"Am I loving well?" How a life-threatening heart surgery led to living on purpose
#64 Boots brings you her childhood friend, Todd Sykes (aka Toddy), a survivor of endocarditis, a stroke, and a brain aneurysm. At just 37, Todd faced a life-threatening situation during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to two heart surgeries and a remarkable recovery. He needed his mitral and bicuspid valves replaced and had unknowingly been living with a bicuspid valve his entire life (just like Boots). He shares powerful lessons on the importance of loving well, prioritizing family time, and being prepared with insurance and wills. Todd's story highlights resilience, faith, and the need for physical and emotional strength. Todd reminds us to cherish each moment and plan for unforeseen events to protect our loved ones. Todd's journey serves as an inspiring reminder of life's unpredictability and the power of hope.
You can find Todd at @toddsykes (Facebook/ Linked In).
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Transcript
If there's a time to really try to cut out more time or
Speaker:place more emphasis and value on loving well is. What
Speaker:we like to say around here in my family is, you know, are we loving?
Speaker:Well, right, just because you never know what's in
Speaker:store, and so you want to create those good memories, right? So that even
Speaker:if something does happen, you know, there's some good memories for your loved ones
Speaker:to truly remember who you were and what you were about and
Speaker:the legacy that, you know, you lived.
Speaker:Welcome back to another episode of Open Heart surgery
Speaker:with Boots. Today is a very
Speaker:special conversation that I'm bringing to you
Speaker:this man, Todd Sykes, that I'm so
Speaker:excited to introduce you to. Todd and I
Speaker:used to run around the block together as kids.
Speaker:He was known as Toddy and I was known as Suzanne, my
Speaker:first name. And we grew up together in
Speaker:Edenton, North Carolina. And
Speaker:now, thankfully, we have both made it into our forties.
Speaker:Amazingly, we both have bicuspid valves.
Speaker:He's about to share his journey with you. It's amazing how
Speaker:we were both running around the block with these unknown congenital
Speaker:defects and we lived wonderful childhoods
Speaker:together. But now Todd is in his forties. He's got
Speaker:four kids, Preston, Brayden, Josie and
Speaker:Scarlett. He lives in Wake Forest, North Carolina,
Speaker:and he is the owner and operator
Speaker:of Freedom Benefits Source, which is an
Speaker:independent employee benefits insurance agency. It's
Speaker:amazing that he continues to run that business and he's going to
Speaker:get into how he is navigating his life now, because
Speaker:in 2020, Todd suffered endocarditis in addition
Speaker:to a stroke and an intracranial mycotic
Speaker:brain aneurysm. And he was hospitalized for
Speaker:39 days in and out of the ICU,
Speaker:a total of 16 days. They
Speaker:repaired his heart with two mechanical heart valves via
Speaker:open heart surgery and then coiled the aneurysm
Speaker:through his groin. Whoa. He's going to have to go into that with
Speaker:us. And he is
Speaker:thinking now that maybe the bicuspid aortic valve caused all
Speaker:of this, but we're going to get into that with him now. So, Todd,
Speaker:thank you so much for coming on open heart surgery
Speaker:with boots to share your story with us listeners, and it's just
Speaker:so great to reconnect with you again. Yeah, and thank you for the invite,
Speaker:boots. Appreciate that little background. Definitely was
Speaker:fun times back then in childhood, but now we're all grown up and
Speaker:I guess more thankful to even be alive after what we both
Speaker:been through here over the past few years. Congratulations
Speaker:on your recent successes. So, yeah, you know, it's. It's been a
Speaker:trying time, you know, almost five years. Coming up next year since. Major
Speaker:health crisis, life changing event, healthy as you could ask
Speaker:for. At age 37. I was 42. I'm 42 now. I was age
Speaker:37 at the time. And no known
Speaker:conditions. Right? I ate well, I exercised, probably not as much as I
Speaker:would like, but no medications, no chronic illnesses, diseases that I knew
Speaker:of. And all of a sudden, I became ill in February of
Speaker:2020, right after our third child, Josie, was
Speaker:born. And then I would get well. Then I was really ill again, and well
Speaker:and ill. And that was the case most the entire year. Extreme
Speaker:flu like symptoms, 105 degree fevers at night, ten
Speaker:blankets wrapped around me in the bed, still cold. Didn't know what was
Speaker:going on, was going to every specialist known to man in wake
Speaker:forest, and had about every test known to man done.
Speaker:No one could figure out my situation. And so I
Speaker:became severely anemic. I was going in for iron infusions every
Speaker:two weeks, going to an independent hematologist. Oncologist.
Speaker:Wasn't getting well there. I'd maybe feel better for a
Speaker:day. And then it was right back to the same old symptoms.
Speaker:I'm a loyal person by nature, and I really felt
Speaker:that this independent doctor had my best interest at heart, and so I
Speaker:didn't really want to take other measures to go seek
Speaker:someone else. As far as a second opinion,
Speaker:though, it did get to that point with the help of my parents and my
Speaker:wife, who kept egging me on. I did request to
Speaker:be seen somewhere else at least a couple of times from this
Speaker:hematologist, and it actually did not happen. So it came down to the
Speaker:point, boots, where, you know, I just had to pack the bag and go
Speaker:check myself into the erde. And so October,
Speaker:I could be wrong on the dates, but October 30, I believe,
Speaker:2020, I looked at my wife. I was disabled on the couch. I was
Speaker:living on the couch, sleeping mostly on the couch. Most every night. I told her
Speaker:to pack a bag and take him to the ER. And that's when everything
Speaker:really began, and that's when we started to really find out the severity
Speaker:of my situation and what was actually going
Speaker:on. And, of course, this is during COVID. Yes, it was
Speaker:during COVID So, you know, another layer of the cake. Right, if you
Speaker:will. I go to the ER. They do a ct scan.
Speaker:They come back after, like, I don't know, quite a while and say,
Speaker:yeah, all of your organs are enlarged. You would not have made it another week
Speaker:or two if you didn't come today. And I'm saying, okay, well, what's
Speaker:going on? And they said, well, we're trying to figure you out. You are now
Speaker:going to the main hospital. So then they put me in an ambulance, gave
Speaker:me some pain medicine, and sent me on my way to wake med
Speaker:main, which is East Raleigh. And there I stayed for
Speaker:39 days, but it took well over a week for them to finally
Speaker:uncover and find that I had endocarditis. They did a
Speaker:EKG after a few days and found
Speaker:that, of course, the heart was significantly
Speaker:impaired. Right. And they basically rushed me into heart
Speaker:surgery. I think it was like, a day or two after that EKG
Speaker:or echo. I'm sorry, it was echocardiogram. And for, you know,
Speaker:for those mechanical heart valves surgery. How long was
Speaker:it before they did the echocardiogram?
Speaker:Oh, kind of going back to the details
Speaker:conversation. I could be wrong, and I'm sure my wife
Speaker:knows this exactly, but she's good for that. You
Speaker:know, I think it was only a couple of days, really. You know, I think
Speaker:that was pretty immediate. I don't think it was the day of. It might have
Speaker:been this. It wasn't the day of. It was the day after. You know,
Speaker:I think it was somewhat immediate. Right. If you want to call it that.
Speaker:But I know that I think it was done on, like, a Saturday or Sunday,
Speaker:and I don't think they could get me into surgery until that following Tuesday, if
Speaker:my memory serves me correctly. But, you know, that can be a little
Speaker:shaky now, for sure. Okay, so they replaced which
Speaker:two valves again? The mitral and the
Speaker:atrial. I'm sorry. Aortic. Aortic
Speaker:and mitral. Okay, so then you thought you would be well
Speaker:on your way. Yeah. So it was scheduled to be a four hour
Speaker:surgery. It became an eight hour heart, open heart surgery.
Speaker:Finally, by the grace of God, made it out of that
Speaker:surgery. The day after was when things got
Speaker:really hairy, actually. My heart started to fill up with fluid,
Speaker:which I know is a very common occurrence in post heart
Speaker:surgery patients, and that's one of the things that they monitor,
Speaker:I think, quite often for everyone who goes through that type of surgery. But they
Speaker:had tubes actually installed below
Speaker:my heart to drain out the fluid. And then at
Speaker:one point during all of that, in the recovery process from that
Speaker:going on, they did have to rush me back into
Speaker:surgery because I did almost pass away. I think that was probably the closest
Speaker:call was post heart surgery. When my heart
Speaker:started to fill up with fluid, I felt fine. You know, I'm laying in the
Speaker:hospital bed, things seem normal. I'm cognitive. I'm
Speaker:aware. I'm not in any pain, really. Right? And then all of a sudden, I
Speaker:have 25 nurses in the room telling me something's going on, and I'm
Speaker:saying, well, what is it? I feel fine. I. They said, no, it's not. It's
Speaker:not okay. We have to take you to surgery. And then before you
Speaker:know it, I'm. I'm on an operating table. So, yeah, that
Speaker:was a. That was a close call. I think that was the point when my
Speaker:wife. Because I think she had just gotten. She was there with
Speaker:me. I don't know, every day, it seemed like at the hospital for the stretch
Speaker:of 39 days. But I know it was really tough on her. You
Speaker:know, it's really easy to kind of look at me and I. And kind
Speaker:of go through my personal situation with the
Speaker:health crisis. But she was really thrown for a loop, you know, during
Speaker:this whole process, especially in the beginning, she didn't even know what was going on.
Speaker:And the lack of the communication, partly because of
Speaker:COVID processes, were really restrictive. But, yeah, that was
Speaker:a close call. I believe when my heart started to fill up with fluid,
Speaker:they were, of course, got that taken care of, under control.
Speaker:So there I go, laying a hospital bed for days, in and out.
Speaker:You know, they're. They're trying to monitor my progression, my recovery.
Speaker:And it went well for the most part. I mean, I. As far as I
Speaker:remember, I was eating normal. I don't think I was the best
Speaker:patient. I was known to be a fighter. They
Speaker:called me miracle man in the hospital a few times. I think I
Speaker:definitely had some doctors and some, you know, nurses kind of
Speaker:shaking their heads and trying to figure out how and why I'd survived, even when
Speaker:I went through. And. And I definitely wasn't the easiest
Speaker:patient. I think it was a little needy, you know? You know, 37, 38 year
Speaker:old man is not used to being laid up in a hospital bed for that
Speaker:long and knowing my kids were at home not seeing me and vice
Speaker:versa. And, you know, I don't even think we barely facetimed just the pain
Speaker:of having them see me in that situation. I felt like it would make
Speaker:matters a little more worse, and. But, no, it was. It was
Speaker:tough. So I was finally at the day where they
Speaker:come into the. Into my room, and they say, todd, we believe you're well
Speaker:enough to be discharged tomorrow. I say, wonderful.
Speaker:Okay, so I'm going home, right? Like, hey, here. Here's the time I
Speaker:get to see my kids, you know, I had seen them because my wife was
Speaker:the only one allowed in the hospital. Kids were not allowed. Right. So
Speaker:that day comes the next day. I get up in the morning, it's like
Speaker:435 o'clock in the morning, and I have to go to the bathroom. I proceed
Speaker:to get out of bed, and as my feet hit the floor, as soon as
Speaker:they touch the floor, I drop straight to the floor code. Stroke is
Speaker:called. I have 30 nurses in my room. In a matter of about 20
Speaker:seconds, I had a stroke. Again, cognitively aware
Speaker:of my situation, felt normal. Right. What's going
Speaker:on? I feel fine. Well, no, you had a stroke.
Speaker:Rushed to the operating table, here I am,
Speaker:you know, having a stroke, which, of course then led to the mycotic brain
Speaker:aneurysm. So now I'm getting a neurosurgeon involved to
Speaker:try to help me overcome this, this
Speaker:aneurysm. I believe at the time it was around ten or
Speaker:12 mm. Don't quote me on that. But they did
Speaker:have to go in through the groin intravenously
Speaker:and coil the aneurysm, which I find
Speaker:is just magnificent how they do that. And, yeah, it was
Speaker:apparently a very, very tedious type of surgery because
Speaker:where the aneurysm is located, which I do currently still
Speaker:have, by the way, I think it's less than 2 moment.
Speaker:But they had to be very careful because, you
Speaker:know, of the placement of it. They could have easily made matters
Speaker:worse if they tried to do anything more than coiling it, which
Speaker:is why they haven't done anymore, because the
Speaker:doctors here, and they pretty, I think they pretty much say any neurosurgeon,
Speaker:for that matter, in the country may not decide to go
Speaker:further in trying to take care of this
Speaker:aneurysm more than we have, just because of the placement of where it is, because
Speaker:it could lead to some more severe problems. So at the
Speaker:moment, that's where we stand. You know, it's coiled still.
Speaker:It's being monitored every two years. I'm going in for an MRA.
Speaker:I just had one about a month ago. Nothing's changed. It's still
Speaker:there. You know, there's probably a less than 2% risk for it to
Speaker:rupture. So there is a risk, but it's very, very low. And
Speaker:yeah, I see a cardiologist once a year. Right. So, I
Speaker:mean, all things said, you know, it is a true
Speaker:miracle that I am still sitting here
Speaker:today, you know, talking through this with you and sharing to
Speaker:the listeners because it's many, many wouldn't have made it
Speaker:this far, right, going through what I went through in the hospital. And so I've
Speaker:yet to really talk much about it. You know, I've explained it to
Speaker:colleagues, friends, family, of course, haven't written down much of my
Speaker:experience. That's something that I plan on doing, moving forward and trying to get in
Speaker:a spot where I can do that, share my story, because I believe, you know,
Speaker:there are people out there that are listening now or even that will listen in
Speaker:the future that it could definitely help and empower. But I will
Speaker:say, you know, it is by the grace of God I'm still here today. And
Speaker:I will continue to give him credit because I felt his presence,
Speaker:absolutely felt his presence, more than I ever have during that stay
Speaker:in the hospital. I had a peace overwhelm me like I've never felt in my
Speaker:life. It's still there, right? Maybe not as
Speaker:present. I was there, but, you know, I
Speaker:never was afraid, even if it was my time to go. I
Speaker:remember feeling, you know, definitely not afraid whatsoever. The only thing
Speaker:that scared the living daylights out of me was leaving my children,
Speaker:newborn baby, my wife, at home, caring for the children,
Speaker:leaving her in the situation that she was in, because we were
Speaker:not prepared for me to leave this earth at that point in time. We did
Speaker:not have an estate wheel trust set up. We had nothing prepared.
Speaker:And if I would have passed, that would have just opened up a whole new
Speaker:can of worms. But no, there's a whole different side of my story
Speaker:with my wife and actually kind of wanted her to share. But
Speaker:maybe we can save that for another time. But I think, you know, a lot
Speaker:of people tend to look at the victim, the patients themselves, and not really the
Speaker:family members. But, you know, believe me, she went through probably just as much, if
Speaker:not more, than I did here at home. But no, by the grace of God,
Speaker:we're here. We're, you know, I'm alive, kicking. I'm probably physically in better
Speaker:shape than I've been. You know, I give. I get up every morning, a little
Speaker:different perspective in life, on life, and definitely give my thanks and
Speaker:prayers to being able to continue to live on this earth, to
Speaker:care for my family and see what I can do to continue to help others
Speaker:in the community as well. Thank you, Todd, for sharing all of
Speaker:that. And it seems like you have come away with
Speaker:some hard learned lessons, one of which
Speaker:is having our affairs in order. Right?
Speaker:So you said you didn't have anything set up
Speaker:and you would have really, you know, it almost sounds like
Speaker:a regret that things had not been put quite
Speaker:in order. And I mean, I don't blame you. You were 37. We don't,
Speaker:none of us think in our thirties that, or even
Speaker:in our forties that something could happen. But life does
Speaker:happen. Life does keep on lifing, as I like to say.
Speaker:So is that some advice you would like to impart on
Speaker:listeners is to be more
Speaker:prepared, be more proactive in
Speaker:making sure the back end is taken care of? Oh,
Speaker:absolutely. And me being in the benefits world, I've been an insurance
Speaker:broker now for almost 15 years. And of course
Speaker:I was overly prepared for something like this to happen. I had
Speaker:long term disability plan actually still paying out on me at the
Speaker:moment. If you don't have one of those plans, and you are a breadwinner of
Speaker:a family, you need one. Just that simple. So
Speaker:it's really helped paint a testimony for me and my own business to
Speaker:explain value, importance of benefits, especially the younger folks,
Speaker:because many folks in their thirties, right, even forties, you know,
Speaker:don't have insurance, right. Maybe they're, they don't have general
Speaker:medical insurance. They especially don't have any supplemental plans.
Speaker:I had two heart plans. I had a long term disability plan. So,
Speaker:yeah, all of these paid. And, you know, again,
Speaker:financially, through my situation, we actually came out ahead
Speaker:because of all the supplemental plans. My blue cross blue
Speaker:shield medical plan paid the hospital bill in full, which was well over
Speaker:$700,000, paid 100%, not a dime out of
Speaker:pocket, and all these other ancillary plans that I had paid
Speaker:cash directly to me. So of course I'm not working, I'm not scaling the
Speaker:business like I, of course, would have liked at the time. My wife didn't work,
Speaker:hasn't worked for now about ten years now, starting a business, as I mentioned
Speaker:earlier, but there was no income coming in on her side. But I
Speaker:will say she works at home. Let me add that one. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker:without it, we would have been toast, right? I mean, it would break financially,
Speaker:anyone really, who wasn't prepared if they didn't have insurances.
Speaker:And so not only that, but then you talk about the estate and the will,
Speaker:which I did mention. I mean, I didn't, we didn't have that in place, so
Speaker:we wouldn't, we would not have known if something were to happen where, you know,
Speaker:that becomes, you know, just a melting pot
Speaker:of things and negative things that can really
Speaker:stem from not being prepared, especially in a tragic
Speaker:loss situation that none of us are really prepared for. But it's hard to have
Speaker:those conversations, most people don't want to talk about life insurance. They don't.
Speaker:They don't see maybe the value because they feel they're healthy
Speaker:and nothing's going to happen. Well, you know, I'm here to tell you that things
Speaker:do happen, and they'll happen at a moment's notice, and at that
Speaker:time, it's too late. Right. Like, right now, I need more life insurance.
Speaker:Can't get it. I won't have. There's no insurance carrier. I'm
Speaker:appointed with about 36 of them. They will not appoint. They will not
Speaker:insure me at the moment. So, of course, with my current condition
Speaker:still having the brain aneurysm, fortunately, I do have some.
Speaker:You know, I don't believe it's enough. But going back to your point,
Speaker:boots on, being prepared. I mean, I can't stress that enough,
Speaker:really. Especially if there's people counting on you, loved ones at home, if you're
Speaker:a breadwinner, absolutely. You need to be prepared. Take
Speaker:it seriously. Healthy, not healthy. If you're not healthy, you may
Speaker:have issues being insured, but maybe there's some carriers that a little bit more liberal
Speaker:can. Can help you. But, you know, there's. There's options out there. You just
Speaker:have to ask somebody. You know, feel free to ask me. You know, I know
Speaker:a lot about it, and I've even got a firsthand testimony to speak on it
Speaker:and how it's important. So. Yes, and
Speaker:now that you've lived through this and you know that you have this
Speaker:aneurysm in your brain, like, how different are you
Speaker:living your life now compared to
Speaker:before. Before 2020? It's funny you asked that,
Speaker:because I got discharged from the hospital. I'm sorry. It was
Speaker:October 29 to November 30, 2020,
Speaker:when I was discharged. And I remember asking my
Speaker:cardiologist at the time because we had a
Speaker:snowboard trip planned, my son and I, and
Speaker:I still wanted to go snowboarding. Right. And so I've got
Speaker:an aneurysm. Right. Doctor, can I still go on the
Speaker:trip? Well, it's only. It's still two or three months out. And I thought
Speaker:for sure there'd be some protocol like, no. No physical
Speaker:activity such as that. Right. For at least six
Speaker:months. Not at all. That was not the case. He cleared me. Absolutely
Speaker:cleared me, even, like, two, three months later. Said, you know, you're
Speaker:pretty much on your own. You know, you're. You're kind of living at your own
Speaker:risk, just kind of do what your heart feels and, you know, you
Speaker:know your abilities better than anyone. But at this point, you
Speaker:know, you are free to do what you need to do. And so
Speaker:I ended up taking that snowboard trip with my son. And I don't think we
Speaker:took but like two breaks for about 9 hours. We went out to, went out
Speaker:to, I believe it was sugar and just had a, had a ball. And
Speaker:so, and so since then, I've really kind of tried
Speaker:to try to live life. Maybe not as close to
Speaker:the edge as I did, but I still press the
Speaker:limits. Not near as your caliber boots. I'm
Speaker:not even close to, you know, your caliber as far
Speaker:as the adrenaline pushing the limit topic. But, you know, I
Speaker:do love to go surfing still, you know, I still love to do physical
Speaker:activities, but I do have to remind myself and it's tough. It's hard, right,
Speaker:to remind. Oh, wait, you got, you have an aneurysm, ty, like, slow down,
Speaker:bud. You know, one. One wrong move and in the right spot
Speaker:of, you know, and so I try to, I try to just
Speaker:try to take each day as it comes and again wake up thankful
Speaker:to live it and take breaks throughout the day
Speaker:to keep my head, you know, where it needs to be and focused on, you
Speaker:know, whatever it is I'm working on at the time. Stress is a killer for
Speaker:me. I do get easily stressed and overworked. My
Speaker:brain, I'll shut down if there's too much commotion, too much
Speaker:stimulation. My brain just can't handle it and get a lot of that with four
Speaker:kids. So that's, it's a daily occurrence. Trying to work through that,
Speaker:you know, going back, you know, I do have, again, a lot of. A lot
Speaker:of support, loving wife who's definitely there for me.
Speaker:So I wouldn't be able to be here today living in the manner
Speaker:I am, you know, without all of that and without
Speaker:the help of our higher power. I call him God, Jesus. And
Speaker:so he's there for me. I, again, I'm a
Speaker:little closer to him today than I was, but I try to live a healthier
Speaker:lifestyle. We try to eat well, right? You know, so your bodies are a
Speaker:temple, right. So we need to take care of our bodies. And I think you're
Speaker:very aware of that. Boots. You do a great job. It looks like, you know,
Speaker:eat the right foods. Exercise is important. We have a family
Speaker:trainer now, my wife and I, my two boys, we go to a
Speaker:trainer once a week. My son's a big hockey player. We're
Speaker:a big hockey family. Go Kane's. And so we love to go to
Speaker:Hurricanes games. I love watching him play, but we're trying
Speaker:to work towards his goals and help him meet his goals of making it
Speaker:to the NHL because that's where he wants to go. And so I'm trying to.
Speaker:Trying to get him back active and build up some, some lower body
Speaker:strength. And, you know, I lost 50 pounds during that health crisis
Speaker:boots and I lost pretty much all the muscle in my legs. And I'm just
Speaker:now getting to the point where I can rebuild the muscles in my legs. And
Speaker:so I've been wanting to get to see a trainer. I already know how to
Speaker:work out. I've always really known. But I would say the trainer is probably more
Speaker:from a motivational standpoint, just that once a week we see them on
Speaker:Mondays and then that sets the tone for the rest of the week. You know,
Speaker:then downstairs we have a small gym downstairs,
Speaker:treadmill, elliptical, have a squat rack, few, few dumbbells. Right.
Speaker:So, you know, exercise, strength training is kind of in the game for me
Speaker:now. And that's something I'm really trying to focus on is rebuilding
Speaker:my strength and, you know, muscles really, and just
Speaker:trying to stay again on top of. Top of my health just because I have
Speaker:a lot of people counting on me. And, you know, definitely got a different new
Speaker:chapter here in the book that is presenting a whole new set of challenges. But
Speaker:no, again, I think, you know, with those types of
Speaker:things and that life, those lifestyle choices, hopefully we'll
Speaker:provide some longevity and, you know, be able to see the
Speaker:grandkids and, you know, the children get married one day and all the
Speaker:above. Right? And then maybe my wife and I jumping in a mobile van to
Speaker:come out to the tetons to. To snowboard with boots. Who knows? I don't
Speaker:know. I'd love that. In
Speaker:closing, thanks for sharing your story, by the way.
Speaker:Again, I just have these flashbacks of you getting on my
Speaker:nerves when we were kids.
Speaker:Not me. No, no, no. I mean that the most loving
Speaker:way. It's just
Speaker:amazing how every heart patient I
Speaker:have the privilege and honor of interviewing, you included.
Speaker:It never ceases to amaze me the
Speaker:power of the human spirit to bring us through
Speaker:the toughest of circumstances and then to be
Speaker:able to tell the story with a
Speaker:reframe of hope and
Speaker:perseverance and gratitude. I
Speaker:would say that the unifying point of
Speaker:view amongst all the heart patients I've interviewed now
Speaker:is gratitude. And would
Speaker:you say that? Or. Let me back up. My
Speaker:last question for you is, what is
Speaker:something you wish you could just give to everyone in the world?
Speaker:Right? Now, from your lived experience. And I
Speaker:say that because, you know, when I spoke on the TEDx stage,
Speaker:I wanted to give away the perspective that we aren't
Speaker:promised tomorrow and that I see a lot of the
Speaker:world, or at least in the United States and our culture,
Speaker:living, like, letting little things bother them
Speaker:and staying in relationships, jobs,
Speaker:whatever, that doesn't serve you. And for me,
Speaker:with my journey, I have learned and now
Speaker:actively every day, live out the perspective that
Speaker:I only say yes to what feels right and I say no
Speaker:to what doesn't feel right and I no longer abandon
Speaker:myself. Right. And so that's, like what I want
Speaker:to impart to everyone that's listening. From my point of
Speaker:view. What is something that you want that you wish people
Speaker:could, like, put into practice today from your experience?
Speaker:If they never get to go through heart surgery and never get to go through
Speaker:what you went through, like, what is a lesson you want them to
Speaker:know? Well, I mean, that's a. I could. That could go in a
Speaker:few directions, but, I mean, I don't know what choose one pops to mind
Speaker:is just awareness of, you
Speaker:know, what could potentially happen. Right. And the importance
Speaker:of family time. Right. Like, you don't get time
Speaker:back, so living out each moment really like
Speaker:your last, because again, you really don't know.
Speaker:Right. And so I think just living in each moment and
Speaker:really being there. Right. And I have a really hard time with that
Speaker:because, you know, I'm a business owner, so, you know, I'm on
Speaker:technology a lot. You know, there's emails coming through. I'm always on my
Speaker:phone. Phones are a killer. Right. And so
Speaker:I'm the first to admit, you know, there's a problem there that I'm aware
Speaker:of, but we're working there. But even with all that said,
Speaker:it's. It's living each day like your last, truly
Speaker:finding time with family, friends and
Speaker:living those out undistracted. Right. And I feel like this
Speaker:world is so full of distractions, especially
Speaker:now in today's climate. Unfortunately, where we are as a country,
Speaker:you know, it's family is even more important than ever now. And so I
Speaker:feel like if there's a time to really try to cut out more
Speaker:time or place more emphasis and value on loving,
Speaker:well is what we like to say around here in my family is, you know,
Speaker:are we loving? Well, right, just because you never know
Speaker:what's in store and so you want to create those good memories. Right. So
Speaker:that even if something does happen, you know, there's some good memories for your loved
Speaker:ones to. To truly remember who you were and
Speaker:what you were about and the legacy that, you know, you lived.
Speaker:And so I think that's probably the biggest thing because I think
Speaker:at the end of the day, you know, yes, we could be successful in our
Speaker:careers. We can chase fame, money, fortune. Yeah, that's all great.
Speaker:And I did that for ten years. Corporate in the insurance industry. That's why
Speaker:I left it and became an independent broker, just because I was.
Speaker:I felt a deep conviction of
Speaker:trying to find and navigate ways, yes, to make
Speaker:income, but to create more open space to spend for
Speaker:family time. And so that's never been more important
Speaker:than till after this health crisis. And, yep, still working
Speaker:on, of course, that on a daily basis. But I'll say it's much,
Speaker:much better than it. Than it was. But what we don't is want
Speaker:people to wait till something may happen, right. What we want
Speaker:listeners to really do is to take these things into serious
Speaker:consideration and we pray nothing ever happens, but really try to
Speaker:put these good practices in place today. Right. And
Speaker:think, okay, what could I do? Maybe it's setting my phone aside
Speaker:only for certain times of the day to check my email, or
Speaker:maybe I get my responsibilities done before everyone gets up in the
Speaker:morning, you know? So that's something that I'm still trying to work on when
Speaker:it comes to working out and being physically in shape. But, yeah, family
Speaker:time, you know, me as a family man, that's what's speaking to me,
Speaker:and that's really what resonates with my heart, you know, as you ask that question.
Speaker:Beautiful. That's a great place to end. Todd Sykes,
Speaker:thank you so much for reconnecting with
Speaker:me on open heart surgery with boots. I know your story is going to
Speaker:help so many people, and I will have in the show
Speaker:notes. If you want to reach out to Todd and thank him
Speaker:for sharing a story, I'll have his contact
Speaker:information there. And be sure if you haven't already
Speaker:subscribed to this podcast. And the greatest thing you can
Speaker:do for this podcast to help it grow is to leave a review
Speaker:and share it with others. Please be sure to come back next week
Speaker:for another inspiring story of hope,
Speaker:inspiration, and healing. Thank you so much, boots.
