Latest / Numotion Ally Program Podcast / Wheelin' With Dylan: From Wheels to Waves With Cory
Transcript
- Leah Holderbaum: Hello, welcome to the Ally Podcast with our segment Wheelin' with Dylan, where I like to have different guests on, specifically those with spinal cord injuries, and talk about independence, life, problems, all all that fun stuff. And today we have a great guest. I'm really looking forward to talking with today. someone I I've been able to briefly you know, speak with in the past and he he's a good time. So hey welcome Corey. Corey Clark is who we have on today. How are you doing? Good man. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to to be a part of this and really excited to kind of give back to the community and that that has given me so much. So excited about all this. Awesome, awesome. Well you're the perfect guest to have on. And if you don't mind introducing yourself a little bit, telling everyone kind of where you're from and your background so we get to know ya. Yeah, for sure. I am I'm thirty-seven years old now, born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, so Midwesterner at heart, and went to school up there, graduated from Ohio University where I met my now wife, which has taken us down to St. Augustine, Florida. So got out of the cold weather and enough of that Midwestern fall, winter, spring, winter, winter, winter, and now live in sunny Florida. So been down here for about fifteen years now and loving it. Absolutely loving it. Been been kind of working my career in finance and you know, up and down and obviously with the spinal cord injury, my I'm sure we'll talk about that a little bit more in depth, but kinda high level. I was injured in twenty nineteen in a dirt biking accident. used to race motocross and and had an accident in twenty nineteen when I was thirty one, which obviously changed the the trajectory of my life in a major way and that's been about six years ago. So that's me. Okay. All right. Well th yeah, thanks for that intro. twenty nineteen, you and I got hurt around the same time. So but I know that you were at a point in your life where you you probably you know, you had your stuff together, right? You were I know for me I was just kinda like starting to figure things out and I was kinda going to school, but I'm assuming, you know, you were w working, married, all that good stuff, right? Yeah, yeah. So let's see, twenty nineteen, I was married in twenty fourteen. So I was married about five, six years at the time, and you you hit the nail on the head. I mean, I was thirty-one, right? So I was kinda deep in my career, I was working for a company called Ally Financial, which is a big bank, kind of a big Fortune five hundred company. And you know, I was in a point in my life where everything was going great. You know, I kinda was really fortunate to be kind of Chasing the American Dream. We had my wife and I got married and we were able to purchase our first home. And you know, the kind of before things got crazy. And, you know, I was kind of living my life like, hey, I'm I'm climbing the corporate ladder of a really great company, and you know, everything was great. And we were starting to kind of plan for a family and and doing all that. And then bam, I, you know, I was in the kind of the prime. I was in the best shape I've ever been in when I got hurt. you know, my relationship was great, work was great. And then it all went off the rails, as I'm sure it did for you when I got hurt. it's amazing looking back on it, how quick it happened. I think anybody who listens to this podcast and anybody who either has suffered a spinal cord injury or knows somebody or has a friend, a family member, that's the biggest thing that I always hear is like, my gosh, how did this happen so quick? And you're thrown into a complete tailspin in your life. And that happened for me at like I said, the prime of my life, and all of that kind of shifted after after my injury. You know, I kind of look at my life to date as as pre injury and post injury, and there's a lot of similarities that that I've pulled through both phases of my life, but It was definitely a turning point as as I'm sure it was for you. So yeah, it was it was a lot. It was a lot. It's kind of funny how you you view that, like you said, it's like pre injury and post injury, it's almost like you start a n like a new life. Now, you're still yourself. You're you're this you're the same Corey, right? Like I'm the same villain. But things change so much and it's like you almost start this new this new journey. And thank you for sh for sharing that. I mean you said, you know, you're in your prime, you know, everything is you're you're trying to climb up the corporate ladder, stuff like that. when you got hurt, did it like kinda change your perspective on things, on maybe the way you viewed life, on w even s you know, work, family, anything like that? Yeah. yeah, it was it was big and I'll I'll get pretty deep with some of this stuff. For me, you know, as I mentioned, I was I was on a great trajectory. what I thought was a great trajectory. And really, this is kind of the silver lining of my injury. Not don't get me wrong, I'm I'm not gonna be one of those people that's like this was a good thing that happened because I would take a pill today if I could go back. let me get that straight. But for me At the time I thought everything was going great and and it appeared to be. But with work, I was very, very much pouring myself into my career. And, you know, I wanted to get to a point where I was the CEO of of this company. That was kind of my drive. And you know, whether that would have happened or not, who knows? But, you know, in doing so, when I was injured, I didn't realize how much I was missing in my day-to-day life because I was so focused on my career. And my you know, I was I was working in the in the car business, so I was supporting kind of car dealer hours where that had me working until ten, eleven o'clock at night on a lot of days. I was working a lot of weekends and you know, I didn't know it until my injury, but when I got hurt, that dose of perspective when all of that went away and stopped, it was like I had kind of a flash of like, Wow, I was missing my life and you know, it it sparks a lot of deep conversations with a spouse and my wife was like, you know, I I never see you and I never you know, you were so focused on these things and I didn't even I didn't even realize that, but I was essentially kind of missing my entire life and not even realizing it. So when my injury happened, it was like bam, perspective. Like I I think I realized at that moment when I was injured how quickly I mean, I wasn't close a as we all are. I mean, I'm sure everybody's different. Well, I know that everybody's different in their injury, but You know, when you have kind of that near death experience, we'll call it. you know, I I think that any one of us is you know, whether that that's true or not, you know, you feel like that. And it really makes you start thinking about those things. And for me, it was I was fortunate enough to recognize that immediately of, my gosh, I need to make some changes in my life. And it took this event to make that happen. Unfortunately, you know, I think about You know, when you lose a loved one or a family member, we all go through tragedy. We all go through terrible things. Ours is just visible, right? But when it happens by proxy, like for example, a family member, you know, when you're surrounded by family and everybody kind of has that aha moment of, man, I really need to stop and smell the roses, right? And that that's important, but that usually and and I can speak for myself, but you know, when those things happen It gives you that dose of perspective, but it usually fades. You know, you give it a week, two weeks, three months, whatever whatever your time is, and that fades. And until it happens to you directly, you know, it like it doesn't fade for me now. And I hate to say that, but you know, for me, that was really a turning point where I could say, you know what, I really need to make some changes in my life, and you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna pioneer those changes. And and what those changes were is When I did have the opportunity to go back to work at Ally, I really tried to shift and move internally to be able to normalize my schedule a little bit more, to to spend more time with my wife and my family, which I was very much backburning before my injury. So was able to do that, transition out of that out of that job into a different company that that allowed me to do those things. So I'm still working full time, but at least now I can keep those those priorities that mean everything. For me. The reason why I go to work is so I can spend the time with my loved ones and and make sure that I'm making time for my family and and all those things. So it was a pivotal point for me to be able to identify that perspective and really put it into action. Yeah, that that's that's good. I mean that's like well almost touching right there, but g I mean, 'cause I think a lot of us can just kind of like like understand what you're saying and have been through a very similar thing. It it's it's very eye opening. Maybe like at least in my case I know I feel like maybe I stressed out or got too mad about little things that maybe didn't matter that much. You know, but at the time when at least for me, I'm seventeen, eighteen, it's the whole world, you know, all this little thing is so important and you stress out about it. But when you get hurt and you have something life changing like that, like you said, it's a near at least f for me for sure it was a near death experience. You really do realize, hey, this is what's important. This is what Life is all about. You don't get fed up on some of the smaller stuff. You wanna make sure you prioritize your time to to be with family. You know, it almost like I almost I became a nicer person, honestly, because I'm like you know, life I you know, life flashes kinda before your eyes and you realize what kind of person you you kinda wanna be. but doesn't mean that, you know, I'm perfect, I'm still we're still always trying to w work on things, but that's that's good. Thank you for for sharing, you know, your experience with that. So, you know, you things were going well, you get hurt, changes your perspective on things. is there anything that you did specifically to make sure that you got in a situation where you could give more, you know, to your family, you had to work towards independence and stuff like that. That was a big one. Maybe maybe we can talk about that specifically. What was your mindset? 'Cause you're a very driven guy, right? You were driven to you know, maybe be the CEO of that company. I know I speak with you now and you're very a very driven person. how did that drive help you to be, you know, independent, to gain a good quality of life again, to be able to spend time with your family. do you mind speaking on some of the things that you did to to get to the point where you're at today? Yeah, for sure. So for me, I was super fortunate with a with a really good support system. You know, that was that was my biggest driver. And I know not a lot of people have that. so I'm I'm very fortunate for that. but that aside, you know, I I tried to when I was in inpatient rehab and and going through all the things that most of us went through, you know, whether it was a stay in the hospital through rehab, my rehab journey was about a year long, all things considered, between hospital inpatient, you know, d a spinal cord program and and then to outpatient. And for me, when I look back on those The pivotal moments for me were in impatient when I I had to really divide kind of my day-to-day into really, really small wins that led me to independence. For me, it was independence. And I'm fortunate with my injury. I'm a T twelve. I'm a I'm a complete Asia A complete at T twelve. So my paralysis and and everything kind of starts around my belly button down. So you know, I I it for me it was learning how to transfer. It was segmenting those tiny little things. And it was hard, right? In the beginning, it's like, you know, I it when I was injured, I I always I I've been through significant injuries with the sport, you know, with racing dirt bikes and motocross. It's not uncommon to, you know, I've broken both my collarbones multiple times and and my Tib fib a couple of times and, you know, pretty horrific injuries and Those were things I bounced back from pretty quickly. And I address this the same way. You know, you you have people telling you kind of the severity and and balance in that line of, you know, this is a really significant injury, but there's always hope. You gotta keep that hope alive. And for me, I had to segment into really, really small pieces to be able to say, You know, of course I wanted to regain some function and I wanted to work towards building trying to rebuild the neuroconnections to my legs, but that's a massive thing, right? And I had to get myself to to really shrink that into, all right, let me try to figure out how to get out of my bed in the hospital or in inpatient rehab rather, and and transfer myself. And that's a huge milestone. I made really small tasks. The first time I cast for the first time by myself without having somebody else to assist, like little things like that. And and those aren't so little, you know, I'd even go even before that to where, you know, opening a door for the first time by myself and dealing with my chair, you know, and getting out of the way of the door. I know everybody else, everybody opens a door differently, whether you you know you jam your chair and whatever, you know, little things like that, segmenting Small wins was the biggest thing for me because it kept me going. And it's like, all right, I opened that door, no problem this time. You know, I had to do a 12-point turn to get there. Maybe tomorrow I can do it with an eight-point turn. Let me try that. And then you you start building on those small wins. And next thing you know, it's all right, I'm gonna go to the grocery store for the first time by myself. I'm gonna travel on an airplane for the first time by myself. You know, things that you take for granted you don't even think about when you're when you're injured, if you travel a lot or, you know, just drive into the grocery store to pick up a a a gallon of milk. Like didn't even think about that. And now it was like I had to work up to that. You know, that was a big deal. I had to get my chair out and go through and like, how do I deal with a grocery cart? You know, all those things. So segmenting into really small wins and really small goals. that eventually turn into bigger goals is what kept my motivation and it taught me the patience, I think. you brought up a good point earlier about you're a nicer person. I that resonates with me because, you know, it life is so freaking fast paced that you know you lose sight of the patience. And that's one of the biggest qualities that I feel like I've improved through my injury is having having the patience in myself and and and the patience in hitting these marks, really now and you know, I can stay calm, cool, and collected in so many situations. It it doesn't mean I don't get upset on some things. We all do, but yeah being able to balance the patience and and stacking up those small wins is really what helped me kind of achieve the independence and and keep the goals driven, you know? Yeah. No that's good to to have goals and sometimes it's just baby steps, right? Right. And I ta I've talked about on this podcast before about and there's actually a segment that we kinda do sometimes. It's like it's called like trial and error. Like I just feel like that's all what like having a spinal cord injury is, at least for me it was, is you have to figure out what works for you, right? So like you mentioned like opening up a door and how like people do it differently. It's like you just have to figure out what works for you. and then you get to a point one day where I'm sure you're like me probably and I just like to almost annoy people and like open up the door for them. They start feeling like bad and start stuttering. And you get that where they where they try to hold the door and then like get out of the way and it's really awkward. I'm just like, bro, I know it's all good. Like it's it's coming from the right place. And yeah. That's a that's a big thing. I I don't want to get us off the rails, but that's another thing is how do you deal with People wanting to help you and a lot of people get real frustrated with that and I'd actually love I'd love to talk about that 'cause I don't know if we've talked about that too much before. P people try to help you and I have to realize that it is out of the right motive. But how many times are they trying to help you and they're actually like really like in your way? So I I don't I don't all the time for the most Like literally it's yeah, it's all the time. And and they always like it can be, you know, you're it's strangers or your own friends. They mean Like the best for you. But I know for example for me when I break down my chair. I have a specific way of when I put it in there, like how I want it to be. And so when someone tries to help or they try to even I don't know, like maybe it's 'cause I'm it's just out of my the way that I do it and out of my routine. It's actually like makes it like harder for me. Yeah. But I I'm not I don't really like tell that 'cause like typically I just say, I'm o I'm okay, thank you. But they are really persistent on trying to help. You know, they they don't realize like, this is actually you're kind of making it harder for me right now. but how do you deal with that? Do you do you try to politely kinda do it yourself or how have you handled that the past couple of years? This is a big one for me, man, because I you know, I as I've I've known a lot of people in the community and you know, I I I try to be an advocate in as many different communities as I can in in the spinal cord world. And this comes up a lot, right? And it ticks off a lot of people, right? It's and that's totally valid. I get that. You know, where people don't want to be seen for their disability, and and I totally respect that. I I'm the opposite though. I try to for me, it's all about education. It's an opportunity for me. That's the way I see it, is people trying to help. you know, and there's all different facets of that, you know, and that like you said, the persistent ones. Most of the time, somebody will see me, like you said, putting my chair in the truck, and I'm the same way. It's it's funny, I'll be at the gas pump and I'll I'll get out and I'll be down there and I'll be doing the same thing, getting back in my truck. And I can tell that somebody's been watching, you know, kind of lurking, like, what's that guy doing? And then they want to help. It's coming from a good place. And they say, hey, can I throw that chair in the back for you? And I just make a joke. I'm like, well then how the heck am I gonna get it out? And they're like, yeah, you're right. I I try to make light of it as much as I can. But like another big one for me, you know, I try to accept you know, or politely decline. You know, I I if I need help, I'll certainly ask for it. And that took a long time to get to that. Like, you know, back to the grocery store. If there's something on the top shelf, say you better believe it. I'm gonna go try to find a Pringles can first. To where I can get it, or something like where I can knock it off the shelf because I didn't want to ask anybody. I'd wait for the aisle to be clear and same here. You know, now it's like I don't have a problem with that. I have a pretty outgoing personality anyway, which is helpful. But the other thing I was gonna mention with this is like kids, right? Young kids, when you're in the grocery store or out in public and you've got to you know, a five year old, four year old kid where they're in that phase of pointing at everything. And, you know, I'll be in a in the checkout line and there's a kid in the you know, in the in the the buggy or the cart looking right at me with the mom doing her thing, loading everything up or dad, whatever. And the kid's like, hey, what's that? And then you can just feel the uncomfortableness from the parent. no. my gosh, no, no, don't look, don't look. And I try to stop that. And I I say, no, no, no, no. It's totally cool. Let me let me share with you like and and I'll I'll and I'll kinda brush off the the parent and you can feel the relief come down their face. And I'm like, No, it's all good. I I used to be just like you and you know, I hurt my back and now my legs don't work, so I use this as my as my my legs. And you can watch the kid go, Okay And then they go and grab a gumball machine off the thing and that's it. And it's like I think that moment is so important. And i if you handle it another way, and I get it, the the no, I don't want to talk about it. And you know, that now that kid probably now I can't say that, but maybe the next time they see another wheelchair, they're like, that per mommy, that person hurt their legs. Or that hurt hurt their back. That's their legs now. And then like That's gonna build and I use it I use it as an opportunity to educate as much as I can, whether it's a silly joke or something like that to where, you know, you turn that kind of awkward, potentially negative situation into a positive situation. And you'll be amazed at for me, it really makes me feel good. you know, a lot of times people say that when people try to help, they're doing it for themselves, right? They wanna feel like they're doing something versus actually the act the act of helping you. And that's kind of what it does for me, is it, you know, turning up situation that could go very, very differently. turn that into a positive. It's it it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. So I try I try to do that as much as I can. That's awesome. That's the one that always gets me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I always tell the kids, Okay, it's what happens when you don't eat your vegetables. No, I'm just okay. That's a good one. Yeah. I'll always like I could start saying stuff like that and then sometimes my wife will like look at me and like no I'll try to yeah. But yeah, no, it's it it's part of the fun, right? I mean I think it was really difficult for me, especially when I first got hurt. Let's like all the looks that you kinda get. and then you j I feel like you just get really used to it. and then for me, at least, like I almost started noticing it again. Again because like when I started like dating who I'm with now who I'm who I'm married to, Kylie, I feel like she's like, Man, we're getting like a lot of stares And I'm like, yeah, like I'm so y I'm used to this now. Right. And now I feel like I'm almost like sometimes a little bit more aware of it because I'm like, Wait 'cause now like they're kinda like looking at us or whatever but you know, you kinda you kinda gotta get used to it after a while and you you sounds like you set a good example and then I like what you said, just trying to educate because for me, I'm not gonna lie, like it's like the mood that I'm in. Like if I'm like because I'm very much that person that like I don't wanna be seen most of the time, like I wanna be hidden. Like before I got hurt, I'm the guy that's just kinda like sneaking around. Now that's like there's no way of doing any of that. And so when I'm in the mood of just like n I don't like I wanna go in this grocery store and just wanna get my stuff and go. And then like your people are, you know, coming up to you and asking for your help or whatever, like sometimes I'm just like I'm always trying to be nice, but like it's hard not to be a little subtle so like just brief sometimes 'cause it's like it's you know I just wanna go get my get my food and go. But that's good that you know you you go in it with like a positive attitude, educating them. Like you said, their intentions like they're not bad. They they wanna help. and kids kids is another thing. They're they're so funny. They'll they'll say whatever is on their mind. I had a kid literally two days ago, they're sitting in front of me and they like kept going looking back and staring at me like a million times. and I'm just like, Hey buddy, like it's not it's it's just it's it's funny. Like it d I don't take it personal or anything. I especially with kids, I actually just think it's it think it's really funny by the at this point. But No, that's awesome. I'm glad that we got in that conversation because I think that that is something that I think we talk about sometimes within ourselves with spinal cord injuries. so anyone watching this or l or listening and if you are newer to spinal cord you know, if you you've recently suffered an injury, that's something that it takes some getting used to. but it's good to remember that it comes from a good place and the way it's all about how you handle it. You know, you can make the situation worse or more awkward by how you respond. but if you're kinda cool, go with the flow and respectful, it's actually i i things can go pretty easy. So but I wanna talk a little bit before we because I I know time flies by fast. what c what you c what kind of hobbies have you gotten yourself into? I I already kinda know, so if you don't mind sharing with people, but I think it's cool because everyone who gets a spinal cord injury Maybe they really follow what they did before and they just wanna keep doing it. Sometimes they find a new outlet. w what what have you found and and what do you do? Yeah, good question. So I kinda break this down into two different categories for me. you know, before I got hurt, my my hobbies were obviously things that go fast. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie in terms of that, so riding racing motorcycles and horsepower, cars, all that good stuff. a lot of those things which I I can do still, but definitely can't anymore. So one of the big things hobby wise for me is my wife and I we live in Florida and we live real close to the water and our big thing is is boating. And my wife and I we've got a little boat that that we go out on and we fish off of and did a lot of fishing before and You know, also just just not fishing, but just getting out on the water. It's a big part of our life and you know, being around the water, whether it's on the beach or or or on the boat. That was a big part. So like for me, the focus of my and that was kind of going back to tie the the other part together of what really kept me motivated and and kept me going is, you know, I had a goal. I knew I probably wasn't gonna get back on a dirt bike again. You know, there's opportunity to do that, but I kind of put that in in my rear view mirror and You know, I was like, you know what? I do want to get back to getting back out on the water and getting on the boat. And that shaped a lot of kind of how my trajectory of recovery went. It was all about, all right, let's start figuring out how to work these transfers and those small wins we were talking about, right? It's like, all right, so I know the gunnel of the boat, which is like the side of the boat, right? It's it's a little bit higher than my chair. So I'd practice, you know, getting onto my bed or getting onto like a pillow on my bed to where I could safely practice those transfers. knowing in my head that I'm not just practicing an off kilter transfer. This is like this is purpose. This is to get back on the boat and to be able to transfer around the boat and be able to do what I want to do. And that was a big that was a big one is getting back on the boat. And now fast forward to to doing it, now my wife and I are you know, more more so for her, or hats off to her rather, that we we're able to do all of it. We launch and retrieve the boat by ourselves. it's totally doable. Now you've got to have a a person that is willing to do that because I'll tell you if if you've ever been around a boating situation and and more specifically around a boat ramp, you'll see able-bodied people get into it all the time. It's a very stressful situation. So add a spinal cord injury in there and it gets even more wicked. But that was a big thing is getting back out on the water. And then the other part of that, which I've noticed has become more of a hobby for me is just I've always kind of worked on my own stuff. I've been I I really like doing the mechanical stuff. I always worked on my my motorcycles. I did all the services on my car. I'm I'm I'm kind of a gearhead and not just automotive and things like that, but even just fixing things around the house. you know, for me, those chores that I used to look at like chores like mowing the grass or changing the air filter in the AC unit, little things. I I now look forward to doing those things because I think getting a sense of I always used to get in a sense of accomplishment and doing those things, even though I hated to do them. now it's like it's it's kind of building on those small wins that I keep talking about. For me, like to go out and be able to change the brakes and the rotors and and and all that on on my wife's car or my car to be able to do that. With or without a spinal cord injury is i is rewarding, right? For me personally. And to be able to do it from a chair is even more rewarding. And it's you know, it's funny how those day-to-day tasks have really turned into things that I enjoy doing now. Like I look forward to cutting the grass now. I hated cutting grass before, but I've modified my mower in a manner where I can do it and You know, I I I get done and that sense of accomplishment is like, damn, you know, I I know a lot of people who can't even do this without a spinal cord injury and I just knocked that out. Like, how great does that feel? so turning those small little day to day things and into into a challenge, into a hobby, into a priority. You know, I've I I've gotten into some weird things like woodworking and building things around the house and that's a big one for me. Kind of those two things are are really what I like to do. I've I've gotten into some adaptive sports. I'd love to be able to I think we talked about that. I'd love to be able to do more of that, but you know, my work schedule gets in the way. I I do work a pretty hefty amount. not as much as I used to, thankfully. But you know, I'm I it it's hard to to practice to go to a basketball practice, you know, on a Tuesday at four or something like that. It's just a lot. So I gotta find other things that satisfy that itch for me and boating and those random weird tasks around the house are are what make me tick. So I get it. That that's that's awesome. I I can relate to you a lot. that's awesome that you do boating. That's something that I I go fishing different stuff and and I en I enjoy that. But it is I I'm on the same page with you in the fact that like I used to hate mowing the grass. I hate used to hate doing this, doing that. But now it's like satisfying and it's like almost just like proving to yourself that you can do whatever the heck that you want. And I I think that's what's cool. Like when I first got home from being hurt, like probably like a month after, maybe a month or two after I was mowing the grass. Just because I knew I could. Like it was a riding mower, like I I'm able to to figure it out. the other day so I used to be a plumber and the other day we were changing the faucet out and so I just went under the sink and did it and Like I could have someone else do it, obviously, but I was just like, it's like I wanna prove to myself, hey I I still got it, right? Like I I can still do this. so it's it's fun, you know. I will we I encourage anyone watching who has got a spinal cord injury who's maybe hesitant on doing things because you think that maybe you can't, to just give it a try. It's gonna look different than it was before. You know, we recently painted our apartment that we have here. And yeah, I can't get all the way up top, but I I I painted like the bottom half and my wife painted the top half and you know, things are different and you know, I kinda went on the ground and edged out like the bottom and stuff like that. Yeah. you just kinda gotta figure out that what works for you, but it's very satisfying once you once you do it. It's all about trial and error, right? so yeah, no, I appreciate you opening up on that. And then one last thing kinda wanna talk about too, just because the Ally program, you know, the what it's really about, especially you know, urological supplies, medical supplies, it becomes a big part of your life, once you have a spinal cord injury. You know, you have a wheelchair that you use every day, but that's that's one thing. That's one chair, right? But how many catheters are you going through a day? How many how many times are you using that? It's it's it's a lot. It becomes something that And that we're trying to normalize too and just be able to talk about within our spinochord community. what what what is that like what has that been like for you, you know, no learning how to the the beginning, I remember you said like, hey, I need to learn how to cast myself and specifically what I what I kinda wanna know about, something to change it up a little bit, is there anything you do specifically when you know you're going out in a boat? So how do you how do you prep for it? Is there anything you know to make sure that you're gonna be clean? 'Cause I know you're fishing and you got those like you know, bait on your hands and stuff like that. Is there anything you do to kinda keep it more sterile and clean and everything like that? Yeah, good question. I would say you know, for me, you know, my day to day is I I use a I use a closed system catheter and that's a that's a game changer for me. you know, it's it's all a balance, right? It's you're never gonna find a perfect product for for everything. So you gotta compromise. And that can be said for a catheter, a wheelchair, a car, a a boat, whatever, anything in life. there's really no do all. There's things that'll hit boxes. And for me, you know, I'm on the go all the time. And like you said, on the boat. So for me, when picking a a a catheter from the beginning, I knew that I needed a closed system. That was kind of gonna be it for me versus an open system. But In or just a straight cat rather. And the reason being is, you know, I can I I don't always have access to a bathroom to be able to to go find. And we we face obviously a lot of accessibility challenges all over the place. And so that was a priority for me. And, you know, when I first met one of the one of the gentlemen who who helps me with new motion and all that with my supplies, you know, he came in and I met him at in inpatient when I was in the impatient room. Right, J he was really Yeah, it was J B. Yeah. he was he was incredible for me because he really took the time to understand what I wanted to do. And I'm like, this is what I want to do. He's like, I think I got some stuff for ya. Let's try this and you know, I've I've stuck with that. So I you know, the the thing for me that I'm looking for is the closed system, so I can really you know, I I don't necessarily have to have a toilet or a bathroom. I just need a a little bit of privacy and you know, I've I I'll be the first to admit I've Caft on a plane in my seat in the middle. you gotta do what you gotta do. But you know, picking those right supplies and and having the ability to do that and the discreet bag is a big one for me to be able to kind of put everything away and make it go away, especially when you're on a flight by yourself and or whatever the case may be. But to answer your question about the boat, you know, the prep for me is it's not it it's not too crazy. obviously Bowel program and things like that are important. staying on top of that to make sure you're you're good as as with anything, whether it's you're going out for something or or going on the boat. certainly want to try to limit those situations. they still happen. But but anyway, as far as cathing, I I use you know, I I'm not the greatest person in terms of You know, I d I don't use the swab every single time and I don't put my gloves on every single time and I don't wash my hands every single time before and after. Obviously you try to, but let's be real. you can't always do that, you know, and it's either sometimes you have to trade that off. It's like, all right, I've for me, my sensation I have enough sensation to where my body will tell me that I need to to to pee, essentially, empty my bladder. And I have Depending on what I'm drinking or how much I've drank, sometimes I only have a few minutes before I let myself it goes. And it's like, all right, am I gonna go try to get to a bathroom or and wash my hands and do all the stuff that I know I need to do to stay sterile, or am I gonna risk doing that at the expense of maybe completely wetting myself? Or am I gonna cath right now and and get around it? And I've learned, you know, a lot of those things with the closed system calf. There's a technique that that you can use to to really minimize any kind of germs or bacteria or anything and really do no touch and and I do that a lot and that's what I do on the boat is, you know, if I can, I'll I'll pop up in that alcohol wa swab and try to clean things up as much as I can. But really learning and for me it was trial and error. You know, I got a I got several UTIs in the beginning 'cause of the way that I was cathing. I was kinda advancing the catheter out of the out of the the top part or whatever you want to call that and that exposed the catheter and i exactly. So then I I really had to tweak that and and learn how to to not pull that out. And some different lubricants were important for me and the hydrophilic versus more the jelly. but trying to kind of manage how I do those things was important and learn what works, learn what doesn't and like anything else that we do, it's all trial and error and you know, just doing it the more you do it. But the products are obviously invaluable. I I can't live my life without them and it's important to have something that works for you. Yeah, no, exactly. The the that touchless, like you said, not having getting it close to some catheter where it's pretty much impossible impossible to to touch it. And then that insertion tip that you talked about, making sure you insert that before you insert the catheter or else you're kind of then it's almost like there's no point of it if you're not, you know, inserting it the pro the proper way. So it's funny how you learn through the years though. I mean, same same with me. I mean, I've had my fair share of UTIs and it's one of those things that it's still gonna happen here and there if you have a spinal cord injury, but there's definitely ways to limit them, reduce them. if if you're able to, obviously keeping as sterile of an environment as possible is good. But I think you n nailed it when you talked about a closed system catheter. I mean I'm a big believer in that if you have a spinal cord injury. because yeah, it's gonna prevent UTIs, that's probably the biggest thing. but also just the convenience of it. Like how many times is there a bathroom that's not accessible you can't get into. The amount of times that I go out to my car to go to the bathroom is just I I mean it's sh it happens all the time. Just because I know I got privacy there, I know I can get in there and I know I'm not gonna have any issues. Make sure my my windows are nice and tinted. That's that's one s one thing that I have because I feel like I go I'm going the bath I'm on the road all the time too, with my job. So yeah, that's that's that's awesome that you know, you've been able to figure that out and you don't g let it stop you or get in the way of living your life, right? I mean that's the last thing that you wanna do. I hear people all the time who maybe don't have the right catheter fit for them or whatever the case is. It limits them from being independent fully, from having a good quality of life because they're afraid of going out in public and going the root using the restroom. and that's something that here the Ally program that we're really emphasizing, encouraging people you know not to worry about that. You know, ta you know, talk to us, there's a lot of ways around that we can make sure that you get set up with the proper supplies that's gonna work for you. to be able to get back your independence, improve your quality of life. you you're going boating, you know, you're you're a very busy, you know, guy just with working and everything like that. You don't let something as simple as going to the bathroom get in the way of it, you know? So Yeah. That that's awesome. I I appreciate you opening up about that and and everything in general, really. I think this was a great conversation. It was really nice getting to know you. I could talk with you for a long time. but I hope everyone watching just you know, at least take some of this info and do what you will with it. But at the end of the day, you know, just like I think with everyone who has a spinal cord injury, it does it changes your perspective, but it's all about what you do with it after that. And you're a really good example of, you know, prioritizing things that maybe you you realize that you didn't do so much before you got hurt and then also just w you're a very driven person and making sure that you're no you're working hard, you're you're you have your hobbies, you have your family and you're not letting a something like a wheelchair get in the way of any of that. So that's awesome. Thank you for hopping on the podcast today. It was r it was really good getting to know ya. Yeah, man. Thank you guys for having me. I really appreciate you reaching out and this has been a a great experience for me too. So can't thank you enough for inviting me. Awesome. Thanks, man. Have a good one. Take care, man. Thanks a lot.