Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome to it, episode number 24 of Awareness, the Podcast, Fostering a more compassionate, empathetic and accepting society.
Thanks so much for being along here. Yours truly, Rob Daniels with you for this very intriguing episode ahead.
Don't forget to click, like and subscribe.
If you're on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts, spread the good word on this podcast. It's all about breaking down the stigma when it comes to mental health. Can't get enough voices. Championing mental health. And that's what this is all about. So we're here to provide more compassion, more acceptance, more empathy toward all our guests and, you know, just to, you know, raise some ears and bring things more into awareness. And that's what we're all about here. I cannot believe we're already at episode number 24. And in this episode, actually going to be sitting down with my best buddy, who you see on the other screen, my best friend, Phil, and I quote him, Philly Esposito.
Welcome to the podcast, Philly.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: Thanks for having me, Rob.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Of course, very happy, too. And that, that's. I mean, we've been childhood best friends. We, we go way back to when we were 15, 16 years old. And I thought probably before that.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: Before that, because I was at your bar mitzvah.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: That's right. Oh, my gosh. Before 15, 16.
My gosh. Has it been that long? So that's like. Yeah, it's been like 30 years, right?
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Yeah, man.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: Yeah, close to 30 years. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Of course.
Gotta, gotta, you know, have my best friend on here to talk about his powerful journey, what he's experienced, and, you know, just to raise awareness as to what he's gone through. But Phil and I go way back. I mean, we. We worked in some fun times in high school radio together, and he provided, like, wrestling reports during a top 40 radio broadcast in between, you know, at certain segments. So those are some. Some fond memories indeed. But life isn't always sunshine and roses, as we know that. Right. So to speak. And you, Phil, you were diagnosed with cardiomyopathy at just 20 years old. Now, he's spent the last 20 years, 22 years managing the condition. And after his health took a serious turn earlier this year, Phil actually spent five months in the hospital undergoing LVAD surgery to keep him alive while waiting for a heart transplant. Now, if you don't know what LVAD surgery is, well, get to that. You're probably not the only one. Phil will explain that.
And grateful that he's able to do this podcast and talk with us here because he was finally discharged from the hospital just two weeks ago. And we're going to be talking about what it's like to live with a chronic illness, to provide more compassion to people going through that, the emotional and physical challenges of spending months in the hospital. And what it means is to step back into life outside those walls.
So through our conversation, Philly's also going to share how he tries to help others facing similar battles. You might be going through a similar one. And hopefully he's able to encourage you to not lose hope here. We're going to reflect on his resilience, gratitude, and why organ donation certainly matters so deeply to him and to so many others waiting for a second chance at. At life.
So, officially bringing you on here, Phil, to. To talk about, you know, what you.
What you've been experiencing over these. Well, these last few months, these. These last few years.
And can you, can you take us back to when you were first diagnosed with cardiology myopathy at the age of 20? Do you remember that long? Like, what do you remember feeling?
[00:04:40] Speaker B: I. I remember it like it was yesterday.
I. I was. I had a regular doctor appointment, a regular checkup, and I went to walk up the stairs, and I was so out of breath.
Like, it was, like, very difficult to catch my breath.
My doctor became very concerned, and she knew she wanted to do some blood work.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:05] Speaker B: So she checked the blood work, and then she called a few days later and she said, you have cardiomyopathy, which is an enlarged heart and the heart muscles weak. My ejection fraction was like 20, less than 20%, which is not good.
So I've been on different medications to manage it, and that's basically all I've been doing.
And it was. I always struggled with weight for a long, long time until I finally figured things out because it's. It's very difficult to lose weight when you're that heavy.
Like, I was over. I was over £420 at one point.
Now I'm. I've lost about £200, just over £200.
So it's big accomplishment that's very.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: Almost unheard of.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: So, yeah, it took.
Took me about. Almost two. About two and a half years to get words to get where I'm at now. Yeah.
Yeah.
[00:06:24] Speaker A: So, like, how do you want to explain to the audience how you got down to that amount? Like, it's. It's hard to just imagine you just dropped 200 pounds. What did you have to do? What. What's the secret? What was your secret?
[00:06:39] Speaker B: My Secret was starting with protein in the morning.
So I always. I always have eggs in the morning.
So I'll have two eggs.
Sometimes I'll put, like, green peppers in there, mushrooms.
Um, there's this low fat cheese that I use with less sodium than your most. Than most cheeses.
And then I have a bowl of fruit.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:07] Speaker B: And, you know, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries.
I have an apple cut up, banana, clementines.
I put that all in a bowl and I eat that as well.
And then lunch.
I basically stick to mostly protein for my food.
So, you know, turkey, steak, chicken, fish, lots of salad.
And I just started noticing the weight coming off.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
So did you drop carbs completely?
[00:07:44] Speaker B: No, no.
Carbs are essential because without them, you could develop brain fog.
So it's actually important to have a little bit of carbs in your diet.
I just cut back a lot because I'm a big pasta guy. Like, I love my. I'm Italian and Portuguese.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Right.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: So I, I love my, My pasta and stuff. And so that was difficult, Very difficult to cut back on that stuff. But you kind of, in a way, I took your advice, actually, and you said, look at food as fuel for your body.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: And that's the way I started looking at things. And I'm just like. Once I started the weight coming off, I. I said, I want to keep going. This is great.
Then I started dropping pant sizes.
Like, I used to be like a 54 in jeans. Now I'm like a 40.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: Wow, that's incredible. It must feel, like, amazing. I. I mean, it's, it's. It's a good problem to have when you need to go shopping for clothes sizes now. And in this. Yeah, that's the thing.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: I used to have to shop at George Richards because those are the only clothes that fit me.
[00:09:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: And a pair of jeans there is like a hundred dollars.
But now I could go to Costco and get jeans for 20 bucks.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:19] Speaker B: So it, it just makes a huge difference. Like, everything becomes easier and cheaper. Like clothing, too. Clothing's cheaper as well when you're smaller.
[00:09:30] Speaker A: Right. So. So, yeah. So going back to your original diagnosis, though, like cardiomyopathy, where it all began for you at the age of 20. Over the years living with this.
Can you explain to the audience what has daily life been like, managing your heart condition other than watching the diet?
[00:09:56] Speaker B: I had my very difficult days where I had a hard time catching my breath.
A simple thing like going upstairs, and I'd be panting for breath.
Right. So it's one of those Things I'm like, I can't do this anymore. I gotta figure this out.
I gotta figure this out.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: And ultimately it was the panting for breath.
But like before, you had to do the, get this emergency visit to the hospital for as long as you did for the five months that you were in.
Before that, when it was manageable, was there anything that, that stuck out for you, like that was different in daily life compared to what, let's say the average person experiences? Was it just having to constantly remind yourself to take more medication? Was it panting out of breath? Yeah.
[00:10:54] Speaker B: Follow, follow my, follow all my meds, my medications.
Yeah, it was just, it was very difficult. A lot of pain starts causing back pains and knee pains and the list goes on.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: Wow. And that's, do you think that's the medication that causes the pain, pain or is it.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: No, I think it's just, it's just the condition.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: It's a condition. Yeah.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: So you were able to manage it for all that time? Like just over 20 years or so. The condition without having to do these constant visits to the hospital, which I visited you, you were at, you know, you were at a couple of hospitals, you know, very well renowned hospitals. Are you willing to give them a shout out or, yeah, say, or.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: Absolutely. I, I, I, I was at South Lake, yeah. Originally. And they have a great cardiac program as well.
And obviously Toronto General Hospital, which is a top five hospital in the entire world for sure.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Uhn, for sure.
[00:12:09] Speaker B: They were, they were absolutely fantastic. Um, but they have to get my weight down to a certain level in order for me to be eligible for the surgery.
[00:12:19] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:20] Speaker B: Because otherwise it was too much, it was too much of a risk for sure.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: So thank, so these last six months have, have really changed you.
So talk about the events that led up to the hospital and can, and can you, can you share what happened and how you like how you officially ended up in the hospital?
[00:12:43] Speaker B: Yeah, I started getting really bad water retention, so my legs blew up like balloons. Like they were huge and I was retaining fluid, so they had to, you know, change my dosages of the med. The, the diuretic, the diuretic essentially makes you, makes you pee a lot, right? So yeah, it's like, it's like every hour.
So you, it's like you constantly have to be near a bathroom. It's, it's, it's, it's crazy. It's absolutely crazy.
But my doctor, the cardiologist at South Lake, she's the one who officially diagnosed me with heart failure.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:39] Speaker B: And then that's why they have to get me prepped for surgery.
So the LVAD is essentially a bridge while I wait for a transplant.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: And an LVAD is. Yeah, it's essentially.
Is it a device that's been placed inside of your chest? Is that's what's in there?
[00:14:05] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it's. It's basically a pump that helps your heart, helps your heart function better.
[00:14:14] Speaker A: Right.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: But you know, it was quite the big procedure. I was in surgery for five, six hours and yeah, the recovery.
Yeah, I'm still, I'm still recovering.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: It.
[00:14:31] Speaker B: It's going to be a long road to recovery.
Yeah.
[00:14:35] Speaker A: And when you. I remember when you first got this news about the lvad, we're trying to do some research on it and I mean, it's, it's a great thing that exists because it gives you more time in order to find a matching heart, in order to have a heart transplant eventually down the road. Right?
[00:14:58] Speaker B: Absolutely. Because I was on Milrinone.
[00:15:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: Which is essentially, essentially life support.
And they can't distribute that outside of hospital, so you have to be in hospital.
So it was either do the LVAD surgery or sit in the hospital until I get a heart, which who knows how long it could be before they find a proper match for me.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: And do you think this, it's an ongoing search? Like, do they search daily? Do they search weekly? Do you know that information?
[00:15:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm on the list, on the transplant list.
But they need to find somebody with first of all the same blood type and also the same build, like height wise weight.
So it's very difficult to find a donor.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: Is it?
Yeah, I mean, is it, do you think it's happening daily, this search? Or it.
Did the doctors tell you how often can.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: You're just, you're just on the, you're just on a waiting list.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: On a waiting list until something, until.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: Something comes in and then that's it. You. If they call me, I, I gotta go back. I gotta go back and get the surgery.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: And during your weight, how long can the lvat last for to keep managing the heart? It lasts.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: I met somebody that has been on LVAD for two years. Over two years.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: For two years. And do you have to do any, do they have to do any modifications to it every few years or is it something that can just last without doing any modification to it?
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Yeah, as long as you, you gotta test the. Because it comes with a controller.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:06] Speaker B: Which is basically like a mini computer.
And then you have a battery pack. Two battery packs that you have to keep in at all times, and then in the evening, you have to hook up to the wall power, which. Because they don't want you on the battery at night in case you fall asleep and the battery runs out.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: Because that would be a big problem.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: So.
[00:17:37] Speaker B: So when I'm. When I'm ready for bed, I plug into the wall power.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: So how did you.
How did you.
Let's just say. Okay, for example, there is no.
I'm just thinking worst case scenario. Let's say for this. This goes on for a long time. Years. You cannot find a matching heart. Ken, people live on an LVAD for. Yeah. Life.
Absolutely.
What's the purpose of having the heart transplant then?
[00:18:17] Speaker B: So that you don't have. Because. Because the LVAD has a. It's a line that comes out of you. It connects from the. From the pump and it goes through your stomach.
So you constantly have a line.
It's what they call a driver. Oh, I'm sorry.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: I think we're back. Could you just repeat your answer just because I think we. We cut out there for a second. So.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: What's the purpose of having the LVAD and not. Not getting a transplant if you can't get one? Or like, can you. Can you survive on it for a good, lengthy period of time?
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. There's people that have been on LVADs for years, so, I mean, it's not something that. Yeah, it's. You can live with it.
I. Obviously, you prefer a transplant because then you don't have to deal with, oh.
[00:19:14] Speaker A: All the extra hassles of the lvat. It's a lot more time. Strenuous to. To have the lvad. Yeah.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:22] Speaker A: Gotcha.
[00:19:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: So that's. I. Okay, you. You got the lvad. You process this news initially.
How did you process it? I mean, it's got to be like a big, you know, you're sitting. I just trying to envision being in your shoes. You're laying back in your hospital bed and you're trying to rest and recuperate and try and figure out what's next. And they tell you that you need this lvad.
Four to six hour surgery, major surgery. What goes through your mind when you. When you first find this out?
[00:20:01] Speaker B: I was terrified.
[00:20:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:04] Speaker B: Yeah. I was. I was scared out of my mind because I didn't really know 100% what to expect, but I couldn't wait in a hospital anymore. So I'm like, I got to get this done.
I have to get this done and.
[00:20:23] Speaker A: You put on that. That brave face that you needed to. And you were a champion and you. And you did what you needed to do, and you deserve a lot of credit for that.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: Thank you. I had a lot of support from my friends and my family, and they were all very supportive throughout the whole thing.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: Good to hear. For sure. Good to hear. It's always great to have a good support system. So what was the surgery and recovery like for you, physically and emotionally, would you say?
[00:20:59] Speaker B: Physically, it was incredibly painful the first.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: Couple of days because you've ever experienced?
[00:21:08] Speaker B: Probably, yeah, it was pretty painful. Like, I couldn't get out of bed on my own.
I had to have help just to get out of a bed.
So it was quite difficult emotionally.
Yeah, I had my really up and down days.
Sundays were rougher than others.
But like I said, I.
Lot of support from my friends and family and that's really what got me through it.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: It's good to hear that you have a close, you know, bond with family and friends now.
Just the experience as a whole. I know talking to you and knowing you personally, there were, you know, there were certainly some frustrating days being in the hospital. And to anyone, I can't, you know, imagine five months. I'm sure just anybody would have certain frustrations and it's only normal and natural.
So what was it like for you just being in the hospital for five months? What would. How would you busy yourself? How would you stay.
How would you stay sane in that environment for five months? What did you do?
[00:22:35] Speaker B: Well, it was a lot more difficult at South Lake because there was nothing I could do there. They didn't have. They didn't have yet to pay for your Internet. If you wanted Internet, you had to pay for tv.
At least at Toronto General they had free WI fi.
[00:22:53] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:22:53] Speaker B: So I was able to use my tablet and I could watch Netflix. I could watch Blue Jay games. I could, you know.
Yeah.
[00:23:05] Speaker A: The biggest Jays fan I know, Philly Esposito, even though he's a hockey player.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right.
[00:23:14] Speaker A: Hey, let's bring that into awareness. Phil Esposito. So named after the hockey player. That's correct. Right, correct.
Yeah. You were named after him.
[00:23:25] Speaker B: Yeah, My.
My father was a big.
A big fan. So.
[00:23:32] Speaker A: Yeah, the Bruins, I guess. Right. That's where he played. Yeah, that was.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Yeah, because that was way before my time.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: So you were in. In regards to the, the life in the hospital there, you know, this could really certainly help others that might be in the same situation as you Right about now, maybe they're listening in the hospital. Maybe they have their tablet in front of them right now and they're watching this podcast and they want some hope. They want some.
Some sort of something that's going to give them the energy and the motivation to stay strong and disciplined.
So maybe you can help in this regard. When it comes to coping with the long days, the uncertainty and the waning that came with your situation in the hospital, how did you cope with that?
[00:24:33] Speaker B: I just tried to always have a positive outlook.
And it was.
Like I said, there's days that are more difficult than others.
But at least, like I said, at least when I was at Toronto General, I had distractions, so I didn't overthink everything.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: When I was there, it sounds like you're sitting in the bed and there's nothing to do.
You just sit there.
So it was a lot more difficult there, dealing with having to deal with everything because you have no distractions.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, did you. Were you reading? Did you do crosswords? Did you do any of that type of distraction?
[00:25:24] Speaker B: I did. I did. I had to, because that's all I had.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:30] Speaker B: So I, you know, I sit there, I do some crossword puzzles.
When my mom would come to visit, she'd bring dominoes. We played dominoes.
[00:25:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:42] Speaker B: So anything to keep me distracted.
Anything to keep me distracted.
[00:25:49] Speaker A: So, I mean, you and I have been friends since childhood. How has this specific journey changed the way that you see friendship, support, and connection?
[00:26:08] Speaker B: Well, I mean, obviously there's. There's some friends that, you know, really made an effort, and those are the ones that, you know, that's what helped get me through things.
But, yeah. Yeah, I'd say my. My couple of best friends, they, you know, they were all very supportive, and that's the only way I got through things.
[00:26:45] Speaker A: So thinking back to all of this, what would you say has been the hardest moment for you through all of this?
[00:26:58] Speaker B: I guess going through that surgery, I. I was. I was just really scared.
I was really. I was really anxious and nervous, and they, you know, when I was in the. When I was in the operating room, I do remember them telling me the heart rate was going crazy because I guess I was.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: Excuse me.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: I guess I was nervous.
[00:27:33] Speaker A: Yeah, well, of course, I wouldn't. I would, you know, I wouldn't think you would not be. So how did they settle that down? How did. How did proceed?
[00:27:46] Speaker B: They gave me a medication to settle my nerves a bit, and then they.
They knocked me out. I was out.
[00:27:57] Speaker A: What do you think that was midazolam or something. Is that what the thing.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: I'm not sure what they use. They put a mask over your nose and they just tell you to breathe.
[00:28:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:08] Speaker B: And then next thing you know, you're.
Next thing I knew I was waking up, and I was back in my room, and. And. And I woke up, and my mom was standing there with my aunt, and that was. Yeah, that's honestly all I remember on that day.
[00:28:30] Speaker A: So, I mean, that was obviously very difficult to go through, and. And I'm so happy that it was a successful surgery because. Yeah. I mean, you were at one of the top hospitals in the world, so it's great that you were well taken care of with there being a hard moment. There's also, I would hope, maybe a surprising or even uplifting moment through this all. Was there anything that would come to mind with that?
[00:29:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I guess, you know, all the support from my mom, like, she was there, you know, the day of surgery, and then she came every other. Every day for, like, the next three days, you know, so that kind of lifted my spirits, because, as I'm sure you feel the same way.
[00:29:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:33] Speaker B: My mom is my entire universe.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: Right. And it's.
It's a big thing. Yeah, it's. Yeah. I mean. Yeah. There's people in your life that. That are like, that obviously, like my mom, my wife, my child, my brother.
Family is. Yeah, it's.
It's everything. So I'm sure she.
You know, her being there for you each and every day probably just gave that reinforcement that you needed that, you know, that's. That your mom is there for you. It's unconditional love, and.
[00:30:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: And you probably really saw that up close. And if you ever doubted that at any point, I'm sure it's solidified or canceled out those doubts pretty quickly over their tenure in hospital, so.
Absolutely.
What does.
Would you say. What. What does receiving a heart transplant represent to you?
What. What does that mean? If you.
[00:30:40] Speaker B: A second chance at life.
Yeah, a second chance.
My. My current heart is, you know, it's not in good shape, so that's the way I kind of look at it. And I hope I get a donor soon. I really do, because it'll make the world of difference in uplifting my spirits. I'll. I'll. You know, I, like. I want to get back to some sort of normalcy in my life. I want to be able to go back to work.
[00:31:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:17] Speaker B: You know, I want to be able to drive again as I. I still haven't been cleared to do that.
So that would. That's essentially how I feel it. It'd be a second chance.
[00:31:31] Speaker A: Yeah. And you certainly deserve it. So if you could speak to your.
Your future self like the Philly who has had his transplant and is living again to his fullest potential, what would you want to say?
[00:31:52] Speaker B: Stay on track with, with the way I'm eating now, I've gotten so used to it that I don't want to fall back again.
So I. Yeah, there's no way I can. There's no way I can fall back, so I have to. That's. That's kind of my. My motivation to stay on track.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: Like, have you canceled out all sugars and salts? Like, if you want, like, something sweet after dinner, you haven't had, like a chocolate bar in a while. Or if you munching on something salty when watching a baseball game.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: No, I don't do salt.
Sometimes I'll. I'll basically treat myself to, you know, sometimes I'll get like a cookie, but it's only once a week, so I'll have, you know, I pick my day and then I have a cookie and I enjoy it. Like, I get a chocolate chip cookie or whatever, and I just enjoy it.
So that's good. Yeah.
[00:33:09] Speaker A: And what would you say to others who might be going through their own health battles? Any advice?
[00:33:23] Speaker B: Yeah, you. You gotta try and live in the now.
Don't.
Don't meddle on the past or on the. The way things used to be or in the future.
Concentrate on yourself now.
And that's. That's probably the best advice I could give.
It's just.
Yeah.
[00:33:53] Speaker A: Focus on, on being present as much as possible.
[00:33:57] Speaker B: Absolutely, 100%.
[00:34:01] Speaker A: And what, what message do you want listeners to take away from your story? Specifically?
[00:34:16] Speaker B: You gotta, you gotta. You have to believe that positive things will happen.
You gotta try. And I know it's difficult some days, and I, you know, like I said, I've. I went through it, but you have to try, and I try my best to always have a positive outlook.
[00:34:40] Speaker A: Right.
[00:34:41] Speaker B: Right. So I know that the lvad, at least the LVAD allowed me to come home.
[00:34:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Could be worse, right? Like maybe heaven. Heaven forbid. There was no such thing as an lvad. Right. Like, I think of. Of certain things in, in my life, too. The same thing. If there was no medication, like, how.
[00:35:00] Speaker B: Right.
[00:35:01] Speaker A: How do you manage? Right. It's, it's. There's positives for sure, too, but we, as humans, we tend to harp on the negative at times more than when we should be. When we should be reversing that and be. Just be grateful for the things we, you know, do have. You know, we're not guaranteed, you know, what we have each and every day. Every day or what we have daily, let's say every day, you know, you wake up and if you could still smell and taste and have your senses, like, that's like a blessing. And we don't really notice that until something's taken away from us, I find. So we, if we just practice gratitude more is a big thing. And I'm sure you champion that too, so that's good.
And also wanted to ask you that in terms of how people can support organ donation awareness and patients like you who are waiting for a transplant, how could. How can people best support organ don't.
Donation awareness and patience.
Yeah.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: There's actually a group groups on Facebook that you can join, and it's people that have gone through the same thing, and it's, It's. It's really supportive.
You know, they all, you know, they're all really nice people and they help a lot with, you know, you trying to stay positive. And, you know, they give their experiences on, you know, LVADs and what happened after our heart transplant.
So that's. That's probably where I'd suggest going.
[00:36:51] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:36:51] Speaker B: Is there's a. There's a organ group on Facebook. So they have one for heart donors, they have one for lung donors, kidney.
Depending on what. What you need.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: There are in the Facebook or in the search engine. What would you search up on Facebook to to find this out? Because you're mentioning it's on Facebook, but is it under a certain group name on Facebook?
[00:37:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, like I said, depends on what you.
What you need. Like if you need a heart. If you're looking for a heart transplant, then there's one for that.
If you need kidney transplant, there's a group for that. Lung transplant, there's a group for that.
[00:37:44] Speaker A: So you need individually.
[00:37:46] Speaker B: Yes.
Yeah, you're. It's individually separated into different groups.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. All right. Well, that's. No, that's good to know. And yeah, so if anyone's looking, you search that up on.
On Facebook and hopefully that can. Can help others as well. And finally, Philly, in closing, I want to know when you picture life after your transplant, what's the very first thing that you want to do?
[00:38:22] Speaker B: I'm gonna go to California sandwiches and get a hot veal with cheese and mushroom and a Diet Pepsi.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: Simplicity, eh, Just like a celebration sandwich.
[00:38:35] Speaker B: Just, I'm a pretty. I'm a pretty simple guy. Like, I. Yeah, that kind of thing makes me. I'm. I'll be satisfied with that, you know, Or a piece of my mom's lasagna. I can't wait.
[00:38:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. You deserve it. You deserve it tenfold. Way to. Way to go.
Well, you've come a long way, Philly, or as you're known in our family, Uncle Philly.
You're just a great guy and you've spread a lot of awareness here today. Hopefully it helps others. Hopefully it just inspires others to keep on fighting the good fight and keep on moving forward in the most positive ways possible. So thank you so much for doing this today, for opening up, for willing to be vulnerable, and you've really done a good thing. So thank you, too.
[00:39:27] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:39:31] Speaker A: Yeah, it's great to have you. Awareness episode number 24. Thanks so much for watching. Listening wherever you get. Your podcast certainly means a lot. Don't forget to like and subscribe on YouTube would certainly mean a lot. And thanks for watching. For producer Mike, my name is Rob Daniels. Look forward to catching you in the next episode.
