SPEAKER_04 0:00

Here comes the sun do. Here comes the sun to say it's all right.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Hello, Fortitude audience. Thank you so much for joining us again today. I am sitting in the studio with my amazing hunky husband, Amos.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Hi.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

And today we have Nick Keiso with us. Nick, thank you for being being here.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Um, I don't even remember how we met or when we met. I think it might have just been me reaching out to you through social media.

SPEAKER_03 0:46

It was, yeah. Almost, I think it was January last year. Um, that we started kind of communicating and going back and forth.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

I have I've been following your journey through social media. And so I know that there's a lot of times people will say social media is not a good thing. And I beg to differ on that for reasons like this. Like I just the amount of visibility that you have given people into your recovery of what has happened has been really beautiful. I have been cheering you on as a stranger, but now as a friend.

SPEAKER_04 1:19

That's right. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Uh Nick, we we just through your whole story, um, and your beautiful bride, Carrie. I've had the opportunity to meet her as well. Um, I just share a little bit about you and and your family and who you are, and then we're gonna dive into your story.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

Yeah. Um, born and raised in Sioux Falls, uh, Carrie and I have been married now 20 years. Uh, we have two kids. Um, they're in high school, Lillian and Henry, um, junior and a sophomore. Um, we really just like hanging out, being together. Um, we our kids are into golf, we play golf together. Um, and just we have family in Sioux Falls. My wife's from a small town just west of Sioux, about an hour and a half. Um, family there. And so really just kind of close knit all the way around.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Okay. Where so originally you're from Sioux Falls. Where's where's Carrie from?

SPEAKER_03 2:17

Kimball, South Dakota.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Okay. How did the two of you meet?

SPEAKER_03 2:21

We met, we were working together um at a bank while we were going to college. We're part-time tellers. Okay. And just happened to um cross paths that way. That was a long, long time ago.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

20 years.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

Yeah. Not that long, Nick.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

We're still young. Yeah. That's what I keep telling myself, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Mid-40s, I say. Yeah. I was like, man, we're getting old. And he keeps saying, No, we're not. We're just in our mid-40s.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

Just getting started. Keep resetting that, getting old age.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Yeah, we do. When I look at our 16-year-old, 17-year-old, he's always like, You guys are old. Yeah. It's like things are the reminder. So, Nick, you um being from like what's your favorite thing about this area? Like the small town, right? That for because you haven't left.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

No, no, I haven't. And I mean, I always say Sioux Falls is the biggest small town in the world, right? I mean, it is as it is growing, you still can't go to a store, a coffee shop, or anything like that without bumping into a handful of people that you know, which is great. Um, and so we we're in a neighborhood that we absolutely love with uh, you know, families that have, you know, kids around our kids' age. And it's just, it's just perfect.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Good. Good. Yeah. Family, especially for what you guys have experienced the last couple of years, having family and friends around you as a community has been really substantial.

SPEAKER_03 3:37

Yeah. We I mean, I like to say we've learned and confirmed a lot about what we already knew, right? We learned about a lot about ourselves these last couple of years, but we've confirmed a lot that we already believed um what our friends to be and how they've helped.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Nick, okay. I just want to dive in because I don't I don't want to lose time chit-chat and so I say get get to the meat. No, it's fine. We've got to start. Oh man. Okay, so October 15th of 2022. Yes. I that that day, some big stuff happened. So can you just go there with us?

SPEAKER_03 4:20

Yeah. Um knowing what we know now, I'll kind of unwind it a couple days prior to that. Yeah. Um, I mean, I had a spinal cord stroke. We didn't know that at the time. Um You said spinal cord stroke.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Spinal cord stroke. Which is probably a phrase most people have never heard of. Right.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Yeah. Yeah. Um, so we didn't know that at the time. In fact, we didn't know that for quite a long period of time after even October 15th. But what we know now is spinal cord strokes typically have some sort of pain event associated to them, and then you lose function below the site in your ability to move and everything. And so October 15th was a Saturday. That Thursday evening, a couple of days before, daughter was playing volleyball and mom sitting in the bleachers, go home, sore back. Like, hey, I think I'm gonna go to the chiropractor the next morning just because I just wasn't feeling very well. And I'll do that a handful of times a year, no big deal. Go to the chiropractor on Friday morning, get a normal adjustment, go to work. And I remember texting my wife around lunch that I just like, God, I felt just out of sorts. Like I just felt just kind of jelly-legged. I just didn't feel right for whatever reason. And as that afternoon progressed, my it felt like my legs were asleep, my right leg in particular. Like I just had that tingle.

SPEAKER_04 5:50

Yeah, kind of. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

And I just couldn't shake it. And um tried walking around the office doing all the things. And um I told my wife, I'm like, I'm gonna go home. It was about three o'clock. And I went home and I called the chiropractor again and just kind of told them, hey, I mean, I'm experiencing something I've never experienced before. And they had me come back down um that evening before five, and they just tried some electronic stimulation on my lower back just to see if anything would happen. And they said, come back tomorrow morning, Saturday. So that Friday evening, I'm walking around the house, up and down stairs, no problem. My right leg is jumping, as you are seeing now. Yeah, that was the first time that had ever happened, and we're kind of laughing about it. Like, ah, this is really bizarre, you know, what's going on here. Uh, so we wake up Saturday morning and I couldn't move my right leg at all. Uh, from my hip down, it would not move whatsoever. And so we left the house that morning. Um, we had uh this is actually kind of funny. Um, we had a uh one of our son's friends staying with us the entire weekend. And we left the house and told him, Hey, we'll be back by lunch, guys. We're gonna go get this figured out. We'll be back by lunch. And I can barely move at this point. You know, I'm holding on to everything, just trying to walk using my left leg only. And our son's friend had even asked after we had left, unbeknownst to me at the time, he's like, Hey, what's wrong with your dad's leg there? And my son goes, What are you talking about? No, you had no clue anything was going on. So that was always kind of funny to me. But um, so we head back to the chiropractor that morning, and I'm using my wife to walk in kind of as a human crutch to get inside. And as soon as I got inside, they put me on a table, and he's like, You need to go to the OI clinic. Um, they have a walk-in clinic. Um, which what is OI? Orthopedic Institute. Okay. Um, so just to see if something was was going on, um, he's like, We'll call ahead, we'll see. Well, we'll let them know you're coming, and we'll tell him what's what's happening. So at that point, leaving um the chiropractor, they put me in a wheelchair just because I really couldn't walk at all. Um, still just in the right leg only. And we get to the um OI clinic and they had called ahead. So they knew what was going on, and they run through a series of tests and um uh x-rays. And I'm like, I've never been in a car accident, I've never broken a bone, I didn't play tackle football. That's what I was gonna ask you.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

If you had any previous injuries at all in your body, nothing.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

And so I'm in a stand-up x-ray, you know, holding on, you know, trying to stay motionless and not really being able to do anything with that right leg, obviously. And the x-rays came back negative. Of course, there was nothing wrong with me. And the PA that was that was there that morning ran through some tests and said, you know, hey, if this gets, we we can't get you into an MRI machine until Monday. And that's what we need to see, what's going on. If this gets worse, um come come back or just go right to the ER at that point. We're gonna send you home. And he stepped out of the room. And my wife and I are like, man, we are like a block from the from the ER. I don't know what would be worse at this point. Um, but he came back into the room and said, Um, you know what? Just go to the ER right now.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

With no explanation?

SPEAKER_03 9:36

He made a call to the doctor um and just said, there's no sense in sending you home, you know, because what you know, what's gonna happen? Nothing good is gonna happen. It's not gonna magically get better, you know, come Monday.

SPEAKER_04 9:50

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:51

So he's like, again, we'll call ahead, let them know you're coming. We head over to the ER and it uh took a couple hours probably before we got into the MRI machine. And by the time we got out of the MRI machine, I could no longer move my left leg. So it's getting worse. It was getting worse. And I, you know, I kind of chalked it up initially. I'm in that MRI tube. I've never been in one before, laying on this metal, tiny metal, you know, board. Uh I thought maybe it's just, you know, that leg's falling asleep or whatever. Wait, because we have literally no clue what's going on. We're not really nervous. We're thinking this is all gonna get worked out and we're gonna go home, and that's how this is gonna go down. Um, but we get back after, or we get back into the ER room after the MRI, and I told my wife, I'm like, I can't move my left leg now. And so the doctors came in and they started doing a series of tests at that point, basically, with um kind of like a tuning fork. Um, they would hit it, vibrate it, see if I could feel the vibrations at various parts of my legs. They would take uh pins and stick pins in me to see if I could feel that and where that would go. Uh, they would touch me with like um like a cotton ball, a cotton swab to see if I could feel that. And the pins, I mean, I could not feel the pin sticking into my skin up until it got to a certain point. So they were kind of testing to see where that feeling line was. And, you know, it kept moving up and up and up, and you know, eventually it settled and right below my sternum. And um, you know, they go above it and I can feel it, they go below it, and I can't. So that was the definitive line. They took a sharpie and just drew a big line on my chest. Oh, and that was the line that they were watching for the next few hours to make sure it didn't continue to go further up.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

What are they telling you during this time?

SPEAKER_03 11:55

They're not really telling me anything, they're trying to just figure out what was going on. They had a neurologist that was brought in, um, who was a gentleman that we had known for a long period of time um through family, and just by happenstance that he happened to be the guy on call that day, which was pretty awesome. Yeah, for sure. And so it was very reassuring once he got into the room and and started doing these tests. And eventually, once everything settled and that line wasn't moving after repeated tests, you know, coming back to make sure it didn't move. Um, he had came in, the neurologist came in and just said, Listen, you are you're a paraplegic. We don't know why.

SPEAKER_04 12:47

It's okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

This is this is just two years ago. Yes, yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Um not a not a not a word that you ever saw in your future.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

No, no, and at that, and even when all these tests were going on, like it was still relatively my wife and I were very calm. Like there was really no emotion at at that point for us, it felt like. Yeah. Um, but he, you know, he stated that, you know, we don't know why. He goes, but we're treating you for a virus, autoimmune, and stroke. They had already had me on an IV medicine to kind of combat some of those things.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:22

And he goes, and we're gonna figure out what's going on via process of elimination. He's like, we're gonna check into the hospital. And at that point, I'm like, oh, I guess I'm not going home. You know, I've still had the hope of like, hey, we're we're just gonna get out of here just fine.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Um hospitals are supposed to fix it.

SPEAKER_03 13:39

Yeah, like fix me.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

I'm here in the emergency room. Give it whatever I need and fix it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:44

So at that point, I mean, he said that. And you know, I remember I vividly remember looking at my legs, started to cry. You know, I look at my wife and she's crying for the first time. And then that was really the I don't remember anything else until I'm in the hospital getting checked in by a nurse. I mean, I was just all by myself because my wife had to go home. We had you know kids at home who had no clue what was going on. Um, kind of kept them in the dark on everything. Um, but that was really kind of it. Um uh then getting into the hospital, then it just started all the testing um to try to figure out what was going on between uh blood work, um, spinal uh spinal taps. Um you name the test, I've had it probably two or three times because once they all came back and came back negative, they eliminated you know that it wasn't um an autoimmune disease like MS or things like that. Um and we were just simply left with uh spinal cord stroke.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Okay. Through this, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Because looking back, now that you know what it is, yeah. Do you feel like that was on their mind as a possibility? Or do you feel like it's such a rare thing that it just took a long time to even even that to be a possibility?

SPEAKER_03 15:15

Um I think it was a possibility. Um I don't I think one of the doctors that we met with said he had only seen one in his career. And so, you know, keep in mind while we're doing all these tests and waiting for the results, we're doing our our Google MD and trying to figure out what the heck's going on as well. And we got to the point where we were actually rooting it for it to be a stroke because the way to get out of that or improve yourself that way is through rehab. And if you can regain movement functionality, you have it. Where if it's uh autoimmune disease, that's gonna be something that you're gonna be battling for the remainder of your life.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

And it progressively gets worse versus rehab helps it get better. Correct. Okay, yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

So your spinal cord has spinal fluid in it and it fli it it flows between your base of your spine and through your brainstem. Is that right? Did I get that right? I I don't know. It sounds great.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

I think that's right.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Yeah, it sounds good. And I mean, there is some blood in there. Yeah. Is it a blood blockage?

SPEAKER_03 16:26

Yeah. So I did have a a blood clot that blocked the blood flow to the spinal cord.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Okay. And so would you know where that blockage was?

SPEAKER_03 16:34

It was at the the T6 level of my spine, which I just inside your spinal column? Correct. And it actually hit the anterior part of my spine, um, which is why I can't feel temperature or pain below that point. But I can feel where I can feel touch and I can feel my feet in space.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

Whereas if it would have happened on the the front part of my spine, I might have got the anterior posterior part incorrect. But if it would happen on the front part of my spine, then I wouldn't be able to feel like the touch piece of it, is how it was explained to me.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

So there's different nerves for different feelings in different parts of the of the spinal cord.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

And so when learning that, you know, the tests that they did with the sharp and the soft, and they were doing um, you know, putting cold things against me as well, um, that I couldn't tell if it was warm or cold. Um, that was letting them know really what part it was affecting on the spine.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Uh so it's more than just just your um vertical positioning, more like what really what was which which nerves are being impacted.

SPEAKER_03 17:41

Correct. Yeah. And the vertical positioning really just dictates, you know, what below, you know, how how high up and what everything below is going to be affected. And so that's where they were trying to figure out that. And then the positioning of where affected the spinal cord determines what other sensory items are going to be lost, if you will.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Yeah. So this is a part that is going to be tough to talk about. But when I think about your wife and Lily and Henry, when you're at the hospital and you and Carrie are going through this stuff, Nick, and you you're thinking about the future and you're thinking about, whoa, like what? You know, not understanding the just the tornado that's happening in the moment. You go, your wife goes home and the conversations start happening. And just what how how did your kids and how has Carrie been in, I guess, absor absorbing this?

SPEAKER_03 18:41

Right. And that's where I feel like I probably had the easy part of it. Right. Um, because when all of those really um intense questions, you know, I'm in the hospital doing tests. Um, and I was in the hospital for like a week before I transferred to the outpatient piece of it where we started rehab.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

So you never left the hospital.

SPEAKER_03 19:10

53 days.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

You were in for 53 days you were in the hospital.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

Correct.

unknown 19:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

And every day carrying the kids, you know, came up and visited. And that's when, you know, those questions happen on the drive to and from, you know.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Um, she said her son asked, like, um is uh is dad gonna die? Um which I could imagine, you know, happy to answer that question. And the reality is, you know, no, it's just gonna look the future's gonna look different, right?

SPEAKER_03 19:47

We'll still be around, still have the mind, still can do really whatever we want to do, but it will take a different thought book.

unknown 19:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:56

So but they didn't, you know, nobody asked me those questions. So I the easy road in that regard.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

In the last couple years, uh, has it been have they, I mean, from a parent to a child standpoint, just the age of what they can comprehend and what they can't, have you been able to have some pretty great dialogue? Because you are now going to the Craig Institute for four weeks at a time doing this incredible rehab. And so have you have have you been able to have, I guess, some really curious conversations with them and to be open and just answer those, answer the questions they might still be having.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

Yes, we have. And the that's kind of the nice part with the kids. Like we do therapy at Avera Craig Hospital, Bar OS. And the kids have gone and seen those places. They've watched me do the rehab, they've seen other people there in more difficult situations, I would say. Yeah, different injuries, higher injuries, more obstacles to overcome. And so hopefully they've kind of, you know, we've talked about perspective and we've learned how these people have gotten injured and um and they've been very open with that. And I think that helps our kids kind of learn about just different aspects of life. And they've seen these people work really, really hard and still do really, really cool things, and that it doesn't mean, you know, that it's over, right? You know, you still have a really cool opportunity to live a great life. It is all about perspective, isn't it? Correct. Correct. So I guess if they gain anything out of that, other than they have to help me get a lot of things around the house, uh, they've gained a lot of perspective on on life and appreciation.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

When I first met you, it was at an a fundraiser or just a celebration event for Game Plan for Hope in Hills, Minnesota. And it's an organization that's meant to help people with your types of injuries. And I was standing outside the front door and You're you pulled up in the in your car in the street and I saw you on your own go up five steps. And remember you got to the to the door and your wife was right behind you and she wasn't touching you. She wasn't even looking at your legs. She was just letting you do your thing. Talk to me about the intentionality behind that.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

Yeah, there's um I think she's rewind six months ago, and I probably would have asked for help, or she would have known I've needed help.

SPEAKER_04 22:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

But I think she's seen, you know, the confidence and the ability grow where she knows that I'm gonna be able to do it. And if I need it, I'm gonna ask her to step in. Um and so that is um that that is really, really nice. It's a nice boundary, if you will, to not feel like she has to do that. Yeah. Um, but I know she's there if I need it. Yeah. Um, and good for her too to not feel like she has to be there too.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Right. And we should I guess we should say that you are able to walk with what are they called? The nut crutches there.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Uh just two independent canes that I'm able to use. And I've been in that um state of mobility for I guess probably about a year and a half. Um, I still have to use a wheelchair from time to time to get in and out of the hospital to go to rehab just simply because the distance from where the parking is to where the rehab occurs, I'd I'd be exhausted by the time I got there.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

You you walk basically less than a mile an hour. Right. You could walk. Yeah. Well, you're you're going though. So there's there's hope there. It's it's better than not walking.

unknown 23:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

When I was watching it, I remember you're, you were, you were lifting your legs and your feet just over the the top of the of of each step. And I thought, this is amazing. I I saw, I'm just I just like me, I'm kind of a uh I have a preventive preventative nature. I'm looking at that going, hmm, I think we should do more to prevent you from doing a face plant on the steps, you know. But it wasn't necessary. You made it, and um, your wife had confidence in you. I just what a beautiful relationship that you guys have, in that it's not like an I don't know, an enabling is not the right word, but a trusting relationship. You're getting better, you're doing the hard work, and you're and you're for lack of a better word, you're back on your feet. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 24:38

Yeah, we are. And you know, a friend of ours told us this pretty early on in the process that um, you know, it's the little things that rip you apart, but the big things that bring you together. And we're in a pretty big thing. Yeah. Um, and so I feel like our family has gotten extremely tight-knit, even more so than we were before, um, just because of these experiences here the last couple years.

SPEAKER_02 25:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

I suffer from ref restless leg syndrome. Oh, yeah. I'll sit at night and my legs will jump. And then it's this weird feeling, kind of like creepy crawling. I can't quite make it go away. And then now that they'll just jump by themselves. And work for years trying to pin that down exactly like what's what in my diet or what am I doing that that causes that? You're experiencing some of the same thing. Can you talk talk to us about that?

SPEAKER_03 25:22

Yeah, so it these spasms um or spasticity that I have in my leg, um, it's just my my my my nerves trying to fire the muscles. And there are times when it's helpful, there are times when it's a hindrance. Um, you know, when you stand, you know, my muscles will will fire and spasm, even though if I don't have control over them 100%, it'll help me stand and it'll help me walk. Now, there are times in my left leg in particular, which is my weaker of the two legs at this point, where they will spasm and I can't break the muscle prop to take a proper step. Um, so my gait looks off, and I then I overcompensate with different muscles in my body to move that leg forward. And so it is a fine balance of is is it too much? Is it is it not enough? Um, so it's a constant conversation um in therapy about what to do about it.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Speaking of therapy, has there been talk of stem cell stem cell therapy? Uh yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

Uh we we did a stem cell treatment uh in June of this year. Um there's no definitive research or that says it's going to help repair spinal cord injury. Um, but it's certainly not gonna hurt. So we tried it. Uh we're only about 20, 22 weeks out, I think, from it. Um and so I guess I can't say I've noticed anything drastically different.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

But is that a spinal injection or is that a bloodstream?

SPEAKER_03 26:57

Uh it was a uh IV bloodstream. And then because stem cells are too big to break the blood brain barrier, yeah, it was an injection into my nostrils, my nasal cavity. Um and so uh that way was to get them right into right into the central nervous system.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

Oh yeah, because that spinal fluid it I think that surrounds your brain cavity too, right? Right. And there is that blood-brain barrier, and that's that's the barrier that that um, you know, like if you have leaky gut, it can be can be can be like what's the word, um, broken.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

Yeah. And so, I mean, stem cells, you you name it, we've had stuff thrown our way of have you thought of this, have you tried this? Have you asked this? And we've passed that all on to the doctors, particularly when we were in the hospital and and they did the research and they came back and gave us tons of ideas and tons of tips. And, you know, we'll try anything. Anything that will make us more efficient, we're we're gonna explore. Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

I hear a lot when people go through any type of traumatic type of life-altering situation, that they would have never known the blessing behind how God is always ahead of it, you know, and like the the people that you've been able to meet, Nick, your family, like all the people who've stepped in. And we were just talking before we started recording about the those that are in professions, like the physical therapists and the people out at Craig Institute who are working day in and day out to help you get back, just movement or whatever it might be. And when you show determination on your side, how much more determination on their side, right? Like just when someone wants to get better, whether it's mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, whatever it is, it's like the person in the profession on the other side is like, let's go, like rooting you on. And so you've had a community wrap around you. Can you just share what that has been like for you and your family?

SPEAKER_03 28:58

Yeah, it's um it's been pretty remarkable. Um, and just the timing of it, how it all kind of worked out too is is kind of bizarre. You know, when we were in the inpatient, um I thought I was gonna walk out of there. Right? Yeah, and I stated that every single therapy session that we had, like, yeah, when do we get to let's get walking here? Um, let's do it. But you know, their goal is to get you functional, you know, get you functional at home. Yet they entertained and helped me, you know, do the proper things to be able to walk and take steps, and they were amazing. And stepping out into outpatient, we really got down to work and did um started really working on walking again and really working towards those goals here locally. And we do a ton of that. We just can't do enough here locally um in a day. Uh, insurance, just different restrictions with that. And so we've gone out to Denver, Colorado quite a bit, um, 10 times in the last two years, covering when is it about 30 months or 30 weeks, excuse me, um, of therapy out there to do four hours of therapy a day. And all of that really kind of came about with people we know here that told us about it. And we researched and we reached out to the people and going out to borrow us and um Craig Hospital out there has been just really life-changing. And the trainers at at borrow us, I mean, are they like family to us, to be honest with you? And same, same with the folks at at Craig Hospital. It's been wonderful. And the care we get here is is second to none. Yeah, don't get me wrong, we just can't do enough of it.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

Yeah. I want to I want to dig into your heart for a second. Yeah. Because your heart posture through all of this has from somebody who has has been following you and watching. Yeah, I know.

unknown 31:05

Take a drink a lot.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

I wanna I wanna understand what you've gone through as an individual, Nick, and just have you gone through moments of why me? Like why? Why? And then how have you relied on the Lord through this whole thing?

SPEAKER_03 31:25

So, yeah, there's a lot of why me. Um, I mean, they just woke up. It's boring, right? It's not cool. Uh, you know, you meet a lot of people um that have been injured doing different things, being doing kids stuff, right? Having fun. Swimming pools, ATVs, just they had a stroke of bad luck. Um and so the why me is it it's hard to, I don't know. I I didn't have an uh, you know, I got to get get to work and rehab right away, where others had to, you know, maybe had surgeries and just had to recover a little bit longer before they could do it. So I feel like I had to hit the ground running because of that. And so um it uh yeah, I'm sorry, the the why me is I I try not to dwell on that too much because it ultimately doesn't matter. Here we are. Yeah we know the path out of it. The path out is work and rehab, and the people that we have met, um and the connections that have happened because of this um has been been pretty remarkable and it and it's hard to hard to wrap your brain around um about how it all worked and the timing and and everything just really uh worked pretty wonderfully. Like, for example, going out to Borrowis, I'd never heard of them. Um, but then where are they local? They're in Denver, Colorado.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 33:03

And there was another family who whose son got into an automobile accident here in in Sioux Falls, and they came to visit us in the hospital and they told us about it. And they're like, you need to go there, you need to ex reach out to these folks and and and and um and they they could help you. And so we put an inquiry online and they called me the day I was leaving the hospital for the first time. I get the phone call, I'm in my driveway, I haven't even been inside my house yet. And he's they're asking me the story. How can we help you? What can we do? And I'm like, well, we just don't know the timing of what you know, what it would take to get out there. And he goes, if you told me you wanted to be here tomorrow, I'd make room for you. Oh, and we were there five weeks later and it all worked out. And the same goes for Craig Hospital. We never did our inpatient rehab there. Um, we got accepted into their outpatient program. And what they're telling me now, um, my PT told me earlier this year out there that someone like me who didn't do inpatient there wouldn't be eligible for their outpatient program because they have so many people.

unknown 34:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

But we got in ahead of the curve. We're now, we're now in that family, and we can continue to come back. So the timing of when all of this occurred is just it hard to explain.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Yeah. It sounds like you were just full of uh gratefulness, complete from the beginning to the end of not a why me. It's a it is what it is, and it's go time.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

It is what it is. Here's what we want to do. We want to walk again unassisted. That's kind of been our our goal from day one. And every single person that we've encountered has entertained that and helped us work towards that. They didn't have to. They could have told me, yeah, not a chance, but they've helped us.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

They've helped us every step of the way. Wow. There's this book with that Heather and I really love. It's called 10X is easier than 2X. And the and the premise is that when you think when you have a 2X, like a two times multiple mentality, it's easy for you to get distracted. It's easy for a little things in your life. And but when you have a 10x mentality like you have, where no, the the goal is not just to walk around assisted and get better at that. The goal is to walk unassisted, which is a big goal, isn't it? And that helps you focus and helps you narrow down really the things that you spend your time on. And also, um, according to the book, you then you delegate or give away things that don't fit the 10x vision. Sure. Is that something that you learned from someone? Or where did where did this goal come from in your life?

SPEAKER_03 35:49

Yeah, it um turn together my thoughts here. It uh yeah, it I mean the reality is if we didn't do anything else, if this is where we ended up, we're really a success, right? Yeah. Paralyzed to walking with canes. We want more. We we want more. And because we we've gotten this far, we know what it takes to to do the rest. Um and that's where the frustration kind of comes into play, is now all of these other little fine nuances of walking, it's not just moving the leg. Now it's moving using the right muscles to move the leg. And so now there's just a flood of all these different things that you have to take into account and think about um is kind of the new challenge to be able to step properly and walk around like you guys walk around where you're not uh doing doing things differently.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

But if people see you out and about, what because another thing you and I were talking about is when something happens and now you look different when you walk. You don't just walk right into Aldi, you walk in with two hand-assisted canes and people hold the door for you the minute you get out of your car, like forever away, because they want to be helpful. And you have said that you would rather them not. And that is not a I don't appreciate you helping. It is a, I can do this. I like so, and then the curiosity from like kids and someone coming up to you and asking, hey, like what happened? What what's your what's your stance on that?

SPEAKER_03 37:30

Yeah, and the the the holding the door thing, it's it's nice. I think it's just Midwestern nice, right? You know, they see you coming from a you know half a parking lot away and they're gonna hold the door for you, yeah, which is wonderful. But I keep telling them like, hey, I don't need it, I can get that. Thank you. And they'll still stand there and they'll greet you and it's and it's great. Yeah, it's totally fine. I love it. Um the uh the thing about what happened or whatever, you know, questions, the questions, yes. If you have a what I learned early on, um, when I was still in the wheelchair, another disabled person in a wheelchair, they'd roll up to you and be like, Hey, what the heck happened to you? They would just be very forthright and saying, What's going on with you? And you'd answer it. I was kind of taken aback initially, like, boy, that guy's out there. Um and so you answer that. And so when people ask that, I I kind of like it, right? Yeah. It doesn't bother me in that regard, um, because I'm so used to retelling it or saying it. So it's okay to it's okay to say, hey, what's going on?

SPEAKER_00 38:29

Yeah, it's okay to ask the question and be curious. Yeah. Um, one last thing in all of this, Nick, is um getting getting up in the morning, like every morning you get up. And the physical piece you are working so hard on, but how do you keep yourself grounded and centered on just the mental side of things? Like, because you still have to work, you still have to take care of your family, you're still a husband, you're still a father, you're still all these things. And so, how do you really stay grounded from a uh mental, emotional, and spiritual side?

SPEAKER_03 39:03

That's probably the hardest part, to be honest with you. Um, because at times it feels like you're doing a really selfish thing.

unknown 39:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:10

Right? You know, if something's got to give um time in the day, be a dad, be a husband, work, um, have a career, but then also try to get better. And so fitting all of that in is is is very, very difficult. And, you know, quickly the first things to sometimes go, especially when you're not in an intense rehab situation, is um, you know, maybe my homework, right? The the workouts at home. Maybe I lax on those because man, I just I just hadn't seen my kids for a month. You know, I was in Denver for an entire month and I didn't see them. I don't want to do that. I want to do this. I want to do something different with them.

SPEAKER_04 39:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:47

And so that's the hard piece is trying to figure out how to navigate all that. And then of course they're in high school and they want nothing to do with a, you know, a dad, right? They want to be with their friends, which we encourage as much as possible too. So um it's that's the the that's the biggest mental challenge for me is how to split up the day, how to dedicate time to make sure you're not just going through the motions in one of those aspects and making sure that when you are in it, you're giving it full on 100%.

SPEAKER_00 40:19

Is there anything as as the audience and us and just what would be a a number one prayer or something that we can just love on you and your family through? Like what currently are you walking through? I I we heard what your ultimate goal is, so that's something to definitely be praying about. But is there something that we can do as a community or just to be able to love on you guys back?

SPEAKER_03 40:43

Well, I mean, uh I look at it a little bit differently. I mean, I see, like I said, if we stop doing what we're doing, we're gonna we're gonna be just fine, right? I've I've met a lot of families that seem like their their road is a lot longer than mine. Um, you know, I've seen a lot of parents with kids that don't have careers, don't have spouses and kids of their own taking care of them. And it just don't understand or how they would be able to manage that. It's just seems really incredibly difficult to me in in seeing those situations.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

You're talking about kids who have been injured and now the parents are taking care of the kids. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 41:19

Yep. Young kids or even kids in their, you know, high school, early college age. I mean, it's just you don't have that type of support system that we're lucky enough to have.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Yeah. So the prayer is not for you, it's for others, is what it's yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 41:35

Yeah, that's the way I feel. I feel like, yeah, that's the way I feel.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

That's actually really that's beautiful. Um well, I've I've met your wife and she's fabulous. And so to hear her side of the strength and and I guess just determination that you both have for all of this, like the uncertainty that once was, I feel like you guys just have such a beautiful grasp on the future. And it's really beautiful. And so I'm I'm I guess we're we're blessed to know you guys truly, and we're here cheering you on in a big way.

SPEAKER_03 42:08

Thank you. Well, we both have a pretty similar mindset in we kind of want what we had.

SPEAKER_00 42:16

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

You know, and so we're working for it.

SPEAKER_00 42:19

Oh well, Nick, thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for being a part of the Fortitude family. And um, if anybody wants to reach out to you and ask questions, is is that okay? Yeah, by all means. Yeah. Okay. Wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

Great.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

All right. Well, thank you for listening and tuning in today. We appreciate everyone.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

Thanks so much, Nick. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening. We want to change lives through this podcast. And if you want to support this podcast or our guests, please see the links below for our Patreon and giving links.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

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