Abby Fox (Intro): Welcome to the Still Caring Podcast, presented by Stillwater Medical.

Joe Akin (Intro): Here, community is at the heart of healthcare.

Katon Lunsford (Intro): Through honest conversations and shared experiences

Abby Fox (Intro): we explore what it means to care for our health—

Joe Akin (Intro): and each other.

Katon Lunsford (Intro): Because better health takes a village and you're part of ours.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Hello and welcome to another episode of Still Caring. My name is Abby Fox, and I'm the PR and marketing manager here. And I'm joined by my co-hosts, Katon Lunsford and Joe Akin. Thank you guys for being here today.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Oh, we're happy to be here.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): Thanks for having us.

Abby Fox (Host 1): I introed us like this is just another episode, but it's not. This is the start of season two. We made it.

Joe Akin (Host 2): We did.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Season two already. Yeah, it feels really good to be here and to have been able to share some of the episode with all of our listeners, all of you all out there, and hear their feedback. It's been great. Have you guys enjoyed it too?

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): Yeah.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Oh, I've had a great time. Getting to talk to people in our community about their stories is just so much fun for me. And it's rewarding, and at the same time, it helps me learn, which I think, you know, as I'm getting up there in age, it helps to know more.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Distinguished. You know, _____ distinguished these days. That's so great. Well, and what has been really fun is, like, taking a moment to step back and kind of reflect on, like, what did we learn from season one? Your dream, Joe, of us being around a coffee table for season two.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): It's come true.

Abby Fox (Host 1): It has happened.

Joe Akin (Host 2): I'm telling you.

Abby Fox (Host 1): So, that feels good to be having these conversations in more real-life settings too.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Well, and I think the thing is that us having this setting and having these conversations like this really is kind of modeling what we hope people take away from it. It's taking the healthcare conversations and making it a coffee table topic. Where right now, a lot of people just keep their healthcare discussions to themselves, or maybe at home. But I think we all believe that they're more impactful if you're having these discussions out in public with your friends and talking about these different stories. And really, that's why we've chosen the people that we've chosen to work with. So, they're people that know people.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Yeah.

Joe Akin (Host 2): And because people know them, they're more likely to say, "Hey, did you hear that story about this person or that person?" And it makes it more relatable. Yeah. And then you can have these open conversations. And that's what we need, that's what we have to have. With everything that's going on in healthcare right now, this is a way of creating preventative measures, if you will. Because education is power, and we need people to be empowered.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Stickier when there's a person tied to it. And we know that there's a story and we see that context because sometimes it's, like, easy to get bombarded with, like, all the things we should be doing for our health. But when it's a story that you can remember and connect to, it resonates so much more in your day-to-day, I think, for sure.

Well, we wanted to give people a preview about what's coming in season two. So, Katon and I were sitting down and talking through, "Okay, if there's a theme, what would the theme be?" So, Katon, do you want to share kind of the theme of season two as we've kind of identified it so far? We're about halfway in to filming episodes.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): So far, we think our theme for this season's going to be about, you know, how do we prepare for the unexpected? A lot of our healthcare stories aren't always something that we're planning for. And so, what do we do when, you know, life happens and we're in this new healthcare, it feels like a crisis sometimes. And how do we navigate that? And then, looking onwards from that, how do we tell our stories and, like, reflect back on that and use those as lessons to teach our community.

Abby Fox (Host 1): I love that. And I love how it just kind of emerges. You know, there were several different threads we kind of could have pulled on for a theme, but that seemed to be the most persistent and the most consistent with each one of these stories that we have coming up this season.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Yeah. Because if you think about your own lives, rarely is something healthcare-related, something you need to get taken care of, rarely is it expected. It's not just, "Hey, you know, in a couple years, I think I'm going to throw my shoulder out and go get it replaced." You know, it's never like that.

Abby Fox (Host 1): We didn't plan for that.

Joe Akin (Host 2): And heart attacks, and I think we'll end up talking more about those types of situations. You don't plan for those things. But you can plan for them, you know, in a forethought way, and you can do things from a preventative perspective, which I think is really the goal of this whole thing.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): Yes.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Absolutely. Yeah. And I'm just thinking of different things that stood out to me from some of the conversations that we had filming the first half of the season so far. And it's all of those types of things. I was thinking through and really just my heart was such, so touched by a family that I met, the Cabreras, and they were talking about how she had had a very normal pregnancy. And so, they didn't expect that when they had their son Julian, that they would be dealing with cerebral palsy. And so, what does that look like navigating the system and feeling like they were alone in that? And so, the fact that they were able to move here to Stillwater and get a community that was helping them through that, it just feels a lot easier. Like, you can handle it if you know somebody who's been through this or if somebody knows the person to call or knows the organization that has the grant, you know, and can make that connection for you just makes life so much better in the future.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Yeah. I talked to Dr. Linda Burks. And she has a book out, and it's about emotionally dealing with mentally dealing with transitions in your life. So, like, the family that you're talking about that whole thing, one, unexpected; two, it created a transition. They had to transition from the way life was to how life is going to be, and part of that was moving.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Yeah.

Joe Akin (Host 2): And so, I think that in talking to Dr. Burks, it really resonated with me because at my age, the number of transitions that I've gone through, that our family has gone through, you realize, "Wow, I didn't do so well in that one." I really wasn't thinking through it. I reacted more than I thought. And it really made me step back and look at, okay, what other transitions might be coming, unexpected things. Can you plan for them? Where do you go? I really enjoyed talking to Dr. Burks. I think that people are really going to enjoy hearing what she has to say.

Abby Fox (Host 1): I can't wait for that one. I haven't listened to that one.

Katon Lunsford: I know, I haven't gotten either. That's awesome. I think like from the transition point, a lot of our healthcare stories are about it's one moment, and then it's what comes after that. And I really enjoyed Stacey Frazier's conversation with us, where she talked a lot about where she had one thing that was not normal, and it took a year and a half almost to figure out what the root cause of that problem was. And a lot of times for us, our health isn't just a temporary, you know, Band-Aid. It's something that's going to take many years or months to figure out. And so, I thought I learned a lot about resilience from her of how she, you know, just advocated for herself and wanted to find out what the answer was for her own health, because it's important to know what's going on in our bodies. Like Joe said, education is power. So, I think a lot of times those transitions are really important, because that's the rest of your life ahead of you.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Well, and I don't know that we specifically addressed this in any of our discussions, but thinking about Stacey as you were saying that, it's also about learning to listen to your own body because it's talking to you all the time in one way, shape, or form. And a lot of times, I don't know how women are, men—

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): don't say, Joe?

Abby Fox (Host 1): The fact that you know that is great, Joe. This is good.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Men, I can tell you, we tend to ignore it as long as we can, for whatever reason it is. In some cases, we think it'll just go away. I mean, we're not the brightest sometimes. But listening to what your body is telling you so that you can potentially address it before it becomes something more serious, I think that's incredibly important.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Yes.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): Yeah.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Again, kind of the point of this whole thing.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Right. Well, and it's reminding me of the conversation I had with Lance Walker. He is with the Human Performance and Nutrition Research Institute at OSU.

Joe Akin (Host 2): That's a mouthful.

Abby Fox (Host 1): I know. I got it out. I got it out. But anyway, I sat down with him and Zach Collett, who is a sports therapy and physical therapist trainer at Total Health. And I thought I wouldn't be able to relate much to their advice because, I mean, professional sports is not something I have ever done. But so much of what we talked about were the basic building blocks of, like, getting enough sleep, how do you foster resilience? And their answer was, you know, you do these basic things. You kind of lay this foundation so that way when the unexpected comes, you're ready for it.

And then, two, one thing they pointed out to me was, like, top athletes, they're not planning to be comfortable. They are always putting themselves in spaces of discomfort. And so, taking it to the next level and figuring out what's what. And so, I was thinking about that in my personal health of, like, okay, how am I kind of challenging myself to grow and evolve with every season? Because as your body changes as you age, you know, you're like, "What is even possible for me now?" And sometimes it's easy to say, "Oh, I'm going to release that. That was an old season." But, two, what are the opportunities that are present to me today? And how can I lean into that and continue to get better and healthier?

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): Yeah.

Joe Akin (Host 2): I think figuring out how to continually challenge yourself to improve is a key part of just keeping your mind fresh. And I tell you, as you get older, and I say that, as I'm saying it, I'm also thinking, you know, I've known some people who aren't that much older that are dealing with mental health issues. And this kind of goes back to the Linda Burks thing and trying to figure out how to work through these different transitions.

One of the guests that we'll be bringing in works at one of the retirement communities, and her whole job is about dealing with transitions. And I think that by the time people get into her facility, the speed of the transitions increase. And then, you're not just dealing with that individual's transitions, but the people associated with that individual. Everybody's going through different things. And those are all mental challenges. But on the flip side, as an individual, as you guys start growing up, it's continuing to keep that brain fresh by challenging yourself in different areas. So, it's a fun season.

Abby Fox (Host 1): You know, there are some things that are unexpected, and then there are some things that should be expected but we just don't want to think about it. And we just don't want to go there. Sometimes I can kind of tend toward I'd rather not think about that bad thing that might happen or the end of my life that might be coming. But there's so much opportunity that you miss out on, that really you could if you were just brave enough to address it. You could tackle that together with your support system.

Katon Lunsford: The more we practice that in making like taboo conversations feel less—you know, they're kind of hard and it feels embarrassing to have to go through certain transitions or, you know, deal with some kind of health issue. But the more that we talk about that, the more our community gets to improve and grow and be healthier. And so, I think that's a great point that sometimes it feels scary to think about that and talk about that, but it's important because it helps prepare us, but it helps prepare people around us too.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Absolutely.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Yeah. One of the interviews is with local radio host, Steve Daniels. I think you've both met him. Great guy, good friend, but he had a heart attack, and he's about my age. And one, I immediately thought about him, you know, making sure that he's okay. But my second thought was, "Wow, that could be me." And there's a bit of, I don't know, you step back a little bit and you start going, "Okay, what do I need to do differently?" And from having... How do I say this? Trying to have these types of conversations with people, especially, here again, especially for men, to go out and say, "Yeah, I'm at the age now where I could end up having a heart attack," where 10 years ago, I would have never had that conversation. And it's really eye-opening to be in that position where you're going, "Okay, I had a friend die of a heart attack a year ago. Now, I had another..."—Well, not a year ago, it's just a few months back—had another one that had a heart attack a week or two later, and all of a sudden you're going, "I really need to be thinking about this." Because my wife, when I'm doing work outside or something, she says, "Hey, don't forget, you know, you're older now."

Abby Fox (Host 1): You got ______ wow. Why not?

Joe Akin (Host 2): And I'm What are you talking about? I'm fine." And until you're not. And I think that's the whole thing, it's that get your head right before it's until you're not.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): Yeah.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Yes. Yeah. And expectations is a whole thing too, which is what I talked with, you know, the physical trainers about. I'm like, "Sometimes we just want results right now." And so, changing your mindset to like what am I capable of right now? Getting that real time information from your own body of like how is this going? And then, adapting and living within the reality that you find yourself in, think, is key.

Joe Akin (Host 2): But that goes back to that listening, paying attention to what your body is telling you.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): Yeah. And doing something with it.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Yes.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Right. Oh, I was talking a lot. "Shut up."

Abby Fox (Host 1): "Be quiet, I got to finish that." Yeah. Yeah

Joe Akin (Host 2): I got to tell you, I am excited about one other guest that I'm going to let it be a surprise because it is very surprising. This individual's story is something that really kind of caught me off guard. It isn't the norm, and that's why I think it's so important to have this person come out and talk about it because I think it is going to open up a bunch of people's—a bunch of eyes. They're going, "Wow, that could be me. At a time in my life, I would have never thought it could be me."

So, I'm excited about that one, but really this, the whole season I think is going to play out well. And having been through the first season, I think we all feel better about what we're doing, how we're doing it, have a better grasp on why we're doing it. And I do think everybody's going to enjoy it a lot.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Absolutely.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): I Agree.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Can't wait. Oh, thank you guys for being in this with us. This has been a fun one so far.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Of course.

Katon Lunsford: Yeah, it's been really fun.

Joe Akin (Host 2): And I can't wait to see what the rest of the season will bring, because we're only halfway in as far as filming goes. So, okay, before we depart, we got to end with our challenge to care. As always, do you guys have a challenge to care for the listeners today?

For me, I've been talking about this a lot to people, Because we have a lot of negative things happening in healthcare right now. We've got a lot of funding cutbacks that are going to impact hundreds of thousands, millions of people potentially around the country. And I just want to encourage people as much as I can to have empathy for those around you.

It not only about me, it's about you and it's about us. the more we can think about other people and how do we help you take care of yourself by having conversations like these, the better off we're going to be as a society. And I think that that is the key, is have empathy for others because one of these days it could be you. So, why wait until it is you to start going, "Oh, well, you know, so and so was going through that. I should have been there for them."

Abby Fox (Host 1): Right.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Don't wait for that. You know, be there now. Have those conversations now. Care about your fellow man. And it's going to make all of us better.

Abby Fox (Host 1): That's right.

Joe Akin (Host 2): But yeah, I challenge everybody to have more empathy for the people around them.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): I love that.

Joe Akin (Host 2): Yeah, I agree.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Well, I'm going to tag on. We're saving you for last, Katon. I wanted to tag on, because what I think as far as a challenge to care is just a challenge to share, really, because that's what I have found. Especially even as we've been on a break for this podcast, to watch different people kind of discover these conversations that were filmed a while ago but are still there, and then be able to share them with others, I think that's a really key thing.

So, whether that's, you know, sharing a moving story that you heard, a podcast episode that you listened to, or just sharing something that you feel called to share on your heart or your own health experience, I think that's how we become better, is we just start that dialogue and open the door. Have a little bit of vulnerability to put something out there and see what comes back.

Katon Lunsford: Yeah, I like that. Going off of both of them, I guess, like the advocation and the empathy and then having vulnerability for yourself, it's really important that you advocate for yourself and you listen to your body and then you do something with it. It's important to get, you know, not just your yearly checkups, but it's not taboo or embarrassing to have something that you're struggling with, whether it's physically seen or it's not something that people can see. It's really important that we take charge of our health because you're important and your life matters, and it's important that you take charge of that so you can have a full and happy and healthy life. So, that's just mine, is to take charge of your health and, you know, listen to your body and do something with it.

Abby Fox (Host 1): We can all do that.

Katon Lunsford (Host 3): Yes.

Abby Fox (Host 1): Well, thanks guys for being here. We can't wait to share season two with all of you. Thanks for listening and watching, and we'll see you soon.