I feel like there's a lot of course correction next iteration. And to me, I use the words always elevation and expansion, because I think we are designed to continually evolve and expand. And so I think it's yeah, there's, there's all levels of people on the spectrum in terms of, like, knowing what I'm going to do with my life, or how I want to share in the world Michael Hingson ** 29:30 well. And there's nothing wrong with the whole concept of life is all about expanding and exploring. Andra Wochesen ** 29:39 Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. So Michael Hingson ** 29:42 there's, there's nothing wrong with that, and also developing an ongoing strong desire to learn. The people that I find the most challenging to deal with are the ones who decide they know it all and they don't have any. Thing to learn, because they probably have the most to learn. Andra Wochesen ** 30:03 Of course, of course, yeah, there's such a gift in the openness to Yeah. I'm using the word evolve, but learn, expand, grow, all of it's the same, right? It's like, there's, there's, yeah. It's, for me, it's one of my biggest values. And I think, I think there are a lot of people who prioritize growth, and then there are other people who don't. So it's choice, yeah, Michael Hingson ** 30:31 oh, I hear you. I understand what you're saying. Tell me more about the whole concept of the Akashic records. Oh, Andra Wochesen ** 30:37 sure, sure, yeah, of course. Yeah. So I told you we'd bring it up. Yeah. So the Akashic records are an energetic database of our soul level information, and so it's like we all have akashics, and it's, it's our soul level information we can all access, and you may even access this information yourself in a meditation, or you receive some guidance on something, but you may be actually in your Akashic records. And so our cash checks sort of have our lifetimes of like lessons of opportunities for growth. Our gifts are it's like it's literally a soul level database of information. And so you can access, we can each access our own, but I am certified to go into people's akashics with their permission, on their behalf, and sort of retrieve relevant information to support them on their life's journey. So that's really, yeah. How do you do that? Well, it's a, yeah, it's quite it's a step by step. I mean, it's a certification. So I'm really tuning in. So there's a whole series of I'm going to say, questions that I ask, and first I get someone's birth date, full name, full name, full current name, full name at birth, date of birth, place of birth, so that's really key, so that I am accessing the right soul. And then there are a series of questions that I ask to determine whether the soul wants me to access this information. And then, yeah, most of the time, I'm kind of going in with very specific questions around soul gifts. But sometimes people come to me with very specific questions, but usually it's some version of like, what's keeping me stuck or I want to get here, or how can I use my gifts in a better way? Or is this a i can even do Akashic records for businesses? So Right? Which is the most aligned business opportunity, which is the most best way to market? What I do? Right? We we have different gifts ourselves. So again, just for me, I am not designed to market, but I'm very good for people to experience me. So I I'm good when I'm on a video, or if I lead a workshop, or if I have a conversation with someone, so when people have an experience, or if they read a Client Testimonial, so that's for me, the way my soul is designed to market. Your soul might not be designed that way at all, right? And so it's really good to have we can get all of this information that actually helps us be more aligned, more successful, more prosperous, right? We can actually be like we have a blueprint. We actually have a soul blueprint that will help us do the best that we possibly can in this lifetime. Mm, Michael Hingson ** 33:31 hmm. How did you learn to do that? Andra Wochesen ** 33:35 I mean, it was a certification process. So it was a called Soul realignment. That's where I learned, and it was a numerous, numerous courses, numerous practice clients, like any, like, all of my coaching certification, right? There's, um, yeah, there's a lot of people call them, and it's all fine. Everybody can do a lot of people will call themselves a coach, but, and people can be good coaches, but there's actually coach training that people go through. And there's hundreds and hundreds of practice client hours where you actually are learning sort of in the field, just as I did as a teacher. So yeah, it's just another one of the I'm going to say pieces that I bring to my coaching. So I just sort of integrate this all into my sessions with clients. Michael Hingson ** 34:21 Got it. So there are places where you actually take these courses, or how does that work? I Andra Wochesen ** 34:27 have done all of my training online, okay, all of it online from all over the world, actually. Yeah, that's the beauty of the internet, right? It's, it's yeah. I've done, yeah, I've done all of my practice and some stuff in person, for sure, I've done some stuff in person, but I've done a lot of, even all of my coaching. Now, I do a few in person retreats, but most of it is virtual. Most of it is zoom coaching. And I didn't know if I would like it, but I do. It's you can actually form quite a nice connection with people via the internet, right? Michael Hingson ** 34:59 Do you. You're able to to establish as good a connection, doing it through the internet as you would, and as you do, if you're actually conducting an in person event, Andra Wochesen ** 35:11 you know, yes, I'd say in some ways more so, and then in some ways less so. So I think there are, there are in person, there's, there's something really beautiful in being in someone else's energy, me being in theirs, and they're being in mine, and very also hands. My hands are very, very hands on. So that can be very helpful to have that presence. But I also find online, there can be a spaciousness that actually allows people almost to open up more, because they actually have their own space. So I have, yeah, I've been doing both for years, and I enjoy both. I'm going to say that, and I don't not just about me enjoying it. The benefits for my clients are both in person and virtual, or I would say equal Michael Hingson ** 36:04 when the pandemic began and we started doing so many things virtually, for me, personally, I never feared it, because we even in an in person environment. I'm not, I don't how do I say this in a positive way? I look at the person, I see the person, but the way I see the person is not physically, necessarily, with the eyes, in in any different way, virtually than I would if I'm doing this in person, and I find that I'm able to interact with people well through zoom. I think Zoom is the more most accessible of the various conferencing technologies is out there, but I think that if you work at it, you can establish a good relationship through zoom, and you can do the kinds of work that you need to do. Unfortunately, too many people talk about it in such a way that they fear it, or they just become tired of doing things in a way that's different than what they're used to, which is totally in person, and that's detracting them from maybe having as positive an experience as they could Andra Wochesen ** 37:21 Yeah, I agree that's well said, and I think, I think it's always about presence. And so when, yeah, when we're connecting on the internet, it's not, it's a machine or it's, it's whatever it is, right? But it's you showing up fully, making eye contact with people, not being distracted, being fully present, which is what actually allows people to feel seen and feel heard, and I think that it also allows you to be accessing people and opportunities all over the world, right? And so I will even say, when I first started doing this, there was a lot of people, especially when I started doing working more with entrepreneurs, they're like, I'm busy. I don't really have time to, like, drive across the city and come to your office and meet with you. You know, can we do this? And so it actually is very time efficient, right? You don't have to travel you. You are able to fit lots of things into your day, right? So I think there's, there's real benefits to it. And I think again, it's ultimately how present people are a computer or in person. Michael Hingson ** 38:37 It's, it's all about, in part, accepting a different way of doing things, perhaps than you're used to, and accepting that it may not be any less equal to do it in a different way than the way you would normally do something. That is to say, is it really worse? Is it really different to do it virtually? Or can it really be just as much an equivalent kind of thing? And I think that that is mostly a matter of what we're what we choose to accept. Now, for me, there are challenges with things like doing virtual presentations with Zoom, if people don't communicate in a way that I can fully understand, or if they're sharing screens and don't describe what's on the screen. But the reality is that's just as true if I'm sitting in an in person environment and people are displaying slides and doing other things where they don't describe it. So it comes down to the same thing you can accomplish if you do it right. Andra Wochesen ** 39:47 Yeah, and I think it comes down like what we said before, what where your focus is? Are you focusing on the gifts of something or the negative areas? Just like we were talking about kids gifts. In school, right? So it's like, if you can see what are the benefits to this virtual experience, if your focus is there, every you know what we focus on expands and where we direct our our focus is what informs how we feel. And so I think if we are choosing to look for the benefits of whatever we are, whatever situation we're in, you'll find them right. And the more you focus on them, the more they'll expand right Michael Hingson ** 40:28 well. So you referred a couple of times, and I did at the very beginning a little bit to, I think, as you put it, you've had some things that have challenged your path and that you've had to work through, especially as late. Want to talk about some of that. Andra Wochesen ** 40:44 Yeah. I mean, I yeah, I had to wait until I was ready to share this piece. But I feel like part of my mission and purpose is to support, is to share my journey to support other people. And so I think there's my journey as an entrepreneur that supports people, and this is now a journey with breast cancer, and so it's a health journey that I didn't expect to be sharing with people, and I have had to, obviously decide when and how I want to share it. So, yeah, I was diagnosed in early February and so, and I have yet to have treatment. So I think the reason I thought it was important to even share this is for people even to be able to relate to anything that they receive. So I'm calling it like how to navigate a difficult diagnosis with grace. So I'm not even at the treatment stage. I'm in the unknown, and I've been in the unknown for three months now, and I have been in the known that I have cancer, so I've actually had to hold the fact that I have cancer in my body, but not have any treatment yet for three months. So there's there's something in that being able to hold the unknown and the unexpected and be able to walk my talk, right, which is to maintain my center and my groundedness within myself and not get pulled into a freak out place of like, why aren't they acting faster? Why is this taking so long? And this, is this going to be spreading because they're not doing anything? So I think there's a there's the piece around that that I think I wanted to offer and share, I think, and I think, um, yeah, it's it. What I really realized for myself is, um, I was like, Oh, I'm going to be the person who really navigates this was with grace, and I'm going to be inspirational in this. And then I really realized, and then there were days where I was like, Oh, I'm the opposite of inspirational right now. I am like, grumpy, I'm crying, I'm mad, and I'm like, and then I kind of realized that actually that is inspirational, and that is handling a difficult diagnosis. And so one of the things I do teach people is really to feel what is there and to actually tune into your body. And so I think this journey has actually, and it's just beginning, right? It's not, I'm not even meeting with a surgeon tomorrow for hopefully next steps, but I've had four biopsies, I've had a lot of things. I've had a lot of invasive procedures to determine what next steps are. And so, yeah, and so it's just finding this balance, I think, between continuing. So today, it's like, I have a client. This morning, I had another call, and then now I'm on a podcast, and then tomorrow I'm seeing the surgeon, right? So it's, it's being able to and then my husband's actually going for surgery the next day. So it's being able to navigate all of these things at once. And yeah, on some level, I want to just say, like allowing I'm really just allowing myself to be where I am, and some days I am great, and doing a podcast and coaching clients, because that fills me up. And then there are other days where I'm so angry and I'm so sad and there's some fear, and so it's and then so I feel like those two pieces, it's like allowing the hard pieces to be there, and then also having a knowing that there's a higher path and purpose for this. I don't know exactly. I already know I'm growing and expanding because of this, and I know there will be more. And then I think just the third piece I want to share is that my intuition has always been strong, but it's non negotiable now. And so I again, I'm just offering this for your listeners, right? Just tuning into how to tune into your own inner voice in terms of, what do I need right now? What treatment do I want to pursue? There's a lot of different pieces, and there are a lot of different voices that can be out there, but really the power of having this deep connection to yourself. Truth and trusting yourself to or God or spirit or source, however you want to see it, to help guide the process. Michael Hingson ** 45:08 When you say your intuition is non negotiable, what do you mean by that? Andra Wochesen ** 45:13 Listening to my intuitions for that would have been better way to say it. Listening to my intuition is non negotiable. So I will Intuit, if I'm able to work today, I will Intuit I've been intuiting that my body just wants citrus right now, and I'm just, I'm just giving it that, and I have actually learned that that's actually really helpful for cancer cells. So this is me intuiting this long before I heard this information. So it's tuning in and hearing this information and then acting on it. And so, yeah, I think it's it's just we all have intuition, and I think in times like this, we have to get still and get quiet and make sure that we're listening to the inner guidance that we are receiving. Michael Hingson ** 46:01 So you say you got diagnosed in February, so it's been two months going on three. Why is it taking so long? Maybe it's not, but why is it taking so long to get treatment? Or is this typical? Andra Wochesen ** 46:16 I don't like, I don't think there is typical. So that's one thing I would say. And I think this surgeon just wants to be very thorough. So for me personally, I mean, this is maybe too much information, but I have dense breasts, so it's very hard for him to see. He doesn't want to just go in. There is cancer there, but he needed to do other biopsies and do other testing, other MRIs to see if there was more so that he doesn't have to operate cut once or whatever they say, Right? He's like, he wants to go in and do take care of everything that needs to be taken care of, right? And so he's doing his due diligence. And so that just takes some time, right? Takes time to get in for appointments. It takes time to get results for appointments. Michael Hingson ** 47:04 It's a it's a process. I know I can relate to, to what you're saying. I had over the past few years, and it was growing worse pain, especially in my left arm, and I finally talked to my doctor about it. I was going in to just have some standard blood draws and a couple of vaccinations in December. And I mentioned to the doctor this was going on. And I said, What do we do to try to figure this out? And he said, Well, put a couple other blood tests in just to see what, what might show up. And I find that my doctor is as a pretty bright guy, and so he didn't really go into much detail, other than we'll do blood tests and see, well, turns out that one of the blood tests that he ordered was for a heart enzyme called troponin that is produced by the heart when it's not behaving properly. And so on December 23 I learned that my troponin level was at 1100 92 when normally it should be between zero and 20. And I was taken off to an emergency room. We were actually still at the clinic getting vaccinations. When they had done the blood draws and they stat they just did them right away. They did the tests and got the results anyway. The problem was that when they when they did the tests and the blood tests, it took a day, even though they took me right to an emergency room and I sat there for a day, literally before they did an angiogram and a an echocardiogram to determine that there was a bad heart valve, and then nobody did anything with the information. And what so what they should have done was to have me sign forms to send them to my doctor, or given me copies of the CDs with the images to take to the doctor. And nobody talked about doing any of that, and nobody did any of that, and literally, it was like over a month before the doctor even got the information. And nobody seemed to be worried about it in the doctor's environment, which was at the clinic where I had all my other stuff done, or at the bigger hospital related to it. And it was just very strange, and then when they finally did get the information, even then there wasn't a lot of urgency. And for me, it wasn't a matter of being so much angry as puzzlement about why there wasn't a more of an emergency. You got a bad heart valve. It could stop anytime, right? Anyway, it. Took three months before they finally did do an operation and put in an artificial valve. So that was done in March of this year. So it was basically three months after the the initial diagnosis, and now everything is fine, but it is. I know that for me, what I chose to do was not panic. I chose not to be stressed. So during the time I was in the emergency room for that day, I found lots of ways to be entertained by listening to other people. And I had a couple things to listen to. I had recorded books and so on, but it was much more entertaining to listen to other people around me. And all the way up through the surgery, I chose not to be stressed, and it was a little bit tempting to not get too angry because they were taking so long. But still, my choice was not to be worried by all that, because that could only make matters worse. And when we did the surgery, I came right out of it, and started joking with the doctors right away, and they didn't believe that I was coming out of the anesthetic so fast, but I did and and we had a lot of fun with it, but it is, it is interesting. We do have the ability to make choices, and we can choose to move forward in a positive way or not. And I think if we don't choose to do that, and we we allow ourselves to be controlled by our fears, that's really where too many times, we have too many problems that we don't deal with nearly as well as we can. Andra Wochesen ** 51:36 Yeah, I think choice is key, right? We have a choice what we think. We have a choice how we feel. And I do want to say I'm a big advocate of positive mindset, but I'm also a very big advocate of feeling your feelings. And so I think there's a difference between true feelings and feelings where we create a story around the feelings, and I think it's, I just really want to voice that today, in terms of people not pasting over feelings. I think there's a, yeah, there's a place for all of it. I think getting stuck in negativity or bad feelings or hard feelings is not where we want to be, but suppressing them if they're there, is also not a good place to be. And I think in fact, for me, in this I can be elevated very easily, because it's what I do for a living. But I think me being much more vocal about the challenges of this or the anger, has actually opened up a stronger conviction in me that is actually opening up more power in my expression. And so I feel I just really wanted to presence that in this moment, because I think it's really key to be yes, obviously choosing, choosing our focus and seeing. We talked about that many times today, about seeing the brightness or seeing the gifts and seeing the positives. But I do think it's really important for people to feel what they need to feel. So just wanted to presence that it's what I do all the time with people, and it's one it's what I'm doing with myself. Michael Hingson ** 53:24 Yeah, and that's why you're walking the talk and you're succeeding. How is faith imperative when navigating challenges like life, challenges like what you're facing now? Andra Wochesen ** 53:37 Well, I think I remember one talk you said when you were in the World Trade Center and just said, like God said to you, go here or stay calm. I mean, I don't want to misquote you, but it was, I really could feel the truth of that. And so I think there is a higher power, a higher voice, whatever you want to call it, whether it is God, source, spirit, universe, Higher Self, everybody has different language for it. And I think if we can tune in and believe that things are happening for us versus to us, or that there is guidance that's available for us, it's, I think it's what I think we needed. It's, I feel like sometimes it's the only thing that will get us through the hard times, right, is really believing in, yeah, something bigger than us in our own capacity to handle things and and I'm going to say and cultivating that especially in times of challenge. Because I think when we're in times of challenge, it's easier to lose faith. And I actually think we need to double down on faith when in our in our most challenging moments. Michael Hingson ** 54:42 What is faith? Andra Wochesen ** 54:46 Well, that's everybody that I can't speak to that, right? That's your I'm speaking to it in my perspective, I think faith is belief in something bigger than you. I think it's faith is. Something unseen, right, something that has not yet manifested. It's believing in something that's not yet in front of you, right? So I can and choose where to place my faith, right? And you get to choose where to place it, so Right, right? Michael Hingson ** 55:18 But you're continuing, even with the breast cancer and so on. You're continuing to coach, right? Andra Wochesen ** 55:22 I am, until otherwise I've everybody in my world has to be flexible, because obviously I it's unknown for me in terms of what and I will never show up for a session when I'm not at my fullest capacity. So it just depends on, you know, what that looks like? You know, if I'm recovering from surgery, I'm going to take some time for myself. If I'm in chemotherapy, I'm probably not going to feel very good for certain days, so I'm not going to coach on those days. So it's about, again, me intuiting what I need for me and what serves me, and then making sure that anybody who comes into my world has a very good understanding of that. Michael Hingson ** 56:03 Oh, can people who are experiencing this podcast with us today apply all of these lessons in their own lives and so on going forward? Andra Wochesen ** 56:13 Well, I think it's like anything we talked about a lot of things, and I think it's whatever is landing with someone is what they're meant to hear. So there I, you know, very specifically, gave three things around my cancer diagnosis, which I'll reiterate, for people to apply, because I think it's like three steps see the higher perspective of whatever situation or circumstance that you're in that feels like a challenge, whether that is a work challenge, a relationship challenge, a health challenge. Number two, I think, is tuning in to your intuitive guidance, and let's say faith in that container, in that number two. And then I think number three is allowing yourself to express the humanness, which I talked about here, right? Allowing yourself to feel what you feel. Yes, choose the higher perspective when you can. But there are times where tears need to flow, or where you are angry, and it's not about taking out anger on someone else. It's about finding a tool to be able to help you release that anger or be able to express it. So there's, there's lots of things that we can do for that. So I think it's like, yeah, I hope that people can whatever situation they're going through right now that feels even if it's not challenging, it doesn't have to be challenging. But it's like, yeah, see the bigger picture. Tune into intuitive guidance and feel what's really there for you, Michael Hingson ** 57:41 yeah, which is really important to do. I think we we never spend our we mostly don't spend nearly enough time listening to ourselves and listening to what our inner voices have to say to us that we can use. And I think it's so important to do that, Andra Wochesen ** 57:59 yes, every day. And I think when we're faced with challenges, it's heightened. And I believe our challenges are here to I've always listened to my inner self, but I think this cancer is like, no, no, you, you're you, you're this is here for you to do it even more. And so I think our challenges are are an opportunity for that to deepen. Michael Hingson ** 58:20 Well, since you are coaching, and you do a lot of that, if people want to reach out to you and maybe follow up on what they're hearing today, how do they do that? Andra Wochesen ** 58:29 My website you could do is, actually, you're on LinkedIn a lot, so probably people are listening to this on LinkedIn. So Andra Wochesen is my if you look that up on LinkedIn, Andrawochesen.com, is my website, Michael Hingson ** 58:44 why don't you spell that? If you would Sure, sure, yeah, a, Andra Wochesen ** 58:47 An, D, R, A, W, O, C, H, E, S, E, N, and then.com and yeah, I'm also on Instagram, a little bit under Andra underscore energy, coach, so those are the three main places that I am sort of accessible, or where people can reach out. Michael Hingson ** 59:08 Well, I hope people will reach out. I think you've offered a lot of invaluable insights, and I think there is a lot to be said for the kinds of things that we've talked about today, because we have to listen to ourselves, and mostly we probably have to learn how to listen to ourselves. And you certainly can help with that. Yeah, Andra Wochesen ** 59:31 that's a great way to say it, right? It is. It is a it's another choice, right? And it is a skill. And it is. It does require a moment to slow down, to really tune in and listen. Yeah, Michael Hingson ** 59:42 yeah, absolutely. Well, I want to thank you for being here and spending an hour with us. Can you believe it's been an hour already we've had a lot of fun telling you conversation, Andra Wochesen ** 59:52 yeah, lots of different topics, lots of different areas. And yeah, thank you for the opportunity to connect with you and. Your audience and to share my story and hopefully some inspiration or insight for those listening. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:08 Well, we're very grateful that you took the time to do this, and I want to express my gratitude to all of you who are out there listening or watching this, and we appreciate you doing so. I hope you liked what Andrew Watson had to say today, I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to hear what your thoughts are. Please feel free to email me at Michael h i at accessibe. You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week
The Evidence Based Chiropractor- Chiropractic Marketing and Research
In today's episode, we dig into one of the most intriguing topics in spinal imaging: the comparison between upright and recumbent MRIs. He breaks down a brand new systematic review published in the Spine Journal—featuring data from 19 studies and over 5,200 participants—to answer a key question for clinicians: Are there meaningful differences between upright and traditional lying-down MRI scans, and which correlates better with a patient's pain?Episode Notes: Upright versus recumbent lumbar spine MRI: do findings differ systematically, and which correlates better with pain? A systematic reviewLeander Tables- Save $1,000 on the Series 950 Table using the code EBC2025 — their most advanced flexion-distraction tableTurncloud EHR- Minimalist design, without being sparse. Practical, yet elegant. Turncloud's design was to find the most efficient path in a day in the life of a chiropractic office. Connect with their team at www.turncloud.com Patient Pilot by The Smart Chiropractor is the fastest, easiest to generate weekly patient reactivations on autopilot…without spending any money on advertising. Click here to schedule a call with our team.Our members use research to GROW their practice. Are you interested in increasing your referrals? Discover the best chiropractic marketing you aren't currently using right here!
This week we are down Jason so Jeff and Brian are joined by Scab Jeff. The Guys discuss wheather the new golden age of television is over, which superhero to deport, and the safety of MRIs. The Top 5 is about our favorite Movies or TV shows about the American South. This episode is sponsored by the Cincinnati Comic Expo.
Your back is an integral part of your body's structure, and it plays an important role in a wide variety of movements. Dealing with back pain can make every day difficult, affecting your ability to walk, drive, or tie your shoes. If you've ever dealt with low back pain, you know that the health of your back can impact your quality of life in every way. On this episode of The Model Health Show, our guest is chiropractor and the founder and CEO of RehabFix, Dr. Grant Elliot. He is passionate about helping people resolve their low back pain so they can live a healthy, full, and functional life. On today's show he's sharing his best tips for eliminating sciatica, low back pain, and symptoms stemming from disc herniation. We're going to talk about how rest and movement impact musculoskeletal issues, how imaging can actually increase your risk for surgery, and how your lifestyle impacts your pain levels. You're going to hear the truth about what back pain is and why it occurs, and realistic tips you can use to improve your symptoms. You're also going to learn about why the traditional model for treating back pain is misguided. Dr. Elliot is going to dispel some of the biggest myths around low back pain, stretching and exercise, imaging, and so much more. If you or someone you love struggles with low back pain, you're going to get a ton of value out of this conversation. Enjoy! In this episode you'll discover: What percentage of American adults struggle with back pain. (4:48) Why Dr. Elliot decided to become a chiropractor. (6:02) The #1 reason why we develop musculoskeletal pain. (13:43) What percentage of back pain is labeled non-specific low back pain. (14:37) How your lifestyle impacts the health of your back. (15:07) Why so many people are misdiagnosed with muscle strain. (15:33) An important reason why rest is not advised for back pain. (17:03) The role that movement plays in joint health. (17:49) How common disc bulges are. (19:20) The anatomy of a disc. (21:41) Why imaging is often overused in modern medicine. (25:03) The various types of disc issues, and how size and severity differ. (25:39) Why your primary provider is unqualified to treat lower back pain. (26:26) The shocking connection between MRIs and surgeries. (29:51) What sciatica is and its root cause. (32:21) Why hamstring stretches can worsen sciatic pain. (35:07) The best exercises for sciatica. (38:04) How to determine how much movement is safe if you're in pain. (45:47) The biggest myths about back pain. (51:19) How stress can manifest as pain and discomfort. (1:02:11) Items mentioned in this episode include: DrinkLMNT.com/model - Get a FREE sample pack of electrolytes with any order! Foursigmatic.com/model - Get an exclusive discount on your daily health elixirs! DM the word PODCAST on Instagram for your free assessment! Connect with Dr. Grant Elliot Website / Instagram / YouTube Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to automatically receive your episodes: Apple Podcasts Spotify Soundcloud Pandora YouTube This episode of The Model Health Show is brought to you by LMNT and Four Sigmatic. Head to DrinkLMNT.com/model to claim a FREE sample pack of electrolytes with any purchase. Visit foursigmatic.com/model to get an exclusive discount on mushroom and adaptogen-packed blends to improve your life.