Welcome to Fit to Be Real.
And a little extra.
We have a very special day planned today.
A special.
Oh.
Oh, you have no idea.
You're going to hear some Spanish.
You're going to hear all about a story that we talked about in the Tell Your Story series
that we started in June.
And we're not even going to give too much of an intro.
We're just going to get right into it.
I'm Victoria.
Hola chicas.
Soy Carly.
Hi, this is Barbara.
Hola.
Yay.
She's living at you.
Oh, not with you.
Barbara.
Barbara's here.
Oh my gosh.
So Barbara wrote in and told us her story of how she was diagnosed at a very young age
with multiple, you say it, multiple sclerosis.
Thank you.
My tongue did not want to go there.
And she's going to tell us her story of how she dealt with that diagnosis, the support
system surrounding her, and just everything in between because I really think there's
more people out there.
And I don't think it's talked about a lot.
Right.
I don't think so either.
So I think it's important to talk about.
She's also a Spanish teacher and a sea fitter.
And we love her.
We met her at Barbara.
How long ago did we meet you?
Two and a half years.
Two and a half years you've been with us?
Has it really been two and a half years?
And she is the sunshine that walks in the door.
We just told her she's a walking compliment because she is the nicest.
But anyway, that's why I'm speaking Spanish because I want her to understand me.
Someone has to.
Maybe you're better in Spanish.
Maybe Barbara, you're going to have to test me.
Oh, God, I already failed.
She's cursing you.
I'm just kidding.
But no, I think of you and I stare at you every time we're doing a pitbull song.
So I'm like, what are they saying?
Yeah.
Who knows?
And Barbara's probably like, how raunchy are we getting today on a Wednesday morning?
Sometimes.
Yes.
I'm telling you, Barbara is probably the nicest person on the planet.
I don't think you mind me saying this because you are on the podcast today, but she had
texted.
She was a fit coaching client of ours and she had texted and said, just a heads up.
I don't tell many people this, but I have MS.
So if there's a day where I'm not feeling it, I just want to give you a heads up.
That's why.
But I don't like, I don't, you know, you don't start with that when you're like, hi, my name's
Barbara and I have MS.
Right.
No, I don't tell that many people.
So why?
Why did I?
Why not?
Some people react like they don't, they don't know, they don't understand what it is.
So they'll tell you stories of somebody they knew that died from it or, you know, is in
a wheelchair and, you know, or they, they, they don't, they just don't know how to react.
And then it makes you awkward.
It makes the whole situation awkward.
That is something I didn't think about.
Yeah, you're right.
Well, how, how long into us knowing you did you do fake coaching?
Um, about a year.
About a year.
Because I remember side texting you going, oh my God, did you know that?
No, I mean, I had no idea.
We have watched you for a year in class.
Never like you're just, you're unbelievable.
You're unbelievable.
Can we start from the top?
Yeah.
And how it's a very good place to start.
Thank you.
How old were you when you got the diagnosis and look, what, how did you even know?
So I was 35.
It was March of 2013.
So now you know how old I am.
No, trust me, I'm not doing the math.
And, um, I woke up and part of my right hand was numb and I was like, that's weird, but
I'm not a doctor person.
So I just self-diagnosed myself as drinking too much Diet Coke.
Really?
Because I was, I don't drink a lot of Diet Coke, but during that time I started drinking
more Diet Coke.
I'm like, must be the Diet Coke.
Right.
Because what else could it be?
Right, exactly.
And then around Memorial Day, it was still there.
And I thought, probably Carpal Tunnel.
And, you know, again, self-diagnosing.
Yeah.
And I think my parents said, you should probably see a doctor.
So I went and saw an orthopedic pod, you know, orthopedic guy, thinking, you know, was something
like that.
And he wasn't sure and he sent me to a neurologist, but I didn't even think about the term.
It was like a guy in, in, it was a local hospital and it was a doctor in the, in his, on his
floor.
So in the meantime, I went to Puerto Rico with Colin and Kevin.
We hiked El Yunque, the rainforest and of course you did.
I act through the bioluminescent bay with a hand that you couldn't feel.
But then during that time it spread.
So it spread through my whole right arm and then my right leg was kind of numb and it
was just weird.
It was just off.
I could use it.
Like, but I didn't know what was happening.
I got him Puerto Rico.
Yeah.
I'm Puerto Rico.
Like, remember getting in the plane, I'm like, to go home and I'm like, well, hopefully figure
out what this is.
It's so weird.
Oh my God.
So then when I saw that second doctor, he gave me a test called evoked potential where
it's like this electric stimuli.
Stimulant or something?
Yeah.
Through your body.
And he was like, I'm going to send you for an MRI.
And I had Kevin who's only nine at the time in the office with me.
And I said, but what do you think it is?
What could this be?
Just not thinking anything terrible.
Yeah.
And he said, I think you have MS.
Oh my God.
And I just leaned over and everything went black.
And I just had, they had to help me sit down and got me water.
And I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to drive home because I couldn't believe it.
And Kevin was there and he was nine.
Kevin was there and he was nine years old, not knowing what's happening.
So obviously made it home, but it was, it was like such a scary, scary time.
So then he sent me for the MRI and then he said, well, you don't have it, but I want
just to send you to get a lumbar puncture, which is another name for spinal tap.
And that is like, why are you laughing?
Not fun at all.
Like I had not know what I was in for.
I'm like, okay, I'll just do what he says.
That's like really painful.
It's so painful.
Yeah, I had no idea you lay like on your stomach and this big machine comes down and collects
spinal fluid and to get a bad headache from it.
So it's not like the movie.
No, just, I'm just clarifying for those who only know spinal tap as a rock movie.
I mean, I did think of that when you said it, but it's so funny.
Yes, but it was not fun.
So then from that result, he said, I want to start treatment for MS.
I'm like, you just told me I didn't have it.
Right.
It was up and down roller coaster and he said, well, your results show it probably will turn
into it.
So I was just like, this guy, I was just really upset.
And like, I got to go to a different person because I'm having like, like the trauma on
the side is up and down.
So I went to a different guy, a different hospital, a cursor, and I saw him once and
then he got laid off.
I'm like, what neurologist gets laid off?
Oh my God.
So it was just like laid off.
Yeah.
It's very weird.
Okay.
So I tell my neurologist, I still go to and she's at Penn in the city and she's top of
the field.
She's awesome.
And she sent me for more MRIs and she's like, no, you do have it.
She's like, apparently the local hospitals and you know, nothing against them, obviously,
but they, their MRI machines aren't as strong as you go into this thing.
So they saw more.
You're like, yeah, you do have MS and I didn't know that.
Yeah.
The machines are just not, not that strong.
So that it didn't show all the lesions that I did have.
So that's why he said I didn't have MS in the beginning because he didn't see it.
Yeah.
Oh my God.
So how long was that process of you being told and then, oh no, you actually really
do.
It was about four months.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
But you know what?
I've read so many stories where doctors dismiss especially women with their symptoms and they
go on for years without being diagnosed because they get ignored.
And then you went to a female doctor, right?
So maybe that was, that was a key too.
Yeah.
I got lucky.
So as this four months was going on, was it getting progressively worse?
Like were you unable to feel your whole side of the body still?
Luckily it stayed about the same and then it started to resolve except for my hand.
So it, and that's when MS attack, it usually, it'll get better to a point.
But if you have a lot of attacks, it keeps leaving damage.
So from that attack, I just, my right hand, I can't feel like my middle finger, my ring
finger, my little finger.
Right now.
I can feel it, but it feels like it has like a thick love over it.
Wow.
So when I play tennis or the weights that see fit, I have to be really careful that I'm
not dropping.
You're not dropping them.
And we did not tell you this, but Barbara is an avid tennis player.
Like she crushes it.
She keeps trying to get us to play and she doesn't realize how unsportsy we are.
If you would like a blooper day, then yes, absolutely.
But you, yeah, you stay incredibly active through all of this.
I think we need to go back a little bit more though.
Okay.
Can you tell us like what multiple sclerosis really is as an autoimmune disease?
Yes.
So it's, it's where your body mistakenly attacks itself.
So with MS, your, your body is attacking the myelin sheath and which it covers like your,
your brain, your spine, optical cord, optical, optical.
Yes.
And everything sounds right to me.
See.
K interestante.
With a little, with a little dog go flair.
Yeah.
With the little thing.
The till day.
Yeah.
So it attacks, it attacks itself and then where it attacks, it messes up the connection
between your brain and your body.
So normal, normal systems that flow are interrupted and that interruption causes the symptoms.
So think of it as like a, a cell phone charger.
You know how when it gets frayed, that's what it looks like with MS.
When your myelin sheath gets kind of worn away and then it's the nerves are exposed and it
doesn't, it doesn't communicate well.
So that's, that's what happens.
And then the more lesions you have, they can be active or they can be dormant, but they
can, if they're just sitting there, they can cause symptoms.
Right.
So that's, that's basically what it is.
What you feel in your hand.
That's a symptom of what a lesion would be.
I do remember at St. Francis, they would have the MS.
Walkathon.
Was it the danceathon or walkathon?
No, the danceathon was not for MS.
The walkathon was.
We had to raise money because, and we were walking.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But we would go into the auditorium and we would have a, what's it called when they bring
someone to school and you listen to them talk?
A guest speaker?
Yeah, kind of like an assembly, an assembly.
We'd have to go for assembly.
And it was always someone with MS talking about it.
And then I guess we would walk or maybe it was after the walk or something, but like
that, it happened every single year.
And it, they never really explained it.
They would just explain the, I remember she would talk about like buttons and the different
ways that they could start making clothes to help people that maybe couldn't do their
buttons or something like that.
And as a kid, I remember those assemblies, assemblies.
Yes.
And that was really the only information about MS that I ever really knew.
I didn't know much either.
I just thought of wheelchairs.
That's honestly, I don't have the information that obviously you do.
And to me, it's wheelchair.
But it's not.
Look, we're going to post a picture of what Barbara looks like because she is a fox.
She's a model.
Yeah.
And she is doing it every day, but at 35, how did you, I mean, how did you deal with
that?
You have a nine year old.
I know.
I was really, really scared, honestly.
And I have great parents.
I have a great sister who, you know, will do whatever just like your family.
Yeah.
If Colin, he's great.
Colin would say to me.
What's up, Colin?
In that first year, I was like, you know, if I panic because I was, the first year was
tough and you say, did you run three miles a day?
Did you go to school?
Did you teach?
So it didn't stop you.
Right.
You can't worry.
So as simple as that was, it really helped me.
And then I didn't tell a lot of people at first year, my friends, Stephanie, she would
just take me and pick me up and like, we're doing this.
We're doing this errand to keep me occupied.
And of course, Dana.
Dana.
Dana's a Seafitter.
She was right there with it.
Like, what do you need?
What do you do?
So I had great people around me, but for that first year, I feel like I would go to work.
I'd make myself work out, but I was so nervous about waking up the next day and losing ability
to do something.
Like it was, it was so scary because I didn't, in the beginning, you don't know how it's
going to progress.
So I was.
Does that happen?
Yeah.
Apparently that my, that my doctor said it's kind of almost like, like cancer, the longer
you go without more attacks, the, the better your prognosis is with it.
Okay.
So now that I've had it for this long and I just deal with the symptoms, but I've not
had another knock on wood major attack.
Right.
You're allowed.
Totally.
You're allowed.
It should continue like this, but she's, you know, I'd not cavalier about it.
I'd make sure I work out as much as I can and eat well and.
Is that what they say helps MS?
Because to me, I would be like, Oh, so afraid to work out or to do anything active because
I wouldn't want to lose, I don't know, whatever mobility I had, but, but that now I'm saying
it out loud and that's mean silly.
No, I felt like that.
I felt like that too.
I was afraid that I would like kick something up if I did something.
Yeah, like flair or something.
And before 1995, they had no treatments for it.
They just said like, kind of like good luck and they told people not to work out.
So now they say, be as active as you can, do what you can for people with more issues
or like do whatever it is that you can do.
So what brings on like an attack?
It's just random, like your own system attacking itself and then causing these scar tissue,
what's called lesions.
Right.
So it's just, I've been lucky and the medicine, the treatment.
I was just going to say, is there something that you're taking now?
So I started with something called copaxone and it was every day a shot I had to give
myself and so I dreaded it, but I'm like, well, it's something.
I don't do whatever I can to stay healthy.
And, and then it went to, it got approved to be three times a week.
So I did that.
And then after a few years, I was just getting tired of the needles.
So I started this, these pills called Pumarity.
I take two, twice a day.
And it's so easy, but I'll have to get my blood tested more often because it can mess
up your blood cells.
Oh gosh.
But, but I'm so lucky that they had it because now they have over 20 treatments and in 95,
that was when it, they first came out with copaxone.
So, you know, I'm lucky it's there.
And now there's a lot of options for people and now they know more and they don't tell
you like go home and lie on the couch and good luck.
You know, that's what they were saying.
That's wild.
That is so wild.
Can you imagine if you did that?
I know it's the worst thing for you.
Well, so when you had emailed us and we talked a little bit about it in the tell your story
episode, you said you had an aunt or a cousin.
A cousin.
Yep.
Who also got diagnosed and then was able to help you kind of through the process.
Yeah.
She was great.
She said, this is, you just have to deal with the new normal and don't let it stop you.
Don't use it as an excuse.
And so I had her in my ear thinking that she's, she had, it was totally different because
they call this the snowflake disease where everybody experiences it differently and there's
over 50, I think symptoms you can have.
So people have it from varying degrees, different types of MS.
Hers, she had these bigger attacks like she was driving to work and she just forgot where
she was going.
Oh my gosh.
And she didn't know.
And so she went to the hospital.
She drove herself to the hospital and she, then she couldn't walk.
Like that never happened to me.
But then she regained fully where I have the little, you know, my hand didn't come back.
So we had experienced different things, but she said, you know, don't use as an excuse
and don't, and don't let it stop you.
Do whatever you can do.
Push it.
So snowflake effect.
Yeah.
Because every snowflake is different.
It's different.
That's incredible.
Do you, so when you got diagnosed, did they say it runs in families or it just MS just
picks randomly?
Like they're not sure what causes it.
There are some, some doctors will say there is a genetic component, but others say it is
a combination of environmental and genetic factors combined.
So interestingly, when you're closer to the equator, there's a lower incidence of MS.
The further away you are, the more MS occurs.
Like the more sunlight, the less cases.
Wow.
Yeah.
Interesting.
I wonder how Alaska's doing.
Like they're in the dark all the time.
That's wild.
Do they say seasons?
There are better seasons for you than others.
Like is winter horrible, but summer is great.
That's a good question.
Some, most people will say the heat gets them.
You know, their symptoms come out and they hate the heat.
They have cooling vests.
I have the opposite.
During the winter time, I struggle more where I get these electric shocks down my legs and
it doesn't do, I can move through it.
It's just more annoying, but it's winter time that for me, but most people say the
sun, the summer gets them more.
Really?
Yeah.
Everybody's story is different, but like you said earlier, I think more people out there
are going through something like this, but it's invisible.
So you don't know.
It's like a silent disease until it's not.
And you don't have the feeling in your hands still since that trip to Puerto Rico when
you first...
Really?
Right.
Yeah.
No, I lost it.
Like it doesn't just come back like sometimes.
No, never.
So if they say within a year is how long after attack and attack.
And so once the year is up, I'm like, well, guess this is it.
Yes, this is it.
But I'm lucky I can still use it, play tennis, even though it does drive me crazy.
Like if I put my hand in my purse to grab something, I can't really feel it that well
or even like at school drop pens, markers, my hand rating is worse than it would be,
I feel like.
Are you right handed?
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Wow.
And you're a teacher on your feet all day long, speaking in a language that I don't understand.
Well, that's a you problem, but I feel like the being active is...
I mean, that's a different type of act.
It's exhausting.
Yes.
I can't imagine.
Even if you didn't have MS, I know it's exhausting as a teacher, but I feel like being on your
feet and keeping moving and mobile is kind of like a win too.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
It's hard.
I mean, I feel like the biggest, one of the biggest symptoms people complain about or
deal with is fatigue.
And I do have that and where it's just not a normal tired.
So I make myself go to bed early, especially during this school year to be able to handle
everything because if not, I don't want to not work out.
But if you're too exhausted to it, you shouldn't either.
It's not beneficial.
It's gonna, yeah, it'll hurt you.
I remember you saying like, if I'm having a bad day, I'll let you know.
I hope it doesn't happen.
And she did the program and had not one bad day that she told us about whether or not
she had a bad day and she shouldn't have worked out or, you know, done what she was supposed
to do.
She never did.
She never skipped a day.
And I feel like that says a lot about you as a person because you're such a positive
person.
And I don't know if you're like that all the time, but when we see you, I mean, the first
thing she asks us when she walks in the door, no matter what day you've had is, Hey, how
are you?
How are you doing?
And I'm like, Oh my God, percent.
Now that I know what you go through, she's so gonna yell at you.
Oh, yeah.
She's gonna be a borrower.
Where were you?
That's not gonna change.
I haven't seen you in less than 24 hours.
But the fact that you can walk in a room and ask how somebody else is when you're going
through what you're going through is such.
I don't think I could do it.
It's a gift.
It's a gift in itself.
Well, no, I almost feel like it, not that I'm lucky to have it, but it makes you more
aware.
Everybody has something going on, whether it's physical, mental, something in their family,
something going on.
So I feel like it makes you realize that.
And it's helped me to appreciate every day.
I don't like getting up for, I love my job, but I don't like getting up so early for work.
And I'll drive to school and be like, well, I'm lucky I can do this.
And if I'm not in the mood for working out, I do the same thing.
And then when once you get to see fit, everybody's, you know, it's everybody's so happy to be
there.
Yeah.
You get 50 cents.
That's the perspective change where you kind of live in gratitude now, not that you weren't
before, but it allows you to acknowledge gratitude in every situation.
Right.
I don't take things for granted like I did.
And, you know, I'm just, I'm so lucky to be able to take my dogs for a walk.
I'm so lucky that I'm able to work because some people can't.
So I, you know, I think that I tried it, remind myself of that every day.
And it does help you.
Does it help your students when you're grading their tests?
Does it help them?
Sometimes.
Oh, no, so, Tros, estamos muy emocionadas.
Oh, no.
Try it again.
Okay.
No, so, Tros, estamos muy emocionadas.
Did you just say John Stamos?
What did I say, Barbara?
We are very happy, excited.
Yes.
But you said no, so, Thras, because you're.
Oh, shoot.
You're feminine, right?
Yeah, we're all.
You're feminine.
All of us.
Oh, yeah.
Me, acharias de la clase.
Why are you so doco?
I just asked her if I, what did I just ask you?
Me, acharias de la clase.
I'm not sure.
Something from the class.
Me, acharias.
Did you look that up?
Yes.
I think I said, would you like me in your class or would I be good in your class?
See, you'd be right with them.
Shut up, Barbara.
Track three.
That's how I knew I would make it if you told me to shut up.
I literally made it.
She told her husband before she left, Colin, if she tells me to shut up, then I'm in.
That's right.
One time you told Victoria to shut up and you're like, I'm not talking to you, Barbara.
But I wish she was.
Barbara, how do you say shut up in Spanish?
Calle te.
Yeah.
But she's going to say that all through glass.
You're coming to class tonight.
Calle te, Barbara.
No, you got to use it right.
Calle te.
You got it.
I also really want to know what you wrote down.
You have no idea what I'm about to ask her.
Yeah, amazing.
When you were 35, because to me, that is so young and MS in my mind, in my uneducated
mind is for 80 year olds and so I had gone into a doctor's office with my nine year
old and at 35, which I'm 38, even now, I would have been like, and I'm dying.
What do I do now?
Is that like, how did you deal with that?
Yeah, I was so afraid that I wasn't going to be there for Kevin and I felt you feel
different.
Like you don't belong, you don't fit in because it's such a, even if people have it, you don't
know.
So I remember doing a ninth grade orientation right after I got diagnosed and there was a
student incoming student with his mom and the mom, they were my group and she was in
a wheelchair, so she had to use the elevator.
I don't know what happened to her, but I remember panicking like, is this going to be me at
Kevin's high school orientation?
Oh, wow.
And, you know, and then weird things happened.
There was a secretary we all loved at my school and she had it and she died from it.
Like just probably six months after I got diagnosed.
Oh my God.
You know, it was just these awful things.
Right.
Nobody at school knew, so I was just going to school.
I almost felt like I didn't belong there.
I was an outsider until, you know, about a year.
Then I was like, all right, you know, I read something.
I'm totally stealing this, but it was, I have MS, MS doesn't have me.
So I'm like, you know what?
I'm going to adopt that.
I'm going to overcome this.
I'm not going to let it run my life, but it did take me a year because I would come home.
I would sit on the couch at night and drink wine and feel sorry for myself.
I mean, but I feel like that's so normal.
And I feel like that's the, that would probably be the majority of people's, I mean, who goes
into something like that and be like, I got this right off the bat.
No.
At that, it's such a jarring, it's a jarring, what feels like a life sentence, I'm assuming.
It does.
Because you, there's no cure.
So the treatments, the goal is it slows down the progression where stops it.
I mean, stopping it would be ultimate goal, but slowing it down so that you don't have
disability.
That's the goal.
Right.
So that's why it's important to get diagnosed quickly and to, to get on a treatment plan.
Is there something connected to MS with keeping a healthy diet?
I know we talked about the activity and keeping your body moving and all of that.
And I think in turn keeping your mind, you know, in a good place, but does eating well
factor into keeping everything kind of, I don't know what the word is, not flaring up?
Yes.
Totally.
That's a great question.
It, there's anti-inflammatory foods and inflammatory foods like burgers and fries, not good.
If you eat clean, eat healthy that, you know, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, those
are anti-inflammatory, especially fish with the omegas in it.
It's supposed to be so good for an autoimmune disease.
So, you know, they, they will, there's extreme diets out there, but I just try to do the
moderation, but there are diets where it's like the walls protocol where it's, it's very
strict.
But the cleaner you can eat basically the healthier you will be.
And when I do eat terribly, I feel it.
Really?
I know the difference.
I'm like, oh, you're paying for that right now.
Oh, wow.
Now, did you know that before?
Like, did you look into all of that when you got diagnosed or is?
Yes.
I bought so many books and read them and, and then just, you know, sometimes you go on
vacation and you're, you're eating pizza and you're eating ice cream and you're, you
know, then the next day of like, oh, I feel this, I feel more symptoms.
So it does connect.
And that's a fast turnover too.
Like the day after.
Yeah.
Interesting.
Oh, wow.
So that, and so if you eat well or clean, however, whatever word you want to use and have your
medication or the treatment with it, then it slows, slows the progress a little bit more.
It's what's in our hands to, to what we can do.
Right.
To pair with.
To pair with the medication, the exercise, eating well.
Yes.
That's what's in our controller.
Power basically.
Yeah.
That's what you can do.
So that's what I try to do.
Just try to fight it and be as healthy as you can.
So it gives you power.
Like it gives you the power as well though.
That's true.
Like a little bit of impairment of like, I, I can control how I feel tomorrow.
I can control maybe how slow this process goes or not that you would ever speed it up,
but you have, there's a piece of it that's not out of your control, which is interesting.
Yeah.
I'm trying for a test.
Yeah.
I study real hard for the Spanish test.
I could tell.
Be minus.
She said I could tell.
Because your brain was working so hard.
Oh, so hard.
So hard.
How do you say hard in Spanish?
Defeat.
So defecial.
Oh, are you constipated?
So defecial.
Barbara, I, we, she walked in the door today and I was like, please don't be nervous because
no one's going to make more of a fool of themselves than me.
And we are not trying to lessen the seriousness of this subject, but also I feel like sometimes
it's okay to laugh and lighten the mood a little bit.
So here's my problem slash question.
Like you felt something in your hand that wasn't right, right?
So Victoria had, I'm not saying this about you, but I'm like, oh, she has numbing in
her hand sometimes.
What made you go to the doctor because of that versus Victoria who literally has carpal
tunnel.
Right.
You said it lasted a long time.
Right.
It March, I woke up one day and this is where my hand is numb.
I thought it was asleep and not waking up.
And then it took until Memorial Day for me to think of that same year.
I'm like, you know what?
I should see a doctor.
Like this is long lasting.
I don't know what it is and it's not.
It's not going away.
It's like carpal tunnel goes away.
Okay.
It like depends on how you sleep.
It would happen when I would wake up and call her like we get to class and I would tell
you, I woke up at 3am because I couldn't feel up to my elbows and then it goes away.
So that you had it consistently and that's, that's a huge factor.
I just think it's so hard sometimes because we don't ever want to say that something's
wrong to like go get a checkup or like go to the doctor.
If you know when you know, you know, I guess you knew something was wrong.
I'm just not a doctor person.
I was never, I'd be like, I'll be fine kind of thing.
Yeah.
That's how far it is.
Yeah, it's fine.
I feel like a lot of people are like that.
Yeah.
And the younger I was at 35, I'm like, ah, it'll pass.
And then, but then I was like, you know, maybe I should get a checked out.
Summer's coming.
I have time to go to the doctor.
That's why I made the appointment then.
And Barbara is a huge traveler.
She goes places.
She drinks the wine at all the wineries.
She goes to Bruce Springsteen every time he comes around.
How many Bruce concerts you go to this summer?
Well, this will be the only time this week, tomorrow and Friday.
Wait, didn't you go?
I feel like you just went like three times.
Well that was a couple of years ago now.
But every time we come, I'm going.
Yeah, she's going to be up on stage.
We're paying so much money.
Yeah, I'm playing.
Don't tell Colin.
Okay, I won't.
Colin, don't listen.
I'm planning to be on stage next Courtney Cox.
Yeah, that's exactly right.
Yes, with my Seafit moves.
Oh my gosh.
And Colin says I look like Elaine from Seinfeld when I dance.
You just laughed at me.
Tell Colin to come back to class.
I know.
Colin is Barbara's husband.
We have not established who Colin is.
And Colin has come to Seafit before and we scared him away.
He's a boss.
But what I'm, well, says Bruce Springsteen.
Literally.
Yeah, I know, the boss.
But what I mean by this is it has not stopped you.
You are yoloing all over the place.
I hate that you said that.
I really hate that you said that, but I agree with the sentiment.
How's your yoloing going?
It's true.
I, it's almost like I want to do things to prove I can.
Right.
I'm like, you know what?
To yourself?
I'm not going to let this stop me.
I'm not going to.
I know I'm going to be tired.
Sometimes I'll take a day off of work because I'm tired.
Right.
Then I'm going to Seafit.
I know.
I'm always like, oh Barbara, do you have off from school today?
She's like, no, I took a day and she comes to work out.
Do you ever prove it to yourself?
I do.
I'm like, you know what?
I'm kind of a badass.
Yeah.
Yeah, I do.
And because I do this and I don't let it stop me and some people, you know, look at all the
people that can't run two, three miles.
Look at the people that, you know, choose not, choose not to even try.
So I think, you know what?
I have these symptoms, but I'm going to still do it.
Right.
You know, when I was on vacation, when you guys were on vacation, I fell when I was
running and I had bruises.
Gosh, she scraped her knee.
I was bloody everywhere and I, because I have foot drop, that was one of my symptoms.
So when I get tired, my right foot kind of drags.
So I just wiped out blood everywhere, but I'm like, I'm going to keep running.
You know, if I fall, I fall, I'm going to get back up, you know.
Oh my gosh.
Good for you because that's a gnarly scab that you have on your knee.
So much blood.
We're going to play this game that I like to call Fuego Rapido O'Neillio.
Fire Rapidly O'Neill.
Rapid Fire O'Neill.
Oh, you got it.
Is that, was she right?
Yeah.
So I'm going to ask you questions in English, mostly.
Hold on.
It's O'Neillio?
No, it's not O'Neillio.
It's O'Neillio.
O'Neillio, no.
O'Neillio.
Now it's like Italian.
Yeah, that's right.
O'Neillio.
I just added an O because Fuego had an O and Rapido had an O.
That's not how Spanish works.
O'Neillio.
I'm going to say something you rapid fire off in English and that's how we play the
game.
Fuego Rapido O'Neillio.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, ready?
See.
The first thing that comes to your mind.
Favorite song?
Badlands.
Ooh, I'm assuming that's Bruce Springsteen.
Mm-hmm.
Movie.
Jerry Maguire.
Food.
Ice cream.
Yes.
Drink.
Um, tequila.
Ooh, I was going to say wine.
Very good.
Okay, TV show.
Um, Friends.
Ah, good.
You can stay.
Love it.
Season.
Summer.
Oh, sport.
Tennis.
Yeah.
Animal.
Dog.
Yeah, she loves her dog.
Color.
Blue.
You can stay.
Decade.
80s.
Yeah.
Music genre.
Mm.
I do like pop.
You do?
Mm-hmm.
That makes me happy.
Meal.
Like full meal.
She didn't say dirty pop.
She heard dirty pop.
We'll get there.
Okay.
Um, dinner.
Love it.
Place to visit.
Wow.
Anywhere in Europe.
Okay, these might be hard.
Synchrono-Zae-Sian-O-Muchachos-Del-Backstreet.
Mm.
Intink.
Thank you.
I said, in-stranger.
In-stranger Backstreet Boys.
In-stranger.
Synchrono-Zae-Sian-O-Muchachos-Del-Backstreet.
It's, yep.
Okay.
Last one.
This is the hardest one of them all, Barbara.
C. Aju-Stay-Hermana.
Carmella.
Do you say who's your favorite sister?
Who's your favorite C-fit sister?
C. Aju-Stay-Hermana means C-fit sister.
It's really how hard it is for you to say the sentence.
She said, Carmella.
So I said it right.
She knew.
Guess what, Barbara?
You won.
You didn't look up you won in Spanish.
Ganaste.
Yay.
Wait, so.
You won EO.
When I looked up favorite C-fit sister, clearly C-fit doesn't exist in the Spanish dictionary.
You said a C-fit.
Right, so I just put a C in front of fit sister.
It works.
It works, right?
Barbara, you won Rapido, nope, Fuego, Rapido, O'Neillio.
Yay.
Yes.
I feel like if there was ever a life when that was it.
So true.
All right.
Barbara, this has been so informative and just so you all know, she came in with
a notepad written like she knows what she's talking about and she was ready for this and
I thank you for that because I did not know 90% of what you said today.
And I think we all have those judgments in our head of what we think something is and
how different it actually is because I honestly, I didn't know that you had MS.
I'm so happy.
I do know though, because it makes me feel.
It's more inspiring.
Yeah.
So inspired by you.
And sometimes when I'm like, I do not feel like doing this, Barbara's doing it.
I'm going to do it because if you can do it, there's no reason for me to do it.
With a smile.
Yeah.
You have bad days, right?
You have days that you're not happy, right?
Yeah.
You're a normal person.
She's like, let me think.
I mean, my family sometimes calls me the queen of mean.
Do you believe that?
No.
Actually, I cannot believe that.
Because she's saying it with the biggest smile right now and her eyes are twinkling.
Like, do you see the twinkle in her eyes?
She's like a little elf.
Like no.
Or you're that mean where you are just crushing the manipulation right now.
Oh my gosh.
Family, back off.
Well, I want to give you the real tip because I want you to end this with some words of
wisdom, not only to people with MS who might be struggling with it, but just some words
of inspiration of you get up and do it every day and like how you get yourself up.
So you're the real tip today.
I would say we all deal with something and we need to look at what we have and be appreciative
for it.
Look at what you can do, what you're able to do.
Keep pushing, keep thinking positively and it makes all the difference.
If anyone out there is feeling with anything like MS, autoimmune, if it's a C-fitter, if
they want to talk to me, that's why I'm sharing too.
If I can help someone progress through that fear stage faster, I'd be happy to do that.
Fear stage, that's incredible.
That was the best real tip we've ever had because it was the most genuine.
And inspiring.
And that's very nice of you because it's hard to talk about and if somebody wants to come
up and talk to you about it and they might be afraid that that's very generous of you.
I love your perspective too.
Thank you.
You guys help so much because you're always smiling too and you're always, I know that
sometimes you're not wanting to do class, but you're up there and doing it and moving
so fast.
All the time.
Muchos.
Gracias.
De nada.
Oh, she understood.
I'm so upset.
Well, thank you so much, Barbara.
It was a pleasure being here.
I think this resonates way more than I even anticipate to so many people, whether you're
on the end of a Barbara side of the story or you're a support system for somebody.
I think this is something to take a lot away from.
You're looking at me very hard.
I am just very...
And I can't talk.
I agree with what you're saying.
I've never seen you look at me like that.
I agree with what you're saying and I agree.
I need a support system for this right now.
Go talk to Barbara.
She is everybody's support system.
I'm going to call you now.
I is not me.
Oh, I also wanted to mention that you know how we talk about rise all the time?
Guess who introduced us to rise mushroom coffee?
Yeah.
Barbara.
When she introduced us, she bought it for us.
She said, you should drink this.
And then we did.
And now we can't stop paying for it.
Like subscription wise.
We're like, wait, it's here again.
We got to keep drinking.
And thank you Barbara for that because you have blessed our lives in more ways than one.
Well, you're welcome.
I like it too.
All right.
Well, thank you Barbara for taking the time out before school started.
We wanted to get you in before your life completely gets booked.
At least for the nine to five hours.
Boo.
And thank you for having me.
Oh, awesome.
Such a good day.
So just remember you are always fit to be real and always allowed to be a little extra.
Extra.
I'm sorry.
I have to leave.
I'm sorry.
I have to leave.
I'm sorry.
I have to leave.
I'm sorry.
I have to leave.
I'm sorry.
I have to leave.
I'm sorry.
It's the same way.
For legal reasons, we have to tell you that this podcast is meant for entertainment and
educational purposes, only We are not health care professionals, for all of your health,
wellness, fitness and self care needs.
Please refer to the medical professional and your life, your primary care physician,
your therapist, a certified coach, whoever it may be.
And then let us know what they say because I guarantee we need to know what to.
Okay?
Okay, bye.