Real Recovery Requires Body, Mind, And Spirit Working Together

We share how a brutal cold snap, calving plans, and a long recovery pushed us to blend modern medicine with simple daily habits, faith, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The theme is clear: protect the farmer with practical tools that support body, mind, and spirit.

• winter weather check and calving logistics
• gratitude for surgery and modern medicine
• adding faith, mindset, and journaling to healing
• comfrey salve as a traditional support
• what low-pressure hyperbaric oxygen does and feels like
• neurological and recovery use cases for HBOT
• cost, access, and the value of consistent use
• hydration, protein, fat, and whole foods basics
• sleep hygiene and short post-meal movement
• stress release, hard talks, and emotional flow

If you'd like to learn more about hyperbarics, you know, drop us an email at farmersgreatasset at gmail.com. If there are other things that you would like to learn more about, drop us an email. We or um send us a message and we can get in contact with you.

Transcript

Winter Check-In And Calving Plans

SPEAKER_01 0:15

The Farmer's Greatest Asset Podcast. We believe the Farmers Greatest Asset is the Farmer. Their knowledge, experience, mind, and health. Well, welcome to the podcast. I'm Jesse.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

And I'm Dr. Leah.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Whatever it is you're listening.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Hello.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Welcome to January twenty something.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Second.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Twenty-second. The Midwest. They're talking some serious cold coming.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

This weekend.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Yeah. So I'd rather not have cows do, but we do.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Right. I was really hoping we would just skate through winter in nice, you know, 30 to 50 degree weather and not have to hit what's coming. I'm not looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Welcome to the Midwest.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Winter in the Midwest. Go from 50 to negative.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

I'm not complaining about our 40 and 50 degree days, though. Not at all. I have enjoyed them thoroughly. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

So Henry's got three embryo transfer cows that are due in the middle of this cold.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

They're due on Saturday.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Yeah. So we've turned the shop into a calving barn.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

A birthing suite.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Oh, the things we do for our children.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Isn't it crazy? Do you think would would you this have ever happened for your cattle?

SPEAKER_01 2:09

No.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

No. No. No.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

No, they better, they, they better survive to be in the Stephensfire herd. I also didn't want anything to calve in January, but yeah. Here we are.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Well, show cattle.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

It is what it is.

Modern Medicine’s Power And Limits

SPEAKER_00 2:28

He is loving it though. So, you know, you we definitely want him to pursue his passion right now.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Yeah. He's going to homecoming, and I guess I'm going to induce some cows and watch some cows on Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

That'll be fun. That'll be fun for you. I will not be doing that.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

It'll be in the shop, so why not? Hang out with me in the shop and have some calves. So anyway, to piggyback a little bit on what we were talking about last week and my experience and what I went through, modern medicine can do some amazing things.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Absolutely. Like you are able to walk now.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Without modern medicine, you wouldn't have been able to walk. And you would have been in the world.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Without an amazing hip trauma surgeon's steady hand to get my hip back into what it should be.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Thank you, Dr. Willie.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Dr. Willie, thank you. He is a farm kid as well, himself. His family still farms in Iowa. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

It's always fun to go and see him. But now we don't have to go back for five years.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Five years. The point is, modern medicine is amazing, and we need modern medicine, right? Because it it does do amazing things.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

There is a whole other world of healing modalities. Let's just go with that.

Whole-Person Healing And Faith

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Right. So you are an MD and you went through all of the modern medicine training, but have focused recently a lot on other modalities and functional medicine, energy medicine, herbal medicine. When you realize that really everything starts in your gut, right? That's what you put in it. But other there are other modalities that help you heal. And to me, another modality was my faith and prayer and knowing that I need to get to a place. And that got me there.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

When you look at healing as a whole, we really start focusing on the physical well-being. Right. And what is not brought into modern medicine all of the time is that there is a whole mental, an emotional, and a spiritual component to healing. And it is only through bringing all of that together that you really can truly heal. So looking at not only your faith in a higher power, but your faith in your own ability to heal and the power that you have within yourself to really do that and mitigate the circumstances that come your way. But it really breaks down into like, how are you caring for yourself? Are you putting the things into your body and onto your body that are going to heal you?

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Comfort salve. So much comfrey sav.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Yeah, comfrey salve.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Green snot, it looks like.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

You forgot about the comfrey salve, didn't you?

SPEAKER_01 6:08

There must have been something to it.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Well, it's supposed to help knit bones. Used to be called bone knit. Comfrey is something to help bone formation. So yeah, we were putting some comfrey salve on Jesse. It's kind of, you know, like in my big frat fat Greek wedding where the dad always sprays everyone with with windex. That's that was my go-to. Oh, you got a little spot there that dry skin? Let's put some comfrey salve on it.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

It worked.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

It did work.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Totally worked.

Comfrey Salve And Traditional Remedies

SPEAKER_00 6:49

There were lots of things that we really did for you. Um, you spent a lot of time in quiet and peace and journaling, which you know it brings the mental, emotional, and spiritual components of healing forward. Right. Um, and you did a lot of that in what we call our healing pod.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Our hyperbaric oxygen chamber um was huge in my physical healing. That was another modality that has really helped my physical healing.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

So we purchased a low pressure hyperbaric oxygen chamber that you can sit in. And Jesse would do hour long therapy sessions in it. And we were fortunate enough to, you know, purchase that and bring it home and have that to use. Why don't you tell people a little bit about your experience with it before you were injured? Because you've seen that used before, and how it worked for you.

Hyperbaric Oxygen: What It Is

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Well, it's been used a long time in modern medicine. It's a lot of wound clinics have them because it helps wounds heal quickly. It's also, if you are a scuba diver, you've heard of the Benz. Um, so it helps. For the Benz, the the higher pressure chambers are what you use, but um hyperbaric oxygen chambers have been around for a long time. When I had my hip replacement, uh, was still trying to get better and heal, and needed still the use of a cane or a crutch to walk, and went to a clinic that had the hyperbaric oxygen chambers and did two treatments there, and literally said, I don't care what it cost, put it in my car. We're going home with this thing. Because I felt better. I mean, it wasn't like it was, you know, an overnight wave of the wand all of a sudden better, but I could feel better. I had more energy. It kind of, you know, it wore off after a little bit, but we brought that thing home and did four or five more treatments at home and walked out of there holding my cane. I was able to walk from here to the house, which is a hundred yards. No, probably not even fifty. And I was holding my cane. Now that doesn't mean I totally got rid of it by, you know, I'd have to use my cane again later on, but it's uh it's a modality that you need to continue to use. And it was huge in my healing, and it helped me immensely.

HBOT For Recovery And Neurology

SPEAKER_00 9:55

And they're using it in alternative medicine for a lot of disease processes. Probably one of the biggest ones is in neurology. So they use it with dementia patients, they use it with stroke patients, um Parkinson's, like lots of different neurological problems. Um, it works really well for that as well. But it can, it works for everyone. I use it as well. And the more you use it, the better you feel. So it increases the oxygen, oxygenation within your circulatory system.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Right. You gotta think about you're sitting in a pressurized chamber and there's oxygen being run into the chamber. So I just like to say it's like forcing oxygen in into your bloodstream. Into your blood.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

So then you like oxygen is going to power um all of your energy systems, right? So it helps power the mitochondria so that you can heal and your body can run better.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Things just recover quicker. I know there's a lot of universities and major sports teams that have hyperbaric oxygen chambers, and it just helps in the recovery.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

There are more and more places that you can get one or go to one to use. Just one modality that you can kind of be open to in healing processes.

Investing In Your Health

SPEAKER_01 11:34

So somebody had asked us once because they knew we had one, and then it was suggested to them that if they could find a hyperbaric oxygen chamber or go to a place to do it, that it would be beneficial for them. And he was hung up on the investment of having to buy it because he had already bought a different modality. And my comment to him was it's your life. What is your life worth? Yep, it costs a little money, but maybe don't buy one, but go find a place to go do it. And things don't operate, especially on the farm. If the farmer's not around, it was a farmer, your farm needs you to operate.

Daily Foundations: Water And Food

SPEAKER_00 12:28

But it is like exercise equipment, it actually does it does no good sitting there unused. Right. And we got into the habit of not using it and now have recently started using again. So that has been really good for us. But it doesn't work alone. I think also it's important to really focus on the core things that you can do every day to help heal your body and to keep your body healthy. And we've gone over them before, but we'll go, we'll repeat them briefly today. Water intake. Water intake is crucial. So dehydration can lead to a lot of system dysfunction. So you want to make sure you have a good water source, but that you are drinking enough water in a day. Water does not mean coffee. Water does not mean tea. If you are drinking coffee and tea, you actually are dehydrating yourself.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Probably need to drink even more water.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

So you need to drink more water. So iced tea, although it is comprised of a lot of water, it is not included in your water intake. So water is very important. Um, not only just for your systems to be functioning properly, but for healing to take place.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

When you're more in tune with your body and can feel and know what's going on, if I'm dehydrated, I can really feel it. I just feel sluggish. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

And brain function is the same way. Like your brain is composed of a lot of water. So when your whole body is dehydrated, you're going to have effects on your mentition and your ability to process things.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

So carry a water bottle, a Stanley or a cup or whatever. Just carry some water with you.

Sleep, Movement, And Blood Sugar

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Eat a healthy diet. Stay away from processed foods, processed sugars, more meat, eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables. I mean, dairy, like some people are they don't tolerate it well. So if it works for you, great. If not, that's understandable. But make sure you're getting good protein sources, good fat sources. Those are going to be very important. And the fruits and vegetables are going to be very important for extra vitamins, minerals, and roughage to make things go through you well.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

We all do it.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Yeah. Um, sleep is another important thing. Um, good sleep hygiene. We've gone over that in the past. Um, if you have interest in that, we can definitely review it again if you would like. But make sure that you're getting good sleep. Um, movement is key. And this time of year, it is hard to get outside and get a lot of movement. And but um, you know, get on a treadmill, go somewhere and walk around for a while.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Elliptical gym membership.

Stress Release And Emotional Health

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Yeah, if you can do 10 minutes of walking after a meal, and if it's super cold outside, like it's gonna be this weekend, go up and down the stairs for 10 minutes. Um, just that will help decrease your insulin spike after your food, and it will also get things moving through your GI tract and keep things moving in your body and system. And then, of course, the last major component of your health is going to be stress reduction and really finding peace, calm, and tranquility in your life. And that will be a lot of the mental, emotional, and spiritual component of your healing and trying to get off of your devices and find your peace and calm.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

In our household, recently we've had some big discussions and getting things out and off of your mind and have those discussions and get it out. That is a huge weight lifted off your shoulders. That is helpful in stress reduction. We have seen it firsthand in the last week. Yes, we have here in our house.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

And it's interesting how all of that, like holding that energy in, holding emotion in, holding those thoughts in, really can create blockages in your body. And when that release happens, it can manifest in physical ways in your system. And it's interesting to see how the body chooses for its release, but realize when you begin to let go of the emotion, you may feel it initially, but the weight is lifted and you have more flow.

Integrating Modalities And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Again, we'll say modern medicine is amazing and it can do wonderful, great things. But there are other things that are all spokes in the wheel that help us be healthy and help us heal and get better.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Again, the hyperbarics was just one thing that you can do. There are so many other things out there that um make your healing improve and possible. But if you'd like to learn more about hyperbarics, you know, drop us an email at farmersgreatasset at gmail.com. If that is something that you would like to learn more about, we would be happy to help you with that. If there are other things that you would like to learn more about, drop us an email. We or um send us a message and we can get in contact with you.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

As always, remember, it's a good day.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

To have a great day. Bye.