#41 - The Spark of Resilience: Finding Light Through Healing & Service with Casey Taton - Midlife Butterfly | Identity, Reinvention, Transformation, Grief, Self-Worth, Empowerment & Spiritual Awakening

Episode Transcript
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Kena Siu (00:00):
Resilience isn't just about bouncing back.
It's about sparking light inthe darkest places.
And our guest today embodiesthat beautifully.
Midlife Butterfly, a woman inthe sacred in-between.
She's not who she once was, andnot quite who she's becoming

(00:20):
yet.
She's unreveling, awakening,remembering.
She's navigating like transdivorce, lost with a patient.
With burning retire forfreedom, joy, and self-ledity.
She feels the pull to ride, tofly.
She's no longer afraid of herown weight.

(00:43):
Welcome back to the MidlifeButterfly Podcast.
I am Ken a Siu, your host, andI have the privilege of
welcoming a woman whose story isfilled with courage,
resilience, and an unstoppablespark of love.
Casey Taton is the founder ofLittle Moments, Big Dreams
Celebrations, an organizationthat brings light and laughter

(01:04):
to children in hospitals throughparties for different occasions
and events, with the mission tomake the hospital a less scary
place and allow them to findsome joy.
She is the host of Inner SparkPodcast and has a community
called Soul Sparks andConnections, where women can
connect and collaborate.
In this conversation, we'regoing to explore how Casey's

(01:27):
story of healing and courage hasnot only shaped her path but
also sparked light in the lifeof others.
Casey, welcome.
It's an honor to have you here.

Casey Taton (01:40):
Oh, thank you, Kina.
You're such a beautiful person.
Thanks for having me.

Kena Siu (01:44):
Oh, it's it's it's a pleasure, and I know that this
conversation is gonna be veryinspiring because you are
inspiring, and I can see yourspark just seeing you glowing
now, having you in my presence.
So, yeah, I'm very happy tohave you here.

Oh, thank you.
I receive that, and it's suchan honor to be here.
Thank you.

Kena Siu (02:06):
So, I would like to start for us to tell us your
story, that mystery illness thatyou have at one point that
helped you build your resilienceand drive you to the path where
you are now where you can sparkthe life of many people.

Yeah, so I actually was sick when I was a baby with
spinal meningitis, and it isnot something I was only a few
months old, so it's um notsomething I really talk about,
but I do know like the bodyremembers.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah.

And so as I got older, I was pretty healthy.
I did all the things, I wasliving my dream, what I thought
was my dream life, and I wasworking in the operating room
and I started getting sick, andmy life pretty much came to a
stop.
And yeah, what it when I saystop, I mean like I my I lost my

(03:11):
job.
I was starting to I became likeunable to eat and drink.
It was a process, like Istarted eating less and less and
less, and then I would startfeeling myself like getting
sick, and I would throw up.
And I remember asking likedoctors for help, and there

(03:31):
wasn't any answers really.
It was a long battle.
Finally, like I quit my job.
I was losing weight at anextremely fast pace.
I wasn't, you know, wasn'thealthy.
I finally got admitted to thisis this is like over months of
like trying to fight, trying tofigure out what was wrong with

(03:54):
me.
And I got admitted to our localto my local hospital.
And I think it shook me becauseI worked in Western medicine
from right out of high school tolike working in the operating
room, helping surgeons side byside with them.
And they were like, We don't,we don't know what's wrong with

(04:16):
you.
And so then when I got admittedto the hospital, they ran a
bunch of tests and they haddiagnoses showing that my
stomach had stopped.
And the answer was I hadgastropresis.
And in my mind, I was like,your stomach just doesn't stop.

(04:37):
So like anytime I would eat ordrink, yeah, I essentially it
would I would throw it back up.
I wasn't able to keep it down.
Okay, yeah.
And so I their answer to me,well, let's go back a little
bit.
I remember hearing that andthinking, okay, like, well,
what's what's next?

(04:58):
What do I do?
And in that process, I I saw apsych doctor, I saw all kinds of
people coming in my room, outof my room, and I had a psych
doctor come in my room for likefive minutes.
She was in there.
I I remember looking at theclock when she came in, and then
I remember her leaving.
And it was just a generalconversation.

(05:19):
And I remember her asking mequestions like, you know, do you
feel depressed?
Do you feel any of thesethings?
Like, have you ever madeyourself throw up?
And I was like, and I clearlyremember myself laying there
saying, Well, like, I've mademyself throw up, like one time,
you know, like when you get foodstuck in your throat and you
like stick your finger in yourand you have like that panic

(05:41):
filling.
And I was like, but that's theonly time.
And so she left the room, and Iremember when mom coming back,
I'm adult, an adult at thistime, you know, with living, I
thought, my best life.
And I had told my mom I'd seenthis doctor, and she asked how
it went, and I was like, Well,what it went great.

(06:02):
She was only here for like fiveminutes.
And my mom was like, Oh, okay.
Do you think it went great?
And I was like, Yeah, she washere for five minutes.
She asked me a few questions,like, I remember what she asked
me, and then she left.
And come to find out in thosefive minutes, she translated

(06:22):
that to I was severelydepressed, I wanted pain
medicine, I was anorexic andbleemic at the same time, and
like at like attention seeking.
And I was like, whoa, like wow,yeah, I remember crying,
feeling embarrassed, and like solike how did this just I just

(06:46):
was mind blown.
Like, how did this just happento me?
Like, this lady was in here andasked me questions.
I was 100% honest, neverthought it would lead me anyway
to these accusations of what shewas accusing me of.
And at that point, I justremember crying and being so

(07:06):
embarrassed.
And I remember my mom fightingfor me, saying, telling the
doctors, you don't understand.
You you just did a test thatshowed her stomach is not
working.
And also, my mom was like, ifmy daughter was doing this to
herself, I would be the firstperson in here asking you for

(07:27):
help.
I would not be covering throughmy daughter.
I don't know, maybe people dothat.
And and I'm not putting anyshame on people who have those
conditions.
I understand they are all veryreal conditions, but it's
something that I had neverexperienced and never thought
of.
So when I was accused of thosethings, I was like, what in the
world is happening?
I'm out of this hospital, Iwent out of this place.

(07:50):
And so I I stayed there and Isaw more doctor, more doctors
came in, and basically theoption they were giving me is
we're gonna put a feeding tubein you.
And I was like, oh no, like I'mnot settling.

(08:11):
I had put feeding tubes, youknow, assisted putting feeding
tubes in patients.
Okay, and like I wasn't livinga quality life, but I also knew
that was not the quality of lifeI was gonna settle for.
I love the lake, I love thewater, it brings me so much joy,
and you can't get in the lakewith a feeding tube.
You can't get those things wet.

(08:32):
And I was like, I'm notsettling for this.
And they were like, You'regonna get one before you leave.
And I was like, No, I'm not.
And I will leave this hospital.
And so, I mean, they just kindof all looked at me like, Well,
we'll see you back soon becauseyou're not gonna live if you
don't do this.
And I was like, Well, okay, andso I left the hospital and

(08:57):
cried, and I was like, I don'twhat do mom like I don't really
know what we're gonna do.
And my mom's like, Well, youlike you just spoke your voice
of like I'm not settling forthat, and she's like, We'll
figure it out.
And so obviously we came home.
By the grace of God, I I boughta house three houses down from

(09:19):
my parents.
So if I wouldn't have donethat, I probably would have had
to move back in with my parentsbecause I was so sick and so
weak.
But since I was so close, myparents could just walk down the
street and help me.
And so I thought for a while,and I knew that I had to go out
of my state, that I was now likered flagged, and we only have

(09:44):
two different hospitals here inWichita, and that I was red
flagged, and that there wasgonna be no answer.
Every doctor I saw was gonnasee all these things that I was
accused of, wrongly accused of.
And so I traveled to Mayo.
That was a big thing.

(10:05):
I had uh ask for help from thecommunity, and I had a friend
that came in town, and uh she Iwas like, I don't know how I'm
gonna get there, like I'm gonnalose my house, I'm not working,
I'm gonna lose everything Ihave, and she helped me ready to
go fund me.

(10:25):
And then she also told me thatshe never realized like I could
tell her how sick I was, butuntil you're living with
someone, you're not actuallyexperiencing it all.
And so when she came and stayedwith me, it was like, oh, she's
really sick and she reallyneeds help.

(10:47):
And so I wrote a GoFundMe, andbecause at this time I've been
not had a job for months, likemy parents are paying for my
house, they're paying for me tobe able to live.
I mean, they're paying foreverything.
And so how old were you, moreor less?
Um yeah, so I I'm 42 now and Iwas in my 30s when all those

(11:09):
are.
So the community support wasamazing.
I probably would have never Iwould have never done it without
her because telling thecommunity and declaring that I
was sick and that I needed helpwas not the old Casey.
There was so much embarrassmentaround it.

(11:31):
And for my family, my father'sa small business owner.
Um, I think he felt like hewasn't being a father or doing
his job, and they were providingfor me.
So I was like, it's not nothingabout you guys, not it's just
we need more money to be able togo out of state.
And so I live in Kansas, andthe Mayo Clinic is in Minnesota,

(11:56):
so being able to travel andstay there and get a hotel is
very expensive, and we havethere is no timeline on when you
get up to Mayo.
So I finally made it up to MayoClinic and I reached out to
them and I was accepted as apatient.
And I saw a few doctors upthere.

(12:18):
And I the first lady I saw, youknow, she just yeah, she agreed
that they redid all thetesting.
She agreed I had gastropresis.
I resell a psych doctor whothank God for him, gave me my
sanity back and made me feelokay because he was like, I

(12:38):
don't really know what your towndid or said.
He's like, but I don't see anyof these things in you.
He's like, I see a human beingthat's fighting for her life.
And yeah, and he acknowledgedthat to me and that he would do
anything he could to write backto my hometown to say that he
didn't believe didn't agree withwhat they said.

Kena Siu (12:59):
Yeah, I guess that was such a relief for you, right?
That finally somebody took thetime to listen to you, yeah, and
to know more about it.
Because how come this personwith five minutes just have a
whatever diagnosis for you?
And and you are like, How areyou gonna go against a doctor in

(13:22):
those cases, right?

And then you also become really careful about what
you say because I like replayedthat conversation that I had
with her, like as a human to ahuman, like, where did I go
wrong for her to say all thesethings?
So, yeah, who do I trust andwho can I trust now?
And so that was another wholeexperience that I was going

(13:46):
through.
Was like, I don't know what totell these people for them to
believe me or to trust me.
Like they had a test in frontof them and they still didn't
believe that.
Like, what more do you need?
And so, yeah, that was a thatwas a relief.
I saw a lady up there whowanted to put me on some
medicine and send me home, andshe wasn't really sure, but my

(14:08):
grandfather has Crohn's, and soshe she did agree that I had
gastropresis, my stomach wasn'tfunctioning, and I just was
like, there has to be more, likethere has to be more to this.
My gut, my instincts weretelling me like keep fighting.
This this is not the answer.
And so she did send me toanother another doctor who

(14:32):
specialized in like Crohn's andother things, and he was the
other doctor that actuallylistened to me.
He sat down with me and let metalk.
I remember just following tohim telling him, like, I just

(14:54):
want answers and I want my lifeback.
And so he kind of went through,we went through more testing.
I spent weeks up there doingtesting, and he was like, I
think I know what you have.
And that was like the biggestrelief answer besides just the

(15:15):
diagnosis that they had alreadygiven me.
And so we did some testing, andhe's like, Well, I do believe
it's called malls is the shortterm, and it's median arcuate
ligament syndrome, and it'swhere the ligament um and like
runs across your chest and downand like through your diaphragm,
and it's basically cutting offthe artery that flows the blood

(15:38):
into your stomach.
And so somehow, yeah, somehowmy artery was being crushed or
being compressed by theligament, and my stomach wasn't
getting the blood flow it neededto keep everything moving and
to keep, you know, like it hadall stayed alive, don't get me
wrong in that, but the bloodflow to like keep food going

(15:58):
through it and to keep itfunctioning.
And so they had just he hadsent me to a surgeon there that
he thought could do the surgeryat Mayo, and they had just
switched teams, and that surgeondidn't agree and kind of wrote
me off.
And so I remember going back tohim crying, and he wasn't even

(16:18):
in office that day, or he waslike in office, but he was still
in sync patients, and I waslike, you know, I'm supposed to
leave.
I remember telling the frontdesk lady, like, I'm supposed to
be leaving, flying back home ordriving back home.
I don't remember if I flew ordrove at drove that time, but my
mom was with me, and I waslike, This doctor said no, so
what do I do now?

(16:38):
Like, I can't stay anotherweek.
And so they went back andtalked to him.
He was still there, and so hesaw me, and he said that he
didn't he did not agree withthat surgeon, and that they had
just had a big change in theirsurgeons, and that he did
believe this is the conditionthat I had, and he was going to

(17:00):
write a referral outside oftheir clinic, which is very,
very big for the Mayo Clinic torefer you to another clinic.
And this doctor went above andbeyond and did this for me.
It was such a relief and such aI didn't I didn't know at the

(17:23):
time, and I didn't know until Igot back home, until I saw like
my GI doctor here in myhometown, that he was like, I
guess he's like a world renowneddoctor, and like his father's
very high, and they've wrote allkinds of books, but I didn't
see him as that.
I saw him as another humanlistening to me cry and looking

(17:44):
at my mom's face and telling methere was hope and telling me
that he thought he knew theanswers, and so he helped me get
into another clinic.
That was the Cleveland clinicwhere I had my first surgery.
So I had to travel quite a fewtimes for surgeries.

(18:05):
So I went to Cleveland when Ihad a laparoscopic surgery, and
in the middle of that surgery,they nicked my aorta and they
clipped it, put a clip on it tostop the bleeding, and they
stopped the surgery.
What it didn't, I did not knowthat at the time.
Um I woke up and like it was afast, it's a laparoscopic, so

(18:27):
they were I was only gonna bethere for like two days, and
they were gonna allow me to flyhome.
I didn't know that at the time.
They said that they hadreported that the surgery went
okay and that they thoughteverything would be fine.
Well, when I got so I was inthe hospital there for a day or
two, and my aunt had actuallygone to this with me and my mom,

(18:48):
and we flew home in a bigsnowstorm.
They were like, you can go homenow or you can stay.
And we chose to fly home rightafter my surgery.
And I got home and I startedhaving problems again.
And I was like, How, how, like,this was the answer.
I thought this was the answer.
I thought I had my life back.

(19:09):
And I I remember reading,getting a report in the mail
that I had a clip on my aorta,that they had to stop the
surgery, and they did not get myligament cut all the way.
Because they did hit, yeah, andso they did not, they didn't,
they thought, and so when Icalled back, I was like, hey, I

(19:30):
was never told these things.
I realized I had a clip.
I actually had had a like anx-ray or something that had
showed it, and they were like,Do you know you have a clip in
your chest?
And I was like, No, but I'vehad surgery.
And so then when I got thereport, I was like, Oh, they did
put a clip in me.
Because I was like, thatdoesn't make sense to me.

Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah.

And so that was where the curiosity began.
It's like, huh, this is why.
And so I called and they'relike, Well, we thought there was
a good chance that the surgerywould still work, but we didn't
get it, the the ligament cut allthe way because we did hit your
aorta.
And so we would have to redothe surgery, and this time we
would have to do it open.
And so I knew that I didn'thave another choice because I

(20:14):
was starting to throw up againand everything, all my symptoms
were starting to come back.
And so I looked into it.
Well, a couple months went by,and the surgeon at the Cleveland
clinic, he moved to Dubai.
And so then I had lost mysurgeon.
Yeah.
And I was, and so, and thattakes a, you know, doing an open

(20:36):
procedure takes more of a team,and they were gonna have to
connect it.
And he has just said, I'mleaving for Dubai, and I'm
sorry.
They have a big clinic there,and I was like, Well, I'm not
traveling to Dubai to havesurgery.
So I am in a Facebook communityof people that have the
condition that I have.
And so with the support ofthem, I was able to find another

(21:00):
doctor in Connecticut.
So I got I traveled toConnecticut and I had open
surgery with this doctor, and Istayed there for three weeks.
I wasn't able to fly home.
My mom went with me again.
We ran into a hotel, did allthe things, and I had to stay
for three weeks because theydon't want you to come home

(21:20):
because they know that you'recoming there for a reason.
And if something happens,there's no one in my hometown
that could take care of me.
And so I stayed there until Iwas better, until I met the
requirements and they did allthe follow-ups, and then I was
able to finally come back home.
And now in the process, I alsogot a porta cath.

(21:42):
So I have a port in my chestwhere they would give me like
fluids and hydration and stufflike that.
Because I they also killed myimmune system along the way.
So oh wow, yeah, it it'sthere's so many pieces, and this
is like years of fighting.

(22:02):
Yeah, and something in me, youknow, knew from the beginning
that I wasn't settling for theanswer, and I wasn't settling
for these people telling me thisis it, and and I wasn't gonna
settle for that kind of life.

Kena Siu (22:19):
Yeah, you and you knew it because you are here now.
Yeah, you knew it.
Yeah, wow.
Yeah, thank you for sharingyour story because it's I mean,
I I I don't have a clue.
I've been at the hospitalalready wise with a broken rest,
you know, but you being there,and then I I I don't know, as

(22:43):
you say, you used to helppatients, you know what it's to
be in a hospital, and then youbeing the patient itself, and
then getting all the theanswers, and then just people, I
don't know, just uh not havingthe patience to take care of the
patient itself is like youknow, it's kind of like yeah,

(23:07):
it's contradictory because youare the one who knows you are in
your body, and how come is itthat they just take it so so
slightly that it took you allthat and to go through all that
people to you know to finally beheard and to have the treatment
that you needed?
Wow, so yeah, thank you.

(23:31):
I mean, I'm so grateful thatyou are here and and that makes
sense of who you are, of thelight that you bring, of the
energy and love that I can feelfrom you every time I'm in your
presence, because that love foryourself and for life, it's it's

(23:53):
felt felt and then with thatdot all that courage and the
resilience, now you're helpingkids.
You have the foundation, so Iwould like to know more about
that.

Yeah, so I was always the person that was on
the go, you know, from little toI mean, I was always in sports,
competing, staying very active.
And when I got sick, I didn'tknow what to do.
When I finally started feelingbetter, I was like, I don't, I
can't lay in this bed anymore.

(24:35):
Like, what what is my life?
What is my purpose now?
I I didn't know.
And I had a friend that hadreached out, she had a surgery
that went went bad here in ourtown, and she got life flighted
somewhere else and or to abigger hospital, still in
Kansas, but out of our city, andshe's better.

(24:56):
She got she got better, and shereached out and was like, Hey,
I'm I'm doing these thesethings, I'm doing these parties,
and they were cook, she wascooking meals at like the
Renault McDonald's house.
And I was she's like, Would youlike to help me?
And I was just like, Oh, yeah,like that's something I can do.
Yeah, I knew that I didn't knowhow much energy I would have,

(25:17):
you know, I was still healing,but I knew there that would be
something that would get me outof this bed, out of my house,
and out of my head to fill uhpurpose.
And so I started helping her,and she had a son, and she we
did it for a little while, andshe's just like, I I'm not
really getting the connectionwith the hospitals, and my son's

(25:39):
getting more busy and moreactive, and he's growing, and
she's like, Would you like tojust kind of take over this?
And I I said, Yeah, I had noidea what I was getting myself
into, no idea.
And so I remember going to thisnurse and I was like, Hey, I am
I'm gonna take over for whatshe's doing.
What can we do?
Like, how can we make thiswork?
How can we make this grow?

(26:00):
And this nurse is like throwingall these ideas, well, can we
celebrate these kids?
Can we do this?
And I was like, sure.
And then I walked out of there,and I remember thinking, Holy
crud, what did I just say?
Like, I just said yes, and Ihave no idea how I'm going to
pay for that.
I have no idea where the thingsare gonna come from, but I'm
gonna figure it out.

(26:21):
Yeah, and I did, and I reachedout to the community, and now
we're like six and a half yearslater.
We do, yeah, we do, I have agreat group of volunteers.
I keep it very community-based.
I want the community to beinvolved and around these kids,

(26:42):
and so we do birthday partiesfor kids.
We have a lot of kids herefighting cancer.
So we do their milestonetreatments, we do when they
finish some certain type oftreatment along the way.
Any kid, it's not just cancerkids, though.
We have so many otherconditions here that people
don't talk about, and kids thatare fighting different things.

(27:05):
We do those kinds of partiesfor them when they finish any
type of anything, and then we dolike sunshine bags.
Also, you know, like mycondition wasn't cancer, but it
was the it's a long road, it wasa long journey for me, and it
did stop my life.
So, not comparing the two, notsaying one is you know different

(27:26):
than the other, but just sayingthat no matter what someone's
going through, I wanted them tofeel the love.
And so I've done kids from likethe age of two or like two
months all the way up to like 22years old.

Speaker 3 (27:42):
Oh, yeah.

And we so the sunshine bags, I think I kind of
skipped that.
The sunshine bags are for like,you know, I think you said you
broke your arm.
So I mean, that's traumatic forsomebody who's never been in
the hospital, especially ifyou're there for a long time.
And so any kid that's beenthere like over a week or two
that just needs a pick-me-up, weprovide like those kinds of
sunshine bags.

(28:04):
We have snack carts at one ofour local hospitals.
Um, we have them on thepediatric floors, and we do all
kinds of events, holidays.
We do 365 this year.
People like, do you do youstop?
I'm like, no, I worked in theOR.
We still operated on Christmas,and these kids they fight 365

(28:26):
days a year.
So we celebrate them all yearlong.
Like they they don't get daysoff.
Yeah, that's and so yeah, andso my mission is to bring smile
and make it feel like not such ascary place.
As an adult, I lied in thereand I remember thinking, this is

(28:47):
scary, you're staring at theseplain walls, like there's
nothing to do, even if I didfeel like doing something.
And so I wanted them to be ableto connect, and I wanted them
to be able to connect with thenurses.
So, yeah, when the the nurses,yeah, the nurses get to bring in
the cakes, the nurses give themthe gift, and it it also brings

(29:12):
a different connection withthem to make them feel safer and
seen, and it also takes aweight off of the parents'
shoulders, especially if it's abirthday.
We have a lot of families thatcome from out of town here,
drive a few hours, and theydon't know how long they're
gonna be here, they don't knowhow long they're gonna stay, but
especially if they hit bigmiles like a birthday or

(29:33):
something while they're gone,they still want to be able to
celebrate it.
But how are they gonna getthings?
So, yeah, I do all we do allkinds of things.

Kena Siu (29:42):
That is so beautiful, and it's great that as you said,
like you you celebratedifferent milestones and their
birthdays, and and wow, thathaving that mentality that you
say, like you know, like an ORthat is like it's it's 365 days
a year.
That's it.

(30:03):
And that's true because I mean,if these kids they have cancer
or they have other things, likewe don't know for how long they
are going to be there.
It's one day at a time.
And I guess that's why you havethis little sign behind you
leave for today.
Because tomorrow we don't know.
And unfortunately, we take itfor granted most of the time.

(30:24):
Yeah, we know.

Yeah.
That is something big that Ilearned.
One of the things when Istarted doing these parties was
I didn't didn't realize theconnection that I would get to
have with these some of thesekids and the families.
And actually, before COVID, wedid arts and crafts with them.
So that would give like theparents a break, and we would
get to spend time with them andget to play with them.
And so that was a deeperconnection with a lot of those

(30:49):
kids.
And I never thought that Iwould lose kids.
And I remember losing the firstlittle boy, and his family had
a run in memory of him.
And we went out and helped withthe run.
And then a couple years later,I lost two girls that I was
pretty close.
One was from came in from outof town and the other lived

(31:12):
here.
And I become close with both oftheir families, and they were
both turning 16 the same year.
And I, you know, you don't knowat the time that it's going to
be their last birthday.
Like I just did the birthdays.
I remember like a mom reachingout to me and saying, Hey, we're
in town.
I know it's a Saturday.
Is there any way?
Like we just had to leave onthe, you know, like leave on

(31:35):
right then when they called.
And we weren't, we weren'tpreparing for all this.
Is there any way you could likethrow a birthday together?
She has a friend that's goingto come in and see her from out
of town, but like we don't haveanything here.
And it was like, Yeah, like,yeah, it's a Saturday.
And yes, I have things going ina life, but that was more
important.
And I threw stuff together andyou know, like went and got them

(31:57):
some pizza and you know,decorations and put stuff
together and took it to them.
And that was the last birthdaythat and it brought so much joy
to them.
And I mean, we didn't know itwas gonna be her last birthday.
They sent me photos of hersmiling and her having a good

(32:18):
time with her friend, and yeah,that was her sick, that was her
last birthday.
She passed away after that.
And so I've been to funerals,these families like have invited
me to come to their funerals,and it's just an honor that they
consider you part of yourfamily, and you too become a
part of their families becausewe're watching them go through

(32:40):
so much.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
So yeah.

Like what can you give us some examples?
Yeah, I mean, at first I wasreally doing it for my own self
of like, how do I give back tothe community?
The community gave me a chance.
And these kids they're kids andthey want to be seen as kids.
They don't want to be seen assomeone that's sick.

(33:16):
They don't want, you know, likeso.
When you just get to go in and,you know, play with a kid and
watch them smile and have fun,they're just so resilient.
A majority of them, youwouldn't know they were fighting
a battle because they are justhappy go lucky kids with I'm
just here to have the best time,and they're not thinking about

(33:40):
tomorrow or the next day.
They're living in the presentmoment, and it's just so
beautiful.
And the thank yous and thehugs, and I was up there at
Christmas, and a little girlcame running down the hallway
and hugged me, and I was like,This is why I do these things.

(34:00):
It's because I'm making animpact and these kids remember
it.
Just recently, we do Christmasin July.
We turn in July, we turn thehospital into a beach Christmas
Hawaiian theme.
It's all right, it's so fun.
I mean, it's so hot here, weturn it into like a beach thing,
and so we turn like the wholefloor into like a beach Hawaiian

(34:24):
theme.
We have a Santa come, we haveyou know, superheroes come, we
do crafts and have snacks.
And this year, one of the girlsthat I have done a party, I did
a party party for in the past.
This is like her second yearhelping me.
Her and her mom come and theyvolunteer and she also makes
posters for me.
She spoke and I it took mybreath.

(34:48):
And she, I think the marketingteam was up there interviewing
us, like, why do we do thesethings?
They everybody wants to knowwhy why do you do this?
Yeah.
And she said, she had quietlysaid, I was the recipient, I was
the recipient to getting thosesmiles.
Like, I was the one that got toreceive those smiles from her.
And so they interviewed her andshe asked me, I did interview

(35:11):
her, or she interviewed me forher senior paper.
She now wants to go on and be achild life specialist.
And wow, they're the ones thatI work with, the team that I
work with to coordinate allthese parties.
And that's what she wants to dobecause she said, You wouldn't,
I didn't think I was beingthought about, heard, or seen,
you made me feel all thosethings.

(35:33):
And I want to go to college andbring that back to the
hospitals.
And so she she told her story,and it's moments like those when
I I get a little frustrated orI feel like a little
overwhelmed, like keep me going.

Kena Siu (35:49):
Yes, of course.
Oh wow, you have me cryinghere.
It's very touching because Imean, something that you again
you started just from you tryingto, you know, help back that
community when you get the helpthat you needed and the support
that you needed.

(36:09):
And and it's hard more like forwomen to ask for help.
It's so it is so hard.
And and you the the impact thatyou are creating is so
beautiful, and giving theopportunity to these kids and
these families to have you knowthese moments of joy for

(36:29):
whatever is last.
But as you said, like they arepresent, they are there, they
are joyful, and you're givingthem that.
It's such a beautiful gift,Casey.

Thanks.
I I uh I I truly make it acommunity event.
I go out to our local schoolsand have them make posters, and
we rely on the community fordonations.
I have people like within thelast year recently sending, you
know, things over.
We have an Amazon wish list,and I have people like sending
us money money on Venmo ordonating, you know, buying us

(37:03):
things off the Amazon wish listand sending them here.
And I'm it's just gonna keepgrowing.
I know it.
Of course I will.
Yeah, it's gonna be like, yeah,it's gonna keep growing, and
these kids need things outsideof the hospitals as well to
connect, to just be kids and tolive and to get to, you know,

(37:25):
see other kids relate with otherkids.
And the parents, they oh theparents touch my heart every
time because they are sograteful that someone is seeing
them.
And they also need the supportfrom other parents who have gone
through something.
And so I often don't don't wantto take the credit for it

(37:46):
because I'm like, yes, I'm I amthe face of my organization,
right?
Like, yes, I am, and but Itruly want it to be other kids
giving back, other businessesgiving back, other people.
I just can relate to thefamilies because I've been
through the journey and spent alot of time in the hospital

(38:06):
myself.
So I think that's just wherethe deeper connection comes in,
and but it's truly just ourcommunity is great when you look
out.
People say this world is not agood place, and I'm like, open
your eyes a little bit bigger.
There's so many good thingshappening, and so many people
loving on people they don't evenknow.
But if you you just gotta beopen your eyes and look around,

(38:29):
and yeah, it's just magical.

Kena Siu (38:33):
Oh wow, that's true because I guess it's probably
for people who we haven't beenmuch in hospitals, it just
creates uh an impact, right?
And you see that somethingsomething's bad because then a
dear one it's it's sick, it'sit's there for a reason, yeah.
Right, but as you say, likeonce being there, and it's just

(38:56):
bringing me the memory when myfather was at the hospital,
there's so much love in there.
There is so much love, and andthat's true, it's about seeing
that and propagating that, andalso like the gratitude that we
can bring to the people who aresupporting them there, and and

(39:23):
then to the people like you thatyou can bring that gift to
those kids and to those parentsas well, because I cannot
imagine being a parent having togrow through that.

Yeah, I think there's there's so much love and
support if you're at a placewhen you're sick if you can open
and receive it.
There's people that want tohelp and want to, you know, give
you things or just you know,have a conversation with you,
you know, just so you still feellike you're a human being.
We want connection and not justto be left alone.

Kena Siu (40:01):
Yeah.
And it's about as you say, Imean, that's what it's about
those little moments, right?
Those little moments that canbring you that that spark, and
it's just it could be for a fewminutes or it could be for a few
hours, and it doesn't matter,it's just that moment of
bringing you joy and presencewith another person and bringing

(40:23):
that connection, yeah, yeah.
Ah, he's so beautiful.

Thank you.

Kena Siu (40:35):
So, besides the story of this little girl that you
say, the the one who celebratedthat you celebrated her last
birthday, and of course youdidn't know.
Do you have any other like verylike I guess all of them are
special moments, but that'ssomething that is more memorable
for you, or that it touched youa bit at a deeper level?

I think probably the the girl that is now going
to college that came back andvolunteered for me.
Yeah, really opened my eyes toand I hope to have her on my
podcast sometime because she'sso beautiful, and I never you
don't think about these thingsbecause she was she is older,
and so you know, I do kids allages, and the the younger kids

(41:22):
are fun.
I hear more feedback from theyounger kids as families.
But when she reached out to meto ask to interview me for her
senior paper for high school, Iwas like, What?
Like, what why would you wantto interview me?
Like, what I just this is whatI do, and she's like, But what
you're doing made a lastingimpact on me and changed my life

(41:44):
in a place when I I wasn'tseeing the hope.
And so, yeah, for her just tosay that and then come back and
volunteer and get to give thejoy back to other kids, and now
she's going to college to youknow get all these degrees to do
things, and she promised meshe'd come back home for caught

(42:06):
for breaks and help me.
Yeah, because she's yeah, herand her mom are just a light,
and they travel.
I mean, they they're they'relike an hour away, so we're
their closest hospital and overan hour away, and we're their
closest hospital, so theytravel, and it's just so great
to get to connect.
I have my family that lives afew hours away, and they let me

(42:28):
know when they're gonna be backfor their appointments, and I
usually try to stop by thehospital and see them, or you
know, like she loves McDonald's,so even if I just drop her off
some McDonald's to eat, likeit's just the little things that
that take your breath away.

Kena Siu (42:44):
Okay, wow.
I wanna turn things around abit.
Yeah, I mean, it's so this isso inspiring, and you being, I
mean, uh, yeah, I mean, it'ssimply so inspiring.
What can I say?
And we're gonna put all theinformation about your
foundation and your podcast inthe show notes so people can

(43:06):
reach out and and support youand the community and all those
kids that they really need aspark and enjoy and a cake and
balloons that you know that wemight take for granted, but for
them it might be a world to havesomething like that in a
little, you know, in a littleroom.
So yes.
Well, since we know each otherover a year and we're just such

(43:29):
a beautiful sister, and turningit around to our midlife where
we are at this moment.
I know you had a frozenshoulder, yes, which is
something that is not very knownand to women who are going to
perimenopause on menopause onmenopause.

(43:50):
So I would like us to to shareabout your story a bit about
about that, and then also thelearning lesson of having to
slow down.

Yeah.
Yeah.
So, you know, I you hear aboutthese things, but it's something
that it's not talked about.
And I I told you once I gotbetter, even though I I still
and you know, I have someautoimmune things that I deal
with.
I I joined a boxing gym for awhile and then I switched to

(44:23):
CrossFit and I play was playingcolored soccer.
And so I I just like to go.
I like to move my body.
And I think some of it is fromlike I spent years in my bed
sick, and I was like, this isn'tme.
But also I was like that as achild.
I I wanted to go all the time.
I was competitive.
And so I woke up one morning.

(44:45):
I I love CrossFit.
I there's nothing better thanthrowing a heavy barbell down.
And if you would have told methat, like before I started, I
looked at these people likeyou're crazy.
You do what for fun?
You like lift these weights andyou climb these ropes and you
like jump over boxes and you runand you slam balls.
Like, how is that fun?
There is something so fun andso so fulfilling about doing

(45:10):
these workouts every morning,and I love it.
And I went and I love thecommunity that our gym has.
And I woke up and I was notable to lift up my shoulder,
lift up my arm.
And so, yeah, at first I justthought maybe I just messed up a
muscle.
I kind of had felt it like itwas getting stiffer and I didn't

(45:33):
know what was happening, and Ithought I just messed up
something.
And come to find out, frozenshoulder is a common thing.
I went, I went to the doctorafter I was like, I can't I
can't get dressed, I can't getmy clothes on.
It stops everything you'redoing when you can't reach your
hair, yeah, reach your teeth,you know, cut your food.
Like I could actually at thattime I could cut my food because

(45:55):
it had just affected myshoulder.
And so I went to my doctor andhe's like, Yeah, it's a common
thing.
If you take steroids, get theinflammation out of it,
sometimes we can do an injectionin it, do physical therapy, you
know, do some stretches in acouple weeks, it'll be fine.
That was not my case.
I uh I was super aggressivewith it, and I don't know, like

(46:18):
I was like doing massages, likewhat did I do to myself?
I did healing work.
I was like, if there's like oldstored trauma in there, like,
get it out, body, I love you,like whatever.
I went to physical therapy andthey were scraping me.
And so, in the process of myfrozen shoulder, they also
damaged the ulnar nerve at myelbow.
It somehow got damaged.

(46:39):
And I don't know if it was sowith frozen shoulder, like I
couldn't lift my arm up.
I had to have assistance.
I had to ask, ask, receive,ask, you know, all those
wonderful things.
They that's I think it startedat the end of March.
And now we're like inSeptember.
September.
Wow.

(46:59):
And so has it improved though?
Yeah, so my range of motion hasimproved.
I did lose, so they did hit myulnar nerve and my elbow, and I
lost full function of my lefthand.
I woke up one morning and myhand was like clawed and like
stuck at my chest or like stuckat my waist, and I couldn't move
my fingers.

(47:20):
I was like dropping things, andso I like stroke tested myself
and I was like, What am I gonnado?
But I'm not going to the ER.
And we have an orthopedic ER.
And so I went there and she waslike, Oh, yeah, you your ulnar
nerve is when people lean on it,they type.
If you put pressure on yourelbow, your ulnar nerve is right
there and it's very sensitiveand it controls these fingers.

(47:41):
So if you damage it or push itout of where it's supposed to
be, you lose control in thesefingers.
So I spent time, I could notcut my own food, I could not
dress myself.
I got, you know, I would yeah,I had to ask for everything.
I washed my hair, and at onetime the farthest my hand would

(48:02):
go was like right here.
Well, then when I lost functionin my hand, yeah, I was like,
How do I one hand everything?
And I just adjusted, I did havean injection where they went in
and filled the cup.
There, there's like a cup thatholds fluid right there, and
they filled that up, and it'sit's better.

(48:23):
I've done a lot of healingwork.
I also am in two alternativetherapies, and so I do red light
therapy, I do the freeze, the icryo freeze.
We have an icryo here, I dotheir freeze chamber, and I do
all the red light beaming.
I have a natural doctor as wellas a medical team here, and so
I let my natural doctor work onit.

(48:44):
I've done healing sessions tosee if there was like trapped
emotions because I I believe init all.
Um, once you fought a battle, Ithink it opened my eyes to see
the world as a different place.
And so come to find out it is avery, very common thing.
I did a podcast episode on it,and all these women reached out
to me, and I was like, What?

(49:05):
Like, how did I never hearabout this before?
And what do you do?
And it was like some peoplewere like, Oh, it was gone in
like two weeks, and some peoplewere like, It's been years, and
they were like, Welcome toPerimenopause, and I was like,
Wait, what?
What whoa, like I I just turned42 in June.

(49:27):
Like, what is happening to me?

Kena Siu (49:30):
Yeah, and why Lero, I knew about it because of you.
I'm like, what's a frozenshoulder?
Like, what is this thing?

Yeah, it I mean, it is something real.
I yeah, I saw all kinds, I'veseen all kinds of doctors.
I can actually lift my arm up,like with assistance.
It's not gliding, you can't seeit in the video, but I can lift
it up.
I do wear braces at night,still trying to get the function
back in my hand.
So I have an MRI schedule justto make sure I didn't tear

(50:01):
anything.
But the big thing I you want toknow, the big thing I learned.

Kena Siu (50:07):
Yes, please.

So I I've learned a couple huge lessons.

Kena Siu (50:12):
I know you did, and I want you to share because yeah,
I know, yeah, uh some people canrelate, and not only because of
having a frozen shoulder,because of any other kind of you
know, illness that we can get,and we are, I mean, we get
pushed, right?
Yeah, and uh yes, yeah, pleaseshare your your lessons.

Uh there are tons of lessons I learned.
I was a go-er doer, and I'm notgonna lie, it has not stopped
me.
I still go to my CrossFit gymevery single morning and I walk
on the treadmill because I Istill get up early.
Yes, I'm that person that'slike I want to be surrounded in
the community and I still wantto move my body.

(50:54):
However, it stopped me, it mademe ask for help because I could
not carry anything, do anythingwith my left arm.
And I don't think if anybodyneeds a challenge, go function
with one arm today.
Go like opening jars when youhave no grip in your hand,

(51:16):
cutting my food.
I've had to learn to slowmyself down.
It's well, it forced me.
I, you know, so I started withthe frozen shoulder and I was
pushing myself.
And then when my ulnar nervegot damaged, then I was like,
okay, this I I said I sloweddown, but did I really slow

(51:37):
down?
Like I could still use myfingers then, so I don't think I
really slowed down enough whenthe universe is God, whatever
you want to call it, it's like Ineed you to stop for a second.
I thought I stopped and Ididn't really stop until I was
like, okay, I'm gonna have toask for help, and I am going to
have to be able to allow myselfto receive help.

(51:59):
And how am I going to organizemy life where I can still eat?
I am gracious enough.
Uh, my boyfriend is superamazing, and we meal prep our
food anyway for most days, but Icouldn't use a knife and a fork
to cut my food.
So he cuts all my food, myparents help me cut all my food.

(52:21):
I wouldn't go out to eat for awhile because I was like, Do you
know what it's like to go to arestaurant and not be able to
cut your own food or like hold aplate and like that person like
scrambling it around?
It's like all the things youdon't think of.

Kena Siu (52:32):
Yeah.

And so I have learned to slow down my life,
and that's that's the biggestone is slow down and ask for
help.
And people will help you if youask, and you have to be okay
asking and receiving, of course,and and that's the thing.

Kena Siu (52:52):
Uh it's hard to receive when we are givers, it's
hard to receive.
But what we don't know is thefact that abundance it has to be
a cycle of it, and we have toallow ourselves to receive.

And that's probably another huge lesson because
when I got sick, I did allowpeople to help me, but I was
embarrassed about it.
And so this was like anothersign like, hey, you're not
allowing fully the receiving in.
And so now you thought you gothealthy, but now we're gonna
throw this at you and like makeyou stop and think about what

(53:30):
are you doing in your life?
Are you fully allowing it in?
Are you allowing people to giveback to you as much as you're
giving out?
And it was, yeah, so many, somany lessons in all this.
Yeah.
So welcome to midlife.

unknown (53:48):
Exactly.

Kena Siu (53:49):
I want to ask you because you you mentioned it way
before at the beginning, andthen you're mentioning now again
that you feel embarrassed.
Why why do you think you feellike that, or or or what is it
that is coming from that youthink that you feel like that?

I think I'm working my way through it.
I just I'm not gonna, I'm gonnabe honest, it does creep in
every now and then.
Especially with the work I do,because those kids are
embarrassed that they're sick.
I mean, they're embarrassedwhen they lose their hair.
And if I don't work on myself,I can't fully give to them and
tell them it's okay if I'membarrassed of my own self.
I was embarrassed that I I wentfrom this great job to almost

(54:37):
losing everything.
And then I had to ask for help,and I think it's the things in
the life that you learn, likeyou just go and you do things
and you figure it out.
You know, you I God love myparents.
When you have a dad that runs amachine shop, it's his own,

(54:58):
he's his own boss, he's likealso a great father, but it was
like he's figured it out, andthat's what he does.
And so that's kind of been themindset I had is to just figure
it out, and so I think there wasembarrassment around I don't I
don't know how to figure thisout and do it by myself, and I
can't do it by myself.

(55:19):
And so really having to lean onother people.
Also, that I I think I heldthat I thought I was doing that
I was healthy, and I I am gonnaclaim that I am healthy.
I am well, like I'm justexperiencing this right now, and
there's always a reason and aseason why we experience

(55:41):
different things, and so thiswas another eye-opening thing
for me.
That's really just brought meback to is your heart open?
Are you gonna allow yourself toreceive the love, receive the
words, receive help?
And you can't give to thesepeople if you don't allow it in.

Kena Siu (56:09):
Yes, yeah, and again, a lot of surrender in there,
right?
Like a lot of it, because weare like, okay, I surrender, and
then we have the resistance.
It's like, no, I surrenderagain, and then the resistance
comes.

Oh, I can't I can't tell you how many times I've
like laid on the ground and beenlike, God, universe, like I'm
listening, like just give me theanswer.
Like, I just full face bawling,crying, like gone and grabbed a
donut and ate a donut, and waslike, I don't even like donuts,
but I'm gonna eat it because I'mlike, no, I'm so I don't even

(56:50):
know what to do.
And then I like would cry againof why did I eat the donut?
Why I don't even like those,and why am I going through this?
And it's just like, okay, Igive there's lessons and
patience, and patience is my keyto moving forward.
I have an MRI coming up,they're gonna do an MRI on my
shoulder just to make surethere's nothing torn in there

(57:12):
because it's been such a longjourney.
Okay, and here comes thepatience lesson because it got
bumped back, it was supposed tobe next week, and the hospital
doesn't have enough, they haveto sedate me for it, and they
don't have enough anesthesiateam, and so it got pushed back
two more weeks, and I was like,and I remember the call, like,

(57:34):
are you kidding me?
And I'm like, Okay, give it up.
There's a reason and there's apurpose of like maybe this just
needs some more healing time,and I need some more time to
just allow myself to slow down,and it'll happen at the right
time.

Kena Siu (57:50):
Yeah, yeah, that's yeah, that's the other element
that trust in knowing that weare supported, we are guided,
even when we're going to thesechallenging, you know, times,
and yeah, and having that trustof it.
Yeah, yeah.

I think one of the most powerful thing is is that
if you're not involved in acommunity, every person,
especially every midlife woman,should be involved in a
community because the power ofother women, other ladies
connecting on such a deep level,and not just a hey, how are you

(58:33):
doing level?
Yeah, I'm so grateful that weget to meet weekly and spend
time with each other because youguys have taught me so many
lessons.
Like, I'm so grateful.
It's it is a gift, and I knowthat you have a community that
you offer so much in, and yourbright light and just the deep

(58:54):
connection, and it's neededeverywhere.
Yeah, it is needed, yeah.

Kena Siu (58:59):
Like, yeah, well, it was great, you know, that I was
in your community to offer, youknow, my workshop, and then I
had the opportunity to do ithere in person, and uh, you
know, and it's just we yeah, weneed to be listened and seen and
supported, or even just youknow, be in a safe space.

(59:21):
Sometimes, you know, we'regoing through a lot of stuff,
and it's just like I just wantto be in a safe space, I don't
want to share, I don't, but uhjust being there, it's more than
enough to have that supportfrom other, you know, from other
people.
And as you said, especiallylike among women, it's just it's
a different energy.

(59:41):
It's yeah, yeah.
When we know we can be in aplace that we're not judged,
that you're just there to togive or receive, or just be
simply be is oh so nourishing.

Uh the being.
I mean, we can just Be likeit's if you haven't been in the
community, if there's someonelistening that's not in a
community, if you can't find onein person, there's tons online,
we all have communities online.
But if you have the opportunityto be in a community in person,

(01:00:20):
it is so magical just to beable to hold space.
I mean, and I'm I'm gratefulfor technology too.
Don't get me wrong, because Imean we got to learn what you're
doing now through technology,like through the Zoom, like we
we don't get to be next to eachother, but at the same time, I
also get to fill you guys withme all the time.
Like I can hear your voices inthe back of my head because

(01:00:42):
we've allowed each other thatsame that safe space, and that
like it's just it's it's anotherthing.
I don't I I don't know thatpeople fully understand the
power of it.
And there's no judgment, it'sthat we're all going through,
we've all been through differentthings, and no one's judging.
We're just like we're all inthis midlife situation, and

(01:01:04):
let's rise together.
Yes, and just like thebutterfly, the butterfly rises.
Like, I I love the name of yourpodcast because it's truly the
purpose of this life is we'rewe're here to love each other
and to rise together.
Yeah, yeah.

Kena Siu (01:01:22):
And to the listeners, you know, to the women who are
saying, like, where are thesecommunities?
We do exist, we do exist.
It depends where we put thefocus and the intention.
If you are not in there, giveit a try, search, and you will
find because yes, they are.
We we know now, right?
Yes, yeah.

(01:01:42):
Before I used to be in anotherkind of communities, and once we
we start working ourselves andand the and knowing and being
guided by this love that we feelfor ourselves and for life, we
can find people who are in thatsame energy, and it's just like
so magical.

Casey Taton (01:01:59):
Yeah, it changes the whole way.
Doesn't matter what kind of dayyou're having, you know, you're
gonna rise with someone else.

Kena Siu (01:02:06):
Yes, definitely.

Yeah.

Kena Siu (01:02:10):
Ah, I guess that's beautiful to wrap up this
conversation, Casey.
But before that, I want to askyou a couple of questions.
Like, how would you call thischapter of your midlife that
you're going through at thismoment?

Um well, some days I want to say it's like I'm a
teen crying again, and I have noidea what's going on in my
life.
Other days I'm like, this isprobably the best thing because
I have other sisters to helpguide me through this journey of
life that I didn't know existeduntil it hit me, and I'm so

(01:02:53):
grateful for that.

Kena Siu (01:02:55):
That's so beautiful.
That's so beautiful.
Accepting life as is, I thinkis the best that we can we can
do.
What is the pleasure that youenjoy the most?

I'm gonna tell you the lake, the water.
I know that seems like a crazypleasure, but just being in the
lake, like if anybody knows meknows that I'm a lake girl.
I love the surfing, I lovebeing submerged in water.
And when I'm not around thelake, I take a good good night
shower, and I just leteverything from the day just

(01:03:33):
like wash off of me, and I justfeel refreshed.
But you are teaching me somenew things, so I'm excited to
learn.

Kena Siu (01:03:46):
Oh, my pleasure.
We continue.
Yes, yes, thank you so much,Casey, for sharing your story,
for sharing your light, yourlove, your spark with us.
Has been a pleasure having youhere.
We're gonna be I'm gonna besharing all your contact
information in the show notes sopeople can reach out to you and

(01:04:08):
can support you with your withyour organization to bring in
that spark to to the kids and tothe families that need it the
most.

Thank you so much.
Thanks for having me.
You're such a light in thisworld.

Kena Siu (01:04:23):
You too.
I love you.
Love you.
Here is a bonus part thathappened after finishing our
interview.

Enjoy midlife, is truly about like being that teen
again.
Before when we were a teen, wedid the ugly cries, and people
used to look at us like we werethat teenager, and they would
really just say, You're doingteen things.
But in midlife, we're just uglycrying.
Like our body, I have no ideawhy the fuck I'm crying, Kana.

(01:04:53):
Like, why?
There's tears running down myface, and I have no idea, and I
feel like my body is not incontrol, and it is one of the
most craziest things I'veexperienced.
But I know there's another sideto this when I get it all
wrapped up and figured out, andit's also allowing me to cry and
feel my feelings.
Like, that's the truth of it isbefore we put like shame and

(01:05:18):
those things on it when we werea teenager, like, oh, they're
just doing these things.
It's like we shut them down,and now we're adults doing these
things, and our we're like, wedon't know what's happening with
our body, we we really don't.

Kena Siu (01:05:32):
No, we we don't, and the thing is, as we know, the
studies about perimenopause andmenopause just started in the
1990s, so of course we don'thave much information.
We're discovering it away, andit's just you know, allowing.
But as you said, and we talkabout shame yesterday with our
sister Dana, it's about puttingit out there to fade that shame

(01:05:56):
away because it's that's not us,and it's happening to other
people and the importance ofspeaking it up.

Yeah, and we're here to normalize that we're all
gonna go through that whereveryou are.
You're gonna go through theparamenopause, you're gonna go
through the menopause, and let'sfreaking talk about it.

Kena Siu (01:06:13):
Yes, let's talk about it.
Thank you for tuning in toMidlife Butterfly.
I hope this episode empowersyou in some way.
Share the love by hittingfollow wherever you're listening
and leave a review if you feelinspired.
I also love to connect withyou.
Come say hi on Instagram atMidlife Butterfly.

(01:06:34):
I love to know you.
Until next time, keep spreadingthose wings and leave enjoy
growth and pleasure.

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#41 - The Spark of Resilience: Finding Light Through Healing & Service with Casey Taton

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#41 - The Spark of Resilience: Finding Light Through Healing & Service with Casey Taton