From warrior to Instructor: Training the Next Generation of Caregivers

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
H m hm m h r as weeded sert Her
Street up. M m m m m m m m

(00:50):
m mm hmm h. Thank you for joining another wonderful

(01:23):
episode of Lucas Has No Face, the podcast where we
talk about real life, real struggles and the power behind
Lucas and beyond. I'm your host, Savannah Birds with our
special guest, Miss Lisa is in the building today you Okay,
thank you so much for joining Lucas Has No Face Podcast.
On this lovely evening, we will be discussing from warriors

(01:44):
to instructors training the next generation of caregivers. I love that,
Thank you. I love that. So before we dive into
all of this, how was your How was your day?
How was your your ride here? It was smooth? Actually
I was up the street. My sister has a printing

(02:05):
business up the street. Okay, what's that printing business? Custom
Princeton Designs by Pamela. Okay, we're definitely gonna drop that
in a chat. And I had her make you a gift,
so I would like to give this to you. Thank
to another. Yes, that's it, okay, I love I listen.

(02:27):
You know what's so funny? I just made a post
about the month of November. You started off the month
of November. If anybody want me to promote the apparel
to inbox me and this is so cute is big,
but God is bigger. Look at this. I'm definitely gonna

(02:48):
have you know, I probably do my purple hell as
you know, but I haven't worked yet. So thank you
so much to your sister. I greatly appreciate it. And
you guys, it feels so much. It feels very very soft.
This is nice quality and the print is really really
really good. Y'all know how I be. This is this
is really good material. Thank you so so so very much.

(03:10):
We're definitely gonna put that in a chat tone where
they can reach out to Miss Pamela if they need
any print anything. So thank you. You will be seeing
me in this and I will be tagging you, tagging
you soon. Yes, all right, Well before we jump right

(03:33):
into it, like I said, so you got me this shirt.
The rod was smooth. What else happened? Because you don't
stay here? No, I don't live in Wisconsin anymore. Actually
now I live in Michigan. I come often to visit
family and stuff like that because I do have children
and grandkids that are still here, brothers and sisters. But

(03:54):
my main reason for coming back was to take care
of my father. My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer
and he called me in July and told me he
needed me. So I got here took care of him
till he died October eighth. So, oh my god, that

(04:16):
is I just literally how to guess last week And
this is a double one because you are a Lucas
Warrior and it's also still Birst Cancer Awareness Month and
we're talking about you and your father. Oh my god,
we're mad to have you on for a second. One.
I'm here, I'll be here for a while, Okay, okay,

(04:37):
So what was that like, just to tag just a
little bit on that. What was that like getting that
call from your father him himself, asking his daughter, because
you're the baby, right? I am not. I have a
younger brother. Okay. I have an older brother and an
older sister on my father's side. Okay, So from the
mother's side, are you the baby? No younger brother? Okay?

(05:01):
So I hired you earlier. Yeah, so he called you
and said, what what was that phone call? What? This
is crazy? How it went? I had just recently left Wisconsin.
I left here on the sixteenth because I buried my
sister that morning. I got on the train at one o'clock,

(05:23):
got back to Michigan that night, and then the next day.
So two days after I got home, he called me,
and I turned right back around and got on that
train and he's like, I know, I didn't say nothing
while you were here, but the doctors told me I
needed to get my fears in order. I said, affairs
in order for what? Dad? And he was like, no,

(05:44):
I got prostate cancer. And I don't know how much
time I got. And so I just kind of got
quiet and I just started praying, and I told him
I will be there. I had two doctors appointments for
myself because I recently just had dirosar. So every four
to six, you know, three to four weeks, they were
taking flood checking my thro right levels. And I said,

(06:09):
I have I have to do that, I said, and
then I'll be there, and I was. So I stayed
and one of my really great best friends helped me
take care of my father until he took his last breath. Yeah,
it was something, girl. I'm just like, oh my God,
like even hear you said, and you know my last

(06:30):
gets said that, like, I still get that feeling, like
that's that's a lot to deal with. So when you
were taking care of your father, who was taking care
of you? The Lord, the Lord listen. I did a
lot of praying. My kids stayed on me. Like I said,
my girlfriend, she helped me out tremendously. Shout out to her,

(06:53):
Yes too, kids, mad yes out to you. Yeah. And
so she she was there when I say there, twenty
four to seven. There, she was there, never left my side.
There even when I had to go back to Michigan
and I was so stressed out with just losing my

(07:15):
sister and then the news with my dad. I got
back to Michigan in mid August after staying and ended
up having a stroke an a seizure at the same time.
See you getting too far. I was just gonna asks
us have by you have a loops? Yes? How did
this affect you? Ooh girl? My blood pressure was two

(07:39):
hundred over one ten. My gosh. It blurred my vision
and only out and ended up in the hospital in ICU. Yeah,
was this during you taking care of after Matt No.
My dad called me July twenty when I got to Wisconsin.
July twenty sixth I went back. I stayed until August

(08:02):
twelfth here in Milwaukee, and then while back I ended
up having a stroke in Michigan before I can come back.
So I had already gotten my ticket to come back
for the twenty eighth of August, but in the midst
of that, I had this stroke and the seizure. You
know what I always say this, like, in order to

(08:22):
get like me and my friends, business partners, this regular life.
You know, I always say it's very necessary because I
went through it, right, It's very necessary to go through
the pain to get to the glitter and ground, Yes,
but not any pain. Like, yes, your pain would be unexplainable.
Sometimes it would be like you feel like you need

(08:44):
to be there within that hurting moment because I feel
like He take us through that in order for us
to appreciate when we get to that glitteral lound and
the fact that you did that. Like, my hat goes
off to you, because you know, I have conversations that
I had conversations with my two children, and you never
know what God has in store for us. Right, I've
been living healthy with Lucas for a very very long time.

(09:06):
I'm heal from it. I was saying that I wasn't
remission from it. But you know, I was talking to
other people that They're like, you need to start changing
your words and say you're healed. And that's right in
Jesus name. So I'm heal from it. But I also
was telling my kids, which is now twenty and fifteen,
that you know, this is what I have. You know this,
this is that. And I don't want you guys to

(09:28):
fight over money. You know what I'm saying. Everything is
split amongst y'all. You know, I know my daughter she's
stronger than her brother, even though her brother is older
than her. Yes, I know she's going to be the
one to take care of him. Yes. And I tell
them that, and I tell them, like, you know what
I'm saying. My funerals planned out from me already. Once
I learned that I can pay for my funeral plan
it exactly how I want. All they gotta do is

(09:51):
make the phone calls. That's all. I don't want my
kids stress. But I always thought about having a love
one significant other to take care of me, Yes, because
it would be not that it's easy on the significant other.
It's not but I feel like it would give that
extra help. You understand what I'm saying. It would give that,

(10:13):
It would give that extra help, that extra comfort for me. Yes,
when past it, if I was to past right, yes,
for God, I got it. I'm not done yet. I'm
not done yet. So did you get your closer? So
while you were hurting, were you healing when you were
taking care of your father? I did. I prayed every

(10:35):
day and I prayed over my father. I prayed with
my father. That is the best way to do it. Yes,
And I actually prayed the Salvation prayer over my dad
and asked him to give his life back to God.
Because my grandfather on my father's side is a minister.

(10:55):
So my father grew up in the church. They were baptized,
so he he knows the word, he knows God. He was.
But my thing was, during your lifetime eighty two years
here on earth, my father, you know, lived he lived it.
Believe me, he lived it well. Nickname Lightning, So yes,

(11:16):
he lived it well. But I asked him to whatever
he's done, to repent and to ask God to forgive him.
Even if you don't ask those people to forgive you.
And then at this moment when he said yes, I
knew that when my dad took his last breath, where
my father was going, I knew that my dad was saved.

(11:39):
At the time, he'd giving his life back to God.
And that's all we all have to do. Yes to repent.
I literally, oh my god, the universe is the universe
has been speaking to me, honey, three to two weeks.
Every my thought process. I had somebody tell me my
thought process I had. He's going to be a guess

(12:00):
he's gonna be against in the upcoming weeks. Yes, but
I have this man tell me my thought process. I
haven't tell me what I was thinking, and just stuff
has just been aligning. Yes, So it's just he's just
so good. I don't even want to get into all
of that. But are all set? We just have to

(12:22):
live it. Yes, it is all set, and you know,
you feeling in your bones what it is that you
are called to do or that you have to do.
But living that it's just not easy. It came. I
think for me, I had to get past the personal
aspect of it taking care of my father because this

(12:45):
is my this has been my life, nurturing, caring for people. Sure,
growing up with a nurturing and caring grandmother that took
care of all of her daughter's children, which is my
mom took care of all of us, and then she
took in foster children and things like that. So it
came natural for me to, you know, go into the

(13:05):
field of work that I'm in as a caregiver, to
train others, and then to take care of my father.
You know, when I lived here in Wisconsin, I had
a contract with the VA and I took care of
all the veterans that were in hospice and that's what
I did it, So why not do for my father?
That's the Bible says, be loyal to thy mother or father.

(13:28):
You have to honor them, and I did that and
people don't understand, like you cannot, Oh my god, this
is changing. But you take any there. So, like my
mother didn't raise me name, I am the baby, right,
I am a twin, so she took care of my twin.

(13:50):
My father and my sister took care of me. Now
I don't have as we sit today, I don't have
no trauma, I don't have no bitterness. I don't have
anything right but discussions. When I were in relationships, I
always ask myself, like, how would I feel if I
found out that something was wrong with my mother? Right?
Because I don't know her, you know what I'm saying.

(14:11):
I don't know her, like she would be at the
things giving Christmas dinners and stuff like that, but we
don't know each other. Right. Okay, So too fast forward
all of that. My mother got sick. I got that
phone call, and when I tell you, I broke down

(14:32):
like a baby. Like I was crying for days. I
was crying in a shower, I was crying a car,
everywhere I went, I was crying. I just had to
get it together before going in to work, get together
before going into the house. I never I didn't get
a moment to just or even if I wanted a
moment to just release. And so I say all that

(14:54):
to say, even though you're not close to your parents
or your parents are doing things too you, you do
not have to be there. You can close those doors,
you can heal those doors. But when is that time
and they're asking for you, it's a mus And my
mom asked for me, and the family could not understand.
Then my mom asked for me, and I had a
little bit of time with her. I laid in the

(15:16):
hospital bed. I called one of my business partners started quitting,
shout out to you started quintin. I called him and
I asked him could he come firm because I didn't
know how long she was gonna be here, you know,
And he called us in our vible, mamas, people don't
see me cry, you know what I'm saying. And I
broke and I was in the hospital bed with my

(15:38):
mom and I asked, I said again, because I've been
told her this long time ago. I said, I don't
feel any ill. Will everybody that's have a child doesn't
meant to be a mother. And I understand that. I said.
I didn't lack anything. I had a great life. I said,
is there anything that you want to say to me?
She said, I should have called you more. And because

(16:02):
she said that, my mom is me because she I
think she's mean, you know, she from the East Coast,
she's the baby herself. She just you know. But if
if her family tell you stories about her, which they did,
they all praise her, which is very ironic to me.

(16:23):
But anyways, when she said that, it like it did
another healing for me because I'm like, I'm happy that
she would be at peace if and when she passed.
You know what I'm saying. But she stayed calling for me,
She stayed asking for me, and then not on this episode.
You guys, I'm not gonna give you all of that,
but you know, all of that stuff happened. So that

(16:43):
did a lot for me. So I said that to say, like,
even though I didn't know her, nothing like that, me
laying on her chest, me laying her touching me, I
got to feel her heart and we are we are
a lot alike in a lot of ways. And that
was just the spirit going through me. Yes, so it
don't change the NAVI said this a little bit, Seah
chall is only an hour. I'll keep that to keep

(17:05):
y'all listening and treating. But okay, so tell us a
little bit about who you are outside of Loupez. A mother,
a grandmother, and an entrepreneur. Well, I am one of
six of my mother's children, one of four of my

(17:28):
dad's I'm a very family oriented person. I love family.
I love anything to do with just getting with my family.
I just for me. I think I for a while

(17:50):
I had let all of my illnesses and things consume
me so much to where it had kind of almost
me in a depressive state. But then I had to
turn back to the word again and I started reversing

(18:11):
what was said. When you just said that you have lupus,
what I would say is, although they say I have lupis,
lupus does not have me. And that's what brought me
out of this and I started living again. I had
I cut all my hair off because it was falling

(18:34):
out for a while, and then I kept it short.
So in twenty three when it all fell out again,
I cut it ball and I said, if it grows back,
I'm gonna let it grow back for sure. Now it's
shoulder length for sure. And that's only because I had
to learn to let go. I had to learn to
let go, and I said, I'm gonna give it all

(18:55):
to God. And that's what I did it. And since
two thousand, I got diagnosed twenty fifteen with lupez Since then,
I've been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and renal failure.
Now they're telling me that my heart is like pressing

(19:16):
pushing blood backwards into in one of the one of
the arteries in the heart, and just a whole bunch
of other stuff I've lost sight in one eye, but
I keep going because I know that how people say,
I've let Jesus take the wheel, and that's who GUIDs me.

(19:36):
And I could be bitter about a lot of stuff,
for sure, but it's not going to change the dynamics
of things. You know, my grandmother raised all my mom's kids,
my mother, God rest her soul. My grandmother was a
drug addict all of my life, and that's all I

(19:57):
ever knew of my mom being a drug addict, and
no one ever told me that it was what I saw,
the things that she actually did in the presence of me.
So there were a lot of things that I remember
that people don't realize. Well, how do you remember things
happened when you were a year older. I can remember
it like it happened, because like it was yesterday. Because

(20:19):
some things are just that traumatic for you that you
don't let it go, you know. And I did forget.
I had to forgive my mother because she could have
easily just left us out there. She could have took
the little check they was giving her and just ran
the street and never did and provided for us. We

(20:41):
had a home, so we were never homeless, regardless of
what she did. We weren't homeless, but when she knew
she couldn't handle it no more, she gave all of
us to my grandmother, including a check, and she she
didn't walk away because she grew up. She was riding
the house with us, although she would go and leave

(21:03):
a week or two and come back. But we knew
that was in it. You know. We never called her mom.
That was in it. And that was my life with
my mom my dad in and out, but anytime my
mom needed somewhere to live. Once I became an adult,
I opened my home to my mother. When my dad

(21:24):
wanted to move back to Wisconsin, I opened my home
to him. He was there for me with everything growing up.
When my kids are growing up, he was there. He
would come and sit, take them to school, cook from
take them to the park, all of that. My dad
used to catch the bus from Louisiana and bring bushels

(21:46):
up pecans because they have acres of pecan land that
my family owns in Louisiana, and he would bring those
on the bus for me. Those are things I'll never
get and so for me, regardless of what happened, I

(22:08):
had to forgive them both for that yeah, you got
people don't understand. You gotta forgive individuals, not just for them,
but for you for me, because holding onto that would
eat us inside out. And people do not understand the
stress with stressful call. Some people don't even understand when
they are stressed. You gotta be in tune. You gotta

(22:28):
be in tune your body. You gotta be in tuneho thought.
You gotta know your moves. You gotta understand how to
get back to that. And so many people in this
world is lost. They're walking zombies. You understand that. They
don't deal with what's at hand because they are afraid
and they are scared, and they're so used to the trauma.
They're so used to the negativity that being positive or

(22:50):
somebody being positive and constructive criticism to help them grow,
they take that as a threat. They take that as
you're you're you're you're down in them, you're holding the accountable.
But for the people that are being held accountable when
they were younger, they feel like they are in trouble.
So trauma is trouble. They don't correlate that in a

(23:10):
mental to understand that. But listen, I'm going through it. Yeah.
So when did you first receive your loop as well?
You said twenty fifteen, And what were those early days
like for you emotionally and physically? So we know that
you got diagnosed in twenty fifteen, but we don't know
what type of loopers you have, and what were those
days like emotionally and physically. Well, before I got diagnosed,

(23:36):
I'll be sick all the time. Legs and everything would
swell up. Here would fall out, grow back, fall out,
grow back, and I didn't know what was wrong. I
used to ride motorcycles, so okay, we were we were
on a trip Memphics in May to go to and
so we were on our way down to Memphis, Tennessee,
on a on a road trip, and all of a sudden,

(23:59):
I literally thought I was having like a heat stroke.
I was, you know, on the bike, and they pulled
over and we were at where Boomland is. Yea yeah,
and so literally they just like tore the the what's
the name off of the wall and soaked it in
cold water, wrapped me up. I got to the hospital.

(24:20):
I stayed in the hospital for about a month and
a half and they could not figure out originally what
was wrong. But my hair was study falling out. So
when I went to Memphis, my hair was pink and
purple on the shoulders girled. When I came back, I
was bald head, and so it kept falling out. They

(24:41):
didn't know. First they kept singing, trying to figure out
if I had a mess. Then they were trying to
figure out was it this, or let's check you for leukemia,
Let's do this, And finally they kept going and a
NA testing came back and all of the antibodies showed
it was positive for lupus. But they first said it

(25:01):
was drug induced loopis because of the medications that I
was on for my blood pressure, and people don't understand that,
and people are notn't familiar with that drug induce can't
cause yes, but it's so crazy because people in a
mind like, if this can cause that, then why can't

(25:22):
I catch this. It's still at the end of the day,
as an autoimmune disease, that's it. So that's what they
originally said it was. They took me off of the
hydrolazine and then six months later got retested and now
they're saying it's symptomatic. So then my face was badly
hair fo I had all those symptoms then, but they

(25:44):
weren't connecting the dots. We were down south. They didn't know.
I get back to Wisconsin and they was say, okay, yeah,
this is what's happening here. So yeah, so and didn't
realize that every time they were doing all these testing,
they were seeing the nodule on my thyroid and they
were trying to test me for how shemoto. So I
was like, okay, well, what's going on here? But they

(26:07):
never told me. I didn't find out that I had
a hypothyroidism and I had a nodule that was about
the size of a lemon on my thyroid and they
just did a total thyroidectomy. But I have that done
it till January of this year because the doctors here

(26:29):
in Milwaukee never told me that they were seeing it.
They were seeing the nodules, but they were like, oh,
they're small, and say nothing. And so from twenty twenty
two to twenty twenty four, it didn't go from five
millimeters to the size of a limit. It had to
have been almost that big two years ago. And that's

(26:53):
why I tell people, you got it's some amazing doctors
out of here, but those amazing how there's go home
and cons they go home and continue this that they
go home and take another courses. They they are working
outside of work a lot of other doctors. Doesn't mean
that they're good, but I call them surface doctors. You
gotta be an advocate for yourself. If you know you

(27:14):
no one knows your body, how you know your body?
Because right and if you have careful let me tell
you what we do. Now. I'm saying we because I'm
a part of the health care career, but this is
not what I do. Okay, you come in. I'm gonna
see how you look. I'm documenting now. I'm seeing how
you clean, how you smell, how you walk. I'm documenting
all of this. You don't know that I'm doing that.

(27:36):
And then I'm listening to your your concerns. I have
a chart to go off of your way, your concerns,
the pills that's available, what it possibly could be. So hmmm,
I'm gonna start you at a level a medication. We're
gonna try this. That's what they do. So you have
It's very, very important that you have to be an

(27:58):
advocate for yourself. Yes, because they just don't know. You
understand what I'm saying. How many times have you had
a job or career and you're like, I'm just gonna
do what I need to do and I'm at the home,
I'm punching in, I'm punching out. You ain't trying to grow,
You ain't trying to do nothing. You just want to
be at this study level. And when you're stagnant, you
don't learn your job. You're a robotic in your job.

(28:22):
So if you're a robotic in your job, how can
you be of help to anybody? You're not, but you're
doing what you are supposed to be doing. She waited
her height. Is this these are sis? Is that wrong? No,
it's not. It ain't right either, But that's why. That's

(28:43):
why I said, feeling like you have to advocate for yourself.
If that is how you feel, you don't not let
a person think that you are mentally thinking. Is like,
it's just not happening. This is how you feel. And
if that doctor's not giving you what you want, you
got the right to go to a different doctor. And
if y'all and sure it's not covering that doctor, you
gotta right to change your insurance. It is illegal for

(29:04):
a doctor to deny you care period. So we just
move on, because baby, I just go on and all
about that. How serious? How has LUPA shaped your view
of life and motherhood? It's taught by me. It's taught

(29:26):
me to be more open like I am. Really, I'm
very open with my children. I speak to them, I
tell them how important it is to get themselves checked.
Whenever I find out that there is something wrong with me.
Me and my sisters have a group chat set up

(29:47):
and I sent it to everybody. Okay, y'all, they said,
I got this going on with thyroid. Everybody get the
thyroid check. And I'm gonna tell you with me doing that.
My sister Pam that does the shirts, just found out
that she has nodules and two of them may be cancerous.
And we're praying that doing we rebuke that in the
name of Jesus. But now that if we had enough,

(30:11):
she might not have found that out. Everybody, this is
the beauty of learning. This is the beauty about the
word amouth, This is the beauty about openings. We as
our culture has been told to be silent for so
long that even though we were not of them times,

(30:35):
that still follows. Yes, I told my niece just the
other night. I was over by Pam's house Sunday and
after I got out of church, and my nieces kept
running and playing it. Let me show you my handshake.
I said, no, go get a book, come read to me.
I said, because the nurse used to tell us. I said,

(30:56):
if you don't want black folks that know nothing, to
put it in a book. And she was like, I
said yes, And I sat there and her and my
little cousin they read books back and forth with me.
Then we ate dinner together, and then I left from
over there. But I made them read those books to me,
I said, because this is their way. They figure if
you're not reading that book, you don't know nothing. They

(31:18):
can put your whole life story and tell you exactly
how to get the money. But guess what, that's the truth.
That's it. You just reminded me like my daughter, My
daughter and my son are readers. Literally. Yes. But I
used to love when I used to come to me.
I don't get that numb work. I missed that. I'm
an empty nests so I don't have all of that
no more. But I used to miss when my daughter

(31:41):
used to come in to bed and tell me to
read her this book and she used to listen and
I had to do a voice and everything, and if
I skipped any she knew the book to the point
of I skipped the word. She knew because I was retired,
Like I this fact, she'd be like, page Mama, that's
how they did me. Sunday, She's like, wait a minute,

(32:03):
I said, when it goes to the baby talking about
he wanted to go to camp, and I'm reading it
the way the book is singing. She's like, Untie, why
are you reading it? Because she calls me Aunty rainbow, right,
aunt Aunty rainbow puppy. That's that's me and Bailey's little
joke because I always were hair my hair different colors,

(32:24):
so she every time she would seeing me today, it's purple,
this week, is blue this So she started calling me
Auntie rainbow puppy for sure, and that's been my namet.
She's like, why are you reading the book like that?
Why are you getting excited when you read it? I said,
because he's excited at that part, And that's how you read,
I said, because there's an exclamation point there, so that
means it's heightened, and you got it. She was like really,

(32:45):
I say yes, and she's like, well, keep reading to me.
And that's how we did it Sunday. Yes, and I've
just been too much. We've been this, this, this, Yeah,
this conversation has a way, but this is very necessary.
Don't even worry about it. No, it's yode. I love
it though. So it brings me back to my son,
Like my son used to read these stick old nthropology books.

(33:06):
His grandma, no, his great great grandma. She has a
library in her house, okay, and it's nothing but books. Wow.
And so I say that to say this. When I
noticed that my son stopped reading, his vocabulary got sloppy.
Because my son is very intelligent. Okay, he's very intelligent. Words,
but as he got older, he was trying to find

(33:29):
himself and then these little crowds and here he wanted
to dumby hisself down. So he was dimming his lights
so he would start talking. I call it ignorance as
favorite word, dumb me it down for me. Yes, So
he was doing that, and it's like, you know, I
say that to say, like, you're right. If you want

(33:50):
to know something, you read books, brightens your it, your
recaliary extas your vocabulary, Yes, because at that time, you know,
like if you don't know a word and you smart enough,
you're gonna be like, mm, how you say this? Worry?
What's this word? Let me look this up, let me
hear it if I can't really pronounce it, and let
me see what this means. Yes, so now you have
a different word to use versus the normal words that

(34:12):
people use. And that's how people. Forcaliary just gets how
it gets right. Yeah, so learning thing. So I just
said to say like I had noticed when he was
doing and things like that, but he always revert back.
So when you find himself in his shell, he goes
back to great Grandma and get all of what she
been for. Yeah. Yeah, so we gonna move on to

(34:35):
the battle and balance. You're a caregiver and instructor for
others even while managing Lucus yourself. How do you balance
caring for others and caring for yourself? Wow, it has
been a struggle, a struggle. It has been a struggle
because my my my job entails me doing a lot

(34:57):
of like turning and move moving and you know, changing briefs,
doing different stuff, catheterizations things like that. So you have
to have some type of you got to have strength
to do. Yeah. So when when I'm in the middle
of a crisis, like I was telling them we were
coming in, you know, right now, I'm just coming out

(35:19):
of a flare up. So my knees are so swollen,
my hand is swollen, and like now I can't even
close it, like that's as far as I can get
the hand. So it'll be hard for me then to
be doing log rows because I'm trying to push someone
to turn them, changing briefs, doing things like that. So
that is the reason when I started feeling like I was,
my body was breaking down, I started training other people.

(35:43):
I went in went to the UW Green Bay and
I did the train the trainer classes to become an
instruction for the state of Wisconsin. And I did the
medication training, the safe client Movement, the you know, the
firing safety and I did those training class is to
become an instructor for the state so that when people
are going into other places to work and I'm there,

(36:07):
then I can train these people to do the work
and then I know that they've done it correctly, learning
them how to use those Hoyer lifts correctly for you know,
things like that to make sure that you know, what,
if we got a client that's in a bed and
in their paralyzed, but they gotta get moved. Sure, okay,

(36:28):
so you know, you do your changing of them. You
wash them up in the bed. A lot of times
they don't have shower chairs in their in their homes
because we did in their actual homes. So we did
homes and a lot of times that it was just
clearly right there. Let's get them two people, turn them once,

(36:52):
we clean them, push that slang up under them, roll
them back, put them to the hoyer. And I taught
people how to do that. I say, you think about it,
if this was your loved one, what would you want
someone to do. You would want them to give their
best for sure. And that's so before I go to that.
So lupas has no face, right, what do lupas look

(37:14):
like to the naked eye? Like? Nothing is wrong with it?
I've been told that. Okay, So young man is restricted right. Yes,
That's why I always say it pays nothing to be
kind because you never know what somebody is going through,
and words do her. I don't know who came up with.
Words do not hurt? For a certain individuals, especially overthinker,

(37:37):
words hurt and they carry it and it plays over
and over and over your hand. So it literally pays
nothing to be nice to someone because your word, your verbiage,
with your statement or whatever you may have said to
this person that's hanging by a thread, you have committed
suicide instead of you being nice. But people project how

(38:01):
people treat you is how they feel about themselves. And
once individuals understand that and learn that, it would be
less impact on a human being, right, and how you respond,
it's the same thing her. People hurt people hurt, people
hurt people, And I'm finding it out slowly right now. Yeah,

(38:24):
like and people like I've came across so many people.
I came across so many amazing people. I came across
so many people that I thought had the ultimate confidence,
the ultimate like I'm her, I'm in my bag, I'm
X Y and Z right, yes, because this is how
this looks. Right. But some people that I ran into,

(38:47):
they're not used to people being kind, they're not used
to people being nice. They figure, that's what do you want?
What are you doing? This is foreign to me and
me like, I'm like, I'm not from Wisconsin. But this
is normal. You get this side of me until you

(39:08):
don't get this side of me. Come on, I cause
a causing reaction. I will never be the cause, but
I will react. You understand what I'm saying. And it's
just sad that so many people I ran into are
damaged goods. They don't know they value, they don't know
they worth, or they may think they do and they're
battling it, or they think that you gotta they gotta

(39:30):
hurt you before they can trust you. You understand what
I'm saying. It's just so sad. But I said that
to say, we don't like anything that's wrong with you,
but everything is wrong with you right now that you're
that you're uncomfortable and things like that, and then you
are also helping people help themselves. And me being in
a healthcare field, that's what I always think about that.
Don't get me wrong. You know what I'm saying. I'm

(39:51):
not finna sit here and lie because we talk about
the truth on this show. Yes, I get very overwhelmed
a lot. And the reason why I get overwhelmed a
lot when it comes to my entrepreneurs or my entrepreneurships
of a business or I call it ann atop but
it's not ablem it's not traditional. It's because I have

(40:12):
to use everything. I have to be nice. I don't
get to be mean you. It's a choice. I can
be if I want to. But I always think about
what if this is my mom, what if this is
my dad? What if it was me? Yes, I am
nice at it's max even when it's annoying, even when
it's just too much going on. Right, So it's overwhelming

(40:33):
to be so nice all the time. You have to
have an outlet, yes, And sometimes when you don't have
an outlet, your closest people to you, you take it
out on them. But then you gotta understand, you gotta recognize,
like this is not their part. I need to regroup,
I need to collect myself myself before I start having

(40:55):
a conversation with this person. And for me, I've learned that.
But at the end of it all, even if you
are a communicator, some people can't receive that. You always
got people that always want to find the problem in something.
They want to be problematic, they want to be defensive,
they want to make it all about them and not
hearing the message. Yeah, that's what I think that's where

(41:18):
I'm at right now in a situation in my life
with my dad passing, and I just took it as
at first I wanted to tell everybody else. Oh it
didn't bother me because I know different. But it did hurt,
and it took me a day or two to try
and really get myself together and be like, Okay, you
know what, at least a regroup, keep moving, think about

(41:42):
what dad would want you to do and how he
would want you to do it. And that's what got
me through it. That's amazing that you know yourself. Listen,
you know, I mean people that's on this are today
that would die not knowing who they are. They don't
know who they are. If they're not a worker, they
don't know who they are, if they're not a business person,
they don't know who they are. If they're not a

(42:02):
mother or a father, they don't know who they are
without all that. And for me, it's a beauty to
know who I am. Oh yes, it's a beauty to
know that. But people are scared, not me. I know
that I'm amazing and I know who I am, and

(42:23):
I tell folks all that I said. It may not
be what y'all want, but I'm good with it every day.
And it took me a long time to get there.
Like I said, you know, I got there, but I
got there because being told back to back to back
to something else is wrong every time you you know,
try to figure it out, and then you're still trying

(42:44):
to navigate through motherhood and still trying to be there
for your family. And at the time when I was
originally diagnosed, you know, I was coming out of a
really bad marriage, and you know, it was, it was,
it was a hot mess. And so I just I

(43:06):
thank God because I knew that there were people that
were interceding for me, even when I didn't know how
to pray for myself. And so when I finally kind
of said, you know what, I don't have lupas lupus,
you know, loopers might say he got me, but he
don't because I'm gonna get past this and I'm gonna

(43:26):
figure it out. And I've been doing everything I can,
whatever takes to change how I eat, what I drink,
and and it plays a big part in everything. But
for me, I think my biggest enemy has been stressed
and that's that's the killer. That's it, and I be
trying to I turn that phone off. I don't just

(43:49):
turn the volume off. I turned it completely, power it off.
And then, folks, why you want to answer your phone? Listen,
I pay the bill if I decide I don't want
to answer today, I don't want to talk to nobody.
I I can do that. Let me let me have
that moment. Let me just have that minute, you know,
and it it becomes stressful. And when you said the

(44:10):
closest people to you, I used to Oh my god,
that was my thing. I'll be so stressed out with everything.
And then as soon as my husband will go, Hi,
how you doing, and I'm ready to snap And he
ain't did nothing wrong but pray for me or even
the one that get the blues and I and I
would have to come back and apologize and say I

(44:32):
am so sorry, but that's what that's how it used
to be. And so I, yes, I guess, so I'll
be at home now. But I was like, Okay, get
it together, Lisa, because it ain't it ain't in fault.
You know, he is wrong, whatever is going on. He
ain't the one that smashed the car. He ain't the
one that put this one over here he ain't the

(44:54):
one that said it. And you know, I have to.
I have to. I have to check myself a whole
a lot. That's why I love everything about a man's man,
Because a man that show you instead of telling you,
a man that shows up for you, that show you
that he loves you, that show that he that show
you that he got you, that's the same man that

(45:16):
is Okay, check me. Let me get myself together because
you right, Bay, I'm sorry, like I have to put
it back together quick, Like, wait a minute, what I
just do? Yeah? You know, but yes, but right now
I think, I think right now, I'm still here in

(45:37):
the midst of everything, and you know, Monday, which was
my father's funeral, and but tomorrow I actually lay him
to rest, will bury him tomorrow. And from the moment
that I started calling family and telling him that he passed,

(46:01):
it's like it's like little beady bombs just started just
going boom boom boom. Then I get the phone calls
from my sister down south. It was oh, asking me,
while I'm why am I so invested in him and
taking care of him? He's not even your dad anyways,
I was like, what, who are you talking to like's like,

(46:28):
you're not his daughter. I'm like, well, if I'm not
and you are, weren't you here taking care of your dad?
If that's how you really feel about it? Exactly? I said,
But he called me. I said, I don't care what
none of y'all say. As long as he said I'm
his daughter, I don't care if I was a step daughter,
a lot lizard, whatever y'all wanted to call me. He

(46:53):
had me in on his lease. People in his apartment.
They knew me as his daughter. Everybody to my uncles,
my cousins, my other brother, my brother, he snapped, He like,
what is going on? People can be so cool because
of their pride and the ego, and they entitlement. That's
the whole Another story. Girl looking just like me. She

(47:15):
just likes skinning it, big old fan face. Yeah, let's go.
You definitely got to come here again. What are some
of the toughest challenges you face living with Lupez and
how have you overcame them? I think trying to learn
everything about it, trying to make sure what I'm feeling

(47:40):
is what I really am feeling. Is this what this is? Is?
Is this just some breakout from the soap, or is
this something else going on? Or should I call the
doctor for this or should I just let it go?
But for me, that's I think. For me, it took
me a long time to really start learning everything, and

(48:01):
I'm still learning every day. Yeah, for sure, you know,
everything changes and it's so weird, you know. I've done
so much with different loopus foundations and trying to learn
different things and what could cause this? And if you
eat that, and don't eat the dark vegetables, and don't
eat too much garlic because it's gonna have a flare

(48:22):
up it. But I love garlic. Let me have my
g The best thing for me to tell you, I
know your blood type. Yeah, when you know your blood type,
that will tell you what you can and what you
cannot eat. Okay, yes, it's books, it's gods, all of that, right.
All this stuff is pulled from all different data all

(48:43):
over the world people that report it. But every loop
is Warrior is different. Yes. So the first thing is
that you have to pay attention to You have to
be one with your body. And when I say one
with your body, you have to be one with you.
Your body tell you when you're tired, when you're sleepy,
when you're stressed, when you're hungry, like when it tells

(49:05):
you when you wanna go run, your body speaks to you.
So once you are in tune with who you are,
you are one with with your body. So that means
now you know how your body talks to you. Then
the next thing you're gonna do is whatever the intake
that you do, will pop, vegetables. Whatever your body is

(49:26):
gonna react to what you're putting it in in it's
gonna you're gonna feel some type of way. So if
you feel some type of way that's not some type
of way, what do you do? You journal? Okay, journal
for six weeks? You journal, I'm gonna you journal, and
you go back and you say, this is how I
felt when I ate this, This is how that when
I ate this, And this is the thing that you
should have out of your diet. Because even if your

(49:48):
blood type tell you, because that we was all taught
vegetables and't you they're good. But depending on what your
blood type is, you can't have that. Yeah, because now
with the thought, they tell me I can't eat cabbage.
So what your body will tell you? But or look
it up. Research it. Why can I have it? If
you are really one of them dangerous people that likes

(50:10):
to live on the edge. Let your body talk to you.
If the green cabbage that I can't eat, I can
eat purple cabbage, you understand. Like, Let you have to
pay attention to your body. That's with any environment. When
the air quality is not right, my skin itches, like
my body reacts to the outside pollution. Oh yes, I
feel like something biting me. Just all yes, like burning,

(50:33):
burning on fire? Yes? And what did that tell you
to stay about in the house if you don't need
to be outside. Yep, you know what I'm saying. So
our body speaks to us in our skin. It's the
biggest organ ever, is it. You use some type of
lotion and it's not making you feel right? You sleepy
every time you put it on. Can't you use that?
You really gotta pay attention to it. And this is like,
this is literally one of those lotions I wish to have. Yeah,

(51:00):
cause money. I have a horrible sleep pattern. I could
be woke, like got on this pop no nose and
drink coffee all day. You know what. When I was
when I was doing it on the regular, I would
take abs and swabs asps is your body at least
thirty minutes every day. I said that if you can
get it in. Yeah, and it literally relaxes you, allows

(51:21):
your body policy. It don't work for you, it don't work.
I done did that. I take the chlor fill. The
doctor told me to try a chlor field and try
to detox. Yeah, exactly, I have really bad exams. But see,
whatever is going on with my thyroid, it's your body's
you know, that's your body's hormone clock, that's your that's

(51:42):
your It keeps you hot and cold, and you know.
So by now, I normally I could be anywhere and
it can be one hundred degrees. But my hands and
my feet stakehold. I don't care what I got on't
what I'm wrapped in. And then I'm just I'm gonna

(52:04):
send you some things and it's all trialing. Ever, everything
that works probably works for me ain't probably gonna work you. Yeah,
but I would like the things that I'm gonna send you.
I would like for you to at least try it,
at least for two weeks. Okay, I went two weeks.
Document it, like document it, See how your body feels,
See what helps what not helps, if it helped a
little bit, if they helped a lot like and if

(52:25):
that don't have try I'm a saiz if they try
each new thing, because that's all medication, is that they
all gonna be natural. It's all trial and error. Yeah,
I done did the melotone. None of that work. I'll
be woke like it'd be two three o'clock in the morning.
Folks be like, you still walk? Yes, I am okay.
What does a good day versus a flair day look

(52:47):
like for you? On a good day, up six seven
o'clock in the morning, I can get up, give me
something to eat, off and talk, get outside, go shopping.
I can actually do the walking instead of getting on
the car. So because my leg's not giving out, listen

(53:09):
and and I can go all day, all day. But
then the bad days come. I don't want to get
out the bed. I just get up long enough to
take my medicine and go ready back down and and
I stay there. Do you eat normally? I won't eat

(53:30):
you hydras yourself. I'll drink. I'll drink enough water for
some people to go swimming. So are you in pain?
Are you stiff? Like? What does that look like difference
the pain. So like there's days like every morning that
I get up, like depending on how I slept, whether
I'm super cold and I'm wrapped up in the blanket

(53:51):
and I kind of get in that fetal position. But
now with this leg being still swollen, I can't really
bend it like when I'm sleeping, so I'm like sleep
and funny, and I'm wrapped up in that blanket, so
head covered, eyes covered, trying to everything and it never works.
And so finally when I do get to sleep and

(54:14):
it's four or five o'clock in the morning, I might
get an hour and a half two hours literally for
real of sleep, and then I'm up. And then I
get up and I take after I were a medicine
and I can't eat anything for half an hour after
taking it. Then I'll probably get back up at about
eight thirty nine o'clock and blood pressure mins whatever else.

(54:37):
I gotta take my Plaxel, my well bautre in them
out taking all this medication, and I might get a
piece of toast to eat with to take with those
mans and back in the bed. Okay, how frequently is that?
At least twice a week? Question what type of medications

(55:02):
are you on for your loopers? The only thing right
now that I am taking is what is the anti inflammatory?
So I forget what they're giving me. I forget the name.
I can never pronounce the start with the steroids. I can't.
I can't remember the name of it. The start with
with an H. It's you hydroel quasis something black women,

(55:28):
but it starts yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the same thing.
It's steroid. Okay, what is that? But that's good? That
is I was. I was asked to see if he
was on that, because anybody with lupas should be on
that type of medication. Okay, it keeps us regulated, you know,
it keeps us from getting sick. The common code that
was one of the main medications that people were trying

(55:50):
to get when it was covid or Oh yeah, so
that is an important medication. So I wanted to see
where you want that, and you are on and I'm
on that, and then I get they give me so
the the hot ivy pro Friend six hundred. So I
take that for inflammation and every now and then, like
I'll get like a really stupid bad cough and then

(56:14):
they'll put me on pregnant zone, Okay, and you should
add off of this and to study that's going on.
I'm gonna get information, but you should also ask them
about Melista. Melissa is a very very very good drug.
I was in the study for that before they released
it to the world, really and I've been on it

(56:34):
ever since. It's an injection once a week. But what
you don't know is what you don't know. And then
that's a five five four thousand dollars. Now, when I
lived here, When I used to live here, I used
to get the hip injections, the cortisone shot. They would know.
They would give me this shot every fourteen days in

(56:57):
my hips. I don't know. I can't remember what the
new it was. And my doctor was at I was
at Saint Mary's Hospital and I was seeing the doctors
in the prospect building over hole foods. Yeah, and so,
but every fourteen days I used to get those hip injections.

(57:17):
And they took me off of the funny name man,
I can never pronounce it, but they took me off
of it when I lived here, and when I got
back to Michigan, that doctor put me back on it.
So the doctor took me off of it here was
telling me that that's why when they were saying that

(57:37):
it was drug induced for the lupus, and then when
they said it was sl he took me off, which
I didn't understand. But like I said, it's so much
I still don't understand and I'm still trying to learn.
But now me moving to a more rural area, it's
kind of weird. So I if I have to drive

(57:58):
to a bigger city, Michigan to see doctors, I've done
that because if I can't get what I need to
done where I'm at, I'll go up to Saginaw, or
I'll go down the Uburn Hills submit Detroit, you know
where I need to be able to find a doctor
that's going to do what I need them to do.
What kind of doctors are you seeing right now? I

(58:20):
see a herd specialist, primonary specialist, rheumatory specialists, so I
see them all. No, that's that's good because every problem
that you have you should have a specialist, a dermatologist,
so you definitely are on the right path. But they do.
They talk to each other, and that's a good thing.
Everybody has the MITRIP, so now everybody is able to

(58:41):
see what the other person has done, what they're ordering,
what's being done. Now they're looking at something that's whatever.
It's probably going on with my liver. Something's going on
with my liver now, okay, Because normally when all the
doctors are talking to each other, they all come up
with one plan that they agree upon and that's what
it is, okay, And it's best that way because one
person in his mind thinking they're just gonna treat you

(59:03):
for promonology and the rheumatology is gonna treat you for this,
but they you don't need to be all on the
medication because one medication is used for like ten different things.
So if you can get a medication that is used
for multitude of things, because each thing actually needs to
be treated individually. So you like for your loopis, your
loopis has to be treated. Your thy words has to

(59:24):
be treated. You understand what I'm saying. So everything has
to be treated, and everything that's wrong with you not
your loopers, it's not your thyword. And people got to
learn the difference because when a lot of people come
into the doctor's pointment, they're like, oh, my lupas, but
now it's your problemologia or no, it's your it's your ra.
You gotta know the difference. And that's why I say
is always learned about your and that's why I'm trying

(59:47):
to learn the difference with everything that's going on with me,
Like is what's happening with my hand in the shoulder
because they've diagnosed it with frozen shoulders. So that's as
far as I can lift that up right, and that
takes physical therapy. I've seen people come out of that tremendously,
no medication on anything, And the goal is to not

(01:00:07):
to be on so much medication right because a lot
of medication, especially pregnant, it will help you, but depending
on adults that you're on for the olymp amount of
time that you're on it, it can deteriorate your bones
and what you will have to have surgery. You know
what I'm saying. I don't know if they tell you that,
they don't tell you that's doctage, and they will somebody.
So it's good, but for a long period of time
high doses, it can deteriorate your bones. Okay, you know

(01:00:30):
what I'm saying. So you want to and then working out,
having a good workout regiment. People are like, how do
you want me to work on in pain? I've done
this myself. I'm not gonna tell you nothing. I never done.
Having a regular workout routine actually really helps the information
and everything that's going on. Even if you could just
walk the treadmill, or even if you can just do

(01:00:50):
a two pound way, you gotta get your body moving
because what happens is your body since there is nerve
system and say, well, it's been like this for a
long time. This is how it's gonna stay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The doctor say, if you don't use it, you lose it.
That's what you told me. That is so true. So
with me, I used to be so fatigued, I used
to be so tired, I used to be so mad,

(01:01:11):
so irritating, so everything I just need to get to
this man, I'm hopping out. But after those two weeks,
it was giving me energy, it was giving me rotation,
it was giving me extensions, it was giving me what
it is that I need. Okay, so you literally you
gotta put in the work, like being on medication, having
your regular work our routine and all this thing. You

(01:01:33):
gotta do it. Like I know, sometimes it's like you
don't want to do it, be rebellious or whatever thing.
But if you want to have a healthy life, live
or anything, you literally literally can you just first, not
your body, but you got you gotta get the movie
and you gotta do it. Even if you don't. You
learn in the bed all day, get your budtet and
go walk around work, walk around the block a couple

(01:01:53):
of times to come back. It may be, but eventually
if you can to you doing, your body is gonna
think to itself like like putting aill on it, you
know what I mean? Joints. So I'm we're gonna how
important is your support sysn't in this journey and who

(01:02:15):
or what keeps you grounded? My support system has been
my family, my sisters, my children, my best friends, they
and right now my church family. With everything that I'm
going through, they're always there. They're rooting for me, their praying,

(01:02:37):
they're doing everything for me. I have to make sure
that whatever is happening, I just try to keep everybody
in tune with what's going on with them so that
there's no oh, why you didn't calling me and tell
me that what's going on? You know? And I just
make sure that I try to keep everybody in the

(01:03:00):
loop in the loop, you know. And my kids. I
tell my kids all the time, make sure you call me,
check on me, you know, if you haven't heard from me,
you know, I try to make sure I call them.
But call me a check on me, you know. And
I'm gonna tell you another thing. Learn how to read
those charts. If you don't want to go in depth,
you don't have to. But learn what the numbers mean. Okay,

(01:03:22):
learn what the numbers mean. Learn what you can do
to get them down because you can, and you don't
gotta be on medication for that. I was a person
that I started off with twenty pills when I got DINNO,
I was twenty at the most teenage age. Guess what
I take now. I take Biden indeed, once a week.
I take my ballist injection once a week. I take

(01:03:42):
my hydrochorquin every day. So I rotate between two to
one pills and my gather pin. That's nerve pain. That's
all I take. I'm on so much gather pin right now,
it's ridiculous. And that's a nerve pain. So if you
having a nerve pain versus a different pain, it gotta it,
got to balance out and then take it im me
profience for over too long period that can cause issues

(01:04:06):
and everything. So you you kind of want to well,
you probably got eight hundred girls six okay, but like
having that even on a long period of time, you
gotta start doing things, whether there's tea, working out, like
just holistic things because it does work, but you gotta
give your time. Just like when we don't take our medicine.

(01:04:27):
Because I was rebellious when I was younger. I didn't
take my medicine all the time, like I don't want
to be normal life taking this stuff to that. But
when you don't take your message, you get to feel
that your medicine is out of your body. So you
know when you need it and you know when you
don't need it. Everything I do is in moderation, okay,
whatever it is that I do. So I know I

(01:04:48):
can be up late for three nights, but I know
that fourth n better take my buck to sleep. I
know I can indulge in this, but I know I
better have my water and take water is so so
so so very important. It's so important a toy, It's
so important. I know I better, I'll think about five

(01:05:10):
or six of those every day. And I'm a big
like juicer. And my sister she's she buys a bunch
of stuff and she'd be like, well, get this and
do let's do that, and then you know, and she's
lost a lot of ways. She'd be like, you like this,
don't do this. And you know, I used to weigh
two hundred and twenty five pounds and I didn't change

(01:05:32):
what I ate. I just changed how much of it
I ate. You don't got to just go on it's
just straight diet. But I'm telling you the best thing
that you can do is listen to start journaling, Like, yeah,
start journaling. We're gonna move on to faith, purpose and empowerment.
Many people were a little bit struggle in silence. What

(01:05:53):
motivates you to keep fighting and stay visitible for others?
My kids and my grandkids, I think that's how you
doing to drop the mic. I have to make sure
that they understand so that if something was to happen
that then how vocal I am now? I want them

(01:06:17):
to be just as vocal about it and say they
watch their mother go through this fight, and how you
know my kids tell me all time how proud of
me they are, you know, And it feels good to
hear that, you know. And I never gave up, and
I won't even with all of my kids being adults

(01:06:38):
now and I have grandchildren, you know. And it's weird
because everybody's like, like you said, but you don't look sick.
I said, if only y'all can cut my insides, I'll
let y'all see what's happening, If y'all can see how

(01:06:58):
those nerves are moving it and the clots and and
this is happening, it, how that's happened. I said, y'all
don't even understand what I'm going through, and ain't. Whenever
you know what people are asking me, that's sayings, tell
me about it or how was your show? You know
what I tell him, Go read what I have and
you come back and tell me. Because when you tell

(01:07:18):
people they don't understand, they still don't understand. And when
you tell people, they don't understand. So people got to read.
They got to go look for themselves because they don't
know how daily it can be. They don't know how
altering our life is because we make it look easy.
You know what I'm saying? People respond to them, I'm

(01:07:39):
just so sick. I just can't No, I don't like that.
I'm a life. I want to get up, I want
to go outside, I want to go to work. I
want to be normal, within my normal. Yes, And a
lot of people cannot get past the visible things. Listen,
they said, why are you sitting on there? I've had
people in the girl store, why are you on that?

(01:08:02):
And I used to business, yep, and I've had I
had a lady that worked in the grocery store once
asked me if I would get up off She didn't
say there's an elderly lady here and she wants the car.
She was like, can you get up so this lady
can actually use it for what she needed for? I said,
why would I do that when I can really stand up?

(01:08:26):
And what did she say? So? What you mean? And
before I could finish the sentence because she got loloopers
and she and oh, I am so sorry. It shouldn't
have to take him to tell you nothing right? Mind
your business the business that pall. Yeah, I've had folks

(01:08:46):
do that to me. Ain't nothing wrong with you? I
ain't not you know what? And sometimes I would I
would I wouldn't just come out and just tell him
I'll be in the hospital sick, and I would call
certain people come come visit me at the hospital. So
then when the nurse or the doctor come in and
they get the talking and he's like, well, did you

(01:09:08):
want to continue? I said no, I'll finished talking about
what y'all found, and said, well, your numbers are there
on your loop. You're the besiting this. You know. They
get to talking about this and then they sitting there
with their mouth hanging open. You cannot judge a book
by its color color. I mean this color. I used
to go through so much people thought I was lying

(01:09:29):
everything because I don't care what. Like when I was
in the hospital, I called my Nilton, I have my
my hair salone, like, come get me together, Come get
me together, because I feel like crap. But I want
to look like something. That's it. That's it. Why do
I have to look like what I'm feeling like? Are
you crazy? Who told you it's okay to look like

(01:09:51):
what you feel like? And who told you it's okay
to look like what you don't feel like? And it'd
be a problem. That's it, that's it. My favorite line
is I'm glad I don't look like what I've been through.
I would be told up from the flow up. Listen,

(01:10:13):
how has your faith or mindset play a role in
your healing journey? My faith, I've given it to God
and that's where I've left it at. I put it
on the altar. I wrote it out and I said
that I am I am healed in the name of Jesus.

(01:10:34):
And I left it there. And the only time that
I don't, I'll never go back and pick it up.
But I'll never I'll never ignore what's happening when I
feel it, but I'll never go back and pick it up.
That's why I tell people I ain't got loopis Looper's
got you know? Loopers might feel like it got me,

(01:10:55):
you know. But no, I'm good, I said. Every day
and I get up and I just keep going. But
every day I just I thank God when my feet
hit the floor. I know the devil be hot coffee
pot hot. I didn't get it a day, made it

(01:11:17):
another one, yes, ma'am, Yes, sir, whoever you are the devil,
I am here. I'm saying, people gonna keep their hands
off me, and they're gonna keep their mouth off me.
I know people gonna say the whole bunch, I said,
but you know what, God is amazing and I've given

(01:11:39):
it to him, and I just that's why I left it.
I left it on the altar because I'm gonna get
past this. This tooth shall pass. This is a test
in the end that will be a testimony for me.
You know, I've been through so much in the last
few years that the average person with all that I'm
going through medically, with my oldest son being killed and

(01:12:01):
ten days later my mama diing, and you know, I
just I tell people all time, I said, y'all, I
don't know what I've been through. I've had to bury sisters, brothers,
my mother, my grandmother, I buried a grandchild, you know,
and now burying my father. So y'all don't know, I said.

(01:12:22):
I'm not saying that I'm the only one that's lost
loved ones, but not back to back like this said maybe,
and then I'm still trying to deal with this and
still stay sane, said, oh uh huh, Monday, that was
that was truly a test. Going to my father's service,
that was truly a test. Yeah, like I'd be telling

(01:12:42):
people like until you can walk. If I gave you
my heelge, you wouldn't be able to walk a day.
And they are so cute too, and I wouldn't been
my favorite shoot right here right around. Yeah, I be
telling people, you can't give me your life here. You
couldn't walk a day on my life. I'm not finished

(01:13:03):
here and explain anything to you, but I appreciate you
because you did reach y'all used like I'm not gonna
be able to do it, and I respected everything you said.
Oh no, yeah, I'm doing that. Yes, I'm doing because
I had let what they said to me get to me,
you know, And I was actually not gonna go to
my father's service, and I had said all of it.
I was like, you know what, I'd have set up

(01:13:25):
my dad's service. I'd have made all the arrangements. I done,
got it suit and everything, I got it to the
to the funeral home. And then I was like, you
know what, her telling me that mess, it didn't change
who he was in my life. She don't know what
she's talking about, my aunt's and even my brothers, like
she'd have lost her ever loved mind. Like I was like, yeah, well,

(01:13:49):
what little bit she got is gone, I said, and
it's okay, you know, And I went ahead on and
I got to that funeral home, and when that lady
told me, oh, they don't want you in here, I said,
that's all right. Guy's gonna make a way. And when
that police officer told me, he's like, there is no
restraining orders, there's no imminent threat. This is a public place.

(01:14:15):
That is your father. Your name is on these paperwork
for making these arrangements. If they don't let you in,
we will escort you in that door. And that's what
my sister was already inside taking pictures. She said, if
you don't get in here to see your daddy, And

(01:14:37):
I know, I was like, I'm on my way in
the door, and me and my sisters and my son
and my best friend, we all walked on in there.
And if your own people standing there, and they it's like,
are you I said, yeah, I'm here to see my dad.
And I walked on in and we went up there.

(01:14:58):
We stayed there about fifteen twenty minutes, and his service
is supposed to started at noon, and people were coming
to the door, but my sister was standing almost by
the door. She's like, you're gonna turn around wait till
she finished. I was like, I wasn't expecting her to
stop people from coming into the chapel, but she stopped him.
She said, y'all gonna wait. My sister, Pam shout out booth,

(01:15:20):
shout out Pam. Holding yes. He said, y'all gonna wait.
And that's what they did. They busted U turn at
the door and my son standing there looking just like
his grandfather. I was just like and I just cried.
I just I just broke down and I prayed. I
just got on that cask. I prayed for my father,
just prayed over him, and I thanked the Lord for

(01:15:42):
the years he's given me. What my They don't even understand, girl,
I have done not just my father there, but my
father here. I've done his work. I've been a good
and faithful servant. I did what I was supposed to
do for my father, and I'm good with that. And
I can sleep at night knowing that I did the
right thing by my father. And I saw that matters.

(01:16:05):
Oh child, we're going to move on to Wait. That
was a lot like, oh my gosh, you gotta come
back for sure. What messes do you want? Other Looper's
worries to take from your story, Listen to your body,

(01:16:29):
understand what you're going through. I didn't know. I had
never heard of anybody in my family having loopis, and
so I didn't even know what the signs were. I
didn't know what to expect to stop. I was losing
my hair. I was like, I ain't know what I thought.
Maybe I had a bad partner. I used too much

(01:16:49):
color because I colored my hair all the time, But
I had never lost a strand of hair from coloring it.
You know, the average person quote unquote healthy hair will
lose anywhere between fifty to one hundred a day. Yes,
so even if you're like carrying a child, it goes
for like a hundred two hundred a day. Yeah, our
hair is supposed to shit every single yes, but not
the way it was falling off. Money. I will do

(01:17:12):
one of these and the corn would be full, and
I'm like, wait, man, hold on, I just put the
whole ponytail off like and stuff like that. So no,
it was bad. And so I just tell people, listen
to your bodies, and when you get to those doctors,
do not allow them to tell you that it ain't
nothing wrong, because it is not normal for you to
be in pain. That's what people have to remember. I

(01:17:35):
went six years of being in pain, six years, six years.
But I was like, wait a minute, it's not normal.
And I'm in myself, in my head, and the doctor's oh,
there's nothing wrong. We don't see anything, nothing's broken. I said,
But you're not gonna tell me that there's nothing not
wrong with my foot when I literally what made me

(01:17:57):
go is that we were rolling a client back in
a wheelchair and they ran over my foot and I
didn't feel it, but because he said something, it's Lisa,
are you running your foot over? And I looked down
and I've seen where the wheelchair had actually went across

(01:18:18):
my shoe and I did not feel it. I kicked
the shoe off my foot, like wait a minute, I'm
feeling my foot, like one minute, it ain't broke. That's
what made me know something was happening. And they ignored,
they ignored a new ropathy. Honey, Hu, it's a hot mess.

(01:18:39):
Oh we're going to move on to professional and purpose.
How do you incorporate your luper journey into you teaching
and training philosophy? For me, I always talk to people
and making sure that they understand that it's just not

(01:19:00):
just if you're just looking for a job. This isn't
what you're supposed to do working in the caregiver field
and the healthcare field. It shouldn't be just a job
or you're coming for just a check. If there is
not an actual love for nurturing and caring for people,
you should not be coming in this field. Because what

(01:19:21):
what happened is is that, like you said, you'll start
lacking in spaces. You know, you got so used to
doing it this way, but now you're not gonna do
it correctly, or you're gonna miss a beat sometime. And
all it takes is you forgetting. You know, moved and
did it so much and you're forgetting and you've done it.
You forget to pull a latch up and your client

(01:19:44):
roll out the bed or you didn't clean them correctly,
and then now they got a bed or little things.
That's all it takes is those just little things. Yes,
and then you know they get see deaf, they accepted
and you know within six to ten hours or somebody
being septic, they can die for sure, you know, and

(01:20:07):
we know a lot of times you never know that
people have it because their internal temp is what is
being factor. They may not feel hot here, but I
had to watch for signs and then those are things
that I was going through. I didn't know I would
get fevers, I would get cold, I would get chills,
you know, all of a sudden, I didn't understand what

(01:20:29):
was happening. You know, face broke out, body just burning.
I didn't know what was happening until that motorcycle. D wow,
how do you want to use your platform to inspire
or support others living with chronic illnesses. I just want
people to be encoursed and know that this isn't a

(01:20:53):
death sentence. It's not It's not a death sentence. At first,
I was so depressed and I had to feel remember
there is still life in me. It is, and I
try to live my life to the fullest. You are
living your life to the fullers every moment and everything
I wanted to do. Once I got diagnosed, I started

(01:21:14):
doing everything. I started going on cruises two or three
times a year. My sister had passed away. She loved cruises.
That was our cruise lady. She book a cruise and
a heartbeat. Let's go, we go, we all will go.
Me and all my sisters aunties are kids. We all
it was about forty of us went on the cruise
and that's how we used to do it, and I

(01:21:35):
missed those times with her, and for me, I just
want people to remember that, don't allow any illness, any
sickness to just sit you down, keep going and know
that you can overcome it no matter what it is,

(01:21:58):
that's for sure. If it's in the Lord's will, he
will see you through it, you know. And I'm not
going to question him. I'm not gonna not at all
whatever he says that's what it is. But I believe
if I put it in there and I'll rebuke it
and that's it, it's gone. I'm healed and man to that.

(01:22:24):
How do you manage running a business while dealing with
chronic illness. I guess I'm kind of happy that the
type of business that I do now that a lot
of it I can do it via emails, text messagings,
so that I can actually send somebody else out to
do it and feel comfortable enough to know that I

(01:22:47):
don't always have to be the one to be there
to do it, unless it is something that the business
itself has to take care of that, I can actually
send someone else out to service that client. Or if
I felt well enough and I had somebody that we

(01:23:08):
had brought in and they're getting boarded, like different healthcare
facilities will call me into training people, and so what
I end up doing is like medication trainings like that,
if you're going on the registry for the state of Wisconsin,
I have to then do those myself. So now I

(01:23:29):
offer like a hybrid type thing where they can do
part of it online and then part of it in person.
So then that helps me on those days where I'm
not really you know, mobile or moving around, you know.
So what happens is is that because I don't have

(01:23:53):
my own space, I end up renting spaces. So normally,
if I don't have more than ten people, I do
everything online. Okay, so that helps me to where I
don't have to put out money that I don't that
I didn't make, you know what I'm saying. So if
I don't have ten or more people that I'm training,

(01:24:14):
We're going online and I usually give them a week
and then I have little packets that I send out
with all the stuff for like, so if they're doing
a medication training, I have little dummy packets that looks
like the medication packets and all the booking, and then
they can just download everything. I'll send them a link

(01:24:36):
from a crew path that they give me the books
and stuff to work from, and then I'll send that
stuff over to the people that are doing the training
and then they can just download it and then we'll
do everything online. We've meeting. So if anybody that's looking
to do any of that, I'm looking for your business.
How can I get in touch with you? They can Google?

(01:24:57):
Can you please put this in a chat? And Harpers
Training Academy Harper's Training Academy for type of training again,
it is for cbr F training, medication, fire safety and
standard precautions. Make sure you guys reach out support. That

(01:25:18):
is something most definitely to have. You know how these
things that's been going on in the world been in
a HECA field will always guarantee your job. For final thoughts,
word of wisdom? What final words or encouragement do you
have for Lupa's words who feel unseen or on her?

(01:25:42):
I tell people to always find support groups. I'm in
a really great support group. It's called Lupis and me
and I go on there and we have like little
teens and we kind of hold each other kind but
we reach out to each other. We send messages asking

(01:26:02):
how their day was and what's changed. And you know,
depending on what side of the country they're on. People
in California, if they're on the team that we have,
they'll tell us if they've tried any new maids or
anything that they've done differently, and oh, I ate this
and they didn't agree with me. So we all started

(01:26:25):
talking and that's normally what happens with us with that.
So that helps. Yep, gotta find you some like minded people.
What made I found a lot of people that I'm
friends with still today. I started doing the the Loopis
runs when they used to have them at Hart Park,

(01:26:47):
and I went to one in Atlanta one year and
I met Nick Cannon, I've met Seal because they all
have Loopus as well. So it it helped. And I
wish at that time that I had all of the
connections and the different people that I know now that

(01:27:08):
when I was first starting out doing this, because it
scared me, I didn't know what to do. So I
just whatever I could find the Loopers Foundation and I
know there used to be here in Milwaukee on Mayfair Role.
There was a place there right across from Mayfair Mall.
I used to go over there and sit and they
would have conferences and then have a lot of different

(01:27:29):
brochures and different stuff. But a lot of it was
kind of like not confusing, but it would kind of
it wasn't speaking to you, It wasn't speaking to me.
And I think it's because of who it was coming from.
And that's exactly when I started lupas has Face nonprofit
or because there was nothing out there that spoke to

(01:27:50):
me that I was going. It was all it was
all surface here here you go like, oh wait a minute,
what you know what I'm saying? That could be very
overwhelming and very scary. So for sure, I definitely understand
what you're saying, you know, and I had nobody that
I knew that I can reach out to. You know,
you you know other people because you're here in this

(01:28:11):
group with them, but I didn't know them. And then
what would happen with a lot of people is is
that once they left that group, they left you. They
left you for sure. So you reach out the folks,
either they don't answer their phone or you know, girl,
you can call me anytime, day and night. And when
I tell somebody that, I tell somebody that. And yeah,

(01:28:33):
if you if you don't need nothing, if you can't
sleep and people see me online, then somebody will inbox me.
What are you doing? Well? I said, girl, I can't sleep.
You know there's still people that to this day are
that way. That is so dope top you know, have
those people in your corner. Yes, if you could leave
or listen, if you can leave our listeners with one

(01:28:54):
message of hope, what would it be? And why never
give up? Stay encouraged in all ways. I know, I
know it's probably repetitious, but always give it to God
for sure. Now that you know, I'm sorry, I am

(01:29:17):
I wont no, I'm not sorry, but no, I just
I just believe that everything that I'm going through is
for a reason and that God is going to see
me through all of this for sure, you know. So
I have faith enough to know that I can withstand
all this, you know, because God wouldn't give me this
if he didn't think that this soldier could go through it,

(01:29:41):
you know. And that's the thing. You're going through it
the store. You're not stopping you're not stuck. You're gonna
go through it. That's what the people say. Oh girl,
I'm going through it. Well, at least you're gonna make
it to the other side. Some people done got right
in the middle and stopped. I'm not I'm never gonna stop.
I'm never gonna stop. I said, I'm probably gonna be.

(01:30:03):
I'll tell for I'm gonna be the cutest thing and
some Air Force ones on a walker. What I'm gonna
do is I ever it makes you do. I'm gonna
get it done. And I'm not mad at you. I
thank you so so so much for coming. I'm definitely
gonna have unity on here again because we've definitely got
some business. You have so much said about your fallow

(01:30:24):
dealing with cancer, you being a look as warrior, and
you being an instructor, so I definitely want to welcome
you back. I also tone, please do put her information
in there just in case if you guys want to
become a caregiver of CDR of training, whatever, it will
not hurt to have that under your bill. Also for

(01:30:46):
the people that's just unorganized, that can't make sense of
things and the health and wellness field, I'm your life coach.
Please do reach out to me. I'm on all platforms
and we're further ado Gleam Girl Conversations. Savannah Burt's brand
is live and well and open. So if you want

(01:31:06):
to see what the Savannah Birds brand is all about,
please go to Savannah Burts dot com. Okay, everything is
on there. It is live. It tells you everything about
Savannah Birds. Even though we meet here every Wednesday live
at six point thirty pm. This is just my Loops journey.
The Savannah Birds brand tells you everything, may not everything,

(01:31:30):
but it gives you a little bit more in depth
than who Savannah Births is and what Savannah Birds have
to offer. Yes, again, I do have Wellness Guy Living
Well with Loopez that is on Amazon, which can be
purchased on Amazon but for fassorship and please go to

(01:31:51):
my website www dot lups has on face dot com
or the Savannah brand. All the licks works work together. Again.
The journal is available as well and it is a
bundle deal. So if you guys are trying to figure
life out, learn your body, knowing your blood type, this
book is for you. If you're newly diagnosed, if you

(01:32:13):
just want to journal your feelings, your thoughts, your emotions.
This is for you. You do not have to be
a person with an all immune disease. You could just
be a regular person that just don't have it all
figured out. A therapist has a therapist, so I'm a
life coach. I have a life coach, I have a mentor.
So as long as you are welling to remain as studid,

(01:32:33):
you can never, never, never fail And FELA is not triumph.
So again, thank you so very much for tuning in
every Wednesday till lupis has No Face podcasts, which are
wonderful hosts of and averts. If you decide if you
came in in the middle of it, please go to
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.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}From warrior to Instructor: Training the Next Generation of Caregivers

Episode Transcript

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.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Spooky Podcasts from iHeartRadio

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From warrior to Instructor: Training the Next Generation of Caregivers

Spooky Podcasts from iHeartRadio