Life, Wellness, and the "Marathon Mindset"

Life, Wellness, and the "Marathon Mindset"

In this raw and intimate "living room session," Ashley, Collin, and Brian sit down to pass a single mic and share a major life update. This isn't your typical clinical podcast; it’s a deep dive into the "Not Alone" mission that defines The Making Of.

From Brian’s miraculous PET scan results to a surprise marathon challenge and the role of AI in personal wellness, this episode explores the grit required to navigate the "messy middle" of both dentistry and life.

Key Discussion Points

• The Miraculous Update: Brian shares the incredible news that his tumor has responded to chemo and immunotherapy beyond expectations—showing no current evidence of existence on his latest PET scan.
• The Decision to Act: Despite the clear scan, the team discusses why surgery remains the necessary next step to ensure "dysplastic cells" don't create a monster down the road.
• The CIM Marathon Challenge: Brian officially puts the "nail in the coffin" by challenging Ashley and Collin to run the California International Marathon (CIM) this December. It’s a 9-month journey from recovery to the finish line.
• Mindset & Control: Brian reflects on the struggle of losing his identity as an athlete during chemo and how this marathon represents taking back control of his body and health.
• AI in Wellness: Collin explains how she’s been using Gemini AI as a digital personal trainer and nutritionist to bridge the gap between setting goals and executing them.
• Plant-Forward Living: The trio discusses the realities of a whole-food, plant-based diet, the struggle for protein, and Ashley’s latest kitchen experiment: a sourdough starter made from macerated grapes.
• The Power of Prayer: Ashley shares her mindset heading into Brian’s major surgery, leaning on faith and the strength of the community to get through the "rabbit hole" of anxiety.

A Special Request for Our Tribe 🙏

Brian is heading into major surgery this week, followed by a stay in the ICU. We are asking our community to rally around the Joves family. Please keep them in your prayers and thoughts for a successful procedure and a steady recovery. No one goes through the "messy middle" alone.

Thank You to Our Partners

• Net 32: The dental marketplace that helps practice owners stop overpaying for supplies. Compare and save at net32.com/themakingof.
• Kasper Opportunity Finder: Fill those empty chairs and reclaim lost revenue with one click. Get it free at meetkasper.com/register.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the Making of Podcast. I'm your co-host, Ashley Hovez. I'm Colin Al Samary.

SPEAKER_04 0:17

And I'm Brian. And we're sitting on chairs in our living room today.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Yeah, we're going to be passing around the mic. Sorry, guys. We don't have a real setup for this interview style. We're just going to go with it because Colin's over and the three of us are actually in person together, which you know has not happened in a minute. No, yeah. It's been a while. So why not record a podcast in the comfort of our own home? And yeah, we're just going to give you guys some life updates. I think we've all just been really invested in our own personal wellness journeys, especially with all the things that have been going on with Brian. So yeah, we'll just kick it off.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

Can I just say how cute this setup is? I was not expecting this when I came over this morning. And Ashley, in you know, usual Ashley fashion decided that we were gonna switch it up and we rearranged furniture. So you have to watch on YouTube to see how cute it is.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

I think it's pretty cute. And when we can figure out having multiple cameras, we can even do those like where you zoom in on the guest face.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Yeah, I like it.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Because right now it's just a wide shot. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

And I like how um you made Ryan sit in the middle so that you and I can see it. Okay, yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

We so Colin and I are on the edges. We're on the ends so that we can sit sideways because that is a more flattering angle for women. Wait, are you on your good side?

SPEAKER_03 1:53

Do we need to every side?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Is that I mean, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

I think we're far enough away from the camera, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

But Brian kept trying to put me in the center. No woman, ladies, you can agree with me on this one, right? Like, no woman wants to be straight on in the center. That's like the most unflattering angle.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Okay, anyways, so yesterday, Ashley and I were on a walk, and was it yesterday? I don't even, I actually don't even remember when it was. Um, but I've been thinking about what this whole wellness journey for myself is going to look like post-surgery, post-radiation. I can't wait to have to feel like I'm back in control of some semblance of my health. And so I should be hopefully finishing up everything late spring, early summer. So I actually challenged Ashley to join me in the California International Marathon. I have been a runner in a past life, uh, but I never ran a full-length marathon. I've run many half marathons. Um, and I figure it's been a while since I have run distance. And what better way to give myself a challenge to kind of really focus on my health and regaining my fitness rather than running a marathon at the end of the year after dealing with all of this fun cancer stuff for the six months prior.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

And I I can't shy away from a challenge. Well, and especially now that this is on the podcast, like I feel like I have to. And then Brian brought it up just to put the nail in the coffin, he brought it up in front of Colin, who is a legitimate runner. And now Colin's like, I want to do it with you, so now I can't, I can't go back.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

I have been looking for another race to do because I haven't I didn't do one last year, and so I feel like as soon as Brian said that, like, yes, I will do it with you. Okay, because we know Brian's gonna be faster, anyways. He's he's like a fast runner. Didn't you do um like a Spartan or something?

SPEAKER_04 4:07

I did a Spartan last year, the year before? Yeah, two years ago.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

I think that was only 10 miles, only, but it's like a difficult 10 miles, like you're doing stuff with the 10 miles, right?

SPEAKER_04 4:16

Yeah, but it wasn't fast.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

What's not fast for you?

SPEAKER_04 4:20

Oh, I don't know, I don't even remember the time. But yeah, so yes, I the last time that I actually ran a length a race, I mean it was probably you know 10 miles or or so of a trail run. Uh, and I probably used to average about an eight-minute mile. But once again, I'm gonna be starting from six months of chemo surgery and radiation. And so I don't think that my goal is gonna be that fast. I and and frankly, the reason why I've never run a marathon was because when I was running, I would only want to run if I knew that I could achieve the times that I wanted to achieve. And so I think this is gonna be a different story because it's gonna be about completing it and doing it well, not doing it for time.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

So just getting it done. Because that's still finishing a marathon, whether it's fast or not.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Yeah, and he's still gonna, he's probably gonna PR. Let's not get it twisted. You knowing you, you are definitely still going to try to get a PR.

SPEAKER_03 5:33

I don't think I have ever run an eight-minute mile, so let's just start there.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

I don't think I've ever run a mile. Actually, um, I woke up early today. Well, not I wait, I wake up about 5 a.m. every day. That's early. It's pretty early. And I I got up and I did not want to work out um every day. And I thought about this challenge and I made myself get on the tread. So I started with scrolling because you know that's the best, you know, way to dilly dally. And then I landed on a 60-minute walk run, and I was like, there's no way I can even finish this. Like I really did not think very highly of what I could do. And 60 minutes later, I had completed my four miles, so I'm very happy about that. I mean, it was a walk run, but I did run five minutes straight, and that is like a record in my uh current condition.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

That's impressive. It really is. I mean, and I was trying to say this earlier too walk-run method, like people do marathons that way. Like it's actually a method that some people do if you're not like a crazy runner, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

I am I'm now I now I'm really excited to to do this. Gosh, I guess we're doing this.

SPEAKER_03 7:03

It's kind of addictive, just so you know, once you start.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Yeah, I think so. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I don't think I've ever been addicted to exercise. I wish I was.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Both of my parents had run marathons, and I had always told myself, I will never be a runner. Like I had no interest in it. But then once I started, like you can't stop. You do get that high.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Okay, I will hold you to that and let's see how this training goes. So, four miles down today. I'm impressed.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

We really live like in an area too, where when you're outdoors, it's so beautiful around here. Like the trails that we have around the lake and everything. That's my favorite part of running, actually.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

So it's and I only discovered the trails like what last year, the year before. I was like, when did this happen? Like, is this new? And Brian's like, no, we've always had trails. It would have been nice to know that during COVID. It's did I not? I was not even aware. Okay, that's enough.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

I have a question for Brian. So, when can you start working out and like doing this stuff more? You said after radiation.

SPEAKER_04 8:20

I think it depends on who you ask.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 8:24

Um, for sure, I would say that I'm sure the surgeons would say that you know, four to six weeks after surgery would be the time that you can actually start to um, you know, gently start moving that tissue in the area. Well, so like obviously with having a neck dissection again, you know, that's gonna be a big part is kind of regaining the strength and in the neck and and all that. And that part took a while last time. Um, so I'm sure it'll take a while again to feel comfortable moving. And then they tell me, I haven't ever done radiation, but they tell me that the beginning of radiation is is not so bad, but the second half as the radiation starts to build up in your body is when people get a lot of fatigue. And and so, you know, I was talking to uh one of the surgeons yesterday and just trying to kind of game plan in my head because of course I have been out of work for the past three months. I love what I do, I love treating patients. And in my head, I'm like, oh, okay, let's see. Last time after surgery, I went back three weeks afterwards. Obviously, the surgery is gonna be a little bit bigger, so maybe four weeks afterwards, I can start thinking about what that's gonna look like.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 9:34

And he was like, Yeah, well, you know, probably the beginning of radiation, you know, you might be able to have some energy and be able to do a little bit. And I've seen people work through the first couple of weeks of radiation, but it does build up and people tend to be pretty wiped out uh in the second half. So it's six weeks long. So he said, like, you know, really that last three weeks he said people are pretty wiped out. I don't know. I was telling Ashley yesterday as we were walking that I, as far as my fitness is concerned, I have these really unrealistic goals and expectations of myself. I thought that I was going to be able to maintain my normal workout regimen through chemo, okay. Uh, which was proven wrong. I was not able to do that. My body argued against it and and broke out in rashes and it was basically telling me that I was overdoing it. And so, but in my head, I'm like, I'm sure my body can do that. My body is kind of done a lot of what I've wanted it to do over the years.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

I'm excited to see it just even this tail end of chemo for Brian. I mean, his energy is has been through the roof, and it's really nice, it's really nice to see him come back. And um, Brian's sense of self, sense of identity is very much tied to his athletic prowess. So the fact that he has been able to do a few workouts now, right? Like a few workouts, and and he's been great. Of course he has. And um, he's just been in a better mood. So it's nice to have my husband back. Yeah. Yeah, don't I won't get too sappy on this one. I don't want to make Colin uncomfortable. No, but it just seeing this this rise and fall of his health. We're in a great mind space right now where things are looking up, everything is uh going according to plan, and now we're just getting ready to conquer this surgery.

SPEAKER_03 11:41

Yeah, yeah, I don't see you guys as often anymore, but I will say I I do feel like Brian is in a he's like chippy today.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Oh, you should have seen him yesterday.

SPEAKER_03 11:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

I was like, who are you? Like, why are you so happy?

SPEAKER_03 11:58

Yeah, why are you so happy, Roman?

SPEAKER_01 12:02

This is unlike the regular Brian.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

You do seem to have more energy though, I think, just from when I've seen you through the last couple weeks. You seem tired more often.

SPEAKER_04 12:14

Yeah, I think that's probably a fair assessment. I think I think overall, you know, chemo was um was a little bit more it I think it drained me more than I wanted it to or expected it to. But yeah, definitely feeling in a good place. And you know, my body is getting a little bit extra time to recover as we head into surgery. And so because we want to have the surgery a little bit farther out from chemo than than the spacing of the infusions. And so yeah, it's definitely it definitely feels good to be a little bit away from all that poison running through my body. Um, I mean, and I think a lot of it also is just positive news and everything else really lends to you know feeling feeling a lot better. There's a lot more optimism uh that I can see, you know, definitely seeing the light of the in the tunnel a lot better than we were, you know, in the past couple months.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Colin, what's going on with your health right now? You had an appointment today.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

I did. This is not as exciting of running a marinade. It's very important, but it's important. Um, I had like a spot on my nose. It's actually really red. I don't think you can tell from the camera, but I had a spot on my nose and my forehead that I was concerned about. I'm very fair skinned, and my very first job was working in a tanning salon, and I was like outdoors at the ranch growing up. So I do have a lot of like sunspots and damage from just being outdoors. But I had a spot on my nose that had been there for a while, but it's was I never noticed it. Well, I wear a lot of makeup.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

No, you don't.

SPEAKER_03 13:49

Um, but it was growing a little bit. So I wanted to have it checked out. And initially, I don't know, there was like some confusion with the reports from the dermatologist and the assistant that was trying to get me scheduled said the spot on my nose wasn't of concern, but the spot on my forehead was. And so I went in today thinking that they were just gonna like freeze off the spot on my forehead. But it was actually the spot on my nose that they were concerned about and not my forehead as much. So they say it's precancerous, but she said the likelihood of that turning into anything is like very minimal.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

So things that look suspicious are like irregular formed.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

Yeah. So the one on my nose, like the skin was just different, like it was flat, but the color was different, and just the texture of it I could tell was different. And then even when I like run my finger along that spot, the sensation was different too.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 14:52

Yeah, so I knew something was up.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

But when did you first notice it? Oh god, probably like a year ago.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

But nothing ever changed. So I wasn't too concerned until it started to grow. And it was kind of like an irregular shape, too.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

And you slather on sunblock, correct?

SPEAKER_03 15:12

I do now. Oh, it wasn't always the case. No, I was like a tanning girly, like sun out and just like me. Yeah, just like you.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Oh man, you will update us, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_03 15:25

Yeah, for sure. She said once they froze it, I should see it go away in like four to six weeks. And if it doesn't, then I'll go back in.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Gotcha. But I'm not too worried about it. I think it'll be fine. I think you are gonna be just fine too.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

And did you um have you ever talked about your like weight training and all of that? I want to know about your routine.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

You guys, I was doing so good for several months. We mentioned earlier that I like to run. And so cardio was like the only thing I ever liked to do. I hated weight training and going to the gym. I don't like going to gyms. Yeah. Like working out in public is very nerve-wracking for me. But the boys had started going. So Blair wanted to start working out in the gym for baseball. So I was like, okay, I'll go with you. So I was actually incorporating a lot of weight training and cardio, and I was feeling great. And then I got sick in January and I just couldn't shake it. Like the lingering cough and stuff was lasting for a while. So I'm getting back into weight training now.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

But are you using a trainer, an app? I use Gemini AI. Okay, let's talk about how awesome Gemini is. Like I use it for everything nowadays, I feel like.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

Brian was the one that got me onto Chat GPT at first. And I was like, I can't do this. And then I did, and I am obsessed.

SPEAKER_04 16:56

Oh, as a person who worked as a personal trainer for a long time, uh, I will say, particularly for like, I don't want to use the term low end, but like for entry level exercisers, um, I I don't, you know, other than the accountability and obviously the through the training on form that a personal good personal trainer can do, obviously the ability to create a workout uh is now just extremely simplified. I mean, during medical school, uh I was paid by the school to give workout programs to all of the med students. Oh and yeah, and so that was it was actually one of my jobs during medical school was working for the school for the other med students, but they couldn't afford to pay me to actually work with everybody individually. So, really, all I did was I met with them once, showed them a simple workout plan, walked them through their form literally one time. It was like half an hour, um, and then just gave them a workout, which you know, at this point is that job is now completely given to Gemini because that's I there I couldn't make my, I mean, granted, you know, this was 2007, so I probably made$8 an hour from the school, but uh that job is gone. It has replaced been replaced by Gemini or ChatGPT or Claude or whoever you use.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

Yeah, I literally just input like what my goals are, what I'm currently doing, and it gives me like a whole routine based on the week, the day, what I'm feeling. It's like crazy. And diet stuff too. It helps you like oh my gosh, it's it's really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Okay. Off off the air, I want to see what it's having you do. That's really cool. And it'll give you suggestions for weights.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Yeah, it gives me suggestions on different things based on what my goals were. It I upload like everything I do for every workout too, like the weights and all of that. Like in a spreadsheet or I just so on my notes app, I just copy and paste, and then like I'll change like if I went up in weights or something, or like what I've done. And then I copy and paste that into Gemini and it keeps track of everything too. No way. So you can see your progress.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

That's really cool.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

It's crazy. I do feel like it's a personal trainer and a nutritionist, minus, like you said, the form part, but it also like links YouTube videos so you can kind of just see what you're supposed to be doing. Okay, so what does your diet look like these days? Oh, right now it's not so great. But before that, before I got sick, I was doing a ton of protein. That was really, I mean, like, will they say what, like a gram for every pound, basically? Is that kind of the standard?

SPEAKER_01 19:46

I think that's optimal, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:47

Yeah, so I was trying to do that. And then once you're really within like a certain calorie range and you're just trying to get your protein, I feel like the carbs and fat kind of takes care of itself almost.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Are you tracking right now? No, yeah, neither am I. I'm tracking it go in my mouth.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Yeah, I keep telling myself I am. Yeah, are you still doing sourdough?

SPEAKER_01 20:10

I am. Yeah, I am, and so Colin, I I gave Colin a little tour of my starter babies because I have in one mason jar I have a traditional sourdough starter, and in the other one, I have macerated grapes. Or smash grapes. Um, I told Colin I was making wine now too. Um, but I'm actually fermenting the grapes and then using that fermented grape juice to create more bread.

SPEAKER_03 20:45

I love it. It sounds amazing, actually.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Yeah to share. I will definitely keep you posted. I don't, I mean, YouTube, I YouTube knows what I want to see. I've been watching a lot of just cooking videos in general, and um this video popped up on the greatest sourdough starter that this woman came across, and it was from grapes. I was like, okay, I'm so curious now. So I'll keep you posted. I've literally never heard of that, but it's please YouTube it, it's kind of cool. Yeah, yeah. Hey friends, I just want to give some love to Net32 for supporting this episode. If you're a practice owner like me, you know the back end of running a dental office isn't always sexy, but it is necessary. Net32 is an online marketplace where you can compare brands, vendors, and prices all in one place. That means you're not overpaying or wasting time. And when you're building a startup or juggling multiple practices, every dollar and every minute matters. I've used Net32 and it's honestly made a huge difference. Check them out at net32.com slash. The making of. And now let's get back to the show.

SPEAKER_03 22:03

What have you guys been doing now for your diet? Because I think we've talked about this. And maybe I know you guys did like an update yesterday too. Um, if you talk about it more, but you're trying to get a lot of protein, but not animal protein. Yeah. So what does that look like for you guys?

SPEAKER_01 22:19

I think that is where I'm struggling with because I've eliminated chicken, pork, beef. I still love fish. So I mean, we just spent spring break in Southern California. And I mean, I love seafood. Yeah. And we're by the coast. So I still indulged in fish, and I never plan on giving up seafood. Um, so that is definitely a great protein source. Brian has been just, I would say like 99% plants. And I think for Brian, it's been more of a struggle to get his protein, like for where he's at with his body weight. And do you want to talk about that at all?

SPEAKER_04 23:08

Sure. I mean, I've gone vegetarian before. Um, we went whole food, vegetarian, actually, I think vegan, when my fourth year of medical school, so 2011. And at that time, uh, this is when I was really running, like a vegan runner. Like legit, like like legit, legit running. Like I was probably doing 70, 80 miles a week.

SPEAKER_03 23:31

I'm happy if I do that in a month.

SPEAKER_04 23:33

Uh, I probably haven't done that in the past year. Actually, I for sure haven't done that in the past year because I haven't ran since uh definitely since summer. But we went whole food plant-based back then, and quite literally, A, it really helped with recovery from running. Uh I mean, I was already running a lot, but I was, I mean, I I think during that time, it was the end of fourth year of medical school. And so, like, it's kind of I was on like nothing rotations, so I had tons of time on my hands. And, you know, I'd already matched for where I was gonna go for residency, like all of the tests were done, and so it was really just like filling the box and making sure you complete stuff. And so I had a lot of time on my hands, and so I was already running, you know, 50, 60, 70 miles a week. Um, but I would literally run like 10 to 13 miles a day and like not be sore at all the next day. And so this was a really bad combination at the time because we were whole food plant-based, so it wasn't in any of the junk stuff that people sometimes do when they become vegetarian or vegan. And like we just couldn't keep up with being able to eat enough. Like, I was I was pouring weight off, you know, at that time, I'm probably generally in the you know, 185 range or so. Like, I think I got down to you know 170, maybe the high 160s uh without trying. Like I was literally like I was eating as much as I possibly could, but at the time it was just vegetables. We didn't eat anything else, and it's really hard, especially you know, if you're running a thousand, you know, 10 miles a day, which is you know, at least an extra thousand calories. Like it's really hard to get 2800 to 3,000 calories in of just vegetables. Like, I would make these massive salads, and our fridge was just full of chopped vegetables, and it and it was really hard. So eventually Ashley asked me to stop it because she was like, You're just like you're getting too skinny. Not funny it now, but at the time she was like, You look like a cancer patient. Thanks for that. Um, now I am a cancer patient and I am 170 pounds. Uh so we saw the future, but my hair, but I had hair back then. Age 12. I had a lot of hair at that point, but um, so we have now gone back to this whole food plant-based. Um, I think things are a little bit different now. There's a lot more options 15 years later, in terms of finding clean whole food options that have more protein. So we've been doing a lot of tofu, a lot of mushrooms, a lot of chickpeas. Ash made a phenomenal hummus the other day, which even our kids were chowing down on. Uh, granted, they were chowing down on it with her sourdough, so it wasn't quite as healthful as uh if as if they ate it with uh some some cucumbers or something along those lines. But yeah, I mean, I think long term it will be interesting, like especially if we start training it through recovery and then into trying to rebuild a workout plan, like how to get yeah, upwards of 150 to 170 grams of protein. Um, I'm not anti-like using protein supplements and um even using whey supplements. Uh, you know, I'm not I'm I'm I want to be plant forward. I don't want to be like just fixated on it that I'm not really gonna be, you know, doing giving myself some grace with it. So I think I will still have a whey protein. I think because that's gonna be necessary to be able to get the amount of protein that my body needs.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

And I think whey just tastes so much better than pea protein. I it's pea protein is weird.

SPEAKER_04 27:06

Can we can we talk about the raw plant vegan protein that in 2011 there was very, very little options in that realm um for trying to get protein as a vegan? And so there was like maybe two or three companies uh that made a raw or a vegan protein powder, and one of them uh was raw, it was raw garden of vegan garden of life or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 27:33

Oh, I think they do supplements still, right?

SPEAKER_04 27:36

I have no idea. I haven't looked for it and I feel bad, but like quite literally, it was the most disgusting thing I've ever tried in my life. And like I have been a protein aficionado since the days before there was even supplementary, right? Like back in the 90s, when I was in high school and I was like a power lifting, like it was, I mean, I was talking to Colin earlier, like the way that we used to get enough protein was I would just throw cans of tuna into mac and cheese uh to be able to get enough calories and protein when we were lifting in high school. And so, like anybody who has been lifting since that point knows that if when there was a lot of bad ways to get protein, and a lot of the supplementation was really like at that point, I think it was just like just metrics and metrics protein bars are absolutely horrendous. But you know, this was that this garden of whatever was literally the most disgusting thing. Like, I remember the first time trying it in my own. I I'm not a throw up kind of guy, like ever. Um, and I I was it was so bad. So so bad.

SPEAKER_03 28:42

We're not gonna get sponsored by them now.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

I think they still create that same exact protein powder.

SPEAKER_03 28:49

It sounds familiar from Whole Foods or something, probably. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

It was, I mean, the moment you open the container, you're like, oh gosh, no, it's I still want Brian to like eat seafood because there's a lot of healthy omega-3 fats and getting his B12, because if he is strictly vegan, you do have to supplement with B12. And but he's very stubborn and very disciplined. So if Brian puts his mind to something, he will stick to it. And I primarily just wanted him to like kind of bank his protein now because after he goes through surgery, and then he won't be able to eat for who knows how long, like the solid foods. So I don't know. We'll see. Maybe today you'll eat some fish.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

Maybe with Ryan wholeheartedly on this one. Are there? Okay. If you didn't know, I do not touch seafood at all. Are there like seafoods that are better than others? Like white fish versus like shrimp or crab, or does that? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

I think generally speaking, if you are eating like the bigger fish, like tuna or swordfish, you have to watch out for high mercury levels. Um anything that is wild caught is always better than farmed. And omega-3s are very are very prevalent in mackerels, sardines, salmon, I don't know, the bivalves, mollusks.

SPEAKER_03 30:32

Really good. Okay. Yes, yeah. Okay. I was just thinking, like, if there is a seafood that maybe Ryan would introduce. Maybe, no, certain ones.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

I think he's just he's just enjoying being plant-based right now.

SPEAKER_03 30:48

Okay, speaking of that, because you mentioned not being able to eat. What is that gonna look like after your surgery, Brian?

SPEAKER_04 30:56

That's a great question. I will have a NG tube, nasogastric tube for probably the first, I think, five days.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 31:06

Um, so the surgery is going to involve uh going from the inside of a mouth through the floor and then kind of down almost to through those muscles uh and kind of out through the bottom of the neck, that they're going to have to fill that void with a graft that they're gonna get from likely my wrist. And so they have to let that graft heal enough before anything can be introduced through my mouth. So I will have an NG tube where they're gonna put nutrition in for the first few days. And then once they feel like it's healed enough, uh, they'll try on you know, liquids and such. And I mean, for the first, I don't know, week, 10 days maybe after the surgery back in August. I mean, I had basically just protein shakes. I don't think I had much of anything else, uh, protein, protein ice cream.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:58

You know, I think that was kind of the gist of it. Like I remember it being pretty uncomfortable to try to have anything else uh there. And so the cold of the protein shakes, like I would just add extra ice so that everything was like slushy. Um, and so the ice always made everything feel a little bit better. So I imagine once I'm able to uh take some food or some drink by mouth, that's gonna be the vast majority of it. So I'm you know, I would guess it's probably gonna be a similar time frame, a couple of weeks of mostly that, and then trying to slowly reintroduce more. Ash will be juicing a lot for me at that time.

SPEAKER_03 32:36

These are such like random questions when you're talking, but in the hospital, you said they're gonna give you um nutrients. Do you know what it's gonna be? Or like do they honor certain wishes if you're like, I'm more plant-based? Or like how does that I don't things I never thought about, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 32:53

Yeah, no, that's a great question. Uh, I think the sustenance that they do by um nasogastric tube, or if you have um like a gastric tube and getting direct feeding, I think they're pre-made um with a supposed to be an appropriate amount of carbs, protein, and fat to be able to help with healing and and such, but it's not gonna be the purest. It's not it's not like a whole food kind of thing. I joked with Ash if she could like if we can make some juices and she can try to convince them to put some some nice green juice or some carrot juices through the NG tube. Yeah, uh, I I doubt that's an option. Um, but yeah, I mean I think it's you know, there are these pre-made formulations that that they use. Yeah, I don't know off the top of my head if they are you know animal products or more I know that they're likely not very clean.

SPEAKER_03 33:47

Yeah, but like insure like that's what I was kind of thinking was like insure, which is is that mostly dairy based? I don't even know. Yeah, is it fake stuff?

SPEAKER_04 33:55

So it's got a lot of chemicals in it. Yeah, I mean, insure is obviously very common in in hospital settings. Um, it is you know an affordable way that people can get nutrition in. Um, and obviously for the vast majority of people in hospitals, just getting appropriate nutrition in in any way that they can is important for trying to heal. We're being a little nitpicky and uh there's other bigger, bigger picture that you're trying to overcome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean, I think it's it's not gonna be the the setting that you know we're doing everything that we want. You know, it's you know, I'm sure if you're watching some uh TV show about some fancy make-believe hospitals, and they might have these hospitals that exist, but where they have private chefs that make the your diet to uh to exactly your specifications of choice for whatever way that you're doing your diet. I'm sure they exist, but that's not likely the scenario.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

Mindset-wise, how are you feeling going into this um major surgery?

SPEAKER_04 34:57

Mindset-wise, better than going into chemo. I think you know, overall, like the fact that the tumor has responded the way that it has to chemo and immunotherapy, I think just there's definitely, you know, I think still fear, right? I mean, it's surgery, it's a big surgery. When they're telling you you're gonna be hospized for a week and likely in the ICU for a couple of days, like that's always gonna be like some elements of anxiety production there. But compared to a week before we started chemo and we're sitting down, and everybody, you know, all of the specialists that literally see this all the time have can just as confused faces as we do. Um, that was a very different time. And you know, everybody was like, Yeah, we don't have the right answer because this doesn't fall within what studies look at. But the fact that the tumor has responded the way that it has, and we're in this uh situation, just feeling a lot more optimistic. And like I said, I think I really just can't wait to get to the point where it feels like I have some semblance of control. Definitely didn't feel like I had any control going into chemo and kind of throughout that process, my body not responding the way that I hoped it would, and all of that, that was that wasn't a great place to be. And then, you know, we talked about this a little bit yesterday, but also just not being able to exercise, where that is my coping mechanism for for so long that was less than ideal. So if we can kind of get past this initial surgery and out of that kind of immediate healing phase and get to the point where I can have a little bit more control uh and feel like okay, this is now my turn to take over. Everything relies on me and the things that I can do. And I get not obviously nothing ever just relies on me, but I feel like I would have at least a little bit more control to it. It would help me mentally.

SPEAKER_03 36:56

How about you, Ash? How's your mindset?

SPEAKER_01 37:01

I think anytime you have a significant other or you know, a loved one going under, it's always nerve-wracking. And Colin was with me the first go-around for the six hours. Uh and yeah, your your mind goes down a rabbit hole, but we're leaning on prayer, lots of prayer and faith. And if he's optimistic, I'm optimistic. And yeah, going down the rabbit hole doesn't serve anybody. No, it really doesn't.

SPEAKER_03 37:33

Did you guys talk about yesterday the PET scan? And just okay, you did. We did how much it shrunk.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

Yeah, it's pretty miraculous, I would say, is is the word pretty miraculous. Like you comparing what his initial PET scan looked like to where it was it is now, you don't even see uh any evidence that the tumor was even in existence, which is why I keep thinking, like, does he even need the surgery? To which all the specialists are like, No, you still have to cut it out because then you don't know if if these dysplastic cells will one day wake up again, and then this time around not respond to chemo, and then you've created a monster. So it's uh it feels good to be in this place of it's under control right now, and now is the time to act and like just cut it out, Jovez. I just I'm very much looking forward to getting this part of our lives behind us. It's been it's definitely been a a taxing is a very um underwhelming way to put what it's done to our family and and I was trying to keep it together in front of our kids. And it's definitely been a hard season. And I'm ready to I'm ready to run this marathon, like literally and figuratively, like let's go, let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 39:20

I'm stoked. I can't believe I don't think I was ever gonna hear run a marathon from Ashley. Never, and like, yeah. Good job, Brian.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

I'm like, I can do hard things. If if my husband can do hard things, I can do hard things. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:41

I I much prefer this conversation when we're talking about the marathon and talking about exercise. Um I feel like it's a much easier and more fun conversation. You know, the whole time I what I was thinking was I I'm used to talking about the science behind exercise. I was like waiting to be able to fill in and and talk about that. And you guys kind of keep like, don't talk science. I get it, I get it, wrong audience. I one of the things that you brought up earlier though was you know the whole idea of training for a marathon. And obviously, there's a lot of different ways that people can do it. And I think it's I think it's kind of fun. You know, the reason why I talked to Ashley about it in we're in February and uh California National Marathon is in December, is that it's a long time, right? I mean, that's you know, 10 we could call it at least nine plus months to train. So really what I was encouraging her to do was, you know, you she has a few months to build a base. Yes, and really, you know, right now is just about you know, not about pushing the distance, but about trying to do kind of what she did today. And if you can get up to that, you know, three or four times a week, where you can do somewhere between three and five miles, have some the body just used to being active for that that length of time, right? I think there's with running and with anything, it's just about building up the stamina of that particular movement, yeah. And so, you know, for running, most people who start running don't feel the runner's high at first because your body hasn't ever done that, right? And then so you once you get used to moving your legs and moving your body for that hour or so over time, then you can actually start to your body make makes those adaptations, and then you know, really most marathon training plans are about four months, um, maybe even a little bit less. Uh, I I have trained many people over the years to run marathons uh in different ways. When you started your training program, yeah, we're gonna turn now. I get to ask some questions. But when you started your training program, how did you pick a uh plan? Because there's a lot of different ways to approach training for those distances, right? I mean, obviously you brought up walk run as a theory, but then even with that, you have to build in you know long runs and you know progression and things along those lines.

SPEAKER_03 42:01

So I actually joined, I think Fleet Feets across the country, right? They have a training program here in Folsom. Um, so when I did a half marathon, I trained with them for that. And then when they when I decided because I just like finishing a race is just the best feeling ever. So I was like, if I can do a half, I can do a full. So I also joined their program and we met twice a week, long runs on Saturdays, shorter, like interval type runs on midweek, and then they gave you like a plan throughout the week. But like you said, it's pretty much time on feet, right? Is you kind of start to build up to that. Um, so each weekend, I think I would do you start at like five miles and then it goes to seven, and you just kind of slowly progress each weekend, but you never actually go up to 26 when you're training for a marathon. Because once you're once you know that your body can handle just being out there for a long time, 20 miles versus 26 miles really isn't that big of a jump once you've spent every weekend for four months doing something like that. The biggest thing for me I didn't realize, and this kind of goes back to the nutrition side of things was fueling during running. And the initially when I was doing like a half, I never did anything. But once I learned to fuel on long runs, that was like a game changer for me. But yeah, I mean, there's so many different ones online. So I just followed the one that the um Fleet Feet gave me. When I trained for the 50K the next year, I kind of took my marathon training and just pushed that a little bit more. So my longer runs on weekends were a little bit more than that. But it's also just a different mindset. My 50K versus the marathon was different because the 50K was kind of trail too. And when you're doing those long, like ultras. You walk a lot, you hike a lot. It's a very different vibe. The aid stations for ultras have like soda and chips and candy and things like that. Whereas you run like CIM, they'll give you the goose and the electrolyte drinks. But um I think it's mindset. It's a lot of mindset when you're training for these things.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

Has Adrian trained with you at all? No.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

I did train with some friends that had done marathons or ultras in the past, though, too. And it's like, I don't know. That was how I picked. It's nothing fancy. I just I'm kind of disciplined like you though. Once I set my mind to something, I know I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_01 44:47

So is it true the night before your raise, you're supposed to eat like all this carb heavy pasta? Is that what you're doing?

SPEAKER_03 44:55

Yeah, you carb load and you kind of do it leading up the whole week, really. You kind of gradually increase your carbs.

SPEAKER_01 45:01

I'm doing that right now, actually.

SPEAKER_03 45:03

Yeah, see? You need carbs though. Like you need carbs if you're gonna do long distance running. So it's fine. And you're burning what, like a hundred calories a mile, pretty much is what they say, like on average.

SPEAKER_01 45:16

We shall see how this goes. Now now I'm I'm committed, and you guys are gonna hold me accountable. Yeah, but you guys, you too, and of course, if you're hearing this on the pod, reach out and let us know if you want to run a marathon. Come to California, run the CIM with us.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

CIM is one of the best marathons. It's one of the easiest, I think, to PR for Boston. Oh, really? Because it is net downhill. Um just okay, talking about CIM. The first half, I want to say, is like a lot of rolling hills, but then after that, you're running into downtown and it's all downhill.

SPEAKER_01 45:54

And then we can do a race in Hawaii.

SPEAKER_03 45:58

Hawaii races are tough. The humidity and the heat. Okay, maybe not. Um, my dad ran the Maui marathon that starts pretty much Maui starts pretty much at the airport, actually. And that long stretch, like in the middle of the island, is the majority of your run. He said it was the worst marathon he ever did.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

Okay, maybe not. But can we run a Disney marathon? Don't they have Disney marathon?

SPEAKER_03 46:21

No half, yeah. Okay, we could totally do that.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

See, then we can run around the world. Yeah. If I if we do, if if I do get the runner's bug, then we can go explore different races. We can do um, what's it called, Ryan?

SPEAKER_03 46:37

All the world, the world majors.

SPEAKER_01 46:41

There you go.

SPEAKER_03 46:42

Plenty of Berlin.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Let's go. I love London. Anyways, anything else? I think this was a pretty well-rounded episode, I should say. I think so. Anything else? Any closing thoughts before we wrap? Nope. Nope. Okay, I think this wraps today's episode. Thank you guys for listening to another episode of the making of. If you want to be a part of our community, make sure to join our Facebook group. And if you know somebody who could benefit from being a part of our tribe and um not just building a business, but just having a community of friends to go through life together, then please invite them to these episodes. We appreciate you guys and um Brian and I and the entire Jovez family. We just thank you for all the continued support and prayers. And we'll keep you guys posted and anything else. All right, that's it. Stay tuned for another episode of the Making of Podcasts. We'll catch you guys next week. Bye. Bye.$250,000. That's how much the average dental practice loses every year to empty chairs, no shows, last-minute cancellations, gaps that just sit there. Casper's Opportunity Finder constantly checks your schedule and sees every gap the second it opens and helps your team fill it with one single click. And for every open dental user, it's completely free. Go to meetcasper.com/slash register to download it today because profit isn't the opposite of purpose. It's what funds it.