Ep. 14 - The $1,000,000 Pelvis: The Bionic Survival Story With Trent Brock

Imagine eight different surgeons telling you to go home and accept death. Now imagine choosing a different script, becoming your own advocate, rewiring your brain, and fighting for first downs until you score. That’s Trent Brock’s story, and it’s as practical as it is inspiring.

We sit down with Trent, a three-time cancer conqueror, entrepreneur, and author of the Breaking the Silence series, to trace his path from thriving popcorn manufacturer to patient on crutches to man with a custom, largest-ever hip implant, and back to a life with purpose. He opens up about the years of misdiagnoses that stalled care, the isolation of lockdown when hope ran thin, and the promise to his parents that he would outlive them. When the system said no, he called an audible: trust your inner signal, build a better team, and measure progress in winnable units. If you can’t win the day, win lunch.

Trent breaks down the tactics that changed everything: neuroplasticity through repetition, affirmations before his feet hit the floor, looping music and messages that aligned with healing, and choosing movement and routine even at 30 percent capacity. He shares how faith steadied him, why a support person in appointments is non-negotiable, and how to detach emotionally to advocate with clarity. We also explore his transition to service, hosting Conqueror’s Crew, coaching patients and families, and helping others find their voice within a complex medical system.

If you or someone you love is navigating cancer, chronic pain, or a crushing prognosis, this conversation offers grounded tools, humane encouragement, and real-world advocacy strategies. Press play to learn how to pick your team, push for answers, reprogram the mind, and stack small wins into a comeback you can stand on.

If this moved you, follow and share the show, leave a rating and review, and send this to someone who needs a reason to win today.

If you are in a crisis or feel unsafe, call or text 988 or dial 911 for immediate support. There are people out there who will listen and can help.

Follow and stay connected:

Website: justintimepodcast.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@justintime.podcast
Instagram: @justintimetosavealife
Facebook: Just In Time To Save a Life

Never miss an update—follow, subscribe, and join the conversation!

Transcript

Opening And Safety Resources;

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hi, I'm Jessica G, and this is the Justin Time podcast. If you're struggling today, I want you to know this podcast is here for you, but it's not a substitute for professional health. If you're in a crisis or feel unsafe, please call or text 988 or dial in 911 for immediate support. There are people out there who will listen and can help. On this show, I'll be sharing personal experiences, mindset ships, talking with Keith experts, and sharing real tools that help me go from barely surviving to thriving. This is not about quick fixes or one size fits all advice. It's raw, it's honest, it's what worked for me and what I believe can help others too. Let's walk together from darkness to health.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

We have a special guest with us today, um, Trent Brock, who is a three-time cancer conqueror.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Yes, we're so excited to have you here on the show. Um Trent has an amazing story, and he's actually a book writer. He's on his third book, which is called Breaking the Silence. You guys can see that. And you have two other books that you release as well.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yep. That's right. Yep, volume one and two, volume one and two, and this is three. It's a series, so it's all the same name, and they're all on Amazon. And yeah, they're three bestsellers. And um I have a chapter with in between like 15 and 20 other people in each volume. Yeah. They all write their story. So I'm kind of a cancer guy in in this book.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Awesome. Awesome. We're super excited to have you on the show. So I'm at Trent after cancer, but we've got a couple questions so we can kind of take the audience through. Um share a little bit about who you were kind of before your cancer journey. Like, what kind of person were you? Like, I'm curious to know, like, what kind of personality did you have? What was your mindset like? And then kind of walk them through the journey, and then we'll talk about, you know, um after.

Before Cancer: Life, Work, Identity;

SPEAKER_00 1:56

To me, it feels like the traditional south. Like, where are they from? Who are they? What do they sound like, you know, like that? That's what people from the south are like. They they do that and they're like, what kind of what's he? Where's he were? What's he do for a job? You know, yeah. It's like uh people really want to know about you. Well, that's how it is in the south, right? We're like, well, we're gonna just do the 20 question thing. I know, I know what you mean. Um, so originally from Louisiana, I'm from North Louisiana. Um, all my family and and and all of them are from around there, except my dad's family is from Syracuse, New York, which is interesting. And um, I went to Louisiana Tech University, the same place that my mom and dad met, my uncle met, my grandparents met, my uncle went there. Uh almost all my family met uh a lot of people. Um, I was in college with my cousin and my other cousin and my brother all at the same time, be college together in the same fraternity. It was great. So that's a little bit of that. I graduated and I moved to Dallas. I had a uh master's degree and IT business degree, and I started traveling doing IT work. Yep. I moved, um, I did stuff all over the US, and then I started doing international stuff, and I kept like going it strangely enough. I love I wanted to go down under and I ended up in New Zealand and I do a project somewhere on that side of the road, I go back to New Zealand, back and forth, back and forth. And um, things were great, you know. I was just, you know, I was making money, I was doing my thing, and um, I met an American guy in the boxing jail. And um, this is kind of crazy. My life is kind of what it is. If it's kind of odd, it's kind of crazy, it'll happen to me or you know, something not, but it just is what it is. So he owned a he was a boxing manager. American guys were trained for their matches down there for a couple months. I thought they were cool. I trained with, you know, I got to train with one of them, like legit, the one of them, uh Chauncey Williver, got to be the number five heavyweight in the world. So these people are boxing. Yeah, for real. Their manager and his, you know, entrepreneurial guy uh did a lot of things. And one of the things he did was kettle corn, like go to the market and do the kettle corn. It's like it's a cash deal. We started a kettle corn business on the side.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

And it to long story short, in in 15 years, um, we went from like going out to the morning markets and the night markets to a contract with the stadium to like full-on manufacturing facilities, a couple of them. Um, to give you an idea, the biggest one was the size of a football field. Okay, we would do 50 or 60,000 popcorn bags a day. I mean, pallets and pallets and pallets and trucks coming in and out all the day. Yeah, all the time. This is my life. Yeah, what I this is what I did. Yeah. And um I mean, we were, I was probably, you know, about three years for retirement, really, you know. Wow. I mean, we built this thing and that was the plan, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:50

Would you say you had like I know you as this outgoing person? Would you were you as outgoing before all of this? Have you always been that way?

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Yes. Well, yeah, yeah, you know, like uh, yeah, like very introverted when in certain situations, but very extroverted when I feel comfortable. Okay. And yeah, but um always, always outgoing, always a doer, always, you know.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

But you would you say you had a positive mindset?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Yeah, okay.

Misdiagnoses And Patient Advocacy;

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Yeah, yeah, yes, yes, and no. Okay. So no. Um uh I would say that positive as in the fact, like I I know that I I wouldn't, I know I could do it, but um, you know, like a bit of that perfectionistic thing where I just had to just put in uh, you know, anything that that that another guy was better at that than me, I I could beat him with effort. Okay. And I could beat him with I could beat it. So competitive. I mean, I yeah, yeah, you know, like not yeah, not competitive with everybody, but you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 5:47

With yourself, yeah. And what you can do and your ability. Absolutely. I could, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

I could I could will myself to to get there, you know? Okay. Some people got talent, some people got ability. I would kind of less talent, more ability.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

I like ability. I like, I like I I wonder like what did Trent Brock look like when he first started riding his bike? Like how many times did he fall and what was that attitude like?

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Uh well, fall over and cry a whole lot, uh, you know, be mad and angry and pitch a little temper tantrum. Get back up and do the one. Dad's say you get back on the bike and drive. And you know, like I just have always been kind of one of those like, I just don't like it. I just don't like something to get the better of me.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

You know, um, I I want to be, I want to be in control uh uh um of my stuff. I'm not a control freak, but I want to, you know, like I don't want something to to to feel like it, you know, like I'm like that you you're slip that that's getting all too like like well let's say just for you know like medication or or absorb or or a drinking you don't want to be defined by those things, correct? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

When you first heard that you had cancer, what were the first thoughts that went through your mind? I mean, you're a three-time cancer survivor, so yeah, you know, one of my first questions is is what were your first thoughts? And then did you ever think about giving up? Did those thoughts ever cross your mind?

SPEAKER_00 7:12

A lot. Okay. Um, you know, um, when they told me I had cancer, it it a lot of times in this situation, whenever there was like a turning point, there always seemed like someone knocked me back two or three stuff, you know? Yeah. And it started like that. Yeah. So I had been limping around the factory for a couple of months. I had gone to three different doctors and they all were like, you just tore a butt muscle. Here's some paracetamol, go on, you know. Yeah. But it was getting worse. I mean, to the point where like I would I would go to the factory in the morning, and once I, you know, once I left work at six, seven, whatever, straight on we got bed. And I couldn't have until and I mean we're thinking this is not normal. I did, yeah. But I kept getting the, you know, like I went to like osteopath and I went to the GP and they're all just kind of saying the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

I'm like, well, and I think that, you know, I think in your books and and just from what I've known about you is like this is where, you know, patient advocacy really comes in because, you know, the you have lived experience through this. And, you know, you kept saying something's wrong, something's wrong, please listen to me, please listen to me. Yeah. And finally you got, you know, the correct diagnosis, but you weren't you misdiagnosed for a long time with pancreatic uh issues.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Diagnosed about with with two or three different times along the way. So before before I even got diagnosed with cancer, um, I I had gone in for my routine blood work and they had decided that I had this genetic um blood issue with my liver where it didn't filter iron. So like every week for every every couple of weeks, I just go to the hospital and give a pint of blood. Like you go to the blood bank. Yeah. To to to to send my blood out. So then when I made new, it'd thin that iron out.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

But my, you know, I you know, I like I had to tell my folks and because it's genetic. Yeah. And they're like, we don't have that. Yeah, we think you're nuts. So you're like something's off. And a couple of, you know, so I did this for like a year and a half, two years, like going in doing that. And a couple of times I'm like, I'm like, high iron, that is a that is a big factor for cancer. Yeah. You know, and I and my brother's best friend died of cancer about six months before I was diagnosed. And I even went in one day and I said, you know, are you sure this isn't cancer? Like a genetic test is a test, it doesn't change. If you have it, you have it. Right. So you have it. And I'm like, can we just test for that? And they're like, it's no point, it's a waste. And they just kind of gaslighted me. And I was like, well, and I tried twice, right? And I was like, well, okay.

The Hip Cancer Ordeal And Surgeries;

SPEAKER_02 9:54

And this is New Zealand, you're still New Zealand at this point. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Yeah, this is in New Zealand. The healthcare is a a lot less lower quality than than the U.S. It's socialized.

SPEAKER_02 10:07

It's, you know, it's well, and hearing that diagnosis too, mentally, that just didn't sit right with you. Like you, it sounds like you kind of like immediately went, huh? No, this isn't right. And so you kept questioning it. So, how long did you go through that process until you found out that it was actual cancer?

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Um, about two and a half years. Oh, wow. About two and a half years. You know, I just had these kind of feelings, you know? Yeah. And you know what I really what I've really learned through, you know, it's been five, five, six years now almost.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

You know you.

SPEAKER_03 10:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

You know what's going inside. You are the only person, you yourself and I, me, myself and I, are the only people that have been in here. Yep. Somebody that knows me for five minutes, trust the expertise, but they don't know me. Yeah. Right? And um don't do that to yourself. It you know, like if you if if you're if you're a person of awareness, and and and and you know, you you have you're kind of in depth with, you know, in tune with your feelings and some of those things. Don't doubt your inner voice. Yeah. Trust it. And I learned like I was like, I've been, I've been shutting that off, and I've been listening to outside, and the outside has steered me so wrong that it made me handicapped. I've nearly died several times. I don't know how all, you know, my organs and I was supposed to. I mean, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

But you know what are the three types of cancer that you were diagnosed with?

SPEAKER_00 11:37

It was all the same, it's all the same type, but um, I had hip cancer um in 2019, and they cut my they cut my entire pelvis out. It made my leg shorter than the other. And you can get an idea. I mean, like, I just kind of do this for people just to get an idea. Like, yeah, um, over time, this is how short. I mean, how how short my leg is and how big of a shoe. Yeah. I mean, look at, you know, like I just kind of like this. I mean, look at that, you know? Yeah, that's how big my shoe got. I mean, it was so big, like I'd go in to do physical therapy and they'd be like, hey, y'all, come here. That's the biggest one we've ever seen. I'm like, yeah, it's my style. Go back to home. It's so embarrassing.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Yeah. Embarrassing. You're laughing at it now, but you're making me laugh. I'm not laughing. It's okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

No, it's all good. But it's like, you know, I had his little shrilly up. I mean, his legs shrilled up to nothing. They wouldn't have cut it off.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

They do cut it off. Okay. Over six months, they're like, Well, you got cancer, we're gonna put an implant in, but it takes a couple months to make it. And then I'm like, okay, so I wait around, I wait around, and they're like, Oh, well, we're ready to do the surgery. And then they do an extra. I'm like, oh, well, we it doesn't fit now because the cancer. I'm like, I don't make it and uh duh. Yeah. So I went through that three times, and then they just say, Hey, look, it's too far. We just can't say the leg we're cupping off. I had a I had a legit meltdown in the hospital. Legit. Yeah. And um, thank God. And I'll tell you that this is this is a really good thing that they push in New Zealand is support. Have a support person. Okay. Take your support with you to the doctor. Yeah. And mine wasn't with me. So you know what I did? We're mostly phone. Okay, good. So my folks were always a part of every appointment. I like after two or three months of going through, I'm like, I'm blanking out. Like they're going in.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

I love that you just shared that because you know, one of the biggest things mentally is like isolation. When we isolate ourselves and we're just dealing with our pain all by ourselves, that's when we can make permanent decisions based on temporary feelings. And how how did you keep your sense of humor through all this? Like, how did you I didn't?

SPEAKER_00 13:42

I want to tell you, yeah, I'm gonna tell you what you see right here has been hours and hours of um work.

SPEAKER_03 13:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

Work on this leg. I mean, I I I I ridden over 1,500 miles on an exercise bike to get this leg right. Um and but but this was the problem, right? All this just does with this tilt. So this was the problem. And you know what?

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Retraining your brain, that's where I'm at. Neuroplasticity. Yes.

Isolation, Prognosis, And A Turning Point;

SPEAKER_00 14:12

I and you know what? I didn't even know that word back then, but I knew I was like, I just I I I trusted the doctors for a couple of years, right? Obviously, what they say, I'm just gonna do. Yeah, and we're just gonna get through this one, and we're just gonna go back to the popcorn factory and just be in popcorn heaven, you know? And it just wasn't like that. And and I and I had a moment, I had a moment, which was I'm on the phone with my folks during COVID, and it's very isolating. And within about a two-week period, I had every doctor that was my doctor in the public sector, which is like a pancreas doctor, my uh my orthopedic, my oncologist, the radiation guy, all of they all were like, You've got pancreas cancer, you're gonna die. And like you'll be dead in a year, and you've got it, and you've got a 5% chance you're not gonna make it. You need to come to the reality of you're not going to make this.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

What did you think in that moment?

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Uh, well, um, I what I did is like these guys are wrong. So I booked appointments, okay, okay, privately with with the basically the same kind of doctors, right? Yeah,$400 a hit to go in and talk to them for an hour in the private thing. They all said the same thing. They're all like, you're not gonna make it. Hear me, dead. I have a report from one of them. Yeah, and like you would be dead in in May of 22. You'll be dead by then. So they're like, you know, Trip. Go home. Your parents were you should spend the rest of your time with them and go do whatever you want to for the year of life that you have left. I'm like, well, I can't do anything because it's COVID. Can't go anywhere, can't do nothing. Oh my gosh. So, I mean, we were locked down, man. I mean, mentally, I annoyed, I had no one to talk to. My roommates and I had had a fallen out over COVID. So I was on no speaking currents and then for a year living, man. It was, I can't even tell you how bad it was. I mean, you just wouldn't believe the thing. I I don't even know how I made it. But um, you know, it got real simple. You know, I'm on the phone with my folks. They were my rock. They were, they were my hope. They were like, when I have a meltdown, they never bought in. They just kept me, they kept me, you know. Well, it was getting like down to like real talking. I'm like, yeah. They're like, well, I'm like, you know, I'm not gonna come home and bankrupt the family because I know we're just spent all the money. Yeah, I know you guys are gonna spend everything you got. I'm gonna die anyway. So I'm gonna die here. And when I do, um, I'll make arrangements to ship me home and you guys can do whatever you want with me. And I said, I'm not coming home to do that to you. I you're not I do not want you to be sad and broke.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

It's just being sad's bad, yeah. Being sad and broke is worse. And I do not want to do that. I don't want to, I don't want my I don't want my going out party to be that. Yeah. And um, you know, I was on I was on the phone with my folks after the pancreas doctor appointment. And you know, he just I mean, he just ripped, you know, ripped in. He just told me, you know, like you're not gonna make this, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Call him after. And they had given up.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

What doctors had given up.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

My parents had given up.

SPEAKER_02 17:12

Uh what are they gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Yeah, their kids halfway across the world, he's by themselves by himself. They can't visit me because we can't get in the country. Right. I I I'm not coming home. I've told them what I'm doing, and I'm like, oh no. And it took me back to when my brother's friend passed away and and watching his parents go through that and have to bury him.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

And my and one of my really good friends in New Zealand, uh, about six months before I had cancer, he took his life. And watching his wife and and his parents deal with that. And I'm like, this ain't happening on my watch. I gotta figure this out. I am not, I I, you know So that was a turning point for you. That that was that was it. I was like, you know what? I have been uh I've been on cruise control, listening to all these guys.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

That was the moment where you decided I'm not gonna be a victim to this, I'm gonna conquer this.

Rewiring The Brain: Win Today;

SPEAKER_00 18:09

I heard the voice that my dad said when he talked to the doctor about my leg, and he said, Trent is a fighter, he is not a quitter. We don't care what you say, just leave that leg, he'll make it work. And if you want to cut it off, cut it off next year. But if you cut it off now, he doesn't have a chance and he'll never recover. You are going to mess him up forever. And um, my dad was like, You just you you've been telling for six months.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

Was this in New Zealand or was it cure?

SPEAKER_00 18:35

All New Zealand.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

That's New Zealand. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Yep. So then and the doctor came back. It was like, I'll leave the leg, but I'm not guaranteeing functionality or feeling it's gonna be shorter than the other. I highly recommend customers.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

So you did your first surgery in New Zealand.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

I did, I did um uh, well, yeah, I did I'm a yeah, I did about 20 surgeries.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Oh my gosh. But your um hip surgery.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've had I had six or seven hip surgeries in New Zealand. Yeah. Okay. And then like four here, full five.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

At the Mayo Clinic. Correct. And that's who finally fixed it. They fixed their fixed. Thank you, Mayo Clinic.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Yeah, they fixed this, they fixed the hip, but I had to fix this. Right. I'm in control of this.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

Yeah. What how did you what was your mindset like? And how did you speak to yourself during the times when your body was just completely failing you?

SPEAKER_00 19:22

I mean, you know, I've got I've got this leg shorter than the other. I'm on crutches. I've been on crutches for two years. Okay. I it's infected. They couldn't fix it. I mean, like, we did everything. It was infected and hurt, like, you know, like when you get a splinter and then you get an infected splinter.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

You know how much it it's there's no way for us to understand that.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

Okay. I mean, you just I just it's it's it's beyond. I mean, I'm in constant chronic hip pain. I just had my lung surgery, so that hadn't healed up and that got infected, and they and they fixed that. Um they they mismanaged me when they discharged me with medication. So I was having withdrawal, I was a mess, I was a wreck. And um how did you how did you get your mind straight through all that? You know, when I had when when I had that moment, that turning point, yes, I was like, you have to change everything and you can't do it all at one time. Your diet, that's easy, right? Either do it, you either eat this or you eat this. Okay, ease. I think well, self-control-wise, maybe not easy, but okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

For you in that moment, guidelines, easy that's something that you could control when there was everything else around you that you couldn't control, you were like, I'm gonna take control of why I can take control.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Exactly. And it's and it's uh, you know, um, I'm gonna take what I got. Yeah, and I'm and I I'm gonna figure this out. Yeah. Because I never had a problem in my business I couldn't figure out. It wasn't about like how much time, whichever, how much money, how much frustration am I gonna spend because there's an answer.

SPEAKER_02 21:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

And I thought, well, this is the ultimate game.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

When those moments came though, when you wanted to give up, how did you overcome those thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 21:09

The reason?

SPEAKER_02 21:10

Because I know the thoughts had to have come. Oh when you were in excruciating pain. But what it how did you how did you combat that? What did you do? What did you tell yourself?

SPEAKER_00 21:19

Um the reason, the reason you're doing something has to outweigh the goal. And let me tell you what I mean by that. My goal was to stay alive, right? I just want my my my goal even today is to outlive my parents. Yeah, because I promised them I'm gonna bury them. Yeah. I they're not burying me. It's just not gonna happen. I don't know how, but I do and I don't yeah, it it I don't have to have an answer to that.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

All I have to do Well, you beat cancer, so yeah, yeah, yeah. You beat cancer three times three times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So and I help people do that now. Yeah. It's it's the most rewarding and you also have a podcast. What is the name of your podcast?

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Conqueror's Crew.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Conqueror's Crew. And you're a patient advocate and you help other people that are battling cancer, reprogram their brains, get their mindset straight, and patient advocacy.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Yeah. Yeah. That's really what it's you know.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

You So you found a passion through this and a purpose to like help other people.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

I had to.

Faith, Support, And Accepting Help;

SPEAKER_02 22:24

I think that's where you and I kind of relate, you know? Um it's um we talked about this the other day, you know, um, a lot of people, there's a stigma to mental health and suicide. And yeah, um, I I heard this the other day. It's like you don't tell somebody that's dying with brain cancer what's wrong with you. Why did you die from brain cancer? You had all the resources. So why'd you do that? Yeah, you don't, you don't, you don't do that. And you also don't do that to somebody that is struggling with suicide or is dying by suicide because it's really a disease of the brain that has to be reprogrammed and chemicals and and there's just just so many layers to what people go through when they're struggling. And pain is pain, you know? It is, and whether it's in the mind and the body, and yeah, and it's it's amazing how far you've come and what you're doing now and how you've turned your situation into like truly helping others and creating such a fulfilling life. Like when I look at you and I'm like, I love that guy. I love I freaking love that guy for what you're doing for your community. Um, and then also put it in terms of people that do want to kill themselves that don't have cancer, right?

SPEAKER_04 23:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

And there's just a whole nother layer to that. And um I, you know, I'm grateful you're here and I'm grateful that you made it through all this.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Yeah, you know, the the doing doing this right here, this is why I'm still here.

SPEAKER_03 23:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

I know because I meet me and God, we got in some fights, he got cussed. I mean, we had some knockdown drag out.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

But you know what? But you know what? I mean, we made a deal.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

We made a deal. I said, if you help me figure out a way to do this, and I'm not supposed to be able to do that. It is a miracle that I'm sitting here right now. Yeah. It's a miracle that I have the largest hip implant ever put into a human being with things, with rods and screws that that they've never even tried before, and it's all held together. That that's why I'm here. That's why, that's why I just know. And so if I made a deal, like you're gonna be listening to it. I have to keep, yeah. I and my and my part is integrity. Tell my story. Yeah, just tell my story, and they'll get what they need. Yeah, and I don't have to worry about that. So I we're both here. Yeah, I'm not wear both here. Yeah, you know, like I don't worry about the why because I want to. How's it gonna work out? What are the steps that you know what? I had to reprogram my mind because I am a strong-willed yeah, and after somebody tells you you have eight, eight different surgeons go, you're gonna make to have the kahunas to go, you're wrong. I tell them an appointment. I tell them, and they just be like, you're kind of crazy. I'm like, you gotta be crazy.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

I mean, that just goes to show that science can only go so far. And you know, I know that you believe in Jesus Christ and you're uh follower. Yep. Um let me uh let me ask you, yes, absolutely. That's right. Whether you, you know, have having to lean on something other than ourselves and believe in something greater than ourselves and having that faith that we can make it that can move mountains.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

And I I'm not, I don't, I'm not here to quab squabble about like, is it God or is it Buddha or Allah or something?

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Yeah, there is something higher power, yeah, exactly, whatever you want to call it. Um this is big for men. Um, how did you learn to accept help when you needed it? Because as stubborn as you are, I'm just imagining if I could have been a fly in a wall. How did you learn to accept help? Because I know that had to have been hard.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

I just had to come to the end of myself. You know, um, I mean, I am a difficult patient. I I mean, they they would say me and I'd say, you know what? I I'll I'll be back this afternoon. I'm going to work. And they're like, what? And I just go get an Uber and I go to my office. Because I I had to have my baby. Yeah. I don't understand. You have to structure. When you when you have these things, and then you you need to try to keep your structure, your routine, your stuff. And you and you can't go at a hundred percent, but still go to work. Do what you can do. But don't you, you know, because I I you lose you lose your you lose your ground. Don't stop moving.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

Yes. Don't stop moving. You gotta keep moving. That's right. Um, what is that quote? It says a body that stays in motion is in motion. Something like them. Something like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

It's like oh my gosh. I don't do that with on Parker the Parker show. No, y'all show was about like movement, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

It was, but um, no, it's like uh a body that stays in motion will continue in motion. It's uh it's a it's one of the laws of the universe, but no, that but it's true, it's true.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

It is true, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

I mean what was what was the moment that you realized that your story could help other people? And what was the moment where you're like, I want to do this? At what point in your journey did that start? Because I feel like that is like I'm interested. Um, you know what? I mean, I I was a popcorn man.

SPEAKER_00 27:25

Yeah, I mean I was a popcorn guy. Yeah. So I almost I mean, that was my thing, you know. I mean, as sexy as popcorn is, I mean, I'll you know, so that gave me my belonging and my and everything. Yeah. And so I was still on that, man. I mean, I I I worked, I I ran it remotely from here for three years. Yeah. And it got to a point where I just like I I had to give ready, I had to sell it. Yeah. Wasn't fair to the business, wasn't fair to my team, wasn't it? Anyways, um, it it was um I people just say, like, oh, well, what do you you know, what happened? And um, most people thought I like my leg, right? I hurt my ankle. And I'm like, oh, what happened? And I'm like, I'm just the kind of guy, like, I'm not gonna tell a fit. I'm just not, I'm not gonna, and I usually kind of talk too much. So um I kind of you know tell my story and people are like, wow, that's that's amazing. And um, I just never really thought any. I never really thought that. I just like dude, I'm just trying to stay alive. Yeah. I mean, I you know, like I just want I just I just want to be like, I just want to be normal.

SPEAKER_03 28:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

I just I well, I just don't want people to look at me. I don't want any sympathy. I just want to walk into a room and I have my I don't want anybody to see my scars. I just want to be just treat me like everybody else, you know?

SPEAKER_02 28:38

Yeah. And um I can I can kind of relate to that because you know, when my dad and brother died, it was like, oh, she's the girl that her dad killed himself or the brother, you know, and that was that was I was uh I was like I don't I don't I don't want the sympathy. It's like yeah, I know, and you know, you can tell when someone's going through a hard time, but not everybody wants to yeah, we want to be checked on, but not pitied. I don't I don't like pity.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

That were that was the part that I got in my worst mental health okay where I nearly took my life. I think it's close. I close as close as in uh very very like how am I gonna you were losing hope. I I my hope was gone.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

Yeah.

Custom Mega Hip And Daily Adaptations;

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Um there was a two or the three-week period where when I had gotten diagnosed, my team was like, Hey, yeah, you just stay home, just stay home, and you can just do do whatever, just take care of yourself. And I'm like, Thank God, these guys call me, bring me off the wall. Yeah, and I'm gonna relate. Yeah, and then after about a week, you realize they were just pitying you. And I'm like, okay, I will watch the news, I watched a couple talk shows, they make you sad. Yeah, and then it's like uh it's 10:30 or 11 o'clock. I'm like, who am I gonna go to lunch with? No one, and everybody's at work. Well, what am I gonna do after work? Nothing because we're locked down. Yeah, the only thing I had to do is like, and my work became my my my identity, yes, yeah, and it's not the greatest thing, no, but it kept my day to day, and because I was sitting at the house, you know, and I and I'm having this medication thing going on, yeah, and I'm looking outside the window going, I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna do that, and you know what? I had to get in my truck, go traveling home, yeah, loot leave the situation, yeah. You're right, because I start getting myself and I'd be like, This is what I'm gonna do, this and do that. I I just can't do it anymore. I I'm done. I I'm walking, I'm I'm done, I'm done. They've told me I'm done, I'm done.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

Yeah. So just like a constant mental battle, but then that something just kept saying, no, you can make it stay. And yeah, part of that, what I'm hearing you say is like your your love for your family and your parents.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

And I made a promise.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

Made a promise.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

I made a deal. I'm gonna deal with God and I made a deal with myself about my parents. Yeah. And um, I'm gonna let you down. Yeah. You know, like if I'm going out, baby, I'm going out like he he did, he did it, he did it to his last breath. He did exactly what he said he was gonna do, and he did it and go out a chance.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

You know, I didn't go out a quitter, yeah. You know, and and and uh, you know, that that was me. That's what worked for me. Yep. Um, but I I I mean, I was so I was so like I I I'm like I this isn't gonna work. I mean, I'm listening to your experts. Practical, practical facts, facts, yeah, right. And I learned it and I was doing neuroplasticity, and I didn't even know I talked to a cell out loud and I lie to myself. Yes, a lie to my brain, just going like, you're gonna win, you're gonna beat this. And I seriously, I I would do that.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

I love this. I love this so much, and and I really want to capitalize on this because you know that's why I opened up the nonprofit. And when you told me you were reprogramming your brain, I was like, that's it, because that's what worked for me. You know, I wouldn't fake it till you make it, right? Like, I would not let my feet touch the ground until I told myself, I'm going to have a great day. And I would be like, I'm gonna have a great day. I'm gonna have a great day. I'm gonna have a great day. And I would say it and it didn't feel authentic.

SPEAKER_04 32:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

But that is reprogramming the brain because, like, even though you're already tricked into believing that you're gonna have a shitty day because your dad and brother died or because you have cancer and you can't go anywhere. Yep. And so your brain is already in that loop, it's in that survival mode.

SPEAKER_04 32:23

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

And so, in order to break it, and that's where you know, I learned Dr. Joe Dispenza, and this just came naturally to you, which is amazing. It's it's one of our superpowers, actually. As human beings, neuroplasticity is one of our superpowers. Yeah, and it's amazing when we can get control of the brain. Yeah, and I, you know, until finally one day, I think took 90 days.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

It took me nine months.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

Took me, well, no, I'm let me finish. It took me 90 days just to where I could crack a smile, a half smile, or walk outside my apartment. I have blankets on the windows. Oh, you were in deep. I was deep dog, yes.

SPEAKER_04 33:00

I've been there.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

But finally, like going outside, having the courage to like go back outside after 90 days. And let me ask you, was it that bad? What you went outside of your life? Fresh air. Like you said, you know, little moments helped you one step at a time.

Small Changes, Momentum, And Routine;

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Just when today. Yeah, just when today, tomorrow, next year, in a year, yeah. Who cares about a year?

SPEAKER_03 33:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

Yeah. You know, and if you win today, if you win today, yeah, you're living, baby.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

And and I love what you just said. You were like, I'm gonna beat this, I'm gonna beat this. And then in the back of your mind, you got the you got the angel, you got the devil, and then the double saying, like, you're not gonna beat it. But you kept saying, I'm gonna beat this, I'm gonna beat this.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

You know what?

SPEAKER_02 33:44

And that is what reprogramming your brain is. I would get in my truck, and you'd be cancer three times.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

I would get in my truck and I would put on you. We all got songs we like, right? Yeah, like this is a song right now, and I play that over and over and over, and I ride around my truck and I yell at myself, you're gonna win. And like, because you know, you're always yelling and screaming at my I'm serious, yeah. I'm dead ass serious. Like, I'm gonna die anyways, I don't care what you think. Like, I did, I didn't, I didn't even know what I was doing. And I'll tell you this. This is this is the the the the the the the the it right yeah, this is the deal, okay. I would find something that resonated with me. Okay, yeah, a song, um maybe um a self-help teaching, yeah, or or a um or a um a um a yoga um like little little 10-minute like little something that fell in alignment with you. I would find that it it once it hit me, yep, you know what? I'd play it over it. I would play it day and night, all the time, while I'm sleeping. Well I mean it what I knew if I play this while I'm asleep, it's gonna get in my head. I didn't even know about the subconscious state. Yeah, I know about it now. I didn't know about them. Yeah, just like I gotta put this in my head, why make it my dreams? Yes. Uh you know, and that's what I and and I love that do that. I I am not, I have no word of lie, man. I would play if it was a if it was a sermon about miracles, if it was like a little self-help thing, if it was I would play it and play it and play. And here was the way I knew that I got it. I would wake up in the middle of the night and I'm singing that song out loud to myself out loud. Yeah. Or when I wake up, the first thing I think of is like, like, yeah, it's in there. Move on to the next one, bud.

SPEAKER_02 35:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Then I can move on to my next thing.

SPEAKER_02 35:38

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

And sometimes you forget because we're human. And he's like, you better go back. You need to do a reminder.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

You don't, you know what that sounds like to me though? Dr. Joe does talks about it in one of his workshops. And you basically uh connected yourself to what it would feel like to be cancer free or to have beat it. And once you connect yourself with that feeling, because everything in in this world is a vibration, it's an energy. And once you connect yourself with that feeling, that's probably what made it possible for your healing.

SPEAKER_00 36:11

I have no doubt.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

I mean, Dispenza talks about being he got hit by a Mac truck on his bike. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Yep.

The Football Playbook Mindset;

SPEAKER_02 36:16

He had to have back surgery, all these things. And he reprogrammed and like healed his spine, you know, lots of different things, kind of like the doctors told him. Very similar story to you. Um, hey, you're not gonna make it, you need to have the surgery. But if you do the surgery, you know, don't quote me on this. But Dispenza has a story, you guys shouldn't look it up. Yeah, but anyways, that's what, you know, that's what that's ultimately why we're here. Yeah. Um, what would you say to someone who is quietly struggling right now that is battling cancer and feels like giving up? Something short and sweet that they can just remember.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Like if you could think of something I it take a step back, take a deep breath, and the that that diagnosis is is way out. It's way out there. Work on what you need to right now, in this moment today. Yeah, just try to win today. If you can't win today, get yourself to lunch. There you go. You know, and then and and because we all do this, we all do this when we go home and we lay down and it's quiet and trying to say, What do you do? Think about your day. Yeah, think about your day. Yeah, and what and my way, I have a simple question did I win today or did I not?

SPEAKER_03 37:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

And if I did, good job do it again tomorrow. If I didn't, okay, what am I gonna change? And it's just it you can't do it all at once. If you if you if you just tick one degree, one degree, one degree, you take some time to turn this thing all away.

SPEAKER_02 37:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

So it it's just it is I love that.

SPEAKER_02 37:45

Did I win today?

SPEAKER_00 37:46

And you know what? You know what I did? I mean, what what what really worked for me is I I I I detached from me, from my life, from and I and I I was like, I was I was watching, I was watching it. When I went into the when I went into the doctor, I take my notebook, you know myself, I'd act like I was taking notes, I was doing this for somebody else. I mean, like I just, you know, I was I was going, I was being an advocate for myself. That's amazing. Advocate mode.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

You detach emotionally and then yeah, that's how you dealt with it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:20

Right. Yeah. Um, but you just you you just whoa, whoa, whoa. Right? And most of the time, if you get a diagnosis, they don't know you. Yeah, they're doing the best they can with their it is practicing medicine. Right. We're practicing living, we are practicing adulting because we're not perfect. And you know what?

SPEAKER_02 38:44

You've defined what works for you, is what I'm hearing you say.

SPEAKER_00 38:48

I trust me more than I trust them. I take their advice on. Yeah, I'm making the call of this and not giving that over to somebody I don't even know. Yeah. I'm gonna make me, myself, and I, we're all gonna have a talk. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

Well, didn't the Mayo Clinic make you the very first um prosthetic hip, or it was a custom piece? I saw it on the news.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

Yeah, yeah. This is it. This is the multi-million dollar hip piece. I hold it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is amazing. I should have brought, I should have brought the um the like my my um You go this way, the mold, the mold of my this way. Yeah, basically. Yeah, yeah, and this is the hip joint. Yeah, because of yeah, it'll go in like that. So all these things, all this right here is like where they put rods in and stuff. So I got I got now. You can walk. Yep. Yeah, I've got I got a cane. I'm a cool yeah, I'm a cool cane guy. Yeah, crutches.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

You can just you trip trip the trip the bullies. I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

Yeah, I know. Actually, you know what it's good for? Get all from underneath the the you know, the TV standing over for Zadie, you know. Yeah, for yeah, I love that. Yeah, get a dog, man. Get a dog, please. Get a dog, it'll help.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

Right? So true. All right. So if you have cancer, you're battling cancer, get a dog.

Key Mantras And Final Resources

SPEAKER_00 40:05

Um it really it's about little things. Change the little things, just you know, like change something, quit, quit eating 20 cookies a day. Yeah, eat to a full. There you go. Don't, don't, don't do something, don't go so drastic that you get yourself angry, right? You gotta find a middle ground, gotta find moderation, gotta find something in there to where I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, but I'm also living. Yeah. And it's not easy. Yeah, because I'm all in or I'm not. Yeah, I'm not I want to waste my time. Yeah, it's a waste. Yeah. So it's really hard for you're all in or you're not. And you know what? I um I turned my life into like a football game. That's what I thought about it like because it was easier because it was like it was because then it wasn't so personal.

SPEAKER_03 40:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

And and it was like, well, you know, like, man, you lost some yardage today. But if you can get a first down if you can do this and this through the for the rest of the week, you'll probably you're gonna get a first down, and then you get a reset. Yeah. And you know, my touchdowns are like bee cancer. Yeah, get a hip implant. And it's like, yeah, you know, my my friends are are the players on my team.

SPEAKER_03 41:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:19

The coaches are, you know, or the doctors or or whatever. And it's like, you know what? This this is this we we need a special play. I gotta, I gotta change a few of the players out. Yeah, and then the right. And here's the deal. I'm the QB. Right. This is my I'm QB. This is my team. When I get to the line, I look around and I'm calling the play. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:42

It's all when somebody says we're gonna, you know, amputate your leg, you are like, no, you're not. Well, you're like, hold on.

SPEAKER_00 41:50

My dad, well, I was, yeah, but my dad, my dad has done two or three things um that if he didn't step in like that, yeah, I I I wouldn't, I wouldn't be here.

SPEAKER_02 42:01

And you guys, that just goes to show the support system is so um important. So, like throughout this podcast, I just heard you say, like, you know, isolation, support system, and did I win today?

SPEAKER_01 42:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

So you guys heard it first here from Trent Brock three times Cancer Conqueror. Um, if you guys want to read his book, Breaking the Silence, he had that out. And then he has a podcast called Conqueror's Crew. Conqueror's Crew. If you guys want to go and give him a follow, if you're battling cancer, I know he is a consultant and a life coach. Um if you are struggling, um, please reach out. You guys know where to find him. And is there anything else that you'd like to say to our audience or a message, one last message that you would like them to hear to hear today?

SPEAKER_00 42:46

If you're in a bad spot, take a few minutes, gather all that you have up and get a hold of somebody. There you go. Talk to somebody.

SPEAKER_02 42:56

Reach out and write, you guys.

SPEAKER_00 42:58

You know what? If you can just muster just enough to make that one call, then the the the they will they will come to you. Yes, they will meet you where you are. Yeah, and if they don't, call again.

unknown 43:10

They aren't right.

SPEAKER_00 43:10

Yeah, the right person. Call the look in. And here's the thing. That's right. You pick who you want on your team, and it's not always perfect. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 43:18

So, you know, like and also this reminds me if you are struggling or battling cancer and you're thinking about giving up, you can text 988 and they will get you connected to resources. So if you don't have anybody in your life, if you if you don't have a a parent, a brother, or a sister or somebody, you're out there and you are alone, um, call 988 and they will get you connected with a resource and try to get you on that right path. But whatever you do, don't give up. Thank you guys for listening to Justin Time podcast, and we'll see you next time.