019 Working With Lyme Disease

From the creators of Lyme Voice and Disappearing from Society comes a brilliantly simple idea, but this time it comes as a book. Imagine a world in which birds can talk like people. You'll get a bird's-eye view of life with Lyme disease as one bird family must unite to overcome the obstacles of life with Lyme disease. Guaranteed to make you laugh and cry. Written in a way that helps you articulate the losses you are experiencing as a household while simultaneously empowering you to keep fighting. Little Bite, Big Trouble is available today at Amazon.com.

And, you know, it is tough and it is, you know, it's not the easiest road, but I think it's important to give hope to people that there is a possibility to find a way out and it has been done before, you know, and we're working to do it now and other people can do it and, you know, they don't have to have fancy training or anything like that. Like, you know, try to get resources to people and help them through this process.

Congratulations, Lyme Fighter!

Today you had the courage to open your eyes and face another day.

Welcome to Lyme Voice. This show's purpose is to help you put the puzzle pieces of Lyme into place. Each episode is designed to inspire, educate, and encourage you on your Lyme journey to wellness. Together we will fight. Together we will Together we will live. Here are your hosts, Aaron and Sarah Sanchez.

Welcome, MindVoice listeners. We are very excited to have Lauren Windis back with us on the mic. This episode's topic is something that Sarah and I both really are passionate about and we really want to look at this issue, and the issue being money, finances. For myself, with Sarah being sick, I would realize I couldn't work as much. Sarah could not work at all. She tried several jobs and failed at them because of their Lyme. So we really had to rethink how we were going to earn our income, because working longer and harder is not an option with, with chronic illness. So, and Lauren has the same attitude, and what she gets into today is her solution to that, which is a differentkindofwork.org. You gotta go check out this cool website. It's a way for people to use their talents to work a different way online. That is one of the beautiful things about online work is that you can do it according to your time, even as she's describing in the last episode on how she did her work for her book. She had to do it at different times. So some— one day she's working at 10 o'clock at night, the next morning she's up at 6, and it's just according to how your body allows. In the workplace, that's very problematic. So really, yeah, and we found that even out with your work when you were working for the adoption agency. You just couldn't handle the logistical details and the timeframe.

Yeah, things that I have to sequence were very difficult for me because I could not keep track of receipts and I couldn't keep track of pertinent information and file timely reports. And it's not that they weren't hard. It's just that that's where my brain is at. There are some things I can do and do really well. And then there are some other things that I just struggle with. And it doesn't seem like that hard of topics. There's a consistency in my brain not being able to operate on other people's time frame because I'm doing better. Of course, my quality of life vastly improved, but there are still some pretty significant limitations that I work around every day in order to look like I'm doing well and keeping it together and keeping track of the kids and Yeah, and you're all—

and you're having to do this all according to Lyme time, according to what Lyme allows you to do.

Yeah, there's days that I get up and I have a list in my head of what I want to do, and my body, I can just tell, is not cooperating. And I've had to learn to just say, okay, I'm gonna do what I absolutely have to, which is usually juicing and my enema and supplements. But beyond that Maybe I make dinner, maybe I don't, but I have to respect the fact that if my body says it's time for a day in bed, then that's what it needs.

Yeah. So obviously earning an income is hard with Lyme and it's needed because as any of you know, Lyme is expensive and you need extra income. We realized that we needed to be able to take care of ourselves, to keep ourselves sustained. Just another fundraiser for us is not a good long-term solution.

Yeah, we have a lot of people with a lot of needs and it's gonna go on for some years and—

We're living a new normal.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah, and I think the unfortunate thing, and this we are gonna continue to talk about this even into 2016, is the fact that people need to understand that the government and getting on disability is not an answer. And, um, you know, I'm just finishing reading Katina Makris's book Out of the Woods, and she talks about how she got like $734 a month for disability, right? And I mean, plus the, the process is 3 to 5 years, and that's once you have a diagnosis. And right, it's so inadequate that wherever you're at physically, you need to start understanding that you still are going to have to provide for yourself, right? Because if you—

and we don't say this with a grain of salt, people, because we're right there next to you. There is— I mean, we're looking at those— at that mountain in front of us of finances. Really, actually, mountain— I'll change it. It's an ocean wave. It's a tidal wave that is about to sweep over us, and we're just trying to ride through the wave. So we know what you're going through and we know how hard it is. Maybe, uh, podcasting isn't your thing, but maybe you're good at illustrating or writing or whatever. This is the kind of website that is going to help you earn your own income and do it according to your time. So I'm so thankful for what she has done and what she is doing. Please go support her. In fact, we haven't put our services down in there yet. We need to go onto her website. Well, we'll go do that. By the time this airs, it will be on there. One other thing, don't forget the Oliver Pooh's book that Lauren is putting up. That is what— how she is earning her income right now is through the Oliver Pooh's. So go check that out. And if you go to LineVoice, uh, and on to the, the show notes of this, so go to that address and you will not only support her, but we are now getting a small commission off of it. So it's a way to help Lauren and ourselves. It's going to make a great gift for, for Christmas. Holidays are coming up. Get your order in now before they're all gone. Let's talk a little bit about what's been going on with us. We've had a couple busy weeks. Many of you heard last week we did Tyler's wedding, which I forgot to give a special announcement to Tyler and and his beautiful wife Whit, or Whitley. We're so happy to have them both with us. And I know Tyler, even though he doesn't have Lyme, he does listen. So big shout out to you, Ty!

That's just a faithful listener.

Yeah, good, good brothers.

And we'll have an update. He is— Kathy Ferguson with the medical debt collection. His wife Whitley had a bill from something, and so they have a $2,000 bill that they're gonna have Kathy work on. So we'll let you guys know, and then we should have an update on our $4,000 medical bill.

Yeah, we're, we're kind of lost some paperwork, so it's been a little bit of a chore following that up, but we'll get— we're gonna have a report back for you. Yeah, we're really excited. So if you haven't checked out Kathy Ferguson's episode number 17 and you have medical bills, Kathy's the woman for you. She will fight in your corner and get your bills reduced. I mean, sometimes to pennies. It's awesome. So if you haven't listened to that, go back to episode 17. But, uh, see, before we got off, big shout out to Ty and Whit for getting married. Whit is a beautiful girl. She just fit right into our family. And if you listen to Dawn and Trish's— I believe those episodes—

the generational effect of Lyme, right?

Yeah, she's just a perfect fit into our family. And we know we have a unique family. We're very grateful for that. So it was such a great addition to the family, and we're so happy to have her. After that though, that was basically the starting gun. We had a weekend off, we recovered, got everything back to normal. Then we left for, uh, Las Cruces, New Mexico, which is about 3 hours away from us. So that was a trip that we had to prep for. And as you know, traveling with Lyme, doing anything with Lyme is hard. So we packed ourselves up, we had the courage to even attempt that. Because Sarah hasn't been to this.

It's been 3 years, I think, since I've attended. And traveling was just so excruciating for me, and I had so many issues with it.

Yeah, barometric pressure changes, uh, just the fatigue of riding in the car, the bumps.

Well, but what was cool, and I posted it on Facebook, um, is like the weekend before, I got to go clean out my car. And my car has been a source of literally, like, for the last 10 years, I never had the strength and stamina to do what I wanted to do. I didn't even have the strength and stamina to do what needed to be done, let alone go back. Like the fact that I had energy the weekend before, we had time, I was at a stable place and I was just able to take my car down, spend 2, 3 hours cleaning it out. And I had so much fun because I have not been able to do that in 10 years. And It's hard when people have no idea the battles you're fighting and you feel foolish and lazy year after year when you open your door and your kids are playing out and there's trash spilling and Cheerios or french fries. And it just always grieved me because it wasn't a lack of will.

Right.

It was literally impossible for me.

Yeah, yeah. So we did that, we went to Las Cruces.

Well, and you even said the next weekend after, when you cleaned out your car, you said— you walked in and you said, I haven't felt the freedom to do that in years. To just give ourselves a 2-hour window to pay attention to the details of our lives. We haven't— we've been in survival for so long.

Yeah. And it's actually been a bit of an interesting process, is is coming out of that. We often revert back to the trauma or the crisis mode. So, oh my gosh, we don't have the time to go clean out our car. Oh my gosh, we don't have the time to clean, to change the oil in the car, when really we do. And it's kind of been a relearning process as we're getting re-entered into the normal world, if you will.

Yeah, and I know a lot of this— those of you who have a post-traumatic stress diagnosis or have seen someone go through that, a lot of this stuff is very common. And it doesn't matter if you're recovering from cancer or a car accident or some other disease.

Yeah, abusive relationship, whatever.

Yeah, the psychological effect when you're not free to just think like a normal person and process through stuff. You know, I— one of the techniques, and I think I talked about this on an earlier episode, one of the techniques I learned when we were getting training for bringing home our kids with attachment disorder and stuff was one of the psychiatrists. She said, you need to tell your brain, like when you feel that fight or flight panic coming on, which for me, it's like when there's too much to do and I can tell my strength is going to give out, I have to consciously out loud tell myself, like, thank you, brain, for rising to the occasion and alerting me. And we have operated in this state of panic and rush. But we're not there anymore. And so I don't need you to overengage. Like, I've got this. And when I heard her first talk about it, it was actually like this all-day seminar that we attended. So I'm giving you the gist of it, but it sounded weird to me, but it has been so beneficial and I've been using it for the last couple of years, just reminding my body that goes into that packed, overworked stress broken mode, I have to consciously stop and say, hey, we're not in crisis, right? Like, all of our life is not in order yet, but we're not at crisis mode, right?

And you have to convince yourself that because we lived for so long in that crisis mode, and it was— and it was not a good place.

Well, and it was especially bad because, and we've talked about this, you need your— you need somebody to be managing your home. And Aaron and I, even though like he has dyslexia and ADD, a lot of his inability to process through things is very similar to what I'm now going through, where you get too tired and you can't make decisions. Except both of us were kind of in that state of existence with 5 kids who had massive needs. And so we just had to operate in survival, meeting everyone's kind of minimum needs. And that was, that was giving us— that was when we were giving 110% every day. It just wasn't enough. And so we're having to undo and unlearn all those years of that panic chaos.

Yeah. So we overcame all that. We as a family traveled down to Las Cruces, 3 hours away. We made it out there. We go, and our oldest son Derek who also listens. So big shout out to Big D for his, uh, great competition this weekend. He's actually in his 5th or 4th year, and last year they're actually, uh, national champions. National champions.

Last year national champions, and then this year they're one of the top 4 teams in the United States. And there you go, that includes middle school and high school, right?

And, um, so new, new team this year. They don't— Derek is the oldest as the freshman in high school, so he's He's one of the oldest kids on the team right now. So he did a lot of work and we haven't seen much of him. I saw his work ethic that you've taught him. Very good, babe. He is working his tail off, gets to competition, and what happens during competition is there was a few mix-ups. And so it was during the final round and there was some controversy on the field. So Derek went up to the judges pleaded his case respectfully, and they listened. He kept proceeding to plead his case, and it went on for 45 minutes as they kept reviewing video. And, and on the sidelines, I was a little scared because I thought they were gonna throw him out because he was protesting so much. But he wasn't doing it in a way of, of anger, or in a way that cause the judges to dismiss him. And during— while this is happening, I realized that he learned that from you, Sarah, because you take that same attitude with the doctors. You're respectful and persistent. And Derek had the ear of those judges, and fortunately that same attitude has worked for you with your doctors in that they know they're going to be spending a lot of time with you. And a lot of— a few of our doctors have actually made 45-minute windows because they know you were coming in, but you had their ear because you did it in a respectful and honoring way. So I encourage all of you guys as you are dealing with your doctors, as you get frustrated with them, we have to remember too, they are just people. They are not gods like I had once had in my head. That they were all-knowing creatures, and to be respectful, and to be able to question them in a way that keeps their ear, but not turns them away as not just another complainer, but someone who is actively working with them to get better. So I really encourage you guys to have that attitude at your next doctor's appointment, and it's hard. It's really hard not to get angry. You have the right to be angry, but unfortunately sometimes that just doesn't work. So if—

when you do, you have the right to be angry, you have the right to insist on things changing and being different, and yet you still have the responsibility of creating the outcome you want. You have to come and get to that place where people are on your team and they're cooperating with you, or they're not and you're finding you're finding someone else who can work with you.

And isn't that the way with, with a lot of difficult people? I mean, you can go in there and you have the right to rip them a new one, to just let them have it. But in order for you to get it done and get what you need out of the situation, you have to be a bigger person and you have to hold it in, basically, and act like an adult.

Yeah, I heard an analogy once from a speaker I listened to, and he said He said you should just view people as someone who is helping you get to your goals or someone who is hindering you. And if that person is hindering you, then how do you get around them or through them or over them in order to accomplish your goals?

Yeah, a lot of you out there have fired your doctors. If you've considered that, you know, that's a big decision that only you and your loved ones can make, but it may be time if you're not getting the results you need. To live, to heal, and to fight, you might need to change a doctor. So keep that in mind. Oh, okay, and so to finish the story, Derek pleaded his case. He ended up getting a ruling overturned, not the one he wanted, but all's well that ends well in that they ended up taking first place overall. So they are the 2015 state champions. So congratulations, Derek, and your R4 Robotics team. Way to go, guys. On to regionals to defend your regional championship. Super proud of all the hard work you guys have done. So stay tuned and we'll let you guys know how the regional competition went. Thanks again for, for listening and tuning in, and Here we go. Let's learn how to earn an income for ourselves, and Lauren is going to explain how her website can help us do that. So let's go. Hi guys, I want to tell you about Audible. I love Audible. Sarah loves Audible. I know you guys are going to love it as well. It has been such a huge resource for us. We have an offer at lionvoice.com where you can actually get your first month free. This is a great way to grab one of those books that you've been meaning to read and be able to do it on the go, in your commute, while you're doing your chores, or if you just don't have the strength to hold up the book that day. This is a great way to be able to utilize the information that is so vital for your health and recovery. Go to lionvoice.com, get your free Audible download, and and help support Lion Voice. Thank you guys so much, we really appreciate it. Hey friends, I wanted to tell you about Bluebird Botanicals. They produce and distribute high-quality CBD oil. From seed to production, they watch every single step very carefully. We really love their product. It has become a staple in our, in our supplement cabinet.

Yeah, and also I don't travel without it.

It is a must-have for us. And you know, with Supplement companies, it's so important to know the company that you're using.

Yeah, to know the integrity of the company.

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What's so neat about this company is they really do create an excellent product. And when we were thinking of starting LionVoice, this was the type of product we wanted to endorse.

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Products that were effective and safe and—

They do what they say they do.

Yeah.

Yeah.

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Oh, thank you for having me back.

So Lauren, are you ready to help us put the puzzle pieces of our finances back into place?

Uh, you got it. I'm really ready for this one, guys.

All right.

Lauren, this is one of— I mean, I loved hearing your story last week and I drew so much from it. And one of the things that I've been itching to ask you about is your business, what you've created. This is something you and I off the air were talking a little bit beforehand, and this is something that I've wanted to do, but as I've got into podcasting, I realized that's enough of an animal for me right now. So, you know, you yourself were saying off-air that it's a little bit hard for you to imagine how to get your message out there like what we've done. And really, they're two different animals. So we're so happy to partner with you on this because you're going to be able to give us energy and time and effort that we haven't had a chance to. So I hope our audience is going to agree and benefit as much as I'm about to.

Yeah, I'm really excited to partner with you guys on this.

Awesome. So you have three different aspects to your company. Company, and you started in the other episode telling us about your children's book. Tell us about your other companies.

Sure. So everything that I'm doing is kind of under this one umbrella of Next Door Creations, and that name kind of came about along with the children's book. And it's really— the name came from actually a card that my next-door neighbor had given to me when I was probably 13 years old. We were graduating from 8th grade and she wrote this really nice card that said something like, you know, I'm really sad that we'll be apart for high school next year, but I know I'm going to read great things about you. And if you ever need anything, I'll always be right next door. And that kind of meaning of, you know, the people that are around you, um, really make the difference in your life kind of always stuck with me. And also the fact that as I started my business and as I started my book, I realized that in business and as an entrepreneur, you're kind of always waiting to see what that next door of opportunity is going to be and seeking out those new opportunities. And as I kind of progressed through my book, as I mentioned in the previous episode for those who may have missed it, I self-published my children's book with the help of my mother. And the two of us were able to combine our skills. We really have kind of opposite our skills are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. She's kind of on the illustration, the art side, and I'm more on the business and, you know, kind of organization and management and all that kind of stuff. But the two of us, despite health circumstances, despite life turmoil, her broken leg, my Lyme disease, we were able to create this new product. And we realized that there are a lot of other people who have Lyme or are in similar situations where maybe someone in a family member is sick and they can't work a traditional job, kind of, it would be really cool if other people could combine their skills and meet each other and network to create something new similar to what we did. So that was sort of the inspiration behind my new website, A Different Kind of Work, and it's at differentwork.org. It's a pretty simple platform at this point. I created it myself, so I apologize in advance if it's not quite up to par with everything technically, but it does function, I've been told. The main purpose of it is really to— people can create a profile and say what skills they have and what skills they're willing to share with others, and if they're willing to combine those skills to create something new. From there, it's like the online dating for work, finding new work, you know, you can message other people and get to know other people and see what new opportunities can come of it. Because when you think about work, a lot of times, especially, you know, with Lyme, we all had our lives before Lyme and we all had careers before Lyme. And while we might not fit into that box of, you know, I was an accountant or, you know, I was a teacher, you might not be able to have that job anymore, but the skills that you had or that you still have are definitely applicable. So I really wanted to make it more of a skills-based kind of search and way to connect as opposed to the traditional, I am an accountant looking for a job with an accounting firm kind of a setup. And I wanted to make it this really kind of a person-to-person way to job search and a person-to-person way to connect online to kind of create those opportunities that are outside the norm and outside of the traditional job market.

That's a fantastic idea. And I was just thinking, we recently partnered with ID Studios from a previous interview, and there, there's a couple, Patty and Alex, and they're in the same boat. They both have disabling conditions, and yet within that, they've created an online studio or a studio in their home and where they can produce radio shows, they can do logo design. And, and even then, that's so beneficial because we're all trying to do that same thing. We can't leave our house— houses all the time. We can't work traditional schedules. We have to be able to create this stuff kind of on our own terms. Like you said, even if it's 10 o'clock at night, yeah, you could— if that's when you feel good and you're clear-headed, then you can do what needs to be done that night.

Yeah, because Lyme patients are horrible employees.

Yes.

And I don't say that critically, of course. People that are suffering from— well, even for me as a caretaker, there's so many times where I can't, you know, there's opportunities to go out of the state or overnight trips and I can't take advantage of those. And I'm not sick, but for you, or for Sarah and yourself, Lauren, that are sick, you never know when your next bad day is going to come. You never know when you're gonna have that upswing or the downswing. And as you know, it's so— it's such a hard balance because even if you do have a good day, she's having a great day, she overdoes it, tries to catch up, and then she pays for it for 3 other days along with—

oh yeah.

So even, you know, you can imagine that kind of— and most of the Lyme patients understand this completely— That doesn't work. So what you've created, Lauren, is really tailored to the sick Lyme person. And I love the fact that it's made you— you were a college graduate, you were a finance— tell me your title again.

Business major.

Yeah, I was in business and I had a— I worked for a Big Four public accounting firm as well as in the private equity corporate finance realm prior to Lyme.

Yeah, so you were a high-functioning gal.

I tried, you know, trying to bring it back a little now.

Yeah. And so now, yeah, you've described having a new normal, and I really love the way your new normal and how that comes through in the website.

I— and I also, one of the other things about the website is I wanted to really kind of bring back that community focus, um, even, you know, to my life, in my life prior to Lyme, um, you know, things just in general in the economy and in the country in general, things have sort of gotten away from the real community feel. I feel like people are really trying to bring it back to getting to know your neighbors, getting to know those around you. What we found with my mother's broken leg is it was really funny when we'd go to doctor's appointments or she would try to go out once she was getting a little better, almost everybody was like, "Oh my goodness." One person probably everywhere she went would say, "Oh my goodness, I had that happen and it took me forever to heal. I live right around the corner." corner. And it's like there's so many people when you, you really look at it that are nearby that are going through something similar. It might not be Lyme, it might not be a broken leg, but there are a lot of people going through a situation that limits their ability to, you know, either get out of the house or work a normal job. And I think there's a lot of power in being able to combine resources with those around us.

Yeah, I agree. It's a fantastic idea. So how does your website differ from like UpDesk where people put their resumes and will do small jobs? Is it more of a trade, like you're looking for trading?

So we've kept it open. I think the difference from other websites is that, you know, it's kind of up to— it is what you make of it. Make your profile, you can connect with other people and kind of make what you want. It does have the ability to be something similar to, you know, UpDesk, or maybe you are having, you know, just exchanging jobs or you're looking for small jobs. But there's also the possibility to combine your skills with somebody else and create something new. And that aspect, you know, I wanted to kind of leave it open for people and leave it open in the sense too that it's not, you know, I don't know if you're familiar with, you know, a co-founder or something kind of more in the startup vibe the entrepreneur kind of community. I wanted it to really be something that anybody can do it. Anybody has skills that could benefit somebody else that maybe when combined together could create a business. It doesn't have to be this formal, definitely like, "We're starting a business today and here's our business plan." But you don't often know what you're looking for. So, I've kept the search kind of broad. You can kind of scroll through members, see if there's something that might be a fit for you. Because like I said before, never in a million years would I have thought, "Oh, 'Oh, the children's book is definitely what I'm going to do, you know, with my Lyme recovery.' But it just sort of worked out that my mother, you know, happened to draw on kind of her early college life and kind of see what we could make of what we had. And I think that's a little bit different because your standard resume— I know my resume wouldn't necessarily have been applicable. I, you know, I couldn't do the really hardcore finance work when I was sick, but I did have other skills that could benefit. And even now, you know, there's times, you know, in my business where I could use help even with some, you know, some social media or some website. And I know other people have those skills in Lyme, you know, that are probably better than I have at times. And I could probably help them, help them with their business idea or, you know, something like that, that it could be kind of a mutual exchange as well.

That's really neat. And, and you bring up a good point that there's such a difference between earning money when you're an employee and earning money through passive means or through other revenue streams. And I think for us, we knew how to work jobs and make money, but when we were not able to do that anymore, we, we didn't know what else to do in the midst of all the chaos.

Yeah, and you know, as I mentioned kind of in the previous podcast, as far as identity, you know, your work identity is one of, you know, the biggest identities you have. So it is kind of, you know, catching, you know, your feel for what you're gonna do given the situation that you have and really looking at, you know, what skills do I have when I'm feeling well and what could that turn into? And kind of even just, you know, spurring that chain of thought I think is powerful to get people to think like, okay, like this is, this is where I'm at and, you know, this is what I can do when I feel well. Like, what could that maybe progress into if, you know, I was to either find somebody that had complementary skills or I could work on myself, or what help do I need and kind of, you know, figure out that roadmap a little bit.

Yeah.

My dad has created a program called G5T. It says Creating Personal Pathways to Financial Freedom. And he retired from being a pastor after 33 years. And I think we say that part of the reason he wrote the program teaching people how to generate income from different streams is because of us, you know, because we— they have had to help us financially pay for treatment and, and have helped us for a lot of years along the way with kids' needs and school stuff. But even the old theory of sticking with a job and that job will provide for you is really a fading theory because there are fewer and fewer corporations who will reward you even with a retirement and health insurance and all that stuff. So we are entering this whole new wave, the information wave versus the technology era, where we do— you're exactly right, we have to learn new skills that can be applicable for different careers. I think I just read a statistic saying that now people average 12 significant job changes in the course of their career.

12.

Wow. 12.

Wow.

That's definitely something to think about. I think I read something, I don't know, it was an article a while back and it's definitely not quoted exactly, but it was something about how, you know, if you go 2 generations back or something like that, that, you know, most families had their own business. And that's something interesting to think about that, you know, a lot of people I've really kind of lost touch with how to make money for themselves and then get themselves in the situation where, you know, or if you get sick like, you know, we did, or if something happens, or even if something doesn't happen and the company just changes directions, you're kind of left with, okay, like, I need to find another job, or you don't necessarily have— you don't know where to start to kind of make income for yourself. And, you know, I think that's something a lot of people who who are even maybe perfectly healthy are concerned about enough to maybe use a different kind of work even just for that aspect of creating a backup plan. I think it could be something interesting where when you have people in that situation that still are healthy enough to hold a regular job and are maybe just looking for something on the side could really benefit people that can't work the traditional job but have some other skills to offer. I think it could be a really unique mix.

Yeah, yeah. One of the things Aaron and I were just talking about this week is how when you're sick, uh, when you're sick and you don't have the resources you need, it's not a— it's not like, oh, you just don't have something you want. It's literally like you're, you're jeopardizing your life and your ability to function if you cannot afford— especially with Lyme, when it takes years and years, it's this whole new ball game that for us, we've had to just reorganize our whole life knowing that, okay, we can't be in this situation again financially. And because we can't do things the way we used to do, therefore we're doing all these other things. But that's a big transition and it's hard to do that for a healthy person.

Yeah.

It is. No, I, and I totally agree with you. I mean, this has not been an easy journey for myself and I'm still not out of the woods financially myself even. It's I think that's part of the reason why I'd like to be able to reach people earlier because I was totally lost. Even when I started to feel well enough, like I said, technically, yes, I went to school for business, but I had no idea how to really start a business and I had no idea how to create income for myself. I'm still in the process of growing things and figuring things out for myself that I wish there was more help along the way in those early stages of seeing somebody who had done it before. It's a totally different ballgame when you're sick and trying to start a business. There's how many different podcasts and blogs out there for just entrepreneurs that are having a hard time not being sick. That was defeating for me a little bit too. It's like sometimes you read these stories of how hard you have to work and how many hours, and it just seems like it's even that much more impossible when you're sitting in bed and like, oh, I I went to get the mail today and I consider that an accomplishment.

Right, yeah. And Lauren, I thought we were some of the few people out there were actually trying to do this. So, I mean, because it is so overwhelming. I mean, it's just a huge task especially if you have a chronic illness.

Well, and we've read a ton of books on, you know, building a platform and creating passive income and all these, you know, we love our Audible and listening to all these books. Books. And but it's interesting because in one of the books, I think it was by Seth Godin, in one of the books, one of the entrepreneurs was talking about like how hard it had been for a few months because he like had to actually pay attention to what groceries cost because he was like, oh my gosh, milk is so expensive. And basically they're saying like, oh, the worst case scenario is if you don't make it work, you just go back and get your regular high-paying job. And I'm reading this and I'm like, they have no idea. Like, we cannot even afford to shop at Goodwill at this point. Like, we know how much everything costs because the, the length of time we've been at this, because of the severity of paying for multiple people to, to go through treatment or protocols. They just— honestly, most people have no clue what, what people are up against trying to come out, out of this.

Yeah, that's so true. You know, I have, you know, a friend who is also starting business. He's like, well, you know, if this doesn't work, like, I can always just get a job and it'll be fine. And I'm, you know, sitting there thinking like, that's not the case over here. You know, that's, I think, is the big difference that— and in some respects, I do think that, you know, when we're in this situation, it is kind of like that quote from Malcolm Gladwell that I mentioned last time, you know, that act of overwhelming odds. It is this situation that seems insurmountable. But I do think that, you know, because of that, almost— I think there's almost this phenomenon sometimes that happens where, you know, when people are kind of up against a wall, they find a way. There's that strength that you have to find to figure it out because there isn't that backup plan, there isn't that Plan B. And, you know, I'm— I've tried kind of mentally myself to really say like, okay, like, this, this is This is the situation. It has to work and I have to really find the strength to think, "Okay, how do I want my life to look? Can I make this happen?" and not really acknowledge out of fear that I don't have the plan B, but try to really use that as that extra motivation, that extra fire to keep pushing. It is tough and it's not the easiest road, but I think it's important to have— give hope to people that there is a possibility to find a way out, and it has been done before, you know, and we're working to do it now, and other people can do it. And, you know, they don't have to have fancy training or anything like that. Like, you know, try to get resources to people and help them through this process.

Yeah, that's fantastic. It was funny last week where, you know, I'm in the process of getting my own children's book book published. And really, yeah, it should be ready here in a few weeks. I'm really excited about it. Our plan at this point is to self-publish on Amazon.

Um, although we— it sounds like you might have a couple ideas for us, Lauren.

Yeah, you know, you're talking to the right girl over here.

We'll have to talk more later.

Yeah, but so I have all these different avenues, and then I have 5 kids, and I have kids with disabilities, and I have my own stuff going on. And I, I literally was like trying to do stuff way too late at night and I wasn't thinking clearly. And I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so hard. I should just go get a job. It would be way easier. And then I'm like, I can't go get a job. This is why I'm in this whole situation to begin with.

Yeah, I feel you. You definitely have those moments. I've tried, you know, I think I mentioned my last podcast, I tried working, you know, a traditional part-time job a couple times and just hasn't worked out. But that is always that like, oh well, I could just maybe, um, maybe it's Okay, now like maybe this week, you know, you have those good weeks where you think like maybe I can work a traditional job. And you— I think at some point it's like you do have to really acknowledge what your body can do and kind of where that line is and keep track of your health. Because the biggest thing I've learned, my personality tends to try to overdo things way too much. And I've had to learn like, okay, like this is— I need to listen to my body. Because if you don't have your health, you don't have anything. You're not gonna be able to work at all.

So Lauren, let me ask you this. One of the things that I've been wrestling through for me the last 2 years as I've come, you know, trying to recover is I have come to realize that because of my illness and the years lost, the resources lost, I want so much more out of my life than I ever did before, which is a little staggering because I only have about 60% of my old stamina. Um, have you found that to be true with yourself? Like, how is your personality— obviously you're, you have a very positive, you're being intentional about being positive and making the best of a situation, but how, how has it changed what you want from your life?

Well, I think it's made me think about what I want because I think part of I know personally one of the biggest hurdles I've had is really figuring out what I do want. And, you know, when you're caught up in the day-to-day kind of hustle and bustle pre-illness, let's say, sometimes you kind of lose sight of that. You just kind of get caught up in what you're doing at the moment. And one of the gifts I will say that Lyme has given me is kind of that opportunity to get very comfortable with myself. When, you know, you're stuck kind of home alone in bed or something like that, for a long stretch of time, you really have to think about like, okay, like, this is life. Like, yes, right now I'm stuck in bed, but like, what do I want out of life and what is important to me? Um, and one of the things that I've gained most from my Lyme recovery has to kind of, you know, go back to that theme at the beginning with the name for my business, The Next Door Creations. Really, it's the people that, you know, you surround yourself with, and that's kind of my driving motivation even going forward is like, you know, who do I see myself around in my life? Who, you know, who is going to be that group, that core group that's going to be that supportive group that is going to make this journey the best it possibly can be? And, you know, realizing that there are really tough times, but that there's really a beauty that comes from those moments as well. And when I look at my life going Going forward, I think, you know, I really have a much bigger— I've always kind of had a passion to help people and I never really knew in what capacity. And this, in some ways, I guess, you know, my experience and my experience with Lyme has really given me probably more motivation than I've ever had to help people get out of this situation. I've had my own share of, you know, struggling with finances. Being on disability, having my disability cut and being left with no income. I mean, I've experienced the range of the financial mess as well as the physical, the emotional aspects of it. And I personally didn't find the resources that I probably could have benefited from at the time. And knowing that, or just having been through the process myself, I really wanna be able to reach those people who were me a year and a half ago. And even though I'm not all the way through it, I still know what a year and a half ago was like, you know, and be able to kind of help people move forward and help us all, like, you know, find a new way to live that makes us, you know, happy and content and fulfilled.

Yeah, that's awesome. So Lauren, tell us about Ribbon Star Press, your consulting and publishing service.

Yes, so what happened when, um, I decided to self-publish, I decided to self-publish under the name Robin Star Press. And part of this was from, honestly, from a business standpoint. I just kind of wanted the publishing aspect. I had this whole series of children's books, as I mentioned prior, that was kind of in a notebook. And while this was the first one, you know, I did have a vision. We talk about what we see going forward. I did have a vision to potentially expand this in the future, so I wanted there to be kind of that publishing house name attached to a book. So the Ribbonstar Press name came from— my mother and I were actually sitting in the kitchen one day and talking about a friend of mine who has a business, and they had a ribbon-cutting ceremony. And she's like, oh, what is that? And I was like, oh, it's just, you know, like a ceremonial, like we're starting a business kind of gathering. And she's like, well, we didn't have one. I was like, okay. So we go out, she goes gets a piece of ribbon from her sewing box, and we had our own little ribbon-cutting ceremonies. That's sort of the background from the name. The star is because everything happens on weird hours, and I feel like I'm always working like in the middle of the night. So that's where the name came from. And once I published, it was really funny. I had people come up to me and like, "Oh, Ribbon Star Press, like I think I've heard of that before." And I was like, "Have you?" It started, you know, a couple weeks ago. And other people Well, like you said, you're looking, you have a children's book that you'd like to get out. A lot of people that are in this situation have works that they would like to publish and don't know how. Since I've been through the process, I haven't taken on any consulting engagements yet, but I've had a few people contact me looking for help that I'm kind of leaving that door open. I really, it's part of, well, a different kind of work. It's definitely, it's segment of things, of ways I'd like to help. Part of that is also helping people, you know, do what I did— get their work out there, get their word out there, spread whatever made, you know, them happy during their illness and what kind of gave them hope to others as well.

Awesome, that's so cool. So how many books have you published then? How many are in the series?

Well, the series is not definite yet, so I have this— the second book is in the works. I do have others that are kind of on route, but I'm not sure, you know, when they'll fully manifest. But we have the first book is Oliver Poons and the Bright Yellow Hat, and that is our children's book. And my mother is also a retired special education teacher, literacy coach, and reading specialist, so we recently published a pre-K to grade 2 worksheets and activity guide to go along with our children's book, our first book. So we have the first children's book, Oliver Poons and the Bright Yellow Hat, the workbook that goes along with that, and soon When my mother wraps up the illustrations, we'll have book 2, which is Dreaming in Color.

Awesome, awesome. Okay, so tell our listeners how they can best get a hold of you and, and what's your preferred method of communication? Facebook, Twitter, email?

Sure, yeah, all of the above is totally fine. I am on Twitter quite often these days. I'm really loving Twitter. I was not a big social media person to begin with, but I met you guys on Twitter and I feel like it's really easy to connect with people. So, I love connecting on Twitter and also my website, LaurenWendys.com if you're interested in the book, OliverPoons.com, aDifferentKindOfWork.org. These are all linked, so don't worry about remembering them all. If you find me one place, everything else is there. So, yeah, I'm more than happy to reach out with people. I'd love to hear different stories of people that are trying to start their own business, or if I can help in any way, I'm more than happy.

Awesome.

Lauren, can you give us your Twitter handle?

Sure. It's @LaurenWendus. So that's L-A-U-R-Y-N-W-E-N-D-U-S.

Awesome. Thank you. Yeah. We'll have all these listed on the show notes and then of course at lionvoice.com we will have a link to Oliver Poone's children's book and Lauren's different websites and places you can find her. So feel free to look that up if you don't have a pencil handy right now. But before we go, Lauren, is there anything that you wanted to leave us with?

I think in closing, you know, I'd really like to just stress to everybody out there that, you know, there, there is hope. I know it's a difficult journey, but to, you know, stay positive and really find those little things every day that, you know, may seem mundane, may not seem that exciting, but, you know, find something that makes you excited every day. For me, it happened to be, you know, my silly cat, but for, you know, find something that just, you know, makes you smile and work from there. And, you know, feel free to reach out to me if there's any way that I can be of help.

Awesome. Thank you so much. Your website is so inspiring. Hearing you talk and tell your story is also really inspiring. I just really appreciate your enthusiasm and your energy. And I know that that comes at a cost to you.

Yes, it does. But I'm working through it and I'm going to take a nap So I think we're all set.

Awesome. Well, we feel so privileged to have gotten some of your time, and I just thank you for sharing with us all that you're doing.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to, to being able to work together more with you. I know we're going to have a future together.

Yes, me too. I'm excited as well.

Awesome. All right. Thank you.

Thank you, guys.

Disease is contrary to life. Therefore, wherever disease exists, life must also fight to exist.

This.

Good job fighting, Lyme fighters! Keep it up. We'll see you next time. LymeVoice contains general information about medical conditions and treatments. The information is not advice and should not be treated as such. Okay, Lincoln?

Okay.

The medical information on LymeVoice is provided as is without any representations, warranties, expressed or implied. Okay? Okay. LymeVoice makes no representations or warranties in relation to the medical information on this podcast. You must not rely on the information on this podcast as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you have any specific questions about your medical matter, you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. And for you, you consult your parents, okay?

Okay.

If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition, you should seek seek immediate medical attention. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this podcast. Got it, Lincoln?

Got it.

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