074 Tracking Your Symptoms & Medical Records

I really like to dig into the emotional side because the reality is it's a product, right? We can talk about it in 2 minutes, but that's not what it's about. It's about the depth that created it, right? The experience that brought it forth. And that's you and your story. But not everyone is willing. So one of the things I was going to tell you is I was really thankful that you were willing to talk about that stuff and even the PTSD, because that's why our listeners tune in.

Welcome to Lion Voice. We are your hosts, Sarah and Aaron Sanchez. We created this show designed to inspire, educate, and encourage you on your path to wellness. This show's purpose is to help you put the puzzle pieces of healing into place. Join us as we interview other warriors and discuss how fighting is a mindset Healing consists of choices, and living is the outcome.

Wishing your doctors could communicate and come up with a cohesive plan specific to your medical needs and genetics? At Invita Medical Center, they offer a team-style approach, giving you the opportunity to heal. In addition to a commitment of providing radical love and care for their patients, they are strategically located in sunny Arizona because Arizona offers the best integrative medical laws in the country. Call today to speak with one of their patient care coordinators. You can find them online at Invita.com.

Lion Voice thanks Invita Medical for the continued support. Please reach them at 1-866-830-4576. Hey everybody, we really want to tell you about something that has changed our life.

Yes, our Kangen water machine has absolutely been a game changer.

Absolutely.

We had such a great response from episode 64 Episode 64 goes into the details if you have not listened to it, as far as why it's been so helpful and what it does. And basically it's alkaline water, but it's also antioxidant-rich. So 2 glasses of fresh water is equivalent to 5 pounds of blueberries, and it has been radical for us as a household.

Yeah, there's, there's so many more uses. We, I mean, we had to do a whole episode on it, but basically Go to myfreewaterstore.com to find out more information directly. Go to episode 64. You can actually hear Wade Holder talk about all the different app— uh, applications and benefits from it. And then when you are ready to purchase this machine, we are now distributors. So when you're ready, you call me at 505-681-1770, and there is financing available. If it wasn't for their financing options, we wouldn't have a machine. Call me, we'll talk through some of those options, and this is going to be a huge benefit to your life.

Yes, it is. And we will be talking extensively over this next year even about fasting and how powerful fasting can be with alkaline water.

Yeah, excellent. Water is key, people.

Change your water, change your life. Yep. Welcome to today's episode of Lime Voice, and today's interview is with Jordan Ray, who I absolutely adore in all of her 21 years of wisdom. She has a lot more wisdom than years on her, um, but at the time I did the interview, I hadn't actually gotten hands on a book, and I asked Jordan to come on because she created this medical journal, medical log, that you can keep track of your symptoms. So I'm super excited for you guys to hear it because I've already, at this point now, seen it in action and think that it's just a really valuable tool in tracking things. If you don't have a diagnosis, it's really helpful at articulating and finding a diagnosis. So I hope you guys enjoy this. I hope you guys enjoy this episode because I think this is a really valuable tool. And as always, right, there's a product, but it's about the mindset. It's about the social-emotional implications of how this product will help you on your journey towards wellness. So I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. With me today is Jordan Ray, CEO of Limitless Medical Logs. Jordan, thank you so much for being here with us today.

Thank you for having me.

So Jordan, give us a little bit of your story. I love the fact that you created a medical journal specifically for people with chronic illnesses, and I over the years stumbled through accidentally, dysfunctionally creating my own type, which I think most people do. But when I saw your promotional event on Facebook, I was like, oh my gosh, this is brilliant. Like it could have just been so much simpler.

Yeah.

So how did it come about? Tell us your story.

So I started playing softball when I was 4 years old and the first practice I went to, I instantly fell in love with it and I knew this was my calling. This is what I need to do for as long as I possibly can. So I get to age 8 and I start competing at a higher level, travel ball, which is you travel throughout the states playing other teams. I did that for a good amount of time, went through middle school ball, high school, and I get to my junior year of high school. My mom just went into remission. She had breast cancer when I was 16. So back to my junior year, I blacked out running for a bunt, which I have fielded numerous times very successfully. I hyperextended my neck and that's how the blackout occurred. And all I remember is kind of getting up. I don't remember the fall. I don't remember being on the ground for 4 to 5 seconds. So I got up and I just walked right back to my position because it was a district game. So it was a very important game. You go from districts to regionals to states. Yeah. And if you get a state title, that's huge. And we had that for my freshman, sophomore year. We were one game away from winning states. So it was a high-stakes game.

Yeah.

I'm walking back to my position. This was the first inning, the first play. And the scary part is I didn't remember my teammates. I had a horrible migraine. I had a little bit of neck pain, but it wasn't crazy. Dizzy, nauseous. The lights were expanding. You know, on a softball field, the huge lights.

Yeah.

Yeah. So the lights were expanding and the other team's coach was next to me because he was coaching third base. And he was just staring at me. And he said to me, he's like, "You're not all right." 'Cause my coach asked me, he's like, "How are you doing?" Or, "How are you feeling?" I'm like, "I'm fine, I'm fine. Leave me alone," pretty much. Because I'm not gonna tell you I'm hurting. That's just an athlete mindset. So the other coach said to me, "You're not all right." And he went and called the trainer. So we finished the inning. I was kind of just standing there. Not doing anything. And the trainer came over and looked at me. I told her I'm fine. I was actually crying hysterically. The lights were expanding. The noise was deafening because when, you know, between innings they blast music. So by the 4th inning, she pulled me out. She thought I had a concussion. And I went to the end of the field, like the outside of the field, just to get away from everything. And I thought I was going to throw up the whole time. So long story short, ending that game, I did not go to school for 2 weeks. I finally went to an orthopedic because my neck was hurting me. And I wasn't there. I don't know how to explain it, but I just did not feel like me.

Right. You're there, but you're not really there.

Exactly. So the orthopedic said to me, oh, you're fine. You have whiplash. And when you hear that, you're like, OK, I'm fine. Maybe I'm just faking it, or I don't really know what's going on, or he doesn't.— So I think I went back to school a couple of days later, and I still was not there. My teachers can tell. All my friends could tell. And we get to August. This was in April, April 13th, 2015. So we get to August. I've had about 50 migraines straight, and I said to my mom, "Something is really wrong." And these were 8, 9 out of 10 migraines, right? Uh, and I never had migraines before. I maybe had one headache a month, but it was just a heat headache from being in the sun for travel all day long. Um, so we go to my neurosurgeon because, you know, it's very hard to get in. And we finally get in the end of August, and he said to me, does it hurt to cough or sneeze? And I looked at him and I'm like, yeah, it's brutal sneezing.

Oh yeah.

The pressure buildup. Oh yeah. He's like, I think I know what you have, but we're going to send you for MRIs and CAT scans. I did about 3 MRIs, 1 CAT scan, no, 2 CAT scans. And I go back to see him a week later and 2 weeks later and he's like, I knew what you had. You have Chiari malformation. So that is a serious neurological disorder where the cerebellum extends into the spinal canal. So when I was running for the bunt and I hyperextended my neck backwards, the fluid got blocked to my brain, which caused the blackout. Yeah, it was all making sense at that appointment. Um, so he diagnosed me, I think, in the middle of September, and I was still 17. And a week later I turned 18 and he kind of just said to me, "Get ready, kid, you're having brain surgery." We scheduled it for December 1st, 2015. And I mean, when he first diagnosed me, I think my first question to him was, "Will I ever play softball again?" Because a week before my blackout, I was touring universities who wanted me as a student athlete. Oh gosh. Yeah. Yeah. And we were, we were finally achieving our dream. And me saying our dream, it's mine and my parents as well to see me play college ball. That's what you work for your whole life.

Especially when you have paid and paid the price to play competitive sports. It's, it's a huge investment for a lot of years to get to that level.

It is. And it's, you know, not even the money, it's the time. I think in maybe all of the years, I think we probably had 2 weekends free each year and that was holidays. Right. So, you know, and when I got diagnosed, I don't think I ever like told my parents this. I was just so frustrated at myself. I kind of was blaming myself because they spent so much money and so much time, like we just said. And I was kind of blaming myself for this, saying, you know, it's my fault now I can't go play in college. But it wasn't. It— I was born with this.

Weird, Jordan, how— I mean, we all do that on some level when our bodies aren't working correctly and it doesn't make sense. I don't understand why we do that to ourselves, like why we kind of take on the blame or think, oh, this isn't— because obviously something is deeply, deeply wrong and it's not self-inflicted, it happens. And yet there's this weird dysfunctional element of shame that comes in very quickly for people when their bodies aren't working the way they should, right?

And, you know, I was healthy my whole life. I had a lot of injuries, but I would never— very different. Exactly, it is. And I even blame myself for those. I think for me it was more of the dedication level. And when I put my mind to something, I'm gonna achieve it. So I put my mind, and my goals were set to play college ball. So me not being able to achieve it now, I think I made it harder on myself, saying, blaming myself. I never blamed my parents for it. But I got to a point where I'm like, why do I keep blaming myself for this? I had no control over it. Right. So getting to the surgery, it was a 9-hour surgery. It was on a Tuesday, I think. And I ended up staying in the kids' ICU for 5 days recovering. And after the surgery, there's no cure for Chiari, but you can manage the symptoms. The surgery is the biggest option to help you manage the symptoms. I am now today 21, and I am still dealing with excruciating pain, excruciating symptoms, 10 out of 10 migraines. I actually had one today, but thank God it went away. Yeah. And I woke up with it. I normally wake up around 3:00 AM, 5:00 AM, and I feel the migraine about to hit. So that's when I know it's gonna be a really bad day for me.

So Jordan, what, what has happened? I don't know your story. What happened? You were never able to play ball again?

No, the doctor, when I asked him, you know, will I ever be able to play? And he just looked at me and he said, I don't think so. I mean, it's not, I had ankle surgery when I was 14. So when a doctor says, I don't know if you can play, you're like, oh, whatever, it's an ankle. You have another one.

I know, but see, this is what people don't get, and I didn't for years. An injury is so drastically different. The mentality that you have to take, the action you can take, is so different than an illness, a long-term chronic illness that you cannot work your way out of.

Exactly. So when he said that to me, I had the mentality, oh, whatever, I can, I can do it. And when I started realizing how sick I was getting, I'm like, I will never be able to play again. My body will never be the same. And after the surgery, my body is so different now. The anatomy— I like the surgery. They had to take the back of my skull out. They put someone else's— it's called a dura patch— and open up the— yeah, open up the canal for the CSF flow to flow to my brain. So it wasn't a little surgery. It was a major one. So yeah, I was never able to play again. And I have not to this day gotten over it. 'Cause college softball is now starting. They play in the spring. I watch it as much as I possibly can.

Yeah, I believe it.

Yeah, I mean, so, and I'll get to the story about how the books came about, but I do have a quote that I do wanna say. And I kinda go by this 'cause it's so true. Somewhere behind the athlete you become and the hours of practice and games is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back. That is so true. Hmm. Yeah, so it was extremely difficult for me, and I know it was for my parents because I saw how happy they were when we were touring, and it was a different kind of excitement, and, and now it's not happening, so You know, Jordan, I want to say a couple of things before we get into the journals and stuff, how that came about.

You know, so I was sick for a lot, a lot of years, and during these formative years, my— of my kids' lives— we have 5 kids— and, um, my middle son Nathan is very athletic, and I was an athlete my whole life and played competitive— started playing competitive soccer, travel soccer, in 7th grade. And, um, I never wanted to play soccer in college. That was never even on my, my radar. I went to a huge school, but my son loved soccer and is very athletic. And we had him, I think, starting on a competitive team at like 5 or 6 and had a great coach and a great network of people. Well, I was so sick, like they had 3 days a week of practice and they wanted to play him at keeper, which would require an extra day of training, blah blah blah. And I, at that point, I was so, so sick. We still did not know what I had had, but I remember talking with the coach and just saying in tears, I don't know if we can— we can't play at this level anymore because I don't even know if I can drive him to practice on anything.

You can't commit to it.

You can't commit. You can't commit to things long-term and that are expensive. And when— this is what he told me, and it broke my heart. It was one of the most heartbreaking things, um, I experienced as a parent. He said, I totally get that. He said, Sarah, you guys have to do what works for you and your whole family. He said, but if you take him out, the team is going to move on without him, and he probably won't be able to play again at this level. Yeah, and I knew it. I knew that's why I had fought so hard for like a year to keep him at that level. And I knew, and he never has. He, he actually left soccer, you know, eventually, because then he was playing Parks and Rec soccer, which was not anywhere near the competitive level. But that, that's a huge loss. And he switched, and he— but we now, we don't play competitive sports of any kind. I'm still not at that time and space that I can give him that. Right. My daughter, who is 16, she has congenital Lyme, and we actually, after years of dealing with chronic migraines for her, last week withdrew her out of public school so she can finish high school online because in January she missed 12 out of 20 school days because of migraines. Wow. Right? So those are huge losses that you and your family are dealing with, and I, I I want you to know that those are huge losses, but what you have put into it, the dedication, the strength, the training, it— your life is not going to look the exact same way. Obviously, you're not playing college ball, but I promise you, Jordan, that the strength, the tenacity, the discipline that you put in as an athlete, you're going to get back in the business world. All those strengths and attributes that you learned, I'm serious, girl, it is going to come back to you so fast because it's the same thing. It's a different platform, but it's the same tenacity. It's the same self-discipline. And if you can have a horrid migraine and still get up and do an interview and still, you know, do it— some days you can't, but the fact that you have a product at this point in your life, I know that you are going to go on. This is just going to be one of many things for you.

Thank you. I appreciate that. And, you know, I'm thinking about that as well. I was talking to my dad the other day, and I met with a friend who was playing college ball, and she just stopped. She's like, oh, I don't want to play anymore. And I said to my dad, that could have been me playing and her just kind of not playing. You know what I mean by that? And my dad says to me, listen, everything happens for a reason. Maybe softball wasn't your calling. You had another path to take and you found it and you're helping so many people. I've always wanted to help people. So me starting at 20 years old doing this I'm so happy, and I honestly would not change it for the world. Hmm.

Yeah, yeah, it's a hard road. And when I got reinfected in May of this year— or last year— one of the things I started saying, because again, I'm in the— I'm in a different boat, but it's similar. I'm like, man, I've already jumped this hurdle. I've already gone through treatment and PTSD and recovery. Like, I don't want to go back here. And yet You have to. And one of the things that I started saying, and it's become one of my mantras, is that everything in my life is happening for me. Nothing is happening to me. Yeah, because it's really easy to feel like a victim, to count the costs, to count the expenses and the time, but that gets you nowhere. It leaves you with that sad emotional state, and that just creates more chaos in your life. And so that's huge if you can frame it If you can flip the narrative to say, no, this is happening for me, your life will be drastically different.

Not exactly.

Yeah. Doesn't eliminate the chaos and the hardness. Yeah. But it provides a pathway.

Yeah. I mean, I could have just stayed in bed and kind of did nothing when I got diagnosed. But, you know, what I did was I turned what I went through into something. To benefit others and impact others.

And you know what? As you were telling your story, it made me think of this documentary. It's on Amazon. It's called Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy. Think and Grow Rich is by Napoleon Hill, one of the most famous books on wealth. Okay, well, there's a documentary called Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy, I think. And they have several athletes, like there is an NFL player and he was already playing in the NFL, went through a routine vision check something came up and all of a sudden they said, you will never play football again and you are going blind. Really? Yeah. He tells the story of knowing, and it took several years. It took like 3 years. He never played. He was literally broke living on his sister's couch. And he said the same thing you did. He said, I can let this control me or I can figure out how to change my life even though I have this huge adversity that's now never going away. Exactly. Yeah. And he's this incredible movie producer now, and he has authored a ton of books. And, you know, he had his whole life set out for him and it took him a couple of years to kind of wrap his brain around his new reality. But that really— your story reminds me of that in the sense of like, okay, those— that discipline, those strengths, that time, energy, and money that went into creating you as an athlete, that is not lost.

Yeah.

And I always say softball molded me into the person I am today. The dedication, everything that you just said, you know, you hit it on the nail with that one. And I'm so grateful for it. I'm so grateful for the 17 years. Some people don't even get to experience that sport. And actually, I'm coaching now when I can, when I feel good enough. It— coaching fills the hole that's missing.

Mm-hmm.

For sure. So— and I get to help others. I get to help these young kids who have a goal to get to college. So I get to help these girls get to where I wanted to be. Yeah.

Yeah.

And I did want to touch on the PTSD because I actually have not had a conversation with someone else who's brought that up. So I did not think it was real in the beginning until I actually went to a meeting at a hospital and I heard the monitor and it was like an instant flashback of every single thing that I went through leading up to that surgery, during the surgery, and after. I could hear the smallest noise and I get instant flashbacks.

Of course.

Yeah. So, and I, yeah, and I never experienced anything like that. And I just, I never really spoke to someone about it. I kind of just keep it to myself. And I'm in school right now and I'm about to get my AA degree. And I'm going for my bachelor's for business and entrepreneurship, and I'm taking a class right now, psychology, and we are now talking about the brain, uh, neurological issues. Yeah. So every single word that this teacher says, it sparks these flashbacks. It's so hard for me to sit in class. I believe it. Yeah, so I did want to touch on that, and I mean Even right now, it's difficult for me to function in school because of the horrible migraines, back pain, memory loss. I have really bad memory loss. I was walking to class the other day. I forgot where my class was. I believe it.

Yeah.

I was just standing there for a good 3 minutes trying to figure out what day it was, what time it is, and where I should be. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, because it changes. An injury just impacts your body. Stuff that impacts your neurological system impacts your ability to process through it, for sure affects your short-term memory, which changes who you are as a person.

Yeah, absolutely. I do kind of feel embarrassed sometimes if I'm speaking to someone and I lose track, I forget what we're even talking about, and they kind of just look at you like, what is wrong with you? And that's why I'm really spreading awareness about what I have and other illnesses and how it affects us. It also affects the people around us, our loved ones, our friends.

Oh, so huge. So yeah, the impact on our families. Um, a couple of things. There's a book called Over My Head by Claudia something, um, that I would really recommend for you to read and anyone who has dealt with a traumatic brain injury, neurological issues. My sister Stephanie, we interviewed her several podcasts back a couple years ago on short-term memory loss because she has a traumatic brain injury from a car accident. She was T-boned and it has taken her— it was 8 or 9 years to get her bachelor's degree because of the memory loss, because of the extreme migraines. And she— right now she's at Pepperdine getting her master's in psychology and her whole practice will be designed to help people with traumatic brain injuries and chronic illnesses because it's It's so dysfunctional. But what was astounding to us as we walked through this journey together— really, she was my one person who understood— in this book, Over Your Head, she says that, like, you feel— you think people think of you as stupid because you lose your train of thought halfway through a sentence. And you are— you're not stupid, but you, you are inarticulate in a lot of scenarios, right?

And, you know, so what it took me 2.5, 3 years to get the AA. It might take me 2 more years to get the bachelor's, but I'm getting it.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah. So with your sister, so what it took 8 years? She has it now. And my brother just got accepted to an aeronautical school and he's already, I think, almost has his AA, but he has nothing wrong with him. So it's easy for him. For me, it's not. It's so difficult. And when I see him, you know, almost having his AA degree, I'm like, wow, you know, I wish I could have been done with school already. But, you know, life happens.

Yeah. And, and that's a whole— winning the mental side of a chronic illness is literally day by day, thought by thought, moment by moment. Because if you compare yourself to your brother and say, man, that was so easy easy for him. Because my sister Stephanie and I have had this conversation. She had a statistics class because of her short-term memory. Statistics can be hard anyway if your brain's not wired that way. She had to retake one class 3 times. Yeah. And when she finished, when she passed it on the 3rd time, she said, I'm so tempted just to hate myself and hate the expense and hate the time and just be mad about it because, because it shouldn't be this hard. But that leads nowhere and she knows it, you know. So, but we've had to go through this process of, okay, it took 8 or 9 years. That's still something to be celebrated.

Exactly. And especially if you have a chronic illness, you know, it took you 9 years. Great. You got it. I mean, it's— yeah, it is really tough and it's really tough going every day knowing I'm really sick now and you have to fight harder. Every single day than a normal person does. One thing I would never do is compare myself to someone. But when I was playing softball, we always compared everybody to each other, right? And see, oh, they're, they're hitting better than you. Why aren't you? So now I realize I cannot compare myself to anybody. I'm my own person, and I'm battling something that they have no clue about.

Yeah. Well, you're wise above your years so far, my dear.

Thank you. I've heard that a few times.

Well, and again, athleticism, you know, softball helped shape that for me. Athletics were huge, absolutely huge in my life leading up to all of a sudden at 18 not understanding why I couldn't breathe anymore on a soccer field. You know, it was this weird thing. But so, okay, your mom had gone through cancer, you get a brain injury, and at what point do you start thinking, man, I should— someone should really create a medical log?

Well, that's kind of what it was. I mean, when I was going through— when I first got diagnosed, I actually looked for one and I couldn't find it. But the idea actually came about when my mom got diagnosed and I saw her struggling to go to to every appointment to keep track of everything. So the idea popped in my head, but I was 16, I had softball still, so it just kind of popped in my mind and, and fell out. So then my health fails, and I was looking for one of these books, and I'm like, why is there nothing like this out there for patients like this? So I created it. I had the experience for 2 and a half years of every doctor's appointment, labs, so like MRI, blood work, CAT scans, the EEGs. And then I experienced what it's like to go to a neurosurgeon one month, the next month he says, "Hey, how have you been feeling?" And you look at him and you just, I don't know. How am I supposed to remember? I just had brain surgery and you're asking me that? Then when I start— I created the book and obviously I was using it before I even launched the company. When I went for my next appointment, his jaw dropped because he's like, "Hey, how are you feeling?" I told him exactly how I was feeling, if I was making progress one week, I didn't make any progress the next week, my sleep patterns. He was so impressed. We did not waste the appointment. 'Cause you know, you go and it's a guessing game, so then it turns into a wasted appointment. You just paid all that money, wasted that time, and the doctor really doesn't care because you, in a way, don't know, so it seems like you don't care. But that's not the reality of it. You just cannot remember.

Well, and you bring up a really good point because my stuff was so different, but we basically both went in with traumatic brain injuries, even though mine was unclear. My brain wasn't working. I couldn't process it. And one of the things that just took me a long time— too long, in my opinion— to figure out was that, was that it was my responsibility to utilize every minute of a physician's time to the best of my ability. And if I was not prepped and prepared for, for those appointments, then they did feel wasted emotionally, physically, financially, on a lot of levels. So I started making— I had a planner, like a high-performance planner, that I would use, and I would make a list in advance and kind of review my symptoms and stuff. But again, I kind of kept track of mine. But that's so huge because then— and I remember my pain doctor specifically, he would like kind of roll his eyes after a couple years and be like, all right, how many more questions do you have for me? Yeah, but you're right, because I set the expectation. I need your full time and attention. Let's make the most out of this. And because I did that, he, he was actually very instrumental for me as far as being proactive with me. But when I wasn't proactive, you do get less from your physicians, right?

And there's so many things I can add on to what you just said. I mean, it enhances your appointments, it enhances your treatment plans. Uh, there was a point where I was kind of afraid to tell my doctor everything because it's like, uh, here's another appointment, he's gonna say I can't help you. And I don't know if I said it in the story I'm still battling the health issues. I still have to go to doctors all the time. I have gotten so many times, "I don't know what's wrong with you. I can't help you." I got to a point— I remember one doctor. I was using the log at this point. My mom views it before our doctor's appointments. We sit down together. We write our questions down because I have an appointment notes section in it. We wrote our questions down and we drove all the way to Miami, so it's about an hour— depending on traffic, an hour drive. I get into the appointment with the doctor. I just start bawling. I could not speak to him because I knew what he was going to say. "I can't help you." And it's so frustrating when you're so sick, you're in so much pain, and you just keep hearing, "I can't help you." So my mom— thank God I had the book. She was able to go through with what's been going on. I couldn't speak, and I'm not exaggerating. I was crying the whole time from the moment he stepped in. So that's another great thing about this log is you can give it to a caregiver, a spouse, a parent, a friend if they go with you, and they can view it. And you write down how you've been feeling right then and there, and it takes 2 seconds. So they're able to see your thoughts and what you've been going through in detail.

That is phenomenal.

I love that. Thank you.

Yeah, yeah, I love it. And every other people have had those same reactions. Like, there's a level of PTSD and grief involved in your reaction to that physician walking in the room, right? Whether it's trained neural pathways, but you are like, you have so much emotion and hope and desperation tied up in each appointment, and you've waited weeks, months, whatever to get back in. You have so much riding on it that it's almost like when it is unfolding, it overwhelms your— especially if you're having neurological issues, it just overwhelms your senses and shuts you down. Exactly.

Yeah. And I think also, and my age had to do with it, because I kept saying when I first got diagnosed, why is this happening to me at such a young age? I remember when I was like 12 and people would say to me, if you keep playing softball at this level, you're not going to be able to walk when you're 40. I'm like, I'm 18 and I can barely walk because I'm in so much pain. So yeah, it's just, it's very overwhelming.

Yeah, yeah, it is. And so your brain helped you sort through the overwhelm— overwhelmingness of a traumatic brain injury, of ongoing chronic illness issues by organizing what you could, in a sense, organizing the information and the content you had.

Right. Like today, I told you that I had a probably a 7 out of 10, 8 out of 10 migraine. And I woke up around 5 o'clock with it and I wrote it down instantly. I think I fell back asleep again for maybe 2 hours and I still had the migraine. So I wrote it down and that took me 2 seconds. And I wrote it right then and there so at the end of the day, I don't have to stress about remembering of exactly how I've been feeling or even at the end of the week, it's like, "Oh crap, I have an appointment in 2 days and I don't know what's been going on." I fill it out religiously and it has helped me so much. I'm still at the point where doctors are like, "We don't know how to help you," but it's getting to the point where it's kind of on them for that. And, you know, I've been going to a neuro— neurologist for 2 years, and he's like, yeah, I don't know what's going on. So it's time to find a new one, obviously. But an example is he gave me shots. I don't know if you've heard of Amovig. Uh-uh. So it's a shot that goes in your leg or your stomach. And it's supposed to help, I think, 3 days in or 7 days in max. So I did the first one. I'm very optimistic.

I will try—

Is it for migraines? Yeah. It blocks a nerve that causes that migraine. So we tried it, and I'm at 7 days. I'm like, "Well, I still got a migraine." And then we get to a month later. I'm like, "You know what? I'll try it one more time, even two more times, and just see." He said to me, he's like, "97% of the people benefit from this." When I went back to him, he's like, "Well, I think you're a problem patient because it's helping all these other people and it's just not helping you." But he said to me for those three months to track exactly how I've been doing, and if I did not track in my book, I'd go to him and say these— I couldn't say these were the symptoms. This is exactly how I've been feeling Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So it also can help with things like that where you're trying a new pill or a new treatment and you wanna really accurately see if it's gonna impact you.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, and I do coaching calls with people. I do adversity and chronic illness coaching on a regular basis. And again, I haven't actually gotten one of your books in my hands yet, but when I looked at it right away, I was going over what I could see online and I thought, oh my gosh, this would be such a huge tool for the people I'm coaching. Because what ends up happening is a lot of the, about 50% of my coaching calls are actually with a caregiver or a parent who is, right? Okay. And so there's, uh, like always like this sense of communication or, you know, need for ongoing communication. But what we have found, especially with my work with the caregivers, is that often when a patient goes downhill, maybe they're— maybe they are slowly improving as they're changing their diet or implementing certain supplements. They are slowly improving. But when those improvements start to wane, it's easy for them to look back and say, oh, I'm not improving. And when you have track record, you're like, oh no, actually your, your productivity was down at like 80%. And now you're up at like 90%. And you can do that on a day-to-day basis, but to have the medical side journal to go with that, I just think is super powerful.

Right, yeah. And you know, there's a reason it's a log too and not the digital or an app because you can visually see your progress or non-progress. I mean, if you put it on your phone, A lot of the doctors still, they're like, put your phone away, turn it off. So they're not going to tell you to put your log away because it's benefiting both parties. So yeah, I mean, that's a huge reason that it's a log and you can write it down right then and there. You don't— oh, got to find my phone. My phone and my keys are the two things I can never find. So it's not like, oh, I got to go find my phone, got to get the app, got to do this, this, and this. This, the log, boom, boom, boom, you're done. Close it, you're good for a couple hours. Yeah. And I made it so it is less than a pound, so it's not like you're lugging something around. And I've actually had some customers say to me, I have a binder that I've been using for however many years, and I actually had a binder before this. Yeah, me too. Yeah. So I think everybody does. So you can add this to your binder. Like I said, it's less than a pound. It's not so heavy. You can put in your purse, you can put it if you have like a briefcase for work. So it's a backpack, and when you're traveling, it's not an extra 25 pounds. It's not even a pound.

So what is your favorite aspect of the planner? I know you love all of it, but what's, what's one of your favorite things that you feel like you just come back to time and time again as being valuable?

There is the section where you write exactly how you've been feeling, but on the right side of it, or the left, there— I put a human body so I can pinpoint if I have stabbing pain, burning pain. Ever since my surgery, when I first got diagnosed, I had tingling in my hands and my arms.

Yeah, so neuropathy.

Yeah. And then after the surgery it moved down to my legs. So it kind of just traveled. If I did not have that little human to write, oh, I have tingling in my legs at this time, that is probably to me the most important, just for me, um, just to be able to go back and look at it. And I mean, this book, the last page, it says write your story or write your journey. This book is your journey. Your health— if you don't have your health, that's the most important thing. So every day you're writing your story. This book is a part of your story. It's a part of you and getting you to where you need to be.

Hmm, I love that. And you know, it's interesting that you brought up that page because one of the things when I saw that page in the book, I thought, oh man, it would have been really helpful because it's, it's like I was cutout of a person that you would see like when you go to the neurologist or the pain clinic, or I mean so many. They're like, where do you have your pain? And I liked how you put like numb, numbness, tingling, sharp shooting pain, blah blah blah, because I felt like, because my stuff was not instantaneous, it was very slow and gradual. And so I didn't know that there was anything wrong. I didn't feel good, but I had like thought, oh I'm weak, or I'm just broken, or something. I kind of internalized it. I didn't even understand the distinction between numbing pain and sharpshooting pain, really, for— in the sense that I could have described it. I didn't understand the differences enough to describe them to my doctors. I would be like, oh, my arm hurts, you know, like something's wrong with your arm.

Yeah, I mean, well, sorry to cut you off, but just to add to that, I mean This could help you get diagnosed with what you have. That's what I— So if you go to the doctor and you're like, "Oh, I don't know. I have a migraine and my arm hurts," like for nerves, but you have the book now and you've been tracking everything, so the doctor's going to pay attention and say, "Oh, I've seen the symptoms with this person who has this." So that's— It can help you get diagnosed if you're in that stage where it's so frustrating where the doctor's like, "I don't know." I agree.

That's exactly what I thought. I thought, had I had access to something like this, I feel like I could have articulated more clearly what my issues were early on, advocated for myself better, quicker.

And I've gotten that so many times. You're like, you couldn't have made this 2 years ago or 5 years ago?

I'm like, well, I was like 15 at the time, but I mean, pull it together, girl.

Yeah, you're slacking. Um, Yeah, I mean, it's just been such a lifesaver for me. And the best thing is I have a lot of people who send me their stories. They'll email it to me and I will do the best I can to get back to you. I read them and then I'll get back to you. So I actually lost my train of thought on that one. But yeah, I don't know where I was going with that.

Well, it helps people get diagnosed. It helps people track It's just an incredible tool. So Jordan has gifted the Lyme Voice listeners with one book, one free book she's gonna give away. Jordan, tell us, people need to go to LimitlessMedicalLogs.com, correct?

Mm-hmm, yes, you go to the website and you go and sign up for the newsletter, or which would be easier, if you just create an account, put your email, name in, and there's a customer note section put in that you are listening from Lime Voice, and I will do a random pick of a lucky winner.

Awesome. And the price of, um, was it called the original journal?

No, the Essential Book is $40.97, and it will last you a whole year. So it's not like, oh, it's 3 months or 6 months.

It's a whole entire year for $40.97. That's fantastic. Awesome. All right, Jordan, what else do you want to— as, as we end, do you want to leave us with another quote or a book that you've been reading? Like, what part of your journey, what has empowered you lately to keep moving forward?

I would say all these people that are battling, who've been battling for, let's say, 5+ years, and I'm going on 3 years, but they're still going. That has empowered me to help others take control of their health like I've been doing. I think a big thing was when my mom got diagnosed with cancer. That was extremely scary for me. I had to kind of grow up and mature faster than all my friends because they were just living life, hanging out, and I'm over here every day thinking, something might happen to my mom. So I really think that she also had a big effect on me doing this. She's been a huge support. My dad has been an incredible support, and all of my family, they're just so inspired with what I'm doing, and I really would not want to be doing anything else.

Mm, that's awesome. Jordan, thank you so much for your time. It was lovely talking with you.

Thank you for having me. I had a great time.

Awesome. All right, go check out LimitlessMedicalLogs.com by Miss Jordan Ray.

For nearly two decades, Invita Medical Center has been leading the way with the latest in personalized treatment options designed for patients dealing with Lyme disease complex. At Invita Medical Center, they offer a team-style approach and the latest technology regarding treatment and testing at an unmatched radical love and care environment for their patients. Call to speak to one of the patient care coordinators today to learn why hundreds of patients choose Invita Medical Center each year. You can find them online at invita.com.

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

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. LionVoice 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 health 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 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.