Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, it's Brooke and it's Monty.
Speaker 2: This is our podcast ah crinny.
Speaker 3: And if you're still listening after that tune, thank you
Speaker 3: so much.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you so very much, and thank you to
Speaker 1: all of you that listened to our pod the other week.
Speaker 1: We can see the numbers and we get excited because
Speaker 1: they're like, oh, that's good. If you're listening, you're getting
Speaker 1: something from it, and maybe you're sharing it with somebody
Speaker 1: who's got a chronic illness.
Speaker 2: Because this is what this podcast is all about.
Speaker 1: If you know, I'm Monty, I have chronic fatigue, chronic migraines,
Speaker 1: pot syndrome, and probably other shit in there as well.
Speaker 3: And I'm Brooke and I have MS, multiple sclerosis, endometriosis,
Speaker 3: chronic fatigue.
Speaker 4: There's more, but I won't bore you.
Speaker 2: God, isn't it wild.
Speaker 1: Off.
Speaker 2: I'm like, that's so sad.
Speaker 4: God, that's sad.
Speaker 3: And then some people are just walking out there in
Speaker 3: the world with nothing wrong with them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I contactly look at people and I'm like, how
Speaker 1: do you have nothing? Like? How is your life like that?
Speaker 1: How can you go out there and go for a
Speaker 1: jog or go to the shop and not be overwhelmed.
Speaker 3: It's really not fair, like we've got so many things,
Speaker 3: like surely like someone else could take a couple just
Speaker 3: to get exactly totally. You know what, Monty, I'm quite
Speaker 3: into alternative therapies and kind of woo woo things and
Speaker 3: correct me if I'm wrong. But I think a lot
Speaker 3: of people with chronique illness are into these kind of
Speaker 3: things because you know, you'll give anything a try, right, Yes, totally.
Speaker 1: I go through phases where I'm hugely into it. I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to give it a go again, and then
Speaker 1: I realize I come away with sixty four million vitamins
Speaker 1: and about twenty thousand dollars less in my pocket.
Speaker 3: Yes, it can be a very expensive little process. But
Speaker 3: I wanted to tell you about a couple of things
Speaker 3: that I've had done over the last week that.
Speaker 4: Have really blown my mind.
Speaker 3: So firstly, I had a lymphatic drainage massage.
Speaker 4: Have you heard of this?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I have.
Speaker 4: I think it's They're.
Speaker 3: Pretty common, Like you know, a lot of people have them,
Speaker 3: and it's supposed to help release the toxins from your body,
Speaker 3: get your lymph nodes moving and move the energy around
Speaker 3: all that kind of stuff, and I had it because
Speaker 3: someone had told me, after you do like a big treatment,
Speaker 3: like with MS, you do, you have regular treatments and
Speaker 3: they can be quite tough on your body. And so
Speaker 3: someone suggested I try it. So I went twice and
Speaker 3: it was lovely, you know, pretty run of the mill
Speaker 3: kind of stuff. The third time I went, it was insane, Nick,
Speaker 3: you won't like, I just can't believe it. My whole
Speaker 3: body just started doing all this weird, crazy involuntary movements.
Speaker 3: My right leg kept like kicking up like I was
Speaker 3: a horse or something, and I could.
Speaker 4: Not stop it.
Speaker 3: So I'm saying, oh my god, I'm so embarrassed. I'm
Speaker 3: so embarrassed. Just beautiful seem he's doing it. Was like, no,
Speaker 3: this is great, this is great. And I'm trying to
Speaker 3: tell my mind stop moving your legs, stop it.
Speaker 4: I cannot stop it.
Speaker 3: And then my upper body starts shaking, like uncontrollably shaky, and.
Speaker 4: When cold, No, not cold at all. It was just
Speaker 4: like this involuntary movement.
Speaker 3: And she said, look, it doesn't happen all the time,
Speaker 3: but it does happen sometimes, and it's like the trauma
Speaker 3: being released from your body. I was like wow, whatever
Speaker 3: it was, it felt amazing because I felt like it
Speaker 3: has to be doing something, like totally like doing this
Speaker 3: crazy thing. It has to be doing something, and so
Speaker 3: I've been I'm like continuing to go and see see
Speaker 3: me and have this type of massage.
Speaker 4: But in the meantime, I.
Speaker 3: Do these strength classes with this my beautiful trainer, Felicity,
Speaker 3: and she has started doing these spinal energetics sessions.
Speaker 2: Have you heard of spiral and A, yeah, I have,
Speaker 2: I've had it done before. It's fucking out there.
Speaker 4: Of course you have.
Speaker 3: Yes, Okay, I want to hear about your experience. But
Speaker 3: I went to that and I was like, you know,
Speaker 3: I always have an open mind, but I had seen
Speaker 3: videos of people having these sessions and they're doing all
Speaker 3: this crazy stuff, and I thought that won't happen to me.
Speaker 1: Well, because they just hover over your back. If you
Speaker 1: haven't had this or heard about it, they hover over
Speaker 1: you back and then they do things like yes, yes,
Speaker 1: move try and move energy with weird.
Speaker 3: Broises and sat yes and like really gentle movements and sounds.
Speaker 3: And Felicity has this beautiful, soothing voice too, oh yeah
Speaker 3: all do.
Speaker 4: Oh so beautiful.
Speaker 3: And when I walked in. I was so tired, and
Speaker 3: she said, oh, some people nap, so I thought it'll
Speaker 3: probably nap, but I didn't. The same kind of thing
Speaker 3: happened again when my upper body just started shaking like crazy.
Speaker 3: My stomach was doing this weird contracting movement. And then
Speaker 3: even towards the end and she's saying, Okay, come back.
Speaker 3: Now the session had finished. I'm still like trying to
Speaker 3: tell myself stop moving.
Speaker 1: And I couldn't want to try it again because I
Speaker 1: know that you do you know what I mean, you
Speaker 1: know when you know somebody that has had that reaction,
Speaker 1: like sometimes you'll meet people and like this is amazing.
Speaker 2: It fixed me, and I'm like, horseshit.
Speaker 1: But because it works so wealthy, I maybe go, oh,
Speaker 1: maybe I should try it again.
Speaker 2: I can't believe your body did that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I can't either.
Speaker 3: And after the final energetic session, I left like I
Speaker 3: went in feeling so tired and I left feeling so energized. Wow,
Speaker 3: like really like could have gone for a run. I
Speaker 3: mean I can't run because I have a mess.
Speaker 4: But had you popped a.
Speaker 2: DEXI before you I'm just trying to think.
Speaker 4: Of it, the reasons why it could have worked.
Speaker 3: It was seriously, it was amazing. It was really amazing.
Speaker 3: Wow again, it's like all this trauma that we store
Speaker 3: in our bodies totally gets released. We should get Felicity
Speaker 3: on at some point to explain it better.
Speaker 2: Than we definitely should.
Speaker 1: But I'm so thrilled that's kind of working for you
Speaker 1: because even if there yeah, there are parts that are
Speaker 1: working for you, like clearly there's something moving in your body,
Speaker 1: but also like as placebo as well, I'm getting something
Speaker 1: from this, then you'll.
Speaker 2: Keep getting more from it.
Speaker 1: Yes, but I had it when I went to see
Speaker 1: a friend. Mutual friend of ours said you got to
Speaker 1: go and see this acupuncturist. She's amazing. And I was
Speaker 1: in a pretty bad place with my head at that moment,
Speaker 1: like nothing was budging it. So I went to her
Speaker 1: and she said, oh, look, I'm just going to do this.
Speaker 1: It's called spinal energetics, and then we'll move into cupping
Speaker 1: and acupuncture. I'm like okay, And so she started the
Speaker 1: and I'm like, what the fuck is this doing? And
Speaker 1: then I laid there and all I could think of
Speaker 1: was let's get onto the acupuncture. Like it did nothing,
Speaker 1: absolutely nothing, And I spoke to a friend about it,
Speaker 1: and I said, what are your thoughts on And he's
Speaker 1: a cairo An osteo, and a lot of Osteos are
Speaker 1: quite you know, spiritual. Yeah, yeah, yes, yeah, And he
Speaker 1: was like, look, for some people it's fantastic and then
Speaker 1: other people it just does not work, which I guess
Speaker 1: is everything.
Speaker 4: Ye, well, I guess.
Speaker 3: Although when you're here in Sydney next to Montelle, I'm
Speaker 3: going to take you to one of these sessions.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, I'll give it a crack.
Speaker 1: But so while you're out there having horse kicks and
Speaker 1: being relaxed. Since we last spoke, I have had anal
Speaker 1: probing from a nurse like I have such bad digestion
Speaker 1: that I might have to go and check this out.
Speaker 2: And so my GP's like, you've got to go to
Speaker 2: this doctor.
Speaker 1: He's basically a bum doctor, so he works with all
Speaker 1: of that stuff, but you have to have these tests.
Speaker 1: So I had to go in lay on a bed
Speaker 1: and I had this young nurse say, I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: have to insert my fingers, insert these probes, do all
Speaker 1: of this stuff. I'm laying on my side with this
Speaker 1: lady shoving every utensil that she didn't find up me.
Speaker 1: And as I'm laying there, the door opens and this
Speaker 1: lady walks in, going, is that Katie Diamond there with you?
Speaker 2: And she's like, yes, get out.
Speaker 1: So my bead bum with these things hanging out is
Speaker 1: on display to this lady. And then I go into
Speaker 1: doctor and he's like, yeah, look, we've got to have
Speaker 1: to give you these tablets to help you digestion and
Speaker 1: stuff like that.
Speaker 2: But he kept saying rectum.
Speaker 4: I could not concentrate so immature. That would just crack
Speaker 4: you up. Sitting there going I'm saw immature.
Speaker 1: If he says rectum again, I'm going to crack up honestly,
Speaker 1: like six times, You've got to stop. I swear that
Speaker 1: you would not have heard anything he said beyond that
Speaker 1: point I did is you would have just been a league.
Speaker 2: I literally did not hear a thing. I'm like, this
Speaker 2: is shows where my.
Speaker 4: Maturity level is.
Speaker 2: Where I'm sitting listening to this doctor.
Speaker 1: But I came home and told Sam about it, and
Speaker 1: he's like, oh, there's absolutely nothing in the world that
Speaker 1: would get me to do that, Like nothing.
Speaker 3: See, I've had it done too. I hadn't done Yeah.
Speaker 3: So when I the first time I went into hospital,
Speaker 3: like I went into emergency, which ended up being the
Speaker 3: day I was diagnosed with their mess. I woke up
Speaker 3: and was completely numbed on my right side and that
Speaker 3: was one of the tests that they did. So they
Speaker 3: put me on my side and the doctor did all
Speaker 3: that stuff, and then she had a nurse that had
Speaker 3: to stand there just I guess they have to do
Speaker 3: that like from a like a safety point of view,
Speaker 3: to make sure that the doctor doesn't do anything they shouldn't,
Speaker 3: so they have Yeah, they had a nurse standing there
Speaker 3: while she did it.
Speaker 4: And it's so weird because you just.
Speaker 3: Like flat out and I couldn't feel anything at this point,
Speaker 3: so I had no idea what they were doing because
Speaker 3: I couldn't feel it. But it's, yeah, it's a weird
Speaker 3: thing to have such people your bum Yes it is.
Speaker 1: Because she's like, I'm just gotta look at it, like,
Speaker 1: so they look at it. So I just was like
Speaker 1: just and just and before she started, I'm like, how
Speaker 1: long does this take? She's like it'll be five minutes.
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, I can get through five minutes.
Speaker 4: I can do this.
Speaker 1: But it's as I'm laying there, I'm like, what we
Speaker 1: are going through with different things just to try and
Speaker 1: get like three percent better.
Speaker 4: Seriously, but you yeah, you'll try anything.
Speaker 2: You will try anything.
Speaker 1: Every fortnight, we're doing a podcast and we said we'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you because we know so many
Speaker 1: of you are suffering, and so many of us as
Speaker 1: silent sufferers, so other people can't see what's going on,
Speaker 1: which makes it even more challenging.
Speaker 2: But we said, hit us up.
Speaker 1: If you've got any questions or you want to share anything,
Speaker 1: please get in touch and you can do that via
Speaker 1: our Instagram, which is Shaw and Tel Podcasts. Anyway, what
Speaker 1: I'm thrilled with and I would love you guys to do,
Speaker 1: is send us voice memos.
Speaker 4: You do this, yes, so great.
Speaker 1: So her name's Olivia and she sends us a message
Speaker 1: and I thought i'd play it for you.
Speaker 5: Hey, Manti and Brooke, this is Olivia. I live with
Speaker 5: chronic arthritis. I'm about to turn forty and I've pretty
Speaker 5: much always worked in advertising. My career has always been
Speaker 5: the biggest part of my life and it's a huge
Speaker 5: part of my identity. But sadly I've made the decision
Speaker 5: that I am going to have to resign. It's just
Speaker 5: not an option for me at the moment to keep
Speaker 5: working full time and be a mom while battling this pain.
Speaker 5: I'm still deciding what I'll do next, and I really
Speaker 5: do think it is the right decision for me. But
Speaker 5: I just wanted to ask you both if your career
Speaker 5: has been affected by your health issues and how you've
Speaker 5: navigated it. Thanks, guys, I absolutely love this podcast. It
Speaker 5: means more to me than you guys would know. And yeah,
Speaker 5: I look forward to you from you.
Speaker 2: That's so lovely.
Speaker 3: Well, it's so beautiful. Thank you, Olivia. Yes, it's a
Speaker 3: tough one. Do you want to start or do you
Speaker 3: want me to start?
Speaker 2: You go? You go ahead.
Speaker 3: I really feel you with this, Olivia, because this has
Speaker 3: totally been my situation. So I have always been quite
Speaker 3: I want say ambitious, but it feels like it's a
Speaker 3: dirty word.
Speaker 4: It's ambitious.
Speaker 1: We need to own that word because it comes down
Speaker 1: is you and I am happy and ambitious.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Like I've always known I wanted to be
Speaker 3: a journalist, and I have, you know, moved wherever I've
Speaker 3: had to make that happen, and have worked really hard
Speaker 3: making that happen and loved my job. I've always loved
Speaker 3: my work, but then when I was diagnosed with MS,
Speaker 3: it just became increasingly harder and harder, and there was
Speaker 3: a lot of hospital stays. In the first year or so,
Speaker 3: probably like every second month or so, I was in
Speaker 3: hospital and that becomes really tricky. But I still with
Speaker 3: all this going on, and you know, getting into hospital
Speaker 3: and then being like you know, cause usually you find
Speaker 3: out like the day before or you need to go
Speaker 3: in and it could be three days, it could be five.
Speaker 4: You just don't know.
Speaker 3: And you know, I get into the hospital room and
Speaker 3: try and like cancel all my meetings and do all
Speaker 3: the things, and it's.
Speaker 2: Stressful, right, so stressful.
Speaker 3: And my husband James had said, should you have a
Speaker 3: think about if this is the right thing right now?
Speaker 3: And in my mind I was like, there's no way
Speaker 3: I'm ever going to resign, Like I'm just not.
Speaker 4: And then I was huge too.
Speaker 1: So you were at nine dot com dot a year
Speaker 1: and you were like a big wig there. I was
Speaker 1: managing editor there and I loved it.
Speaker 3: I went to an appoint with my GP and she
Speaker 3: gave me a really firm talking to, like the really
Speaker 3: like what are you thinking?
Speaker 4: Like what are you doing?
Speaker 3: What is more important than your health and your family,
Speaker 3: because if they needed to, they would cut you, and
Speaker 3: they wouldn't, you know, think twice about it.
Speaker 2: And that's the thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's really just kind of maybe it was
Speaker 3: the timing. I don't know what it was, but I
Speaker 3: literally walked from her office to my car, rang my
Speaker 3: husband and said, Hey, I think I'm going to resign.
Speaker 4: And it was so scary to do it.
Speaker 3: And my like nine had been incredible, like so amazing
Speaker 3: and good to me, and my manager, Kerrey is like
Speaker 3: just an angel.
Speaker 4: She was amazing.
Speaker 3: But I kept waiting for that feeling of.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, who am I without my career?
Speaker 3: What am I going to do all of that? And
Speaker 3: it just never happened.
Speaker 2: I know, I was shocked. After I spoke to you, You're.
Speaker 1: Like, I'm loving not working, and I was surprised because
Speaker 1: you've ever since you could work, you were working. I
Speaker 1: was like wow, because I was nervous. I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: you're going to fall in a heap if you're not
Speaker 1: doing anything.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I definitely still need to be busy, but
Speaker 3: I think, you know, and it's so individual for everyone's
Speaker 3: so I'm not saying Olivia, go quit your job and
Speaker 3: you'll be much happier. But I'm definitely what I guess
Speaker 3: I am saying is I think there are silver linings
Speaker 3: to situations like this, to shitty situations, and slowing down
Speaker 3: and being able to do pick up and drop off
Speaker 3: has been so great for me and for my daughters,
Speaker 3: and I think a lot of it is about pivoting. Right, So, Olivia,
Speaker 3: you're in marketing, I'm sure there are things that you
Speaker 3: can do from home that maybe you haven't had to
Speaker 3: kind of entertain the idea of before, or maybe like
Speaker 3: you want to go and have a whole new career
Speaker 3: change and like maybe this is an opportunity for that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's sometimes when you are in our situation,
Speaker 1: pivoting is the exact word, because it's like, I do
Speaker 1: want to do something. I can't work full time, so
Speaker 1: what is it.
Speaker 2: That I can do?
Speaker 1: And luckily for me, my contract had finished and didn't
Speaker 1: get renewed, and it was after that my health took
Speaker 1: a bigger turn where it became unmanageable and I'm like,
Speaker 1: there's just no way I could work, which is also
Speaker 1: for some people terribly stressful because of the financial situation
Speaker 1: where for us. We had to strip back hugely because
Speaker 1: we were always a double income family, so we have
Speaker 1: had to make adjustments. But it all I also don't have
Speaker 1: to work. But I have pivoted, Like I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to do a celebrance course because I'm comfortable
Speaker 1: in front of people. I can do weddings. I'm nervous
Speaker 1: to do that because my health is still under not
Speaker 1: under control, and I'm like, I can't book in a
Speaker 1: couple and then go, oh.
Speaker 4: Guys, sorry, I've got a my grain.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's like we've ramped up this podcast because
Speaker 1: we can do it when it works for us, and
Speaker 1: if we have to cancel, that's okay. But I reckonhands down.
Speaker 1: It is pivoting a huge part. The first year that
Speaker 1: I finished doing radio, I always look back now and
Speaker 1: I realized I wasn't in a good place because a
Speaker 1: huge part of my identity and self worse was in
Speaker 1: my job. Like I took pride in when people like,
Speaker 1: what do you do, I'm and I would go, I'm
Speaker 1: a radio announcer, even though they'd give zero shits because
Speaker 1: radio is like the oldest, daggiest medium of all time.
Speaker 1: But I felt proud of that because it wasn't a
Speaker 1: normal job either, so some people would be like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's you know, that's cool, and I would get confidence
Speaker 1: and give you a bit of an ego boost totally,
Speaker 1: and I was really driven by my ego and I
Speaker 1: still am to a huge extent.
Speaker 4: But I think it's just so vain.
Speaker 1: I'm so every time I'm like, I'm Monti guars I
Speaker 1: was on the radio whenever I meet anyone. But I
Speaker 1: do still find that when people say, you know, and
Speaker 1: people ask a lot what do you do with yourself?
Speaker 1: I still two years on go oh my background was
Speaker 1: radio and now I'm podcasting. It's like I still need.
Speaker 2: To drop in.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you need to justify it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, even though I'm home most of the time with
Speaker 1: the kids or trying to get by with my health,
Speaker 1: I still feel like I need to justify like I
Speaker 1: did have this career.
Speaker 2: I'm not just at home doing nothing. It's so weird.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's crazy, And to be honest, I was exactly
Speaker 3: the same for the first couple of years. When people
Speaker 3: would ask me that question, I'd say, oh, well, I
Speaker 3: was at nine, and I'm like, I'm saying it's like
Speaker 3: a year or a year and a half later, and
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh my god, You've got to stop it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 3: People don't like you because of where you work, like totally,
Speaker 3: you know, it means nothing. And so I'm only just
Speaker 3: comfortable now And people say, what do you do? Just
Speaker 3: saying I work from home, I do this and this,
Speaker 3: and you know, and I'm fine with that. Now do
Speaker 3: you feel fine with that now?
Speaker 1: I feel more comfortable with it now. Also, I think
Speaker 1: because my health kicked up a gear, I just had
Speaker 1: to surrender to the fact that even if I was
Speaker 1: offered something, I wouldn't be able to take it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So it was like I just felt a relief in
Speaker 1: going I don't want to be accountable to people and
Speaker 1: let people down, and I couldn't do that at the moment.
Speaker 1: So I fear a sense of relief in there. But
Speaker 1: I do completely get the identity thing, but I do
Speaker 1: think it is pivoting and I just think being in
Speaker 1: like hearing Olivia, I go.
Speaker 2: I can't.
Speaker 1: I don't know what it would be like to live
Speaker 1: with chronic pain, like because mine comes in and out,
Speaker 1: like my fatigue is always there, but my migraines come
Speaker 1: in bursts, and so I just think that for me
Speaker 1: to go, oh, pivot, maybe isn't necessarily her situation when
Speaker 1: you're in full time pain, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Because it's so different for everyone exactly.
Speaker 3: I do think as well, like when you're hand at
Speaker 3: a diagnosis like what Olivia has, or you and I
Speaker 3: or whoever you know is listening, it can sometimes and
Speaker 3: it certainly been the case for me that it does
Speaker 3: make you look at your life and it does change
Speaker 3: your priorities. Because I think a big part in me
Speaker 3: accepting that I'm not going to be this career person
Speaker 3: I thought I was is like I'm okay with that
Speaker 3: because I just want peace, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 3: What I mean like, I just want everyone around me
Speaker 3: and my family and myself to be happy and healthy,
Speaker 3: and I want there to be peace. So yeah, I
Speaker 3: do think maybe sometimes, you know, having that as the
Speaker 3: ultimate goal can be a.
Speaker 2: Bit of a I don't know, a bit of an overrider.
Speaker 4: Yeah that's so good.
Speaker 2: All right, Well let's get out of here for today.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening, and we really would
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can just write us
Speaker 1: a message if you want, or you can send us
Speaker 1: a little voice memo and we'll play it, and you
Speaker 1: don't have to share your name if you don't feel comfortable.
Speaker 1: But the reason we're doing this pod is so you
Speaker 1: feel less alone, or maybe you want to share it
Speaker 1: with a family member to go well, this is kind
Speaker 1: of how I feel, because sometimes it's really hard with
Speaker 1: close family and friends for them to truly get it.
Speaker 2: So hopefully this helps you in some way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you, thanks for listening.
Speaker 2: Bye for now, Bye,