Episode Summary – RIP, RIP TATER CHIP SAYS CARL VERSIO 2.0! In Episode ## of the Shining Brightly Podcast show (links in the comments) titled, “SURVIVING – PURELY OUT OF SPITE” please meet Carl and Melissa Boehm. WE played a game of “he said – she said” on how they met as a couple and then telling his incredible story publicly for the first time of Carl, age 38, suffering a grand mal seizure and Melissa rushing him to the hospital. A stage IV terminal brain cancer patient that had massive surgery and chemotherapy. Carl 2.0 has a ZEST and POSITIVITY FOR LIFE that is so inspiring. Learn why Carl uses cold plunges 4 times a week to help him heal. Come feel the ENERGY, LOVE and RESILIENCE to get back up again and again.
Mentioned Resources
Carl Boehm on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004134766207
Help Support Carl and Melissa on Go Fund Me
https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-support-carl-and-melissa
About the guest – Carl Boehm has a story of inspiration to share. He is a brain cancer survivor after suffering a grand mal seizure. A tonic-clonic seizure, previously known as a grand mal seizure, causes a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions. He was rushed to a local hospital by his wife Melissa. He had a craniotomy to remove a 3-inch peach sized tumor from his brain. He is currently in chemotherapy. Carl and his zest for life, shear resilience and exuberant energy are an inspiration for so many people to live his best life for himself and family every day.
About the Host:
Howard Brown is a best-selling author, award-winning international speaker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, and a two-time stage IV cancer survivor. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant for corporate businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. Howard has co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He is a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Howard, his wife Lisa, and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan, and his happy place is on the basketball court.
Website
Http://www.shiningbrightly.com
Social Media
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/howard.brown.36
LinkedIn - https://wwwlinkedin.com/in/howardsbrown
Instagram - @howard.brown.36
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#brain #cancer #tumor #glioblastoma #seizure #caregiver #coldplunge #motivation #education #inspiration #podcast #listen #download #share #shiningbrightly
Hello, it's Howard Brown. It's the Shining Brightly
Howard Brown:Show. It is shining so brightly because I have the most amazing
Howard Brown:guests with the most inspirational stories ever and
Howard Brown:today is no different. It is amazing. Welcome Carl and
Howard Brown:Melissa Boehm. I'm so pleased to be with you. And we're going to
Howard Brown:chat it up. How are you? Good. How are you?
Mellisa Boehl:Good.
Howard Brown:issa
Mellisa Boehl:Well, I'll be learners, or you're gonna go
Mellisa Boehl:first at a motorcycle dealership, and I couldn't see
Mellisa Boehl:the showroom. But I can hear this voice over my cubicle wall.
Mellisa Boehl:So. So I went, I popped my head up like a little prairie dog and
Mellisa Boehl:had to go see who was at the counter speaking to the owner.
Mellisa Boehl:And I started to just listen. And then he got the job. And
Mellisa Boehl:then I couldn't stand him for a very long time. He was cocky. He
Mellisa Boehl:was arrogant. I could not stand him and he tried like heck to
Mellisa Boehl:get me to go out with them. And I said, Nope. And he said he'd
Mellisa Boehl:never been turned out in his life. I said, Welcome to dating
Mellisa Boehl:a woman.
Carl Boehl:I had never been turned out.
Howard Brown:Wow. So Oh, my God knew that. He said, No, you'll
Howard Brown:get your chance. You'll get your chance. You'll get your chance.
Howard Brown:Oh my god. So I didn't see that comment. All right. But you got
Howard Brown:this booming voice. I mean, it's, you know, for radio. I
Howard Brown:mean, it's got amazing voice. All right. So, Carl, you are
Howard Brown:very you noticed her there was an attraction, but you got you
Howard Brown:got kind of, you know, crashed and burned, man.
Carl Boehl:You know, it was like the weirdest thing. I saw
Carl Boehl:this tall, beautiful. vixen stand up and from behind this
Carl Boehl:wall, and somehow inside of a building God part of the clouds
Carl Boehl:and shining this light of like, Oh, hello, yeah. And I was I
Carl Boehl:died. She knocked my socks off. She had a boyfriend at the time.
Carl Boehl:I heard they were on the rocks a little bit. And I was like,
Carl Boehl:here's the time when I swoop in real quick. And that makes me
Carl Boehl:sound kind of bad. I've normally never do that. But this woman
Carl Boehl:was like something else to me. So I was like, Listen, I got
Carl Boehl:this, I got the chance to hurt away from the rocks. I was like,
Carl Boehl:give me a chance. You know, let's go on a date. This week.
Carl Boehl:I'm taken to dinner. And when I say laughed in my face, I mean,
Carl Boehl:she literally laughed into my face like I've never had, I was
Carl Boehl:like, Absolutely not. And then a few weeks roll by. And then I
Carl Boehl:was like, come on, I said you give me one chance, you will not
Carl Boehl:regret this, I promise you, I will show you the real me
Carl Boehl:outside of these walls. And lo and behold, we go on our first
Carl Boehl:date that happened to be with like, six or 10 of my
Carl Boehl:girlfriends that I went to high school with not actual
Carl Boehl:girlfriend, but like very close female friends that I've had for
Carl Boehl:a very long time. And they all loved her. And she loved all
Carl Boehl:them. And it was mutual respect and love. And I knew from the
Carl Boehl:first I knew before we went on the date that I loved her. And
Carl Boehl:that sounds crazy, but I already knew, like I was like, if I ever
Carl Boehl:get a chance and people used to laugh me because they were you
Carl Boehl:know, you know, they left me but I was like if I ever gonna
Carl Boehl:change that woman. I would never squander it. And I honestly
Carl Boehl:never have do this.
Mellisa Boehl:There we are 10 years later,
Carl Boehl:nine years later,
Howard Brown:amen. Amen. So, you know, it's funny because
Howard Brown:that happened to me. Alright, I'm coming off a cancer one
Howard Brown:rehabilitating myself. And I see Lisa across the room, and I say
Howard Brown:I'm gonna marry that girl. I told the guys like, What are you
Howard Brown:talking about? You don't even know her. And 29 years later,
Howard Brown:right known for 31 Now, it's an amazing thing when you know, you
Howard Brown:know,
Carl Boehl:I literally just knew, I mean, I was like out in
Carl Boehl:the world do my thing mid to late 20s like out here just
Carl Boehl:getting it. And sure enough, she knocked me off. She slapped me I
Carl Boehl:couldn't believe it. I've never ever ever had a woman hit me
Carl Boehl:like lightning before. I was just like, awestruck like oh my
Carl Boehl:god who is this woman?
Howard Brown:And he was a little more convincing obviously
Howard Brown:so that's all right.
Mellisa Boehl:Work to show me who he really was
Carl Boehl:so bad when I said to her for her boyfriend but
Carl Boehl:this do a live one five states away. They weren't even really
Carl Boehl:dating. It wasn't like I was I like swept in like an eagle and
Carl Boehl:just took her you know.
Howard Brown:I love it. Alright, so let's but we're
Howard Brown:gonna change up a little bit. I gotta set the tone here because
Howard Brown:you've been through some tough stuff. So record rip. RIP and
Howard Brown:rip tater chip. We're gonna hit it. We're gonna hit I love this.
Howard Brown:Your energy is just, we're gonna amazing Alright, so I gotta read
Howard Brown:a couple of this because this is like Okay, witness what got me
Howard Brown:when we got introduced? Oh, we got a shout out to Shannon
Howard Brown:Costello because she, we love you. We love Shannon. She's a
Howard Brown:stage two colorectal cancer survivor, Mom of boys and great
Howard Brown:person. She's awesome. So big shout out. All right, so here's
Howard Brown:the call on your 38th birthday. You're a young man, you had
Howard Brown:what's called the grand mal seizure. And your wife rushed
Howard Brown:you to the hospital. Okay. And they found it says three peach
Howard Brown:size tumours on your brain?
Carl Boehl:Well, that was actually a mistake. There was a
Carl Boehl:one three inch pizza size.
Howard Brown:Alright, so you had you but still it's a big
Howard Brown:tumour in your brain. Okay. Yeah. And then it shifted your
Howard Brown:centre line a quarter inch bent, then you actually had to have
Howard Brown:some pre ops. And you basically had no short term memory. And if
Howard Brown:you say your last three years of your life, wow. And even, you
Howard Brown:know, you're still dealing with you know, looking at pictures.
Howard Brown:You don't remember you got this brain fog. I have it chemo
Howard Brown:brain. It's PTSD. And, but there you are. You're just blacked
Howard Brown:out. And thank God she took you in. It's really important. It's
Howard Brown:important. And so most I'm gonna start with you first. I mean,
Howard Brown:you found him at work.
Mellisa Boehl:No, we were at home. I had gotten up to get
Mellisa Boehl:ready for work. He had fallen asleep in the other room. And I
Mellisa Boehl:came in it was his birthday. So I I just left him to sleep at
Mellisa Boehl:night and I came in to wake him up wish him happy birthday. And
Mellisa Boehl:I found him just after he had had a seizure. He couldn't talk.
Mellisa Boehl:He couldn't move. All he could do was shake his head yesterday
Mellisa Boehl:to answer my questions that I was asking him. And he he would
Mellisa Boehl:just completely out of it. He was posturing. His arm was like
Mellisa Boehl:this. And so he would be very combative. So I didn't call 911.
Mellisa Boehl:I got it. I got got him up, got him ready, got it got him into
Mellisa Boehl:the car. He finally came to a little bit of a
Carl Boehl:Google research and hospitals where their star
Carl Boehl:reviews. It's amazing that you thought like
Howard Brown:You're a big guy. I mean, again, you actually got
Howard Brown:him to take a few steps and get him into the
Mellisa Boehl:coffee. I gave him a few minutes. I sat here
Mellisa Boehl:and stared at him for a minute and then I figured if he came to
Mellisa Boehl:he probably would be weirded out by that. So I just kept coming.
Mellisa Boehl:As I was getting stuff gathered up to take to go to hospital. He
Mellisa Boehl:started to come around a little bit. I got him into my jeep.
Mellisa Boehl:Forgot masks ran back in and by the time I was coming back out
Mellisa Boehl:within three seconds, he was already getting out of my jeep
Mellisa Boehl:and trying to get back into the house. He had no idea what was
Mellisa Boehl:going on. He didn't know what where we were going even though
Mellisa Boehl:he had agreed to go to the hospital. And he was trying to
Mellisa Boehl:get back in the house. He's like, where are we going?
Carl Boehl:Then she got me Howard. She
Mellisa Boehl:got I made him shake on it. I said we're going
Mellisa Boehl:to the hospital this man even in psychoses won't back out of a
Mellisa Boehl:handshake. So I got him to the hospital. And that's how I said
Mellisa Boehl:You shook on it. And he agreed he pushed every button literally
Mellisa Boehl:in my on my radio on the way there. It was like a six year
Mellisa Boehl:old, just completely ridiculous. And he's like, where are we
Mellisa Boehl:gone? Why? Why he had no concept of any thing that he didn't
Mellisa Boehl:remember what happened to him?
Howard Brown:Yeah, we do dumb stuff. My blood pressure went
Howard Brown:like 247 over 150 and I drove myself to the emergency room we
Howard Brown:do dumb stuff probably should have called 911. But you gotta
Unknown:you know what's crazy is that I fell asleep one day.
Unknown:And I woke up like three years later. And I was like what has
Unknown:happened to my life.
Unknown:He was fine. The night before he was he was he was some seemingly
Unknown:normal but like I literally think
Carl Boehl:there was a couple of things that led us directly
Carl Boehl:into this though. So the Sunday before my birthday was on a
Carl Boehl:Wednesday. So the Sunday before my birthday, we had got ticket
Carl Boehl:to go to Chicago, the musical in Detroit. I stood up in the first
Carl Boehl:or second act right in the middle of the afternoon, my wife
Carl Boehl:threw money in her face and said, My Ubers here, I'm bored.
Carl Boehl:I'm bored and walked out. And I would obviously never ever leave
Carl Boehl:my wife in Detroit ever, because that's not something we do. And
Carl Boehl:then I leaned over in front of her desk as I was walking
Carl Boehl:through the office one day and I said, I'm gonna squeeze I'm
Carl Boehl:gonna squeeze my brains out. I'm screaming. And the telltale sign
Carl Boehl:was I wore a collared shirt in to my place of business
Carl Boehl:backwards. And the GM I remember I remember this kind of like a
Carl Boehl:little bit. I remember that he came over my desk two or three
Carl Boehl:different times and was like, Hey, man, are you okay? And I
Carl Boehl:was like, everything's fine. Like, leave me alone. And then
Carl Boehl:the fourth time he came over, I threw my fist on my desk and I
Carl Boehl:was like, What are you talking about? And he's like, Carl, are
Carl Boehl:you fucking with me? And you said you're wearing your
Carl Boehl:collared shirt backwards. Still in defiance? I pull my arms out
Carl Boehl:of my shirt and I spin it around, and I realised that he's
Carl Boehl:right. And I snatched my keys off my desk and I walked out of
Carl Boehl:there was like, I don't know went home.
Mellisa Boehl:But he didn't know how to get home. We live
Mellisa Boehl:five miles from where we were when I couldn't get home and
Mellisa Boehl:know how to get home.
Carl Boehl:I couldn't get to work or from work. I was driving
Carl Boehl:to Ann Arbour where I used to work for like five years, I was
Carl Boehl:getting like halfway to in arbour going, Oh, my God, I
Carl Boehl:don't work here anymore, and then driving all the way back to
Carl Boehl:Lavonia like I would leave an hour early for work and be 10
Carl Boehl:minutes late. Yeah. And it's a 10 minute drive.
Howard Brown:So these are some telltale signs and things like
Howard Brown:that. So you enter into the emergency room, and they're all
Howard Brown:there and they take you in what happens next.
Mellisa Boehl:They started to run some tests on they did they
Mellisa Boehl:did blood work, and then they did a CT scan. And they came
Mellisa Boehl:back and said there was a mask. We didn't know what it was. So
Mellisa Boehl:then they scheduled the MRI and they took them down for the MRI.
Mellisa Boehl:And that's when they came back, started shaking and back and
Mellisa Boehl:told us that he has a huge tumour in his brain. The centre
Mellisa Boehl:line of his brain was over here. So the tumour was almost to the
Mellisa Boehl:left side of his brain. And his mother was there with us. And so
Mellisa Boehl:we were just trying to process what they were saying. And then
Mellisa Boehl:they actually sent him to by ambulance to a different
Mellisa Boehl:hospital, one row of Beaumont did actually do the Korean
Mellisa Boehl:economy, because where I took him was just a smaller hospital.
Mellisa Boehl:So they weren't they didn't have the technology to do the
Mellisa Boehl:craniotomy. So they transferred him there. And then that's when
Mellisa Boehl:the surgery took place.
Howard Brown:Same day.
Mellisa Boehl:No, they actually scheduled it for the next day.
Mellisa Boehl:But then they tried to push it back a day and my best friend
Mellisa Boehl:and I went crazy
Carl Boehl:on they actually had to take a day and show her how
Carl Boehl:to move my arms and legs because they expected me to be paralysed
Carl Boehl:from the neck down for the rest of my life. Yeah, yeah. So they
Carl Boehl:showed her how to basically be like my caretaker for an entire
Carl Boehl:day for an entire day before they were going back because
Carl Boehl:they expect me to come out and be paralysed. And then she comes
Carl Boehl:to sheet like we're talking one minute follows up one minute,
Carl Boehl:Oh, stop. They were expecting me to be paralysed from the neck
Carl Boehl:down for the rest of my life. And she said, Then, all these
Carl Boehl:people run laughing and shit. And she comes in to the room and
Carl Boehl:I was doing wheelies in my wheelchair, and she looks at the
Carl Boehl:doctor and goes, well, he's not paralysed. He's like, Well, I
Carl Boehl:guess not. Like, surgeon, we met by a surgeon, Dr. Jacobs, who
Carl Boehl:are our first name dropping, we're not, but we've never had a
Carl Boehl:surgeon. And he was like, he was like, like testing my arm
Carl Boehl:strength testing my leg strength and was like, looking at my
Carl Boehl:face. And like, you know, like, you're really he's like, here's
Carl Boehl:your strong. And I'm like, Yeah, I always have been. He's like,
Carl Boehl:No, you're like, really strong. And I'm like, you say it, like I
Carl Boehl:shouldn't be. He's like, we don't have any faith grouping or
Carl Boehl:anything. And I'm like, Yeah, then you actually say, hey,
Carl Boehl:Alison, like I showed her face paralysis. And he's like, You
Carl Boehl:should. He's like, we cut out a big movement portion of your
Carl Boehl:brain. You should have weakness in one side of your body or
Carl Boehl:something. He goes your frickin freak. I'm like, I'll take that.
Carl Boehl:I'm a little freakish.
Howard Brown:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's Oh, my God. So that that
Howard Brown:surgery, you stayed in the hospital a little time and then
Howard Brown:did you have to do any rehab or a couple
Carl Boehl:Couple of days? No,
Mellisa Boehl:rehab was amazing. walk the halls with a
Mellisa Boehl:walker. And then he didn't need it. So we just started picking
Mellisa Boehl:it up and carrying it and they were laughing at him. But but he
Mellisa Boehl:was a terrible patient because he was in front of the he wasn't
Mellisa Boehl:the end of the hallway. They had to move in front of the nurse's
Mellisa Boehl:station. He kept ripping us out.
Carl Boehl:My IV looks great, right?
Mellisa Boehl:Yeah, he ripped his catheter out. He Oh,
Mellisa Boehl:everything. Oh, so they had to move him on his bed. I had to
Mellisa Boehl:stand that his bed for six hours when they tried to get out of
Mellisa Boehl:the bed.
Howard Brown:Oh, you are a troublemaker Carl, you are just
Howard Brown:a troublemaker, man.
Carl Boehl:Oh, catheter was worse. Howard.
Howard Brown:I know. I've been. I've been there. So alright,
Howard Brown:Carl, this is for you. What is your driving force?
Carl Boehl:Honestly, it's my support system. Now obviously, I
Carl Boehl:myself feel like I deserve to live. That is my that is I'm
Carl Boehl:fighting for myself above and beyond everything else. For my
Carl Boehl:obviously my wife and myself and our wives together. That is my
Carl Boehl:driving force. But really, it's my support system. I can't even
Carl Boehl:tell you the people that have come out of the woodwork. And
Carl Boehl:just like, friends wise, I put on my fundraiser like Lauren and
Carl Boehl:Katie, we love you too. I can't even like we had her best friend
Carl Boehl:and their husband put on a GoFundMe for like, we haven't
Carl Boehl:done anything to for any of these events, or any of these
Carl Boehl:things that happen. These people have just done this. And it's
Carl Boehl:freaking. I mean, it's the most touching thing in the world and
Carl Boehl:they with their support. With everybody's support coming in
Carl Boehl:like this. I'm able to take a little bit of time off work and
Carl Boehl:I can breathe a little bit easy. And I can pay for my
Carl Boehl:chemotherapy medication without having to kill myself working
Carl Boehl:5060 hours a week trying to just make ends meet, just to pay my
Carl Boehl:chemo medication.
Howard Brown:Right. I have to tell you so one of the things
Howard Brown:that that you saw is that in your time of need, people came,
Howard Brown:they came. They it was time to be selfish, and they came for
Howard Brown:you and you I can tell it because you are grateful for
Howard Brown:that because it's helped. And it just shows you that there is
Howard Brown:love in the world. There is care.
Carl Boehl:Yeah, I didn't realise how much I had touched
Carl Boehl:people's lives and inspired people. And then once I started
Carl Boehl:making my videos, and you know, doing so well through radiation,
Carl Boehl:like I'm not joking, I was gassing up 89 year old people
Carl Boehl:that were going through radiation, I'm like, go. I'm
Carl Boehl:telling you, it went from being a bad thing that people were
Carl Boehl:telling me, you know, this, you know, like, like, Miss Garcia
Carl Boehl:used to bring her her granddaughter and her
Carl Boehl:granddaughter was like, at her on her last day, they gave me a
Carl Boehl:card. And I'm like, I'm not supposed to be a yellow card.
Carl Boehl:And they were like, she was like, I want to let you know
Carl Boehl:that you have absolutely changed his experience. We went from
Carl Boehl:absolutely being scared and dreading this on our first day
Carl Boehl:to meeting you and looking forward to coming and doing this
Carl Boehl:on a daily basis. And they she's like, you've been her shining
Carl Boehl:light and all this darkness. And my grandma loves you. And I love
Carl Boehl:you. And we're here. Don't open it till July 7, we're dark
Carl Boehl:radiation. We were like, Oh my God. Like we made such good
Carl Boehl:friends and radiation that we like, still talk to them on
Carl Boehl:almost a daily basis.
Howard Brown:People it's that you let them in and they it's
Howard Brown:amazing. But Carl, you're like a big teddy bear. You're such a
Howard Brown:cheerleader. You're so high energy and you're still rooting
Howard Brown:other people on even though you're going through, you know,
Howard Brown:the toughest thing that's ever happened to you. So your tickets
Howard Brown:through so post-operation, what's different? What do you
Howard Brown:have to do different anything?
Carl Boehl:I tell you what post operation I got a really good
Carl Boehl:kind of like poem that I read and it says And it goes
Carl Boehl:something like this I'm paraphrasing or something like
Carl Boehl:this brain tumour, you know, I hate you. Because I may never
Carl Boehl:know a day where I don't have to take a pill and may never know a
Carl Boehl:day where I don't have a headache. But at the end of the
Carl Boehl:day tumour, thank you for showing me how resilient I can
Carl Boehl:be and what kind of fighter I truly am. So that's kind of
Carl Boehl:that's kind of how I look at it. You know, I don't I'll take
Carl Boehl:multivitamins, magnesium nootropics I'll take Tylenol.
Carl Boehl:I'll take every single one of them every single day from here
Carl Boehl:on out if I get another 20 3040 years on his body
Mellisa Boehl:he appreciates like more now and family and to
Mellisa Boehl:call myself crazy Carl
Carl Boehl:2.0 I literally am. It's like It's like It's like
Carl Boehl:this tumour has been pushed on my brain. And it's been killing
Carl Boehl:my sense of self preservation. And I've been a wild child. I
Carl Boehl:mean, it's like, Hey, Carl Hawk, this snowmobile off this 40 foot
Carl Boehl:cliff. I'm like, Oh, for sure. No problem. Do it. No questions
Carl Boehl:asked.
Howard Brown:I want to tell you that I just got like, shivers
Howard Brown:when you read that poem, because that's deep and it's meaningful,
Howard Brown:and it's intentional, and it's authentic and I loved it. And
Howard Brown:I'm going to actually include it in the show notes because it's
Howard Brown:so strong. And it really is and listen, you are carl.to Dotto.
Howard Brown:I'm Humpty Dumpty dot two Dotto. And it shows you that we can get
Howard Brown:back up again. Okay, after major life threatening, you know,
Howard Brown:stopping in our tracks and putting the pieces back together
Howard Brown:again. And so where are you at today? What how is how are you
Howard Brown:today? Emotionally, physically the
Carl Boehl:weirdest thing in the world? Do you know what it's
Carl Boehl:like to be a cancer patient and feel like a cancer survivor
Carl Boehl:because that's how I feel. I almost feel guilty right now.
Carl Boehl:Because I feel like I have survivor's guilt, but I'm still
Carl Boehl:going through it. I tell you what, let me drop this bomb on
Carl Boehl:you real quick. This is really really really good news and we
Carl Boehl:just got it literally on Wednesday. Okay, my tumours
Carl Boehl:shrinking? Yeah. We killed all the new growth. We killed all
Carl Boehl:the new growth and we 50% Right the new tumour. My doctor, my
Carl Boehl:oncologist and my doctors told me chemo is not going to kill
Carl Boehl:this chemo is not killing it. I think what's making a difference
Carl Boehl:for me is cold plunging. I torture my body I go to the gym,
Carl Boehl:I workout I torture my body then I dip it in 4540 to 50 degree
Carl Boehl:water on between three and four days a week three to five days a
Carl Boehl:week for five to seven minutes every time we every time we do
Carl Boehl:it.
Howard Brown:First of all, let's honour that because I
Howard Brown:always I made a little bit of a joke when I got some shrinkage
Howard Brown:from George Costanza on Seinfeld. shrinkage is good for
Howard Brown:us. We like shrinkage
Carl Boehl:he won't let me talk about the shrinkage of both
Carl Boehl:things, you know?
Howard Brown:happen but anyways, you're gonna get
Howard Brown:banned. So I have to tell you, we each have our own way and
Howard Brown:things so I go on the basketball court I played for two hours
Howard Brown:this morning. I'm the old guy You know, and I played great and
Howard Brown:I got my sweat. I didn't get hurt. But I love it because you
Howard Brown:found that these cold plunges, okay? Are Changing you
Howard Brown:physically and emotionally, and you're dedicated to it. You're
Howard Brown:dedicated to it. And I love that because anything that works, and
Howard Brown:you believe it works, it works and it worked and it works. I
Howard Brown:told
Carl Boehl:people in radiation, I told people this, the power of
Carl Boehl:the mind is incredible. I said, I'm telling you right now, going
Carl Boehl:into radiation is going to be light work. It's not going to
Carl Boehl:affect me at all. Sure enough, me and my wife going to
Carl Boehl:radiation. It was light work. And it was nothing at all. I
Carl Boehl:told my wife chemo is gonna be nothing. It's just a couple
Carl Boehl:pills. Boom, there we go. Go to bed buys you buy and chemo has
Carl Boehl:been nothing. So far. Chemo grew my air back where I lost them
Carl Boehl:from radiation. I didn't get sick. I didn't throw up. I never
Carl Boehl:got physically fatigued, I was never fatigued. It wasn't like,
Carl Boehl:oh, I can go five steps. I can go 10 steps. It was like no, I
Carl Boehl:bet you I could do laps around the hospital right now. Then
Carl Boehl:we'll hit a badass workout chest and tricep neck and bicep grip
Carl Boehl:and rip tater chip.
Howard Brown:You're the Energizer Bunny. So I want to I
Howard Brown:want to say that that up. So the icing is no joke because we
Howard Brown:developed in colon town, okay, which is a support for patients
Howard Brown:and caregivers, this icing protocol. And at first it was
Howard Brown:developed to wear an ice cap to preserve your hair because chemo
Howard Brown:is toxic and you lose your hair. And now that's extended to
Howard Brown:wearing mittens and booties because your extremities from
Howard Brown:toxic chemotherapy can actually give you peripheral neuropathy.
Howard Brown:I have it and it your cold sensitivity, your numbness and
Howard Brown:burning in the hands and feet to various degrees on the toxicity.
Howard Brown:I believe that your cold plunging is absolutely helping I
Howard Brown:no doubt no ill it's doing something it is it really is. So
Howard Brown:I appreciate that now, so call it real. This is one of the
Howard Brown:first times that you're sharing your story. We're going to go
Howard Brown:public, we're going to spread this all over the place. What
Howard Brown:keeps you going man,
Carl Boehl:but you know what I tell you what it is. It is the
Carl Boehl:love and support from my family. And, and really bringing
Carl Boehl:everybody together. And finally, you know, and finally, and
Carl Boehl:finally appreciating life on just just different differently.
Carl Boehl:I wake up and I feel grateful every morning. You know? It's I
Carl Boehl:like that I am living proof that no matter how bad it gets, no
Carl Boehl:matter how bad it gets. I got here on shame. I dropped down
Carl Boehl:me. I got pulled I had three to six months to live. And
Carl Boehl:yesterday was my six month anniversary. I got told I got
Carl Boehl:three to six months to live. And I took it like a savage. I lie
Carl Boehl:snickered. And I said, that may be what your books say. But
Carl Boehl:that's not what I'm going to show you. I'm telling you, Doc,
Carl Boehl:if you want to dump on the guy to give it to you. And I think
Carl Boehl:that's what really helps me push forward. Even in the face of
Carl Boehl:adversity, even if even even when it's time to got to be the
Carl Boehl:absolute worst. I have never my brother said, I hope that
Carl Boehl:nothing bad ever happened to me, like what's happened to you? And
Carl Boehl:I said, and I said why? And he said, because the way that you
Carl Boehl:handled it was Savage. I'm gonna give you three words that I live
Carl Boehl:literally live my life by can change it. I woke up and I was
Carl Boehl:like, Oh my God, what has happened to my life? Where am I
Carl Boehl:and what what the hell. And instead of kicking and screaming
Carl Boehl:and throwing a fit, my brother was like, You got your brain cut
Carl Boehl:out you had brain cancer. And I honestly I give myself five
Carl Boehl:minutes. I give myself five minutes, I'll kick and scream
Carl Boehl:and cry and throw a hole on bitch fit. And after five
Carl Boehl:minutes, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and say
Carl Boehl:can't change it. Me and Melissa lost a son about seven years ago
Carl Boehl:together. My dad got als about three and a half years ago. All
Carl Boehl:right dog just passed away dog just passed away. So don't mind.
Carl Boehl:Me live our life by two models. And the two models are the
Carl Boehl:strongest things you can whether you're at the top of your life
Carl Boehl:and living the best life possible or at the absolute rock
Carl Boehl:bottom of your life. This too shall pass. No matter how bad
Carl Boehl:things get. It doesn't matter how good things are. You're not
Carl Boehl:going to have the best day of your life every single day of
Carl Boehl:your life and you're not going to have the worst day of your
Carl Boehl:life. Every single day of your life. It's just not going to
Carl Boehl:happen. So this too shall pass. Enjoy your high a feeling good
Carl Boehl:and enjoy the pain of feeling bad and when you're down it take
Carl Boehl:that into why do you feel bad? Can't change it and change it
Carl Boehl:Doesn't matter, no matter what I have brain cancer, no matter
Carl Boehl:what this is the reality of my life from here on out, they say
Carl Boehl:is incurable. They say, I'll have a tumour and the cancer,
Carl Boehl:the rest of my natural life. That's what they claim. I'm here
Carl Boehl:to prove them wrong. Period.
Howard Brown:It's, it's, you're absolutely right. So we're dealt
Howard Brown:art cards, I've gotten to stage four cancer type nation at 23.
Howard Brown:And then again, at 53. And I'm breathing, and I'm making the
Howard Brown:most of it. And I'm lifting myself up everyday, like, like
Howard Brown:you do. And then we go lift up others. And we I to look in the
Howard Brown:mirror every day. And we talked about this before, when we
Howard Brown:talked prior is that I look and I'm say, I am blessed. I am
Howard Brown:grateful. And I am damn lucky. I know you're damn lucky. And
Howard Brown:we're going to lift ourselves up so that we can go lift each
Howard Brown:other up. And I have to tell you, Melissa, as a care partner,
Howard Brown:you are an angel on this earth. Okay, first of all, you saved
Howard Brown:his life by getting his ass to the emergency room. There's no
Howard Brown:question. All right, but also, you actually gave up everything
Howard Brown:to make sure that he was going to survive. You were by his
Howard Brown:bedside when he's ripping out catheters. And yes, I was trying
Howard Brown:to tame this tiger, which is hard to do. But you do it.
Mellisa Boehl:It was a job in itself.
Howard Brown:I just want to tell you that from you know, my
Howard Brown:wife and my parents or my caregivers, I can see it in you.
Howard Brown:You are an angel on this earth, and really is. Yeah, so. So
Howard Brown:again, that's why he's still here. And that's why you are so
Howard Brown:strong together. And it's really important. So
Mellisa Boehl:It brought us closer together.
Carl Boehl:We are an unstoppable force. Yeah, I love
Howard Brown:that I see the unstoppable t shirt. And I love
Howard Brown:it. So it's great. Alright, so here's the part of the show. So
Howard Brown:I put on my sunglasses, because the sun is shining brightly on
Howard Brown:us. And on you guys. It's really amazing. And I want people to
Howard Brown:say, how did they get in touch with you? Because they hear this
Howard Brown:interview? And they say, Okay, can I donate to your GoFundMe?
Howard Brown:We'll put the link in the show notes. And we'll put it up
Howard Brown:there. What can you help other people which of course you can.
Howard Brown:All right
Carl Boehl:I would love to,
Howard Brown:I appreciate that. So tell people how they should
Howard Brown:get a hold of you. And then I want each of you to give me some
Howard Brown:final thoughts as we close out the show.
Unknown:Awesome. Y'all can reach out on my on my Facebook,
Unknown:I'm sure Howard Howard will provide a link, I have a tick
Unknown:tock. But Facebook is pretty much the best way to get a hold
Unknown:of me. You could always write me, you can always my cell
Unknown:phones, right on my Facebook, you can always call me or text
Unknown:me. I'm ready to talk with anybody at any point in time.
Unknown:I'm very positive. And I'm really I really, really, really
Unknown:truly believe that this whole thing is all about your attitude
Unknown:and all about what you take away from it. If you believe this
Unknown:won't be anything, I won't affect your life. I promise you
Unknown:it won't. And if you believe that this is going to be
Unknown:terrible, and you think woe is me, how could this happen to me?
Unknown:How can this then I promise you you're fixing to have a bad
Unknown:time. You have to aim up. You can't ever put one foot in the
Unknown:grave and dig down. You have to aim up. When the storm comes the
Unknown:little birds, they look for shelter. But the eagle flies
Unknown:above the clouds fly above the clouds have a positive attitude
Unknown:about this. The only thing negative is your attitude. I
Unknown:promise you, any other thing can be beat with your mind. This can
Unknown:be beat with your mind. I have stage four brain cancer. And I
Unknown:promise you you will have my word that I will beat this 100%
Unknown:They say I am 100% terminal. I have a 5% chance of living
Unknown:longer than 15 months and a 1% chance living longer than 24
Unknown:They say I will make my 40th birthday. I can't makewait to
Unknown:eat cake with my doctor.
Howard Brown:Maybe we're gonna be in some cake. Oh, wait, that
Howard Brown:was strong. You brought it all right, Melissa, some final
Howard Brown:thoughts from you, baby.
Unknown:I can't compare to what he had to say. But surely you go
Unknown:first.
Howard Brown:That's all right.
Unknown:Just the positivity. I mean, he actually keeps me
Unknown:positive. And I tried to do the same for him. But waking up with
Unknown:him every single day he lets go. You know everything is about
Unknown:your mindset. Be positive, be positive for your partner,
Unknown:whoever you're caring for. Be positive with them for them.
Unknown:They'll do the same back to you even though they might not be
Unknown:feeling great that day. It's so helpful if you keep each other up.
Carl Boehl:I feel good every day though. I'm on baseball.
Howard Brown:Oh my god, that energy's below that. So I want
Howard Brown:to go. Let's go. Come on, coach. All right. So I just want to say
Howard Brown:I am grateful to have you your energy is just I'm feeling it.
Howard Brown:I'm feeling like we can go conquer a mountain together. And
Howard Brown:I'm just so pleased that we're sharing your story. So for those
Howard Brown:that want to get in touch with me shining brightly.com You can
Howard Brown:come hear me speak, hire me to speak. Come on and check out the
Howard Brown:podcast. It's actually building up an incredible following over
Howard Brown:20,000 downloads now it's inspirational, as you heard
Howard Brown:today live and now on recording, and then also my advocacy and
Howard Brown:the book, mentoring. We're gonna get you mentoring to Carl
Howard Brown:through Imerman Angels. And so remember when we you shine
Howard Brown:brightly a little bit each day, which we just did for ourselves,
Howard Brown:for others and our communities. The world does become a better
Howard Brown:place. Thank you too, so much. So a huge, huge hug. You guys
Howard Brown:are the best I love it. And we're gonna see you soon and
Howard Brown:we're gonna meet up because we're back on brother we'll come
Howard Brown:on an update we'll certainly get an update when I beat this Yeah,
Howard Brown:you're gonna keep shining brightly everyone. Love you all.
Carl Boehl:Love ya.