This podcast episode centers on the compelling narrative of Suzie Gulshan, a C7 incomplete quadriplegic, who shares her journey of resilience following a life-altering injury sustained during a fitness class. We delve into the intricacies of her recovery, highlighting the critical role of self-advocacy and the importance of community support in navigating the complexities of living with a disability. Susie’s story offers profound insights into the challenges faced by individuals with spinal cord injuries, emphasizing the diverse responses to similar injuries and the unique journeys of those affected. As she reflects on her experiences, Susie articulates her aspirations to educate and inspire others within the disability community through holistic approaches that integrate fitness, mindfulness, and nutrition. Her determination to give back and contribute to the advancement of spinal cord injury awareness is both motivating and enlightening, making this episode a valuable addition to our ongoing conversation about the lived experiences of people with disabilities. The podcast delves into the profound experiences of Doug Vincent and Addie Rich as they navigate the realities of living with disabilities. Doug, a polio survivor, and Addie, who has cerebral palsy, emphasize the importance of amplifying the voices of the disability community through candid and honest discussions. They share personal anecdotes about their week, touching on the challenges and triumphs that come with their respective journeys. The episode highlights the significance of gratitude amidst the struggles faced by individuals with disabilities, encouraging listeners to adopt a more appreciative perspective towards their own lives. The hosts also reflect on the myriad ways in which their experiences inform their understanding of disability, fostering a sense of community and resilience among their listeners.

Takeaways:

• The podcast emphasizes the importance of community support for individuals with disabilities, highlighting how shared experiences foster understanding and resilience.
• Listeners are encouraged to engage in self-advocacy, as it is crucial for navigating the complexities of healthcare and rehabilitation after a spinal cord injury.
• The discussion reveals that despite common misconceptions, individuals with similar injuries can have vastly different experiences and recovery trajectories.
• The hosts advocate for gratitude and perspective in facing life's challenges, particularly in recognizing the value of one's own circumstances and the support of others.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• AGUIAR Personal Training
• Kaiser
• Wings for Life
• Smith Barney
• Dean Witter
• Morgan Stanley
• Merrill Lynch
• Triumph Foundation
• Casa Colina
• Perfect Step
• Pace University

The following is a productions original series.

Hello, Hello, Hello.

Welcome to Walk and Roll Live.

I am Doug Vincent along with my co host, Addie Rich.

Our podcast is dedicated to amplifying the voices of.

Of the disability community.

That's it.

Just succinctly like that.

I am a polio.

What's that?

That's it.

That's it.

That's it.

That's right.

I'm a polio survivor and Addie has cerebral palsy.

It's just.

It's so short, right?

Yeah.

So cp.

It's.

It's easy.

Yeah.

Make it shorter.

Sure.

So how was your week?

It was good.

It flew by.

I'm amazed that we are in mid May.

Oh, good day off from work.

Went with some friends to a conference.

Deeply regret my day off today because nobody does my job when I'm away.

So, you know, I'm like.

I came into like 42 emails.

It was like, how can.

How can people need this much on a Friday?

Like, you know, some of it's kind of junk mail that comes in through AI spammers, but 99 of that had an action item.

You had to do something.

Yes, but you know what?

I'm lucky.

I have a job.

I make enough money to go to a conference.

I was able to stay in a nice hotel.

People were complaining because the conference was very busy.

So when it was checkout time, like, I literally was going down to get coffee and I waited like 25 minutes for an elevator that would fit me because you could only fit six people at a time.

And people were complaining that they keep having to wait.

And when I finally got on the elevator, like, so somebody was complaining in there.

And I said, wait a minute, you live in a first world country.

We had enough money to get a hotel to come to this conference.

And if you're inconvenienced for an extra 15 minutes, I think you need an attitude adjustment.

Of course the whole elevator got quiet, but yeah, I don't know.

Wow, you just spoke right up, huh?

Yep.

Must be the podcast.

But you're absolutely right.

It's those, those first world problems.

Yeah.

I think people spend a little more time maybe noticing the things we should be grateful for.

The things you have, like.

Yeah, yeah, I don't.

That's ungratefulness is like something in my craw that always bugs me.

And if.

And you know what?

In my defense, I was tired my filter to not say it had fallen off and I just decided to do it.

You know, they didn't have to take the time to read the closed captions on your face, you just.

I just started talking.

Yep.

So six people got an adjustment between floor 13 and floor lobby.

Well, hopefully, you know, your.

Your percentage of those people actually taking that in and reflecting a little bit is good.

You know, sometimes people complain like that.

They.

They are tone deaf to that kind of thing, you know.

For sure.

Yeah, for sure.

Well, it's been a busy week for me.

I mean, I'm doing stuff.

It's, you know, hearing you talk about, you know, the stuff going on at work, it just takes on a whole different thing when it's work because somebody else is, you know, is hanging over your shoulder, baby, to make sure you're getting it done or, you know, checking in on, you know, And I've.

This is volunteer busier in hell, you know, here.

And I love it.

I love it, I love it.

I, you know, I do it every week that.

Just working on the.

The podcast, and there's so many things moving parts to it that I don't think people understand.

You know, I didn't understand, you know, when I started this, you know, and I hear podcasts, you know, where they're talking, they're going through credits, you know, and somebody.

Somebody does this.

Somebody, you know, there's like, potential or my team or things like that.

Well, I'm the team, you know, and.

And for an old guy like me, I, you know, I. I feel.

Well,.

It's a lot.

It's many hats.

Yes, many hats before we go on officially, you know, because people say that to me quite a bit, you know, and I'm, you know, very grateful for that, you know, that.

That they say, oh, you know, when I say 70, I mean, I have people that want to look at my license, but I'm like, no, really?

And they'll say, you look good.

Well, my dermatologist said, you know, because my age come up, she said, you look good for 70.

And I thought, well, now I can say officially, from a professional, I am officially.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, I mean, because separate of having, like, health issues that are not your choosings, you've done well to take care of yourself.

And so it's paying off, you know.

Yeah, well, yeah.

And, you know, before, you know, people are like, wow, what does he look like?

You know, it's not 25.

It's not 45.

You know, I might look like 65 instead of.

No, I think you'd look younger.

But I would say we're kind of the baby faces, right?

Because I get carded a lot and I have people Argue with me when I say how old I am.

And I'm like, no, for real.

Well, it's very strange because when I was young, you know, and of course it was a different time and it wasn't, they weren't so stringent about the rules.

But you know, we found a couple of bars when we were like 18 that would serve us, you know, we go in there and just order like, you know, and if somebody said, you know, can I see your id?

Did I say a pina colada?

I meant Coke.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Right.

Yeah.

But, you know, but, but I'm learning.

That's, that was kind of the point is I'm, I'm having to learn how to do all, you know, it's not like you just put the videos up on YouTube and, you know, I mean, you can do that, but if you want them to really do something or.

What I'm trying to do is do some work now that will pay off in a little bit of automation because the, all these different systems will kind of like, if I publish it on the, on the platform that I publish it on, it'll go to all the places I don't have to do anything.

So.

Yeah, one of the last ones when we moved our publishing platform was YouTube.

So I had to move it to YouTube and that they had a little bit more of an intricate, you know, way to do that.

So.

Yeah, so I've got that.

That was one of my, my, my victories today.

Yes, yes.

Good job, good job.

I mean, it's one of the reasons why I don't do.

Because people are like, you should do more podcasts like, related to plot twists because you're used to talking, you know, how to do it.

And I'm like, do you understand that, like, I have no extra time?

Like, Right.

Doug is production.

Like I come here, talk and leave.

Yes, yes.

And you know, yeah, there's no way you could do this with a full time job, you know, to, to the level where you want to do it.

Yeah.

So happy to do it.

Like I say, this is what I love doing.

I sit in here, you know, for hours, you know, at a time, you know, it's like, where'd the time go?

You know, one other thing is we're doing this for next week.

We may have to get together again sometime this week because we got the Memorial Day weekend coming up this weekend and we're all both going to be off doing things.

I'm going up to Santa Maria for the, the national car show.

Yeah.

45 Years.

I think this year.

Wow.

I asked if it was a car show because I know that it's generally this weekend.

Well, my brain said it's sometime soon.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

They close the street off and have a cruise and all that stuff.

So I'm gonna go and make a, you know, a trip of it that I get to see some of my cousins and stuff.

So yeah, I'm looking forward to that.

So we'll do that.

So next, sometime this week.

We'll be doing the show for next week.

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

So looking forward to it though.

Don't call us lazy, that's all I gotta say.

So I think that's it.

Don't forget to like and subscribe and share.

We thank Mr. Arthur Martineau to tell his story last week.

Another great story and such an amazing story.

I, I'm still like, there's never a story.

I'm like, okay, well that was told and, and it was told.

Like I still will think about it later or like, you know, be like, oh my goodness, like my brain will just click clack about that and his especially because I mean, he's so far away.

And I think like, okay, if I get a cold and I'm like away, I feel uncomfortable, let alone like life altering issue.

Golly.

The, the other thing is too, is that one of the things that I'm learning, one of the many things that I am learning from doing this, you know, I've been disabled my entire life, but man, there's so many things I'm learning by doing this show is, you know, how different we are within the same diagnosis and these stories tell it.

I, you know, I thought after a while and when I first started, after a while, maybe, maybe some of these stories will get a bit redundant in there.

You know, there's some ways that they are very similar in how it kind of unfolds, especially when somebody comes to it later through some kind of an injury.

But you know, even at that, you know, they're just so diverse in outcomes and treatments and you know, from, you know, essentially the same injury.

Right, right.

And it's great to hear how people deal with it and you know, and how they've overcome some of the barriers that are presented to them and all of that.

So.

And we've got another one this week which is, you know, that was the other thing.

You know, I mean, remember learning this years ago when, and I think I mentioned this before, you know, my, my brother was coming to see me.

I think he was coming down for a wheelchair basketball tournament.

And he was coming with a buddy of his and, you know, and I knew he was a quad, and, and he said, well, you know, so, and so is driving.

I'm like, hang on a second.

A quad that can drive, you know, and, and, and, and this is really.

Before they had all the technology now that, yeah, pretty much anybody can drive now, but they, you know, I, I learned that there are walking quads and things like that.

Yes.

That's gonna be Susie that we're going to talk to today.

Yeah, you know, so it's a bit of a fascinating story and she does a great job of telling it.

So we're going to get to that here in just a second.

Anything else before we turn the corner?

All right.

For the story.

All right, we'll be right back to hear about Susie Gold, Sean, after this word from Aguard.

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From the Aghyar professional training Studios, you're listening to Walk and Roll Live Disability Stories.

Bravo, Doug.

Keep on keeping on.

Your podcast is a treasure.

Tune in to Walk and Roll Live podcast.

Such a refreshing perspective on life and disability.

Love it.

Another great podcast episode.

Such valuable information.

You transformed the fact of not having a guest lined up into an opportunity.

To share valuable information in a different way.

Very powerful.

The hosts make you feel like you're.

Part of a genuine conversation.

Walk and Roll Live is my weekly dose of positivity.

Thank you and Addie once again for.

The opportunity to be interviewed.

And welcome back to Walk and Roll Live.

I am Doug and Addie is here.

And our guest for this week is here.

A little background.

I met her at the role in rally.

Want to give a.

A shout out to Robert Soto.

That whole day, he was kind of rolling me around and introducing me to, oh, you got to talk to this person.

You got to talk to this person.

So Susie was one of those people that he, that he led me to.

Susie Gulshan.

Am I saying that correctly?

Yes.

Yeah.

So we Always like to start by getting a little bit of your past, you know, what were you like pre injury and your, you know, your whole life where you're from and all of that.

So why don't we start there?

Well, thank you for having me on.

So this is pretty much when my life is living here in California.

I have two siblings and I went to school at Pace University and I studied finance.

I actually worked on Wall street in New York and lived there for a decade.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, I was actually there during 9 11.

That's a whole different story as well.

Yes.

So I came back home to California, where I'm from originally.

And then I found myself going, okay, what am I going to do next for my career?

So I went back to school and I became a paralegal.

Oh, cool.

Yeah, I like cousins.

Legal and finance is kind of like cousins, I would think.

I work, I work in finance in a roundabout way.

I used to be, I was an English teacher, but.

But I'm now over in this finance side of things.

But I feel like law and numbers, they work in the logic side.

Right.

So, and especially this is maybe just me inserting myself, but I would think because you learn to be unemotional about the fluctuations in the market as much so you have the cool cucumber in the paralegal of like, you don't have to have an opinion.

You are simply like stating facts and reporting.

Absolutely.

It's very black and white, like, you know, without a doubt.

And you know, working in financial services, we dealt with a lot of the legal aspects of giving financial advice.

So you're, you're spot on with that.

In fact, when I was going through paralegal school and working for a number of attorneys, oftentimes they're like, oh, you're such a bright young lady, why don't you go to law school?

And I said, you know, had this happen to me five years earlier, which is, you know, the financial crisis and so forth, I probably would have gone to law school.

Right.

But I was already 40 something and the last thing I wanted to do was be strapped with $250,000 in debt.

Yeah, that's what I go back to law school if my brain was mathing.

And when you said you came to the states when you were three and this year, I was like, well, it's probably because she wasn't a 20something who had a way to like shoulder all the debt.

And there's that logic again too.

Right?

If they wanted to, if they wanted to like, you know, give it to us for free, then maybe.

Right.

And then, you know, so for a number of years I worked as a paralegal.

I was a intern with the federal defender in Los Angeles working in their death penalty or their capital habeas unit.

And I also was an intern for the Orange County Public Defender's office, so.

And that's what I really loved.

I loved criminal defense.

But I did corporate, I did estate planning, family law, workman's comp, which now I'm involved with as a workman's comp injury.

And aside from that, my side gig for the last like, you know, three, five years was a fitness instructor.

So I'm a certified group fitness instructor and a certified yoga instructor.

Oh, there you go.

Yeah, I love that.

And for the last couple of years I've been working full time as a office manager in the construction business.

So I've done it all.

Yeah, yeah.

Yes, we, you and I have parallel lives, it sounds like.

I did teaching and stuff, but I also worked at my ex brother in law's landscape company, like doing operations and things and then ran a landscape supply yard when I came back to Atlanta after living away for a while.

So you and I have traveled in the same weird circles of like smart girls that don't look like, look, they'd be in that industry and then they are.

Yeah, no, it was really interesting, the construction field.

I worked with companies that did a public works and so I learned so much about like, you know, what they called labor and compliance and that's what I was in charge of.

So I did human resources office management.

But what the interesting part to me again, I think this taps back into my finance and the legal, because that's a lot of legal.

It's, you know, making sure that you, you pay those workers the correct hourly wages, you pay the unions, and you deal with unions when you don't pay your dues correctly and so forth like that.

So yeah, you know, very interesting how everything came together.

No offense to hr, you know, people that work in hr, but I didn't realize, you know, I just learned a few years ago that, you know, there's many of them that have masters in hr, you know.

Yeah.

So it's a, it's a high level position.

My sister has a PhD in human resources, believe it or not.

Wow.

Yeah, that's amazing.

Yeah.

Okay, so we're going to rewind your story back in time.

I'm going way back in time.

Tell us about you when you were young, either.

I mean, if you remember anything in India, that would be cool.

Just because we've never had a guest that had a different growing up experience in that area, but also just as a younger person.

Because obviously in telling your story, your injury is later in life.

But tell us who you were.

Yeah, you know, I mean, when I was growing up, I grew up mostly here where I live currently, which is in Diamondbar, California.

It's part of Los Angeles County.

I'm kind of in the border of Orange county and LA County.

And growing up, I was always like that person.

Not like a tomboy, but I was always involved in something sports related.

You know, I ran cross country in high school.

I also played on the tennis team.

I was involved in student government.

And it's kind of like how people describe me now.

I'm like the Energizer Bunny.

I'm always doing something, you know, I can't just sit still.

So whether it was involved in, like back in the day, we used to have an organization called the Key Club, which went out.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you know, you did all that kind of nice charity work.

Right?

We used to work at a place every year.

We'd volunteer over at Latterman Hospital, which is closed now.

It was like one of those regional centers.

And so, you know, we used to be involved with Special Olympics and all of the volunteer work.

So, I mean, that's kind of like who I am today as well.

So they had just built it.

So, you know, that was like one of those things.

And then I went on to school in New York.

I went to Pace University.

So I had.

That's what sent you to New York at first school?

College, yes.

Was school.

I had an aunt and uncle that lived in Queens.

My uncle actually worked for Pace University, not as a professor.

He worked kind of in the, like the food service and the dining and stuff like that through the Marriott Corporation.

And they lived in the quintessential Queens India neighborhood.

So there's a part of Queens, it's called Jackson Heights.

Yes.

And it's like going to.

Are you familiar with.

And probably Doug, you know about this.

If you go to Arcadia or Not Arcadia.

What is the.

The town?

I can't think of Artesia.

Excuse me?

Artesia.

Okay.

Yeah, Artesia.

Have you ever been to Artesia where it's like, Little India?

No, I haven't.

Oh, yeah.

So just, you know, right off of the 91, right?

In Artesia, and it's just blocks and blocks of just Indian stores, Indian food, you know, the Indian garments, and tons of jewelry stores and stuff like that.

So I don't know if you.

Doug and Addie, if you like Indian food, but if you like Indian food, you gotta go to Artesia.

Spicy, right?

Curry and.

Well, I mean, yeah, probably for the regular palate.

I mean, personally, I don't like spicy food.

I love Indian food.

I just don't like it spicy anymore.

Right.

Yeah.

No.

One of my best friends is.

He was raised in South Africa, but his parents are Indian, so that used to be.

We would always go and get Indian food.

And I love the restaurants he picks because.

Because I'm like, oh, my God.

Sag paner is my jam samosas.

Oh, my God.

I love sa.

That's my favorite.

Okay, cool.

See, there you go.

So you moved to New York and you got some.

Some more culture.

Yeah.

Where you could eat the food you love and see the things you were used to.

Oh, absolutely.

It was a great time, but I was a little homesick.

You know, it was a culture shock living in New York and living in la.

Two completely different experiences.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The weather was the toughest.

And then I moved back home after I graduated, and then I worked in financial services.

I worked at Smith Barney.

Okay.

So.

Yeah, I worked in Newport Beach.

So, you know, I did come into the field that I studied at the time.

And then I worked for Smith Barney for a number of years, and then I worked to work for what was called Dean Witter.

No longer exists.

That's right.

Yeah.

I was like, I know that name, but, yeah, I don't think it's a thing anymore.

I worked in Newport beach, and I got the opportunity to work for what are three financial advisors that did institutional business.

So their business wasn't mom and pop, like, you know, like you and I as regular investors.

They dealt with the counties, the cities, the municipalities.

So this was right after, like, in Orange county, they had, like, this big municipal bond, like, disaster.

I don't know what you want to call it.

Like, scandal.

Excuse me?

I should say scandal.

Yeah, it was a big deal.

Somebody appropriating funds.

Yes, yes.

It was mis.

Misappropriation of money, bad investments and so forth.

So the three financial advisors I worked for did that bond business.

So we were, you know, buying and selling bonds to these municipalities in these cities.

Right.

Because, you know, they're safe investments.

Yeah.

To fund all their programs.

And so in working with them, I actually then became licensed.

I got like my securities license.

And after I passed my test, the very next day, I did like a $10 million bond transaction.

So that was like, really the coolest thing, right?

You're like, oh my God, I'm using what I studied.

I'm sure your parents and everybody were clapping because, you know, people that I know like to say, do.

We don't use what we.

Yeah.

So your parents are like, not only are you using it, you're using it on a $10 million deal.

Exactly.

A lot of responsibility and there's a lot of, like, things that could go wrong.

Like.

Absolutely.

It's not just push a little lever and here it goes.

So you're operating in a high stress, lots of responsibility position.

Yes, for a number of years, I would assume.

And it was, it was a lot of fun.

And then I had, they used to, they call it trading on the short end of the curve.

It's called commercial paper, which a lot of, you know, private companies, again, you know, big companies, they just use it for short term financing and banks use it all the time.

So there was a guy in New York, worked on the trading desk who I dealt with like every single day.

And so I had an opportunity.

They came, they asked me to come visit the bond desk.

So I went back to New York and I went and I met everybody on the trading floor.

So this was at the World Trade Center.

It was on the 61st floor.

Dean Witter occupied the largest amount of floors within the World Trade Center.

Now is a lot more mature, you know, a little bit more settled.

And there was, I was there for three or four days and I just was like, I'm in love.

I want to come back to New York and go to work.

Yeah.

Something in my, it's something in talking to you, though.

Like, I feel the spirit of your, like, entrepreneurship and your go getter and the adrenaline that you like, right.

When you're saying you're kind of like a tomboy, this is adrenaline in like an intellectual way.

Right.

Because it's a game of when you get in, when do you get out, what's safe, what's not.

You're having to do constantly calculate.

So I could, Yeah, I can see it in you that, that, that's the game you like to play.

Of who's gonna win at the end.

Right.

And I went there and I visited, and then it just happened to be there.

There was an opening on the bond desk, and the guy, the.

The gentleman that headed up the bond desk, I remember saying, okay, you know what?

You need to hire me.

And so.

And so forth.

I went back to California, and then he came and interviewed me.

We went out to dinner, and he's like, why should you hire me?

And I said this, this, and that.

Next thing you know, this was in October.

They hired me in December.

I'm moving to New York City in the worst weather.

In the worst weather.

I literally.

I've been living at home this whole time right now.

What year was that?

I'm 26.

Right, right.

And I have nothing.

I just.

Basically, the clothes on my back.

Right.

Because I've always lived at home.

So you got a couple of shocks going on, cultural shock, and you've got this.

This whole dynamic of being on your own.

Yeah.

And talk about luck.

So the guy that I used to do the trading with every day, Danny was his name, and he happened to have a studio apartment in Brooklyn, fully furnished, and he gave it to me for $635 a month.

Oh, my God.

I don't know how lucky, right?

No, I mean, yeah, the friend that I was just talking about going to the Indian food, he lived in New York, and we used to work for Grant Thornton.

And so he lived in New York.

He did a trade out of Atlanta to New York.

And I mean, he shared a little, like, spitball apartment with another person.

Seven, not six.

So for you to get that.

Can you believe.

Well, you know, Danny said to me, he goes, you know, I just have this.

He owned the apartment in this apartment building.

And he's like, yeah.

You know, I mean, it's just sitting empty.

Here, let me give it to you.

I mean, like I said, fully furnished.

It was nice apartment in a nice neighborhood.

You know, they.

They talk about the word regentrification.

It was Green Point, and it was one of those areas that was coming through that.

Regentification.

Yes.

And, yeah.

So then I used to commute every morning to the World Trade center underneath to that stop and so forth.

And, you know, I. I sold my car and everything.

Right.

I went there without.

I mean, I had work friends, but I didn't have any friends outside of that.

Yeah, right.

You know, I mean, it was.

It was.

It was exciting during the Week.

It was lonely on the weekends, though.

Oh, for sure.

Especially if you're not like, the people who go out.

And it's like you're just awake from Thursday till Sunday at 7pm because you guys have gone out and eaten and Dr. Everything.

I, I.

New York is a beautiful, wonderful place, but it's always a place.

I'm like, I only want to visit and I only want to go for, like, five days because then I'm tired as hell and I could never live there.

I don't see making a life.

But.

But, you know, it's like California when everybody thinks we just hang out at the beach all day every day.

No, it's true.

I've had a number of friends visit and family members, and they say the exact same thing, Eddie.

They're like, oh, three or four days, tops.

Yeah.

Now, did you get to a point where you got some outside friends?

I did.

You know what I mean?

Eventually, you know, you got to meet friends of friends, and, you know, I was what they called the customer.

So I was wined and dined pretty much every night, Monday through Friday.

Yeah, you know, you develop friends, like, in your apartment buildings and overtime.

But yeah, I used to work very hard.

I moved here to where I live here in Southern California because I had worked with a couple of guys up in San Luis Obispo, and they came down and they were, like, in charge of kind of getting this radio station turned around.

And.

And after a year, I came down.

They brought me down in a position.

Within a year, they were gone.

So.

So, so now I'm here without any connection whatsoever other than, you know, the people at work, you know, and.

And then outside of that, I did some volunteer work, started to get that.

That whole, you know, my own personal ecosystem going.

But, yeah, it takes a little while.

It does.

I love slow, by the way.

That's, like, one of my favorite towns.

I wouldn't mind going back there.

So.

And then you stay how long?

I mean, Obviously you said September 11th, and everything happened.

Yeah.

So I. I was.

So I came back.

I was still working at that time.

When I first moved there, I worked for Dean Witter, and then Morgan Stanley bought Dean Witter, and then I moved to Midtown and worked for Morgan Stanley.

I'm glad you were in Midtown.

Yeah, I know.

Right?

Yeah.

And then I moved to Merrill Lynch.

So when I came back to California.

I was still employed by Merrill lynch, and I was traveling pretty much the entire west Coast.

Yeah.

So my job was to go into branch offices.

So, like, your financial advisor would be my client.

Right.

We were like taking and synthesizing, like, investment opportunities and ideas and synthesizing them into palatable investment products.

Products, yeah.

And in vice, so that that financial advisor would then give to, say, you, Doug or Addie for your own portfolio.

Right.

So that was my job.

And I loved it, you know, traveled.

I was, you know, doing a lot of public speaking.

I got to speak at the New York Stock Exchange once.

So that was really cool.

That is super cool.

Like, well, here, that's a fine.

How do you do?

I know.

And then, you know, we were sales people, so we were highly paid.

You know, we had big expense accounts, so we were some of the first people to go.

Right.

And so then, you know, luckily I was at home, because if it had happened when I was in New York.

Yeah.

One of two things would have happened.

I either would have found something similar or, you know, I would end up having to come home anyways because the cost of living is so expensive.

Right, right.

You know, I mean, people make very good salaries, but the cost of living is so expensive out.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, that is definitely what drove my friend back to the Atlanta area was he's like, yes, I make a.

A good paycheck, but my rent, my.

You know what?

You don't have a car because you can't afford a car.

Food and everything is so expensive, and your places are so small.

In such a little economy kitchen, you eat out most of the time.

It's very interesting.

That's so spot on.

I see the stories where there's like a 600 square foot.

You know, crazy.

I mean, I knew traders that paid like, you know, a quarter of a million dollars for like that box.

My apartment was.

I lived in a Pre War Building.

460 Square foot, had its own separate kitchen, and it was a fourth floor walk up.

And I lived right downtown, like within walking distance of the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, like, kind of like Battery Park.

Yeah, I know where that is.

The tip of the island.

Yeah.

So it was the best 10 years of my life.

I wouldn't trade it for anything.

That's amazing.

So you come home and it's obviously dead slow, Better here, right?

No.

Right.

But, you know, I moved back home and I, you know, with my parents here.

And then that's when I decided, well, what am I going to do next?

So the work that I did in New York, you don't have the same kind of work opportunities here.

Right.

It's very limited in financial services.

Really, the most that you can do is become a financial advisor.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

And that wasn't something I wanted to do.

I can't ask people for money, even though I'm investing it.

But a lot of, you know, financial advisors were like, oh, why don't you come work with us as an investment analyst?

Yeah.

But that just didn't, you know, strike me as something I wanted to do.

So that's when I went back to school.

Okay.

And for some reason, the legal field really, you know, attracted me.

And in particular it was criminal defense.

You know, I was like one of those people that's like, you know, the Innocence Project and all of that kind of stuff.

So then I went back to community college, which is usually where most of the paralegal programs are.

So I went back to school part time, worked a ton of part time jobs.

So, you know, it's.

Have you ever seen that SNL skit where.

I hate to say this, but, you know, like, they say like these, there's a bunch of Jamaicans and they have like five jobs.

Have you ever seen that skit or heard that?

Well, that.

Where you're like trying to piece it all together to do what you.

Yeah, yeah.

Because you want to be able to do something else.

Right.

So it's like first time at school for an hour, then I go over to this car wash, then I go bus tables, then I. Yeah, yeah.

Literally.

To do that to get where you wanted to be.

Yeah.

There was a period where I. I worked a limousine company in the morning, booking the limousines in the afternoon.

I did an afternoon drive radio show, and then on the weekends I did a part time at another radio station.

And when I got offered a full time job, I was a little hesitant because, you know, there was a certain amount of security and having three jobs, you know, all three aren't going to go away at the same time.

So.

But, you know, with the job, I got insurance and I had a baby, so I had to do that.

Yeah, but.

Yeah, no, but I. Doug, I was exactly like that.

I go from one place to another place to another place, and it was never about the money.

I always tried to say to people, you know, I'm 58, I've never been married, I don't have any children.

And for me work wasn't so much about the money.

I mean obviously.

Right.

Just your needs, you know, but it was more about just keeping busy and doing stuff.

I mean I've.

I can't even tell you.

I'd have to look at my Social Security administration like thing to know how many jobs I've had.

I mean I was working at a dealership, answering the phones.

It was a perfect job to go to school.

I worked the front desk at a massage place, so.

And in turn I got free massages for five years.

Right.

Massage a month, you leverage your like luxuries and made them possible for yourself and Amen sister.

Do it.

You know, off and on, Since I was 17 years old, I've been working in gyms.

I can't even tell you a year that I've had to pay for a gym membership because that was another part time.

Yeah.

I mean strategic.

You know what you're doing.

We've established this now.

You know what you're doing.

You know the funny thing is I be this 40 year old woman because I'm you know, my 40s by now working among side 18 year olds at the gym.

But they would still hire me because they knew I was competent.

Right, right.

But I was making like, you know, $10 an hour, $16 an hour.

Right.

Working like with 18 year olds and 20 year olds at all of these like you know, part time jobs.

That'll keep you young though, you know, kind of gotta keep you.

Sure.

Well it shows you the drive, drive and ambition you will.

I feel like that's generous.

Sorry, sorry, current generation.

But I feel like that is an old generation skill that we will do whatever.

Yeah.

And we're not like oh, I'm not, I'm too old for that or I'm too this for that or whatever.

Jobs have value, right?

Yeah, we value being of value.

And we also know that you have to get dirty.

To do what?

To get what you want and be willing to sweat or get up early or do, you know, whatever.

I mean.

Yeah.

And there's some of those intrinsic values that come from that that make you hireable for the next person.

Like you said, getting the job done.

Yeah.

You know, I mean although my parents didn't do it, you know, my dad was you know, very well educated with civil engineer.

My mom worked.

I think it's like ingrained in our culture.

My culture especially being you know like a second generation that you know, we Just work hard.

Yeah, that's what we do.

We're going to work hard.

That's the example you saw invest it and things like that, you know, Whereas, like, you know, you mentioned, like, the newer generations, like, oh, well, mom and dad are gonna kick the bucket someday, so I'm gonna get something.

I mean, it's true, right?

It seems to be.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And.

Or you owe me something because I'm here and it's no, sorry.

But anyway, so we're piecing together a bunch of jobs and you're going through a paralegal school, and that takes how long?

So when do you basically get to a position you can get a job in your new career?

Yeah, it took me two and a half years because I did it part time.

And then I did that for a number of years.

Like I said, I worked for a number of attorneys.

I just, I couldn't get a job in criminal defense because there's not a lot of paperwork in criminal defense.

Ah, okay.

So that's what's interesting.

A lot of criminal defense attorneys that go out on their own, I mean, they either start at one of two places, they're either a public defender or a da and then they eventually go out on their own as a sole proprietor, but there's not a lot of paperwork.

So, you know, the only two places you could work are for the DA and the public defender.

Yeah.

And I had no desire to work for the da.

Right.

One of those people like, well, damn.

Enter.

Yeah, that's what I call the dark side.

Right.

You're like, not.

Not doing that.

So, you know, that kind of eventually waned and I just.

I needed to make some more money.

So that's when I got, you know, I landed this job at a family construction company.

Family owned, excuse me, construction company.

And that's when I learned about the construction business and then got really interested in that.

Yeah, my OSHA certifications learned a lot about, like, construction itself.

So now this is probably as we're, you know, getting into 20 minutes plus, and people are thinking this is walk and roll live disability stories, you know, and.

And it's a fascinating story.

And, you know, that's why we want to hear it, get to know you.

And a lot of our guests, their injuries or, you know, whatever has affected them to bring them to this community of disabled folks is happening earlier in life.

It just happened recently for you.

So.

So that's the part of the story that that we have you here for.

Really?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Beautiful morning.

I was going to teach my Saturday class.

On Saturdays, I taught two classes.

My first class at 10am was what we call HIIT, which is high intensity interval training.

Good, good.

Yes.

Guys also die on your floor in your house if you try to do this.

And so I had a group of women, you know, about my age, a little bit younger, dedicated.

They always used to come to my Saturday classes and we'd work out hard.

And so I went to the gym, I set up the stations.

I had like five or six stations.

And one of the exercises in that station is a box jump.

Are you guys familiar with what the box jump is?

Oh, I'm already going, oh, yeah.

So, you know, very big in the CrossFit world.

It's a great exercise.

It's plyometric, and it's a healthy exercise for anyone to do.

Well, I always give women the option, you could either do a box jump or you could do just step up, step up and down.

So long story short, I'm doing the class with them.

It's my second round.

I've already done like 10 box jumps, so my second round, I come.

It's either the second or the third jump I get.

I jump on the box, I land with my two feet.

But somehow I hit my head with such intensity in the mirror in front of me.

And I mean, I immediately felt it.

Like, it was like a shock of like electrical.

Like an electrical shock in my neck immediately.

It was like I almost felt like I was suspended in air.

That's how I felt.

Wow.

And I mean, I felt it immediately.

And then I fell to the side of the box, I landed on the ground, and immediately the.

The gals in my class ran up to me, right?

And I said to them, I said, are my arms and legs straight?

Because I felt like I was in a bear pose, right?

So my arms and legs up, they're like, no, Susie, your arms and legs are straight on the floor.

I was.

I can't feel.

My arms and legs immediately was paralyzed.

I was conscious this entire time, though.

I think they said I passed out for a little bit.

So when you jumped up.

Sorry, I'm like, just trying to picture this in my head.

So when you jumped up, you smacked the mirror.

So you jumped up on the box and hit your head on the mirror?

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah, Okay.

I was trying to picture how this happened, but I was like, okay, so basically the.

The Distance between the box and the mirror had somehow moved from what it maybe was originally set up as well.

I think it was.

It's just the way my head was down or something, the way it landed.

Like I said, I landed with my feet solid because most people assume I fell, right?

No, you solidly landed.

But the impact was so great on your brain.

What happened?

No, no, no, no.

She hit the mirror.

Oh, yeah, I know, but I mean, hitting her head so hard.

Yes, but what.

What.

What really happened is I hyperextended my neck, only to find out later, you know, from my spine surgeon, what.

What happened with my neck was.

What is the equivalent of a whiplash?

I was going to say an auto accident.

Yeah, I was going to say.

So you whiplash forward instead of back, basically into the mirror.

Yes.

So the whiplash was when the force of my head hitting the mirror whipped to my neck, back, and that's hyperextension.

So, you know, immediately rushed to trauma level one unit over at UCI.

I went into and had surgery right away.

So they did what they call a decompression because apparently I had spinal stenosis that was pretty severe, of course, in my cervical vertebrae.

Didn't know that.

So the spines didn't sever.

No.

So I. Yeah, I'm an incomplete.

So I am a C7 incomplete quadriplegic.

Wow.

But I'm a walking quad.

Right, yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Because I know a number of our listeners are thinking quad.

You know, they think wheelchair, you know, user, and.

And.

And maybe don't have use of their hands or legs, you know, that kind of thing.

But, you know, I met Susie.

She walks around and, you know, as we're seeing her here on the video that we're using, you know her, she talks with her hands a little bit.

All right, so, yeah, continue.

But so, you know, you know, I had a spinal fusion.

I have 12 rods in my neck, C3 to T2.

So pretty extensive.

12.

Then I went.

Yeah, I was at UCI for six weeks.

Two of those weeks in the hospital, four of the weeks in their acute rehab doing three hours of PT and OT daily.

Yeah.

And this was a workplace injury.

So I'm in the workman's comp.

Black hole, as I call it.

So you are in the circular black hole known as workman's cup.

Exactly.

So basically, so you get injured, everybody gathers around, you can't feel anything.

You think your extremities are one way.

They say, no, that's not what's going on.

The ambulance and Everybody comes to pick you up.

I'm just backing up the story a little bit.

You understand?

The ambulance comes to get you and what do they say?

Anything.

They put you on a backboard and.

Just try to basically it.

Yeah.

I mean, I remember being in the hospital, wheeled into emergency, you know, freaking out in the mri, having the CT after the mri.

I don't know, I don't remember anything.

Right.

They basically put me right into surgery.

So.

But, you know, I, I got movement in my legs, I would say the left side of my body.

I'm right handed, but the left side of my body pretty much woke up within like a couple of days, about a week or so.

That's encouraging, right?

Yeah.

And so, you know, the first thing I did when I was able to was obviously hire an attorney.

And so with the help of my attorneys, they got me into Casa Kalina, so from UCI.

After six weeks at UCI, I then went to Casa Kalina in Pomona, and I was a resident in what they call their tlc, which is their transitional living center.

And I lived there for five months, so 24 7.

So you had good, good care and government?

I had great care, yeah.

I mean, I look back and I'm grateful for the experience and all of the care at UCI and at Costa Kalina.

And, you know, I was fortunate enough by the time I got to Casa Kalina, I was using a walker.

So I, I, I haven't spent any time in a wheelchair.

Everybody was like, come on, we got things to do.

This was a free hiccup.

Well, and you know, the one thing I've learned a lot with the research and, you know, that I read and so forth, and you guys already know this probably as well from all of your guests, is you could take two people with the same level of injury and everybody's response is entirely different.

Yeah.

Say it all the time.

Yep.

Said it earlier in another meeting I was at earlier today.

Said the same thing.

Yeah, yeah.

And you know, like you said, Doug, like, you know, I've met now a lot of other people that have a similar injury as C7 and they're not walking right, you know, so, you know, you know, you don't know what it is.

Could have been your prior health, could have been this.

You just don't even know, you know, I'm sure it's a little bit of everything.

Yeah.

So, you know, at tlc, I got a lot of good rehab, though.

And their primary job there or primary objective is to get you back so you can live independently with your New body or what is the focus, I guess, of tlc?

Obviously you were injured enough that you needed to be in an inpatient program like that, right?

No, that's a great question.

In fact, that's exactly what it is.

Let's face it, a spinal cord injury and a traumatic brain injury are what.

What are considered catastrophic injuries.

You.

Your body will never recover.

Right, Right.

So my body will never be where it was.

Not even 95.

I'm lucky if I get 75.

So their idea is to get your body to as close to that, you know, the best that it can be,.

Get you as much as they possibly can.

I think that's always the goal.

Yeah.

Right.

But the real thing is, like you said, Addie, is to learn how to adapt to your new body.

Right.

What are those adaptations, you know, what are some of the occupational therapies?

That's where OT comes in.

Yeah.

You know, so that you could cook, so that you can dress, and, you know, you can comb your hair, do all of those things.

So that's really what their goal is over there.

You know, what we've learned, I think, in telling all of these stories or, you know, or facilitating the telling of these stories.

I'm like, we don't tell them.

Yeah, no, we don't tell them.

But.

But there's just so many times this happens where we hear this story of the people's lives and.

And where it really comes in handy at this time of your life because of your background, you knew to get a lawyer and probably had the vocabulary and all of that to navigate that kind of world, to help yourself in this incident in your life.

Oh, absolutely.

You know what?

It's.

It's a number of things.

It's not only the legal aspect of it, but you're absolutely right.

I knew right away I just had to wait for my hands to work so I can call the attorneys.

But it.

What it really taught me was self advocacy.

Yes.

Right.

So, you know, a lot of my doctors, I mean, I know they love me, but I'm also a pain in the ass, pardon my French, because I ask way too many questions, you know?

Right.

And I will, you know, say to them, look, this isn't working.

We need to try this or whatever.

Right, right.

So I don't just take them at face value.

And then the other aspect, I think, really, truly, I believe that has helped me is my background in physical fitness and yoga.

That's it.

The other thing.

Yes.

And so, you know, you know, you take the general population, when you look at it only, like, 4 to 5% of people work out on a regular basis.

Right.

You take that same population, and it's going to be the same in spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury.

Let's face it.

Not everybody likes to work out.

Right?

And they don't want to work out hard, even though they know that they.

They need that.

It's just not in them.

Right.

Right now, I'm the complete opposite.

When I was at Kasa Kalina, every day after therapy, I was working out.

Right.

On the weekends, I was in the gym working out.

And so I was able to do exercises and even teach some of the people that were training me what I was capable of.

Capable of doing because they didn't push me.

Right.

You know, that's interesting you say that, because that's one of the stories that you hear so much out of physical therapy.

You know, they were trying to kill me.

The pain was amazing.

But here you're, you know, you're saying you're not pushing.

You're like, no, no, harder.

You're like, I used to teach it.

What's wrong with you?

I know a couple of people that have had.

Had knee surgery, a knee replacement.

And, you know, one gentleman, he.

He just was back in a couple of weeks.

It seemed like, to, you know, normal.

And there was another gal that I knew didn't do the physical therapy, and it got to the point where she didn't even get the mobility and range of motion in her knee.

Ended up having to go back in.

Wow.

And redo it, you know, and even though people were saying, you need to do the physical therapy, you need to stretch and do all those things, and.

Yeah, so she learned the hard way.

Sorry.

Sorry, Doug.

But so where.

Where is your.

Like, what is life like now?

What is your injury like, your daily life now that you've kind of done all that stuff?

I mean, obviously, you know, you've pushed yourself to the point to get to a place that you're more able to.

To deal.

And you're only a year in, and we're looking at you now going, holy crap.

Well, I am.

Yeah.

No.

So tell us what life is like now.

Yeah, the challenges still are.

Back in October, I discharged myself, so that's a whole other story.

My attorneys weren't too happy.

I know.

They were like, what are you doing?

But you know what?

I needed to move on for my own mental health, to be honest with you.

Yeah, well, I wanted to ask about that, too.

Yeah.

Because, you know, people listening up to this point, you know, you're outgoing and you sound, you know, of course, mental health sounds very strong and all of that, but even before, when we talked a little bit, before we started recording, you were talking about some dark times.

So.

Yeah, kind of tell us how you made that transition.

Yeah, and that's exactly what happened is somehow about like August, late August, after I got Covid at Casa Kalina, everything just went downhill.

You know, they kept telling me, my attorneys kept telling me, susie, you know, we're going to get you home, we're going to get you home.

We'll have day therapy for you.

And I was looking forward to that.

And then it just was taking longer and longer and.

And this is not a commentary on Casa Kalina by any means, but I was at the point where I needed to be in the real world to know what it's like to live with my new impairment, my disability.

In the real world.

Yeah.

Because at Casa Kalina, all I saw were people that weren't moving on, that were there for five years and eight years and three years.

I. I didn't want to live there.

You know, it was.

My mental health was declining at that notion that I could be here forever.

Well, not literally, but so, yes, in.

Some ways, probably in the dark days, it felt like maybe forever.

And yeah, that was for you.

Who's.

Who's a go getter.

And also I can.

It's how your story arcs all the way through this though, too, because, like, being in New York, right.

It's like, go, go, go, do, do, do.

So if you're like, wait, now you just set me at the bus stop.

Is any bus ever coming?

I'm sure that that is kind of where it felt like.

And you had to, again, self advocate to say, I know what I need, I need out.

Absolutely.

And in fact, so I, you know, I discharged myself in late October and I came home and it was not pretty.

I fell almost immediately.

Within, like the first week that I was here, I said a couple of things that you shouldn't say, and I said it at UCI of UCI.

In the hospital.

Yeah.

So this is a result of your fall and just being home, I think.

It was overwhelming because it.

This was the first time in six months that I was completely on my own.

Yeah, right.

Like, literally there's no one in my home.

Right.

It's just me.

Right.

You know, it's a shell shock when.

You, you thought, God, I just want these people to leave me alone.

And then everybody leaves you alone, go, well, shit, this isn't what I thought it was like.

I'm sure there's a lot of that, right?

Yeah, that's exactly what happened.

Went to the other extreme.

It did, you know, and then, But I've, you know, I've come completely out of that.

And I'll be honest with you, the things that really brought me out of that space were the support groups.

The SCI support groups.

Yes.

Through Triumph Foundation.

So now I attend all the support groups.

And the other thing that helped me was the oda, which is the outdoor activities over at Casa Kalina.

Yeah.

And so they do that every Friday, right?

Yeah.

I go to all as many of the sports events because that's what I love to do.

Yeah.

You know, I love hiking.

I, I go on walks every day.

I have a caregiver.

Nice.

And she and I, we walk almost a 5k.

We walk 3 miles every other day.

Good God.

My neighborhood.

So I'm tired.

Can we count those?

Some of my steps.

Can we just say, yes, you're just doing my steps today.

But, you know, I, I, I told my physical therapists and OTs at Costa clinics.

I still stay in touch with everybody.

I say, listen, you guys did an awesome job, but to be quite honest with you, and I truly feel this, me coming home and doing my own exercise programming has pushed me further along and faster.

I know.

100.

Than if I had stayed at Casa Kalina.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because I'm dedicating that time to myself and I'm pushing myself to know what my limits are and just pushing myself a little bit more.

Yeah.

Well, you're in that 4 or 5%.

That would do that.

Yes.

For sure.

Yeah.

So you have a caregiver?

Yeah, she.

I have.

You know, it's been off and on because it's always based off of insurance approvals.

I'm fortunate enough to have someone right now, she comes in for four hours in the morning.

Okay.

Every day.

Every day.

Yeah.

Okay.

But you know what?

Since I've come home, I've finished two classes online and I've earned one of my certificates, a human resources certificate.

There you go.

So, you know, I go see my friends.

I go to yoga once a week.

Now I'll be going back twice a week to all the places that I taught.

They kept me on as an employee at all the gyms, they never let me go.

So now I have like four different gyms.

I can go to the yoga studio where I used to teach yoga.

Every Friday night I go and take a yoga class.

Yeah.

So it's really, really, really been important to you to get your community back.

Yeah, yeah.

And, you know, like, meeting people like yourselves, meeting people like Rob, you know, people that have lived with their injury in.

In the real world.

And not to say, but like, you know, at Costa Clena, we live in a bubble.

We're not in the real world.

Right.

Yeah.

But to come out and to know people that have jobs, you know, have navigated life in the disability community.

Right.

In the real community, getting all of those experiences, that's what I needed for my own well being.

Well, thank you for saying all that because this is something that Addie and I.

This is our, Our mantra now.

You know, we mentioned the hill we will die on.

Yeah.

You know, it's every episode.

And again, the meeting I was at earlier, which was, you know, it's.

We call it a mixer, but it's kind of like a support group and we share our stories and, you know, it's just when you're in that community, they get it.

You know, you can say something.

You don't have to go into a lot of detail and they fully understand already.

But it really was what got me through Covid, you know, because, you know, where we were all shut down and isolated and I didn't really realize it for a long time.

During COVID I just remember, you know, and I have to reveal this, but I talk to myself a lot, you know, just around the house.

You know, I keep telling him to get a pet, so it doesn't.

He didn't have to admit.

The only thing is I. I use my name like I'm talking to myself.

Oh, no.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

It's weird.

But, but, but when I realized was I haven't been talking much lately, you know, because I was just kind of in this funk.

And so then when I started to get out and go to some.

Some online groups and, and that kind of thing, it just.

Yeah, it just opened me up.

Sometimes I would just leave the house and drive to the park, you know, and sit there and just get out of the four walls here, you know, but, but yeah, and that.

So that's what we talk about all the time, is find your community.

Oh, absolutely.

And, you know, it's like you said it, you know, I. I have all my able body friends.

I, you know, I don't even like using those terms, but, you know, my able body friends and like you said, they understand and they're very kind and.

And they're, you know, they still treat me like the old Susie, but they don't understand some of the things and not.

Am I going to discuss it?

I'm not going to discuss, like, my bowels and my bladder with them.

But like you said, you can go to an sci support group and, you know, people will talk about it like it's nothing because.

Right.

You know, in our community, this is normal stuff.

Yeah, yeah.

Right.

We all understand it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Somebody tells a story.

Oh, you do that too.

You go, oh, my God.

Do you know how to transfer in this.

Or, like, how did you get out of the bathtub at a hotel?

Like, the things that.

That we like.

I called the front desk.

That's how I get out of the bathtub.

No, no, no.

Well, it's.

It's weird.

You know, I've discussed this with Rob and a couple other people in the sci support groups.

It's kind of strange.

So I kind of feel like I live in two worlds, to be honest with you, because when I go to a lot of these events, I'm probably the only person that's walking.

Right, right.

You know, my.

My dear kind of was talking about it, I think.

I don't think it's aired yet, but I.

An episode that we recorded earlier in the week or last week, and you talked about how she felt like an imposter for a while.

So I don't know.

That's exactly how I feel.

And it makes me feel guilty.

I don't know why, but, you know, because even though I am walking, what people don't see is that I still have a lot of the same issues that other people with spinal cord injuries have.

Yeah, right.

It's just not obvious.

I have, you know, the bladder, the bowel issues.

I have the sensation issues and so forth.

The temperature, dysregulation.

Yeah.

You know, the pain and stuff.

But you just can't see it because everyone's so focused on the fact that I'm walking, which is wonderful.

Right?

Yeah.

Oh, Susan, you're doing so good.

But my walking is impaired.

You know, most people that see me on the street will be like, oh, there's something wrong with her.

And people have to remember that when you don't have a good gait or, you know, impaired walking, it takes a lot of energy.

Yeah.

Yep.

Right.

It's walking.

I can do it, but it's not Easy.

I'm exhausted after two or three hours,.

You know, And a part of that, I think, is.

Is the mental part.

You have to.

Yeah.

You know, whereas, you know, never walked before.

So, you know, maybe I'm out of my lane here, but, you know, I would think that, you know, people that walk and have their whole life is second nature.

They don't even think about it.

But when you're, you know, when you're walking with that impaired gait, then you have to think about almost each step or disaster and.

Or where you go.

I'll make a joke, because you might relate to this, Susie.

Like I always say, like, the place I do not want to go is a liquor store.

Because I'm like, I cannot afford to buy that liquor store.

If I crash into the aisles, like, in the whole.

All the glass bottles.

Well, you know, it's funny.

My friends will say, oh, Susie, you know, can you have a drink or something?

I'm like, are you kidding me?

Have you seen the way I walk?

Put a little alcohol on me, I'll be falling all over the place.

Oh, and people in wheelchairs can drink because they can have somebody push them around.

Right.

Well, my problem isn't that if I drink too much, I think that my gate is better.

Like, I. I am now straightening up delusions.

That's it.

I got my Delulu self going, and then I'm like, no, no, I got it.

And they're like, you don't got it on a normal day.

What's wrong with you?

What are you talking about?

But, yeah, so what's in the future for you?

You were a year out.

You've made a lot of improvements.

There's still a lot of stuff going on.

But what's in the future for Susie?

How does it look?

I am hoping first and foremost to work again.

Yeah, I don't know that I'll work full time.

I want to work part time, you know, just more really to keep myself busy.

But the thing I really want to do is I want to return to teaching.

Teaching yoga.

And that would be accessible yoga or modified chair yoga.

One of the things I'm working on right now, just kind of writing it out and.

And I've been, you know, reaching out to people.

Like, and I'm going to reach out to you, Doug, as well as Andrew from Triumph and Hal from the Perfect Step, is I really want to bring, like, a holistic approach to living with sci, because I think, you know, most of the people I meet have been injured for a number of years.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So they don't have as much knowledge about like, neuroplasticity and exercise.

You know, they might have gotten a month of rehab and then they said go home.

Right.

Yeah.

So, I mean, we.

We've met people that they've got nothing.

And nothing but, you know, like.

So, you know, I came upon this program at the University of Alabama that I'm involved in now, and they call it mentor, and it's mindfulness, exercise, nutrition to optimize resiliency.

Isn't that amazing?

Yeah, that's really cool.

I'd like to hear more about that.

Yeah.

And I want to bring something like that.

So I'm thinking about, you know, a website, some videos, and I want to do this all for free, you know, because I know a lot of people in the disability community also don't work.

Yeah.

They'll have a lot of disposable income.

Finances are limited.

Yes.

So, you know, whether it's YouTube videos.

But I want to.

I want people to look at a holistic view of this because it is all of these different parts.

Like, you know, like I said, the mindfulness, the exercise and the nutrition, you know, as more and more science comes out, is to bring that to the SCI community or.

Or any neurological rare diseases as well.

Right.

Do you have relationships with these people in Alabama with the program?

I. I'm just starting it.

Okay.

But I can get everyone in touch.

It's a wonderful program.

I just started it this week.

Well, as you can imagine, already advocating,.

Ladies and gentlemen, start it and talk about it.

As you can imagine, you know, we are very Southern California, kind of intense, intensive here because these are the people that we know and, and interact with all the time.

But we would love to grow this outside of our area.

You know, we've already had some individuals from around the world that have been on but different programs, just like the ones that we have around here loved, or maybe even newly unique ones that are coming up with new ideas like this program you're talking about.

Love to have them on to share the idea.

Yeah, no, we'll get.

I'll get you in touch with somebody, in fact.

And you know, I mean, the one thing I do want to do is dedicate time to just add advocacy.

You know, I'm, you know, getting in touch with like, you know, some research advocates.

I just did a program, a certification online for that.

You know, maybe getting involved with more with triumph or how at the perfect step and the be perfect because, you know, there's.

There's so many resources out There, but they're all over the place.

And if you're not on social media, like a lot of, you know, the older sci people, folks aren't on social media.

Right.

You know, the younger ones are really embracing social media.

Yeah, right, Absolutely.