This morning, I experienced a full-on jump-scare moment. I opened up LinkedIn while I was having my morning half-cup of coffee, ready to read through what other people had posted last night while I slept, and… OH! There was my chitty-chatty face chitty-chatting away in a video clip!
You see, several months ago when I started this blog to record my healthcare journey, I started looking for other people who were doing the same thing – I wanted proof, as it were, that it was possible to heal yourself, evidence that people might want to hear about it, validation that I was not alone. And that’s when I came across Roi Shternin.
Roi’s homepage on his website reads:
I got sick. The system sucked. So I decided to blow it up.
That’s how my journey as a patient advocate and healthcare innovator began. The fight for my own health ignited a fire in me to transform a system that left patients powerless.
Well now, that was a lot more radical and empowered than I felt, that’s for sure, but I really admired his oomph. I went looking for proof that we can heal ourselves (with or without the healthcare system) and then help others – and here it was – proof indeed.
Roi is the ‘real-deal’; he has a blog, published books, recorded podcasts and is a keynote speaker, so, imagine my enthusiasm when I noticed on LinkedIn that Roi was starting a new podcast that would include interviews with patients and providers, in an attempt to encourage others to heal. Now, imagine my delight when he agreed to interview me. Then, imagine my gob-smacking-surprise when I discovered that I was the first interview he put to air last night for his new Chronically Empowered Podcast!!
Before I give you the link – and I would LOVE for you to go listen to it (for my sake, Roi’s, AND yours) – I want to recount a short conversation that occurred on the day I had my discussion with Roi. My youngest daughter, who’s 15 years old, looked me in the eye and said, “Mum… you know that you’re a shy person… and that means that when you talk to strangers you tend to go a bit crazy and talk non-stop super-fast… remember this is his podcast, so make sure that you let him do all the talking… do your best to talk slowly and stay calm.” I replied with a “sure-sure-yeah-yeah” and then…
I did exactly what she told me not to do. Roi asks me to introduce myself and I managed to fit my whole life story into a minutes-long rant in which I barely stopped for breath, and then burst out laughing and apologized for taking over. Roi, to his credit, was super generous and professional (he never cut me off and was always open to my long-winded-answers).
In my defense, I started out star-struck and nervous (Roi is a ‘next-level’ patient-advocate who talks on stages all around the world) to getting into my groove, and then becoming super-passionate about what I was saying.
I haven’t listened back to what I said yet (the podcast only came out last night), but already I’m a little bit nervous all over again; what does it mean to be “about 52 years old”? I do, however, remember one thing that I said (possibly repeated a couple of times over!?): “if you do one thing tonight – plant the seed of hope in your heart: you CAN heal.” I stand by that 100%.
Here’s the link to the podcast, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Roi’s other interviews and discussions that will hopefully inspire you to keep going and keep growing: How mindfulness got a 3 year long Migraine under control! (substack.com).
Thanks again Roi – you’re a superstar!
Take care taking care people, I’m here if you need me.
Linda xox
The Mindful Migraine 
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