When Faced With Adversity
Russ Lowry spent about 10 days in the hospital with a severe illness starting around Thanksgiving 2025. He lays out two choices when adversity hits: give up or fight. His strategy was knowing his why (family, future), holding medical staff accountable with his mother and spouse there, and working from a hospital bed when he could.
Chapters
We'll call this today. When faced with adversity. This is my first video. Back in about three and a half weeks from being sick, you guys will recall this. Right before Thanksgiving in 2025, I came down with, I got sick and I never get sick and couldn't get better and went to the er, the doc in the box, just to get something. And they sent me to the ER who admitted me, who put me in the hospital for six days the first time, sent me home with antibiotics to self administer that made me sick or had reaction to changed those. Next round did something, spent four more days in the hospital. Finally I'm out feeling better and why do I say this? So when faced with adversity, you have two choices. You can crawl up in a ball and die or you can fight through it. And it's hard, you know, no one was to spend freaking three and a half weeks being sick. 10 days, 10 or 11 of those days in the hospital, which is even with great nurses. It's freaking miserable, poked, prodded, woke up sleeping an hour at a time. Blood draws, IVs, doctors, questions, all that jazz. So what gets you through that? Well, a couple things for me. And you have to focus on the positive, you can't just sit there and focus on the negative or you will just go into a deep depression. You know your why. You'll hear this a lot from me and you'll hear a lot as you get into business. Simon Sinek had a TED talk he turned into a book saying you have to have a why to focus on. So like mine was seeing you guys, you know, wanting to be around, to see you guys grow up and get married, raise kids. You know, that was, that was a big one because initially they were like, well we're gonna have to rule out cancer. I'm like what? But things got better. And the second thing would be if, and I've talked about this is my secret weapon in life, which is your mom. When mom would show up, shit got real. She kept those doctors on the straight and narrow because it's tough in any kind of limited resource situation. They're going to give you the minimum product they can and move on. Mom would show up, hold those guys feet to the fire, hold them accountable, ask them questions almost to the point of embarrassing me, which is pretty tough and get shit done. So this is really a two parter one on when facing adversity, the choices you have roll up in a ball and die or fight. I had mom bring me my kind of portable office. I had Already set up for when I travel. So I had my laptop, a giant portable monitor, keyboard, mouse, notepads, pens, phone, iPad. The nurses thought I was insane. They would roll in in the mornings, I would get up, clean up, get ready, move over to the couch and start working. And they just thought that was crazy. I talked to everyone about insurance, but that was my way of dealing with that as well, is to fight through it and work as much as I could. You know, when you're self employed, you don't have a lot of choices like that, even with decent systems. And you see when you're sick the holes in your, in your business. My way of doing that was just, just to keep fighting and to keep working and to keep doing my job and working with my staff moving forward because that was my getting me through my why was just to keep fighting. And then again, like I said, when you have a good spouse and partner, it's just you're unbeatable. Like I said, mom took such good care of me. The hospital food isn't the best and Norman Regional's kitchen is like basically down to some kind of military type kitchen because they're remodeling. So the food was pretty horrible. I could drink the iced tea and occasionally the breakfast eggs. That was about it. So mom was bringing me meals. She was making sure that the nurses and doctors were doing what they're supposed to do, asking questions, forcing them to get tests that they might not want to run. But in lieu of dealing with her and her right in their ass, they started doing shit like that. So it's like I said, really a two parter, how you deal with adversity and you're going to face it in your life, relationships, business, health. Like me, at Some point being 57, it's going to happen and you have to learn to deal with it. And how you deal with it can really impact and will impact your life. And then the things you put in your life, such as a good spouse, are going to get you through it much easier or just help you get through it. But at some points I was in such brain fog because my infection, I really couldn't comprehend what the doctors were saying and I didn't really give a shit. So mom's there taking notes, making sure what's going on had a big folder of stuff and that's just invaluable. Much less she just stepped up at home. She could have said, screw it, we have a little hobby farm here. I don't have time, I'm gonna mess with it. She didn't. She took care of all the animals, she took care of the house, came home. Everything was in perfect order. You just can't ask for more than that. And that's why choosing your mate, spouse, whatever you call it, is so important. Being equally yoked, having the same thoughts and getting along and being best friends and protecting each other, it's just invaluable. And I'm sure that she's going to be in their foot someday. And that was another one of my whys, is to stay around for her. You know, both our parents passed away young and it really sucks being a, you know, by yourself as you get older, because these things do happen. Tweak an ankle, hip replacement, like me, some random infection. Having that spouse there that's supportive and will do whatever it takes to make sure you're safe and taken care of is just invaluable. So just thought I would do one. This was a big. This is my hardest health issue since I have cancer many, many years ago. And it sucks, but it does show you what you're made of. Sometimes I just can't give up. Like I said, I moved my office to the hospital. The doctors and nurses just were like, what in the hell are you doing? I'm like, I gotta work. I own my own business. I haven't spent 28 years to let anything happen to it just because I'm sick. And then of course, like I said, the importance of a spouse that's there that has your back and will do whatever it takes for you, asking nothing in return. Sometimes I was kind of irritated. Mom didn't care, you know, she just did her job and you just can't ask for more than that. So thought I'd give you a little advice on this. It will happen. And maybe this gives you some context and just plow through it. Find your why, your kids, your spouse. Focus on that that gets you through having that supportive spouse to get behind you and just give you that push. It's just that extra that you just can't hardly ask for these days.
