“There is something about being content…we talked about us being neighbors, I have outgrown my house but I’m not moving. I appreciate having coffee on the front porch on Saturdays when its just my wife and I. That… does it for me.”
Hello my faithful listeners, welcome to Episode #21! Thanks for sticking with me! I have so much good stuff in the pipeline! I am incredibly thankful that YOU are carving out a chunk of your time to spend with me today. Now, I need to warn you this episode is really intense and also one you will not be able to stop listening to. So, be prepared. Today we dive into my friend Michael Hackett’s journey with cancer. If you live in Baton Rouge, you have seen Michael’s smiling handsome face on billboards all over town in the past few years with the tagline, “We don’t treat Cancer, We treat Michael.” Michael is incredible vulnerable about his cancer journey, about what he wished he had done before hand, about the process, and about what he takes away from this difficult journey. For my listeners who have cancer or who have fought it, or have someone close to them who has, my heart is with you. Michael’s candor will draw you into his incredible story and I promise you’ll walk away inspired, challenged, and likely need a few tissues as we dive deep into some of life's biggest questions and challenges.
This conversation felt something similar to my talk with David Magee, episode number 1. I think anyone listening could hear the sincerity, the vulnerability, and the honesty of Michael, which makes it a story we can all connect to. No one is putting on a show here, this is just the raw truth. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did, and that you now know that Michael is so much more than just the cancer guy. And, perhaps the biggest takeaway for me from this is the importance of having a great circle around you, to walk with you, through the good and the bad. The quote Michael said really rescinded with me and will be how we wrap this one up, “Shared joy is double joy. Shared sorrow is half sorrow.”
Timeline:
2:37- 4:30 Intro/Background
5:00 “When did you first know there was a problem?”
6:00: Start Cancer Story
8:37 Bloody stool cannot be ignored any more
11:00 Long walk the night before surgery, conversation about what goes wrong…
12:00“The night before my surgery…she’s such a strong beautiful person…”
15:30 “I don't think I did this to myself… I’m not Googling anything, I'm just following my instructions… Physically I felt like a 1/10, but mentally spiritually emotionally I felt like a 10/10”
17:00 “And that’s the one thing I am proud of that I still do today.”
19:15 “Can you put us in the chair for round 1 of Chemo?”
27:00 Stopped Chemo due to C-Diff
29:00 “What i went through was nothing, it was 7 months of my life, when you see a child, knowing what you are going through, knowing the pain and suffering you are going through…”
33:37 Getting good progress Reports from Docs. “All I gotta do is get to the finish line?”
35:00 “You ring the bell and people come to celebrate…”
39:00 “Tell me a few ways this experience has changed you?” “I never realized how friendships and family… its just unbelievable, I have so many people literally in my phone I can call up and have a meaningful conversation with, I’m talking hundreds of people. A lot of people don’t have that.”
41:00 “How has your relationship with fear changed?”
42:00 “There is something about being content…we talked about us being neighbors, I have outgrown my house but I’m not moving. I appreciate having coffee on the front porch on Saturdays when it's just my wife and I. That…
I have a few spots left in my executive coaching business, Treppendahl Consulting.
www.robtreppendahl.com