The Light of Life

Christina and Heather are mothers with children with congenital heart defects. Christina has an 8 month old daughter and Heather has a 3 year old son. Both Christina and Heather discuss how they felt when they were told their children had CHD, how to adapt as a parent, and the challenges that come from fear of the unknown. Gwen is a fellow CHD who shares how the most challenging part was not being...

Louis De Jaeger is an environmentalist and has studied gut health. Louis shares advice on how to improve the health in your gut and why living a healthy, active lifestyle is so important. Louis also brings awareness to how global warming and climate change affects peoples health as well.

Morgan is a registered nurse working in Pediatric intensive care and NICU. Morgan works with patients with congenital heart defects!! Morgan shares a story of working the night shift and a baby she was taking care of sadly passed away overnight. She shares a lot of doctors and nurses dwell on the the ones who didn't make it rather than the ones who have made it and can live life. Naomi acknowledge...

Lois has a son who was diagnosed with learning disabilities from the age of six. Lois discussed how her son would constantly withdraw himself from the class every day because the teachers would yell at her, "What is wrong with your son?" Lois says this time was utterly heartbreaking. She took matters into her own hands and discovered teachers need to teach using all of the methods, not just one.

Jeremy has lived with chronic depression his entire life. It certainly didn't help that he lived in a household of alcoholics. Jeremy has acknowledged that likely he will live with depression for the rest of his life, and that's okay. His advice to people struggling is to not give up.

Mary lives with chronic UTIs. She describes how UTIs affect her every day life from an incredible amount of pain and constantly needing to use the restroom. Due to her chronic illness, she unfortunately cannot work full time because of how unpredictable her condition can be. "Every day is different." Mary's advice is to not give up.

Roxanne is returning to the podcast! You may remember Roxanne from "Spirits and The Afterlife with Roxanne" from September 2023. Roxanne shares what her four near death experiences were like. Her first one she nearly fell off a cliff. The last three she nearly bled to death. Roxanne shares what death experiences are like and how you enter the middle world, and afterlife.

Amy Wang-Hiller returns to the podcast!! You may remember Amy from "Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Disabilities, and Ableism with Amy" back in February 2023. Amy shares how with the help of physical therapy her mobility has begun to improve. She also shares uplifting advice to not compare yourself with anyone else because we are all on our own journey. Amy and Naomi both describe how managing energy is s...

"You just said something the entire world needs to hear! PTSD is a physical injury to the brain." Teresa went through a lot of trauma in her life. At only 3 years old, she witnessed two family members try to kill each other with hairbrushes. At 10 years old, she was told an Anti-Semitic comment and envisioned for decades about a green tank driving by. She shares that to this day, she still has nig...

Eileen developed vocal dysphonia at 60 years old, one year before she was planning to retire. Unfortunately, her profession involved her singing voice and she needed to retire a year early because of dysphonia. Eileen shares botox injections in her vocal chords was part of her treatment, along with speech therapy. Eileen also brings awareness to a website where you can find dysphonia doctors in yo...

Jenny is a nurse who has worked in the emergency room and for the last 30 years worked in hospice. Jenny shares the harsh realities of how difficult it can be, not only physically, but also emotionally. She shares it's important to remember that in hospice care, you are doing your best to make the patients feel comfortable. Jenny's website: jennylytle.com

Fitz Koehler is returning to the podcast!! You may remember Fitz from "A Remarkable Cancer Story and Fitness Advice with Fitz" from March 2023 on The Light of Life! Fitz returns to share what her life is like currently and how to improve your quality of life. Fitz's website: fitzness.com

John has a son with nonverbal autism. John shares the challenges there are to take care of one with a serious disability. His advice is to seek out support and community to connect with people you can relate to. John shares this has helped him and his family a lot. John's website: johnfela.com

Chad went through a turbulent time when his liver failed due to multiple chronic illnesses. He shares how difficult it was to wait while on the transplant list because his doctors said he could go at any day. Facing death, Chad realized how precious life is and to not dwell or fear death, since it is inevitable for everybody. You can find Chad's book, "Beyond the Darkness" on Amazon.

Michael is returning to the podcast!! You may remember Michael from "Pectus Excavatum" back in May last year. Today, he is discussing another story. Michael had the first symptoms of appendicitis right before he was going to perform an operation on a dog. (Michael is a veterinarian.) He was in a lot of pain and informed his boss. His boss said, "You need to go to the emergency room. I guarantee yo...

Abby struggled for seven years with an eating disorder in her teens. She mentions a lot of factors played into her disorder, including not having the greatest home life, having a tense relationship with her father, and being diagnosed with a medical condition that made her need to temporarily control her diet. Abby mentions a lot of cases revolve around feeling the need to control something in the...

"Schizophrenia is quite possibly the most misunderstood mental illness ever." - Dale Walsh Today's guest is Dale, who is 100% recovered from Schizophrenia. He discusses how it's not just hallucinations - there's also delusions. Nothing particularly causes it, and most people don't make it to 50 years old, much less 50 years in recovery - which Dale is. Dale bravely shares he was found incompetent...

Daniel discusses various topics about biology and how to live a healthy life. He also brings awareness to medicine and technology improving lives as it is being advanced every day.

Lauren was only 10 years old when she was rushed to the emergency room after complaining of not feeling well and having difficulty breathing. It was discovered her kidneys shut down and her lungs were filling with blood. Her lungs managed to be saved but her kidneys could not. Lauren was put on the list for a kidney transplant. Endless appointments, blood draws, and scans. In May 2015, she got the...

WARNING: **This episode contains details of violence.** Imagine being 13 years old and having to call the police on one of your parents. Erik came from a broken home and called the police on his stepfather because he was hitting his mother. Years later, Erik spiraled into a drug addiction that nearly took his life. He learned along the way, your past doesn't define and you can turn your life aroun...

"I was suffering from a spinal cord injury and I was labeled as a drug addict." Brian shares his story of his experience in the emergency room and how he was treated. He wasn't listened to at all and dismissed. Naomi and Brian both share the importance of second opinions (why Naomi's even here today.) Brian asks an eye opening question to Naomi, "Are you still angry about the situation?" Naomi say...

Cameron works in the medical field as an EMT. An EMT is an emergency medical technician. Cameron also shares his experience studying orthopedics in medical school. He hopes to one day eventually become a surgeon.

PJ shares his story living with the heart condition Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. PJ and Naomi are friends from PACE. PJ mentions the Adult Congenital Heart Association is wonderful support for everyone across the country with congenital heart defects. PJ also bravely opens up about PTSD and how even being inside a hospital is difficult for him. PJ and Naomi both share about their nightmares ov...

Appendicitis is quite common for a lot of people. Natalie bravely shares her story with appendicitis and emergency surgery. Natalie was in a lot of pain one night and throwing up constantly. She went to the emergency room in the morning only to discover her appendix was severely inflamed. The only treatment for appendicitis is to have the appendix taken out in an operation. Natalie had the operati...

"It's your life. Nobody else's life. It's your story. Nobody else's story." Aisha discusses how important it is to appreciate your life. To focus on the things you have rather than the things you don't have. Don't take everything for granted, you never know what can change.