73. Life Updates: Navigating Health Journeys and Choosing Joy
How do you keep going when life doesn’t go as planned? In this deeply personal episode, we’re catching up on where life has taken us lately and getting real about how we’re navigating our health journeys. For both of us, it’s about facing challenges, finding new ways to live fully, and staying present, even when things feel uncertain. We’re learning to embrace the journey, instead of rushing to the finish line.
We’re talking about how we’re intentionally shifting our routines and choosing joy, even when life throws us curveballs. Instead of pushing through, we’re finding peace in the present moment, even when our bodies feel limited by surgery or health concerns. It’s about learning to be with what is, rather than constantly striving for more.
Grab your favorite bevy and join us as we explore how small changes in routine, stepping out of our comfort zones, and prioritizing fun can make a big difference. We’ll also share how we’re both learning to slow down—not as a strategy to “speed up,” but as a new way of being.
Want more live access to us? Get on our email list where you can ask us questions, get coached, and be the first to know about trainings, events, and free coaching. Click here to sign up now!
And if you know you need help finding balance and becoming unapologetically Ambitious-Ish, click here to book a free 60-minute consult to see if we’re a good match. Either you take all the awareness and value you get from the call and you run with it, or you coach with us for six months. That's two coaches for six months, and it's all about you.
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
Why refusing to accept "there’s nothing we can do" opens new doors for change.
How raising your vibration can help shift your mindset and energy.
The difference between routine and ritual, and why breaking your daily patterns matters.
Practical ways to step outside your comfort zone.
What it means to slow down to slow down versus slowing down to speed up.
Why sharing your health journey publicly can help others navigate their own challenges.
How to choose sufficiency and presence when facing uncertainty.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
Click here to follow, rate, and review the show. And if you love the show, don’t forget to share with someone you think will benefit!
Want to start ramping up your self-awareness so you’re on to yourself before Burnout fully takes over? Click here to get your free Burnout Alarm Bell Study Guide!
Let us know what you think of the show so far and what you’d like to hear more of or less of over on Instagram!
Schedule your free consultation for our new three-month coaching container here.
Click here to access our free No BS Boundary Playbook.
Sloan Johnson - Two Hearts Concierge Care
Full Episode Transcript:
Kelle: All right. Today is a special episode. We are going to get extremely personal on what is happening in our lives, an update of sorts, and we get to hear from Nina today. And Nina's going to kind of spill the beans on what's happening with her lately with her health. So, I am so excited to hear this. I haven't even heard all this.
Nina: And let's not discount Kelle here. She's got some updating to do, too. She's going to fill us all in on what's happening on her end, which is always a treat. So grab your favorite bevy, your cup of ambitious-ish, and let's jump in.
Kelle: Let's get going.
This is Ambitious-ish. Burnout? Check. Daily overwhelm? Check. Resentment rash, stress, and a complete lack of well-being? Check, check, check! You’re not alone. We’re your hosts, Kelle & Nina, and we are here to help you feel calm, balanced, and empowered so you can redefine success, make choices that feel authentic, and ACTUALLY enjoy the life you work so hard to create. You ready? Let’s go.
Kelle: Hey, I'm Kelle.
Nina: And I'm Nina. And today, Kelle and I are just having an organic chat, like a life update here, listeners. So yeah, we both have our our favorite bevvies, and we're just here kind of catching up with each other and filling you in on what's happening with us. Right, Kel?
Kelle: Yeah, this is a long time coming. We haven't done one of these in a while, so I'm really excited.
Nina: Me too. Yeah, feels good. It feels nice.
Kelle: Okay, so Nina, first of all, I'm curious, why are you sitting down? You're always standing at your standing desk, and she's actually sitting down at her standing desk right now.
Nina: I know. You guys give us feedback about this episode because I'm seated, and I'm wondering if you can, if there's a difference if I'm sitting or standing during these recordings. Yeah, I just had a really big surgery. As some of you guys know, if you've been following us, Kelle and I both have chronic diseases, but I have a chronic condition in my left leg. It's dysfunctional circulation, but it's lymphatic. And I have a series of surgeries that will help me manage and really not cure the condition, but change my life, change the way I need to operate and manage the condition now. I had the really big surgery two years ago, and I just got back from Florida, my amazing doctors are all in Florida, from a second surgery.
And it is a very long procedure. They're basically rewiring the circulation in my leg. They're connecting blood vessels with lymphatic vessels, and it's just a game-changer, life-giving surgery. It was very long. I was under anesthesia for like 12 hours, so I'm a little foggy. I put something in my calendar the other day on August 8th at 10 a.m., and it is not there anymore, and I don't know where it went or what it was. So if that is you, it'll come back to me. We'll figure it out. But yeah, I've got a little bit of brain fog.
And this recovery, there's no pain. It's amazing. I feel great. However, I have to sit a lot. So my sustained walking is limited to 20 minutes, four times a day. So I can run to the grocery store, I can make breakfast, and grab my coffee. There's no limitation, but that sustained standing is really limited for like four weeks. So I am definitely, as you guys all know, Kelle and I are like, you know, just like you, recovering high achievers. You know, we all have our go-to coping mechanisms when things are hard, and activity is a huge one for me and Kelle.
And I remember this last surgery was really tough, and you know, it's summertime, and I want to be on my bike, and I want to be in the pool. And neither one of those things are happening this summer. This is tricky. I'm like sweating just saying that out loud. This is a tricky one. I'm energized right now because a friend just stopped by with like yummy juice, and like my neighbors are all checking in on me, and it's just nice to be home. My kids come home tonight, like I can't wait. And yeah, it's been like two weeks since I've seen them because surgery was really a big deal, the travel and everything.
This is really hard. It's hard to just sit. And I got it. I've got it. Yeah, just not getting out and just cranking and doing what I love to do in the woods in the summer and in the, you know, just everywhere, travel in the summer. It's tricky. The sitting's tricky. So I'm pulling out all the stops. I'm not slowing down to speed up, which is something Kelle and I talk to clients about a lot, right? Like that's kind of what coaching is. It's about like pulling the arrow back in the bow, realigning and recalibrating and changing your trajectory, right? That's kind of the way we explain what we do sometimes.
So that's what's different right now is like I'm not even looking to up-level. You know what I mean? I'm just looking to like slow down to really just slow down right now. I'm kind of like seeing what I notice on my very short walks. I'm trying to put on like a different lens. Like a friend of mine's really into this bird watching app, and I'm not into birds. But all of a sudden I'm like, what's that app? I'm like, oh, that's a warbler. Like, who knew? It's kind of getting exciting, not really, if I'm being real, but I'm just trying to get a little creative in these 20-minute bouts of activity and see what else I can bring in. Because you got to get creative, you know? I still want to engage with the world, and I don't want to just be inside sort of, you know, complaining and grumpy.
Kelle: Yeah, sound fun at all.
Nina: No.
Kelle: No, thank you. And anyway, we're I'm in my high vibe era, so you can't do that.
Nina: Totally. I mean, I feel like we're both kind of high vibe right now, despite we'll get to, yeah, we'll catch up with Kelle in a second. But like, that's a really good way to put it is like my word of the year was, well, our word of the year was fun.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: And then mine personal was freedom. And I'm not letting any of that go right now. Like, this is not going to hold me back. No, I can't get on my bike. I can't go swimming. I can't really move as much as I want to, but..
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: I'm still going to have fun and there's still freedom available. So yeah.
Kelle: Exactly. I'm curious because you talk about this surgeon that is in Florida as the only guy on the planet that can do this.
Nina: Yeah.
Kelle: Can you tell us a little bit more about it?
Nina: Yeah, so when I was diagnosed, Kel, I mean, when we met, when we got really close, this was like 12 years ago when you and I just kind of met when the kids were really young. I was told, like Kelle, that there was nothing I could do about my leg. It was only going to get bigger. It was only going to get harder. There was no cure.
And it's so interesting. You know, we can shit on social media till the cows come home. However, it has been a golden resource for me in managing this disease and finding resources. So I connected with other women just like me on Instagram who have been to the Cleveland Clinic, Mayo, MD Anderson, they've been to all the big contenders. They've been to Europe. So there's a lot happening in Switzerland in terms of managing this disease. It's called lymphedema. And long story short, they all directed me to, after a lot of trial and error, Dr. Granzo in Jacksonville, Florida at the Lymphedema and Lymphedema Center.
So he is a savant, J. Granzo. He's a tiger. He went to Princeton and all the things, plastics and engineering, and he's amazing and he's a total nerd and I absolutely love him. And you know, he came to my little bed a week ago and 7:30 in the morning before I got my medicine to go to sleep for 12 hours, and I was like, okay, Dr. G, how was your meditation this morning? How are the kids? What are you doing for breakfast? You know, we're friends now. Like, are you ready for this? He's like, are you ready? I'm like, no, I'm about to go to sleep. Are you ready?
So he's an amazing guy. He's like going to be on my Christmas list for a really long time. It's going to take a while for this to be sort of done. There's no finish line necessarily, which is what I'm learning about a lot of things in life. Closure, finality, we can create that for ourselves, but this is definitely a journey, and he's an extended family member. Yeah, he's just a savant and a wonderful man. His team are amazing.
Kelle: Okay, so love that. I just love awesome surgeons and doctors, and caregivers. It's just like, what an incredible human. Right?
Nina: He has decided to dedicate his life. He could have just done boobs. Because he has this plastics...
Kelle: Of course. Of course.
Nina: He's boarded in plastics. He could have just done boobs and butts and actually he it's really funny when you talk to him about what he did to my leg because he was like, I took some liberties. I'm like, couldn't you have done both sides? You only did the left. And he's like, insurance won't let me touch the right. So anyway, it's he's a great guy and he could totally just do boobs and butts and noses and all the things, but he dedicated his work to people like me. So he specializes in helping people with this specific disease rebuild, start living their life again. It's really cool. It's like completely new possibilities when we're told that this is a dead end. Right, Kel?
Kelle: Yeah, when you're told that the doctors can't do anything for you, that it's just going to get worse, and there's nothing they can do, it's just like, what?
Nina: Well, and like you, I don't understand “no” all the time. And it's funny, like don't we have friends who like literally don't take no for an answer, but like, I did not take there was just no way no was there's just no way. I was just like, there's no way that this is going to be like this and only get worse.
Kelle: I am thinking of this, I can't remember if it's a meme or a hat. I think it was like a hat. Maybe it was a mug on social media, but excuse me, I'm just going to say it. It said, "Fuck that shit."
Nina: Fuck that shit.
Kelle: And I was just like, fuck that shit. No.
Nina: Fuck that shit. Totally. And it takes kind of like a boss approach to stand up to medicine and say, I don't think that's my story. Thank you, next. I'm going to take what you said and find an answer that I appreciate. I'm going to keep going, right? I'm going to keep going.
Kelle: Yes.
Kelle: I see you sitting poolside a lot, Nina.
Nina: Yeah. Yeah, maybe I can like dip in and like keep my leg out or something. Yeah, the incisions, you know, are going to require some time, but I am not complaining. This is such a game-changer. I feel so lucky. Yeah, I just, I know this is going to be better than I ever could imagine, you know, eventually.
Kelle: I am so excited. I got to come check out your left butt.
Nina: You can. Everyone can tell. I mean, if you really take a look at my ass, the left side looks really nice compared to the right. It's pretty funny. It's pretty funny. I mean, personally, I can totally notice it, and I don't know. It's awesome. I love it. Hang on, one more thing. I'm just curious, Nina, what does it look like for you moving forward from here? Are there more surgeries? What's next?
Nina: Yeah, there are two more surgeries. So he worked on my lower leg this time, and he'll work on my upper leg next time, kind of my quad. And then he'll work on my groin. So I have a tricky relationship with anesthesia, and so we have to break it up for me. It's just safer that way, and I'm totally fine with it. You know, it's a little more drawn out. As soon as insurance approves the next one, I'll fly to Florida and get it done. Like, in two weeks, sure. I don't think insurance turns things around that quickly, but so I'm just on call.
Kelle: I'm coming. I'm coming to Florida with you.
Nina: I know. Actually, Jacksonville's rad. I don't know if anyone's spent time there. There are really cool parts of it. My kids have come with me. I've been down there about 10 times now. You know, pre-op, post-op checkups. We've found a really special place that we love to snuggle in down there, and the beaches are killer, and yeah, it doesn't suck. It could be worse. So yeah, you're coming.
Kelle: Okay. All right, Kel, well, we have a big day later today.
Nina: Yeah.
Kelle: Yeah, yeah.
Nina: Yeah. We're heading down to Salt Lake together. Yeah.
Kelle: Yeah, we're going to go to Huntsman. Nina's going to join me, and I'm going to get a PET scan. I've never gotten a PET scan before.
Nina: Do we know what PET stands for?
Kelle: I don't. I don't. We could look it up, but whatever. If anyone's interested, they can look it up and tell us, please. DM us. All I know is I was researching the difference between a PET scan and a CT scan, MRI, which those two I've gotten a lot before, and I haven't gotten a PET scan. So it's more specific, and it's radioactivity instead of X-ray type stuff. Yeah.
Nina: Okay, and so why are we doing this? Kelle: We're doing this because I had a blood test called the Signatera done a couple of weeks ago, and I did not get the result that I wanted to from that. It's either yes, there's cancer detected in your blood, or no, there is not. And mine was yes this time. It has been no the previous three or four times. So I immediately got on the portal and called my team at Huntsman, called my oncologist and my surgeon, and all the people. And Nancy is my kind of quarterback, so I typically go through her. And I was like, "All right, I need to get in sooner. I need to figure out, like what are the next steps here now that I have a yes when it's been no." That's scared a little bit scary to me.
Nina: It's not like a scale, like a number. It's a yes or a no. It's like a positive or negative. That's all we know.
Kelle: Yes. I've been getting another blood test called a CA 19-9, and that has been like trending up, which we didn't love. And then it trended down a little bit, and then it's back up. So it's a little bit like inconclusive and not as specific as the Signatera. So the Signatera, when I saw the yes, I kind of, you know, had a little mini freak out as one does when they're like, okay, I didn't think I had cancer anymore, and now I have it again. It's back already.
Nina: Yeah, you called me in Florida.
Kelle: Yeah. And I was just like, "Okay, well, I'm not even done with treatment, and it's back." And that really sucks because my last immunotherapy was supposed to be the 23rd of this month.
Nina: Right. It's the 15th. Yeah, we had that on the schedule.
Kelle: Yeah, so just it's really disconcerting when I like think about like, am I going to start chemotherapy again before I even get off of treatment?
Nina: So, just to back up for a second, the PET scan is head to toe, right? So we're not even like, we're looking everywhere.
Kelle: I think so. I think so. That's a question I will be able to answer after today. I know I drink this radioactive solution that the cancer loves, and so if there's cancer, wherever there's cancer, it will show up. The cancer loves this stuff.
Nina: Yeah. And so we will still go to immunotherapy on the 23rd. And this test will happen today and potentially dictate the next couple of months.
Kelle: Yeah, I'm not sure. I don't know. I am hesitant to want to start chemotherapy again for obvious reasons. I felt like total crap, and I really want to at least enjoy the summer. And then if I need to do more laying around and feeling yucky, I can do it all winter long. I was talking to one of my family members the other day about this, if I should just put off chemotherapy. The problem is the cancer that I have is really aggressive, and I don't know what that looks like if they probably don't want to put it off.
And I am doing this special program that I'm really excited about. It's this retreat that I'm going to. It's kind of a healing retreat at the end of August. And it's teaching your body and mind to work together and really to clear out anything that is not working for your body. So it's very specific meditation and breathwork. And I'm just barely learning it. So I'm doing kind of what's called the pre-work for it right now. And then I go to this seven-day retreat, also in Florida, by the way, Marco Island. And I'm so excited to be at the beach and doing this magical work. So, and this is just adjunctive to all of the Western medicine that of course I am doing.
Nina: Do you find, Kel, that we've, I say we because I really do feel like we have cancer, we need to, of course, trust and rely on our Western oncologists, but how do you feel about like a functional oncologist and that other side of things? And what have you found there? And maybe you can even explain that to listeners. Do you know what I'm saying?
Kelle: Yeah. Yeah, I actually haven't found a functional oncologist. I absolutely love my oncologist, and the people at Huntsman have been otherworldly incredible, and I trust them. And I know that they stay in their lane, right? They stay in their lane. They know the medicines. They don't know all this other adjunctive therapy that you can do, like high-dose vitamin C, which I am trying. I'm trying. They're not really working. I had one and then the second one, she couldn't get a vein because my veins are just such a mess from all the chemotherapy that I used to have these like awesome veins. And yeah, now they just don't really work.
Nina: Can we give a quick shout-out to one of our local queens?
Kelle: Yes, please. Please.
Nina: Okay, so Sloan Johnson is a rock star at Two Hearts Concierge Care. If you live in Park City or visit, Park City is one of those places that people visit, you know, even if you don't live here, you need to call Sloan for any of your hydration therapy, IV infusion, wellness, anything you need here in town, you need to call Two Hearts and Sloan Johnson.
She's been amazing, introducing us. I think you knew about high-concentration vitamin C, but she is just an expert because of just a lot of her personal history in treating and helping cancer patients with IV therapy. And she's helping me big time right now post-op, with just post-anesthesia and stuff. She's amazing. Nurse is like an understatement. She's just amazing. Please give them a call or like reach out for any need whatsoever, locally. She's just a lovely, caring, compassionate…
Kelle: Oh my god, it's 11:11 right now, Nina. It's 11:11.
Nina: And we're talking about her.
Kelle: And we're talking about her because she is just magic. And so she did the first vitamin C infusion for me the first part of the week. And then she tried to do another one but, it's not her. She is like such a pro. It's my veins. And even when I go to Huntsman, I have to have the PIC team come and the PIC team come is this these special, this special team that comes in and uses an ultrasound to find veins because it's so hard to find a vein that'll work for me. And even they usually have to stick me a couple times before they find one that works.
Nina: Yeah, no, totally. Totally. I mean, and that was so frustrating. I remember I talked to you on the phone after that and it, from what I saw, Kel, I can just, it makes so much sense that there are days when you're just like, "Fuck my body. Like, fuck my veins. Why is this broken? Like, why won't this fix? I'm doing everything."
Kelle: Yeah, and I'm tearing up a little bit right now because going back to that, it's like trying to do all that you can to make this cancer go away and not come back. And then even the stuff that you're trying isn't working for whatever reason. It's just like so frustrating. And then I have to remind myself that I am doing everything I possibly can, and I need to enjoy life right here.
Nina: Yeah. That's still available, which is amazing. That's what's so amazing about you, Kel, and what we see you choose. You don't have to choose that. You could totally go into the hurt locker, and you guys just moved into this beautiful new house that's been a baby that you've been growing.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: Like another baby.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: Right? And this beautiful new house in our amazing community, and just the travel and the kids' stuff that you're a part of, and what's next with work and everything. The choices I see you make, you choose joy, you choose fun, even when it feels hard and impossible and unavailable. You show us.
Kelle: Thank you, Nina. Thank you. I really have been leaning into like what's going to be fun today? What's going to be good today? What's going to bring me joy? And that's where it's at for me right now. And just staying a big part of this meditation practice that I'm working on is staying, I mean, they don't call it that, but I call it a really high vibe. And just anytime you see yourself dipping into like the what ifs or the unknown, the uncertainty of life and what might happen in the future, it's like, okay, present moment. I actually feel awesome. I feel amazing right now. Like if I didn't have to go down to Huntsman and get a PET scan, I would be on my mountain bike today for sure.
Nina: Yes, ride for me. Fucking pedal.
Kelle: Right? Right?
Nina: Yes, we'll do it tomorrow for me. Yeah.
Kelle: And I'm lining up walks with friends. The kids are going, they're both going to Grandma camp next week.
Nina: Oh, yes, I didn't know that. That's awesome.
Kelle: Yes. And so I have, and Mike is going to be out of town a lot, so I'm literally going to be home alone for a lot of next week. I know, right? You're going to hang out. I'm lining up a ton of like walks and hangouts with friends because I actually have time to do it. And yeah, I'm just really excited. And that is what feeds me and drives me. And I just want to be around people after being isolated so much last year. I want to be around people. I want to have fun with my kids. Ava and I are going to go horseback riding on Thursday afternoon. She just turned 14. So we're having so much fun. We went go-karting the other day and it was no joke. It was like 40-mile-an-hour go-karting. It was intense. My whole body was like, oof.
Nina: Yeah. I mean, see how you can choose. We always have choice. I'm going to be honest and say, like, fun may not be available every day, right, Kel?
Kelle: Yeah, yeah.
Nina: But like sufficiency is. I see you choosing like just sufficiency. We love this feeling. And clients, if you're listening, you're like rolling your eyes because we talk about this all the time. Like, instead of feeling less than or lack or fear or scarce, just feel like you're enough today.
Kelle: Yeah. I have everything I need.
Nina: I have everything I need in this moment. I have everything I need in this moment, right? I feel good today. There's no pain, there's no nausea, there's no blah blah blah. There’s nothing.
Kelle: No, no, and that's what like I'm so lucky. I don't have any pain. I'm not sick. I don't even feel sick. I feel a little bit tired sometimes, and other than that, do I even have cancer? I don't know. Maybe I don't even have cancer. And that is what got me through pulmonary hypertension years ago is almost not pretending, but just like living life and being in the moment and not being worried about what might happen.
Nina: How is that useful? Worrying about what might happen. Seriously, like if I went there every day about you or I don't know, pre-surgery, right? All the shit that could have gone wrong. What if? What if? That could really drive someone into a very dark place.
Kelle: Right? Again, I'm just going to say, "Fuck that shit."
Nina: No, and it's also it's like the vibration you keep talking about. I don't know how else to put it, but I know that the retreat you're going on is, you put it really well, we learn how to raise our vibration so that the dis-ease in our body, it breaks up when we learn how to raise our vibration. It's a weird way to put it, right? But like the dis-ease in our body is, a lot of it is created by our own emotional and mental tension. And part of this healing retreat is just that, is learning how to like raise your vibe, break all that down.
Kelle: All the time. Yes.
Nina: Yeah, integrate it.
Kelle: Yes. And to listen, right, Nina, to listen to your body and when you need to slow down and get your brain and body on board because our brains, especially these high achiever brains, are so wired to produce and achieve and get shit done.
Nina: Move. Go. Yeah. It's that doing energy, not the being energy. And here's where we come back to like slowing down to slow down. Not slowing down to speed up eventually, right? We're slowing down literally to develop new skills and a new way of being for the long haul. Because the finish line is sort of evasive, right? We don't know. So in slowing down right now, yeah, we're reminded of what's most important. We appreciate things in a really different way. A friend of mine just brought me a green juice in the driveway, and just a hug from a friend, and like a green juice. I was like, "This is just gold. I'm in heaven."
Kelle: Yeah, right?
Nina: It's just the best, you know? These small like treasures, like rainbows.
Kelle: So, one other thing that I just want to talk about today that I'm doing is getting out of my comfort zone. Part of this meditation retreat that I'm going on is it's we wake up and we groundhog day our lives, right? And we just get our coffee, and we read our emails, and we just continue through life over and over and over again. So I have been doing some things, Nina, that I want you to join me on.
So we went ecstatic dancing the other night at the Krishna Temple down in Salt Lake, 6:30 on Wednesdays. There is an ecstatic dance, and it's so interesting to me. I have never been to one. And okay, it's sober. They talk about consent of dancing. So if someone's dancing with their eyes closed, it's a very like hippie vibe. It's not necessarily my vibe because I'm not like super hippie, but I just love it because it's all about like just moving your body and connecting with your body and moving to the music. And yeah, it's just so it's really high vibe. So…
Nina: Oh, that's awesome. I would love to come. Is it hot and sweaty though? I can't stand quite yet, but like…
Kelle: I mean, it's a little hot and sweaty. Yeah, it's a little hot and sweaty. You probably cannot come quite yet. Actually, you know what's really cool is in the back they have an area that's kind of like almost stretching. Like yoga and stretching.
Nina: Interesting. Yeah, I was going to say, I bet there's like an ADA sort of situation there for people who are even who can't stand or dance. Yeah.
Kelle: Yeah, just FYI.
Nina: So interesting. Cool. Cool. Yeah, I've heard a lot about that. Actually, I think we had a client who checked it out.
Kelle: Yes, we did.
Nina: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kelle: She did the Sunday midday one.
Nina: Okay. All right.
Nina: Part of this might be why like you and I both, I haven't been traveling as much lately, but that's why I love travel, because you're out of your routine.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: Like maybe you don't even have a coffee maker for your morning coffee right away, right? You kind of have to break that ritual or routine. I think there's a difference between routine and ritual. Right? And we could break that down maybe in another episode, but routine is rote, right? There's certainty and clarity, and it's rote and ritual, I think, involves a little bit more awe and wonder, if you will. So, yeah, when we're traveling, you know, you're just experiencing your day in a different way because you've broken that routine. And I think that is part of what the doctor on your retreat encourages, right? Is exploring that.
Kelle: Yes, all these different things. Like, if you wake up and check your email first thing, he's like, "Absolutely do not do that." I used to do that all the time. I used to lay in bed with my email first thing in the morning. And now I'm like, no, no, we're not doing that.
Nina: Yeah, I have my phone downstairs. I don't even keep, yeah.
Kelle: I do confess, like, I check my Oura right away.
Nina: Me too. I check my sleep score right away. Oh my god. After surgery, I have to digress, Kel, I didn't tell you this. My sleep score was a 94.
Kelle: Whoa.
Nina: So I'm like a B+ plus sleeper. I'm really proud of it. But 94, that's a solid A.
Kelle: Yeah, that is a solid day. So wow.
Nina: Wow. Yeah. Anyway.
Kelle: Yeah. Yeah. So for you listeners, it's getting out of your routine, like drive a different way than you usually drive if you can, right? Eat with your left hand or brush your teeth with your left hand if you're right-handed. Like just try to do things in a different way because it wakes up those, I want to say, like neurons. It wakes up your brain, and you build new pathways, and it's so cool. Otherwise, you're just living the same life over and over day after day. And even if you have the most incredible life, it could be even better.
Nina: Totally. You're an eight right now, but you don't even know that an eight right now could be a two two years from now. Like you don't even know until you know, right? Yeah, this is kind of a funny story, but I was driving on 224 yesterday and a guy in front of me had a bike on his bike rack on the back of his car, and the, oh my god, you guys, it wasn't on correctly. So only the front tire was on, and the back tire was off. And if you live in this town, like you want to flag this guy over, right? So I'm following him. I had to go to FedEx, and FedEx in Kimball Junction is where I typically go, but I was like, okay, there's another FedEx in town. I didn't really plan on going 20 minutes out of my way.
But I followed this guy and I'm trying to wave him down all the way into town, and he wouldn't look at me. For 20 minutes, I'm driving right next to him. He was so zoned in on like, maybe he was having a conversation in his head. He was just so focused on where he was going. And I was so scared that his mountain bike was going to, you know, fall off his car. And at first I was like, "Shoot, I really need to run this errand and get all this stuff done." But I was like, "Hang on, I can go all the way to town right now and go to the other FedEx and do all my other errands in town and maybe flag this guy over and help a guy, help the person."
Kelle: I love it. I love it.
Nina: He never looked at me, but I did wind up running all my errands in a different part of town. This is such a silly example, but it was great, and I bumped into friends, and it was great. It was so fun.
Kelle: So fun.
Nina: And I won't hesitate to be sort of malleable like that next time.
Kelle: Yeah. You know? Yeah. Yeah, just doing things differently. Like going out of the norm, going out of like what you would typically do. That's where the magic is.
Nina: That is where the magic is. Okay, so that might be homework, right? So do something you do every day differently. Like you say, Kel, could just be brushing your teeth with your left hand versus your right. What else? I mean, like the rides and walks I go on, maybe I'll do them counterclockwise from now on. You know?
Kelle: Totally.
Nina: Instead of clockwise. Yeah, it's a totally different perspective. Yeah, I am calling some friends I don't usually hang out with and meeting up with them and doing something with them or just sitting with them and just enjoying time, and yeah, so good. It's so good. I got these, Nina and I have matching glasses. We'll put them up in social. And mine are rose-colored, and I just love that because I really am anytime I find myself dipping low energy, low vibe, I just remind myself in so many ways to go back to the high vibe because that's where it's at. Not in a toxic positivity way, right? But in a like, I actually feel like fucking amazing right now.
Nina: I have a choice right now.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: I don't not have a choice. I think that's really powerful. Okay, well, that's kind of our, is that our big picture sort of update? Anything else to
Kelle: That's our, yeah, that's our big picture update. I get my results this afternoon. I assume they come pretty quick. I don't, I actually don't know. But as soon as I get the results, I will put it on social because, you know.
Nina: Yeah, because every there are a lot of people hoping and cheering, and supporting you.
Kelle: Yeah, are reaching out, and the reason why I am on social more with this is because if you go into the comments, like people are actually saying it's helping them. And if nothing else, if I can help someone go through this with a little bit more ease, with a little bit more like comfort and all of this like uncertainty and discomfort, I am all for it. And people might be like, oh man, I don't know how you're putting all that online. And I'm just like, that's just who I am. I'm a little bit more open, and I want people to know, not necessarily like what I'm going through, but what people are going through that are going through stuff, right? That are going through cancer, or caregivers, and what this looks like, because a lot of people don't talk about it, and I want to live my life out loud.
Nina: Yeah. And I can attest to that on my journey. While I'm a little different than Kelle, right? And if you guys know us, you may notice, right? That I'm a little bit more, how would I describe it? I'm not like more private, but Kelle is, she lives out loud, right? And I'm just a little bit less of that, you know? But I found my doctors in this way. While I'm not speaking about this the same way Kelle is, like these kinds of outreach and communication, I would not be where I am today without people like you who share their journey and their story. I'm in the best, most competent hands on the planet. So thank you and all my people, all my resources, but it's brave and important, and we appreciate you.
Kelle: Oh, thank you. Thank you. So happy to do it. And thank you for being here, Nina. Thanks for telling us all the things.
Nina: All the things. Yeah.
Kelle: Yeah.
Nina: Okay, so, yeah, really quick, let's just tease the next episode. We are going to be talking next week about why doing what's right for you can sometimes feel so wrong and how to do it anyway. This has been coming up with clients a lot, right? Think about the last time you did something that was genuinely right for you. Maybe just saying no to a request that would have overwhelmed you, right? You knew it was the right choice, but your body felt terrible, right? Guilty, anxious, like you were being selfish, maybe. You felt wrong. We're just going to unpack all of that, tell you what's really happening, and explain the programming behind that and how to, you know, do it anyway.
So that's what's coming up next week. And yeah, thanks for being here today. We love hearing from everyone. Keep DMing us on Instagram and LinkedIn. And yeah, let us know if you noticed a difference today with all of our seating. We're both seated.
Kelle: Yes. Yes.
Nina: Anyway, this was a fun one. Thanks, Kel.
Kelle: Yeah, thank you. Thanks, listeners, for being here, and we'll see you next time.
Nina: Yeah, we'll see you next time.
Nina: Hey everyone, if you want more live access to me and Kelle, you have to join our email list.
Kelle: Yes, we’ll come to your email box every Tuesday and Thursday.
Nina: You can ask us questions, get clarity, and get coached.
Kelle: We offer monthly free email coaching when you’re on our list and you’re the first to know about trainings, events, and other free coaching opportunities.
Nina: Just go to KelleAndNina.com to sign up.
Kelle: Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of Ambitious-Ish.
Nina: If you’re ready to align your ambitions with your heart and feel more calm, balanced, and connected, visit KelleAndNina.com for more information about how to work with us and make sure you get on our list.
Kelle: See you in the next episode!
Nina: And let's not discount Kelle here. She's got some updating to do, too. She's going to fill us all in on what's happening on her end, which is always a treat. So grab your favorite bevy, your cup of ambitious-ish, and let's jump in.
Kelle: Let's get going.
This is Ambitious-ish. Burnout? Check. Daily overwhelm? Check. Resentment rash, stress, and a complete lack of well-being? Check, check, check! You’re not alone. We’re your hosts, Kelle & Nina, and we are here to help you feel calm, balanced, and empowered so you can redefine success, make choices that feel authentic, and ACTUALLY enjoy the life you work so hard to create. You ready? Let’s go.
Kelle: Hey, I'm Kelle.
Nina: And I'm Nina. And today, Kelle and I are just having an organic chat, like a life update here, listeners. So yeah, we both have our our favorite bevvies, and we're just here kind of catching up with each other and filling you in on what's happening with us. Right, Kel?
Kelle: Yeah, this is a long time coming. We haven't done one of these in a while, so I'm really excited.
Nina: Me too. Yeah, feels good. It feels nice.
Kelle: Okay, so Nina, first of all, I'm curious, why are you sitting down? You're always standing at your standing desk, and she's actually sitting down at her standing desk right now.
Nina: I know. You guys give us feedback about this episode because I'm seated, and I'm wondering if you can, if there's a difference if I'm sitting or standing during these recordings. Yeah, I just had a really big surgery. As some of you guys know, if you've been following us, Kelle and I both have chronic diseases, but I have a chronic condition in my left leg. It's dysfunctional circulation, but it's lymphatic. And I have a series of surgeries that will help me manage and really not cure the condition, but change my life, change the way I need to operate and manage the condition now. I had the really big surgery two years ago, and I just got back from Florida, my amazing doctors are all in Florida, from a second surgery.
And it is a very long procedure. They're basically rewiring the circulation in my leg. They're connecting blood vessels with lymphatic vessels, and it's just a game-changer, life-giving surgery. It was very long. I was under anesthesia for like 12 hours, so I'm a little foggy. I put something in my calendar the other day on August 8th at 10 a.m., and it is not there anymore, and I don't know where it went or what it was. So if that is you, it'll come back to me. We'll figure it out. But yeah, I've got a little bit of brain fog.
And this recovery, there's no pain. It's amazing. I feel great. However, I have to sit a lot. So my sustained walking is limited to 20 minutes, four times a day. So I can run to the grocery store, I can make breakfast, and grab my coffee. There's no limitation, but that sustained standing is really limited for like four weeks. So I am definitely, as you guys all know, Kelle and I are like, you know, just like you, recovering high achievers. You know, we all have our go-to coping mechanisms when things are hard, and activity is a huge one for me and Kelle.
And I remember this last surgery was really tough, and you know, it's summertime, and I want to be on my bike, and I want to be in the pool. And neither one of those things are happening this summer. This is tricky. I'm like sweating just saying that out loud. This is a tricky one. I'm energized right now because a friend just stopped by with like yummy juice, and like my neighbors are all checking in on me, and it's just nice to be home. My kids come home tonight, like I can't wait. And yeah, it's been like two weeks since I've seen them because surgery was really a big deal, the travel and everything.
This is really hard. It's hard to just sit. And I got it. I've got it. Yeah, just not getting out and just cranking and doing what I love to do in the woods in the summer and in the, you know, just everywhere, travel in the summer. It's tricky. The sitting's tricky. So I'm pulling out all the stops. I'm not slowing down to speed up, which is something Kelle and I talk to clients about a lot, right? Like that's kind of what coaching is. It's about like pulling the arrow back in the bow, realigning and recalibrating and changing your trajectory, right? That's kind of the way we explain what we do sometimes.
So that's what's different right now is like I'm not even looking to up-level. You know what I mean? I'm just looking to like slow down to really just slow down right now. I'm kind of like seeing what I notice on my very short walks. I'm trying to put on like a different lens. Like a friend of mine's really into this bird watching app, and I'm not into birds. But all of a sudden I'm like, what's that app? I'm like, oh, that's a warbler. Like, who knew? It's kind of getting exciting, not really, if I'm being real, but I'm just trying to get a little creative in these 20-minute bouts of activity and see what else I can bring in. Because you got to get creative, you know? I still want to engage with the world, and I don't want to just be inside sort of, you know, complaining and grumpy.
Kelle: Yeah, sound fun at all.
Nina: No.
Kelle: No, thank you. And anyway, we're I'm in my high vibe era, so you can't do that.
Nina: Totally. I mean, I feel like we're both kind of high vibe right now, despite we'll get to, yeah, we'll catch up with Kelle in a second. But like, that's a really good way to put it is like my word of the year was, well, our word of the year was fun.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: And then mine personal was freedom. And I'm not letting any of that go right now. Like, this is not going to hold me back. No, I can't get on my bike. I can't go swimming. I can't really move as much as I want to, but..
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: I'm still going to have fun and there's still freedom available. So yeah.
Kelle: Exactly. I'm curious because you talk about this surgeon that is in Florida as the only guy on the planet that can do this.
Nina: Yeah.
Kelle: Can you tell us a little bit more about it?
Nina: Yeah, so when I was diagnosed, Kel, I mean, when we met, when we got really close, this was like 12 years ago when you and I just kind of met when the kids were really young. I was told, like Kelle, that there was nothing I could do about my leg. It was only going to get bigger. It was only going to get harder. There was no cure.
And it's so interesting. You know, we can shit on social media till the cows come home. However, it has been a golden resource for me in managing this disease and finding resources. So I connected with other women just like me on Instagram who have been to the Cleveland Clinic, Mayo, MD Anderson, they've been to all the big contenders. They've been to Europe. So there's a lot happening in Switzerland in terms of managing this disease. It's called lymphedema. And long story short, they all directed me to, after a lot of trial and error, Dr. Granzo in Jacksonville, Florida at the Lymphedema and Lymphedema Center.
So he is a savant, J. Granzo. He's a tiger. He went to Princeton and all the things, plastics and engineering, and he's amazing and he's a total nerd and I absolutely love him. And you know, he came to my little bed a week ago and 7:30 in the morning before I got my medicine to go to sleep for 12 hours, and I was like, okay, Dr. G, how was your meditation this morning? How are the kids? What are you doing for breakfast? You know, we're friends now. Like, are you ready for this? He's like, are you ready? I'm like, no, I'm about to go to sleep. Are you ready?
So he's an amazing guy. He's like going to be on my Christmas list for a really long time. It's going to take a while for this to be sort of done. There's no finish line necessarily, which is what I'm learning about a lot of things in life. Closure, finality, we can create that for ourselves, but this is definitely a journey, and he's an extended family member. Yeah, he's just a savant and a wonderful man. His team are amazing.
Kelle: Okay, so love that. I just love awesome surgeons and doctors, and caregivers. It's just like, what an incredible human. Right?
Nina: He has decided to dedicate his life. He could have just done boobs. Because he has this plastics...
Kelle: Of course. Of course.
Nina: He's boarded in plastics. He could have just done boobs and butts and actually he it's really funny when you talk to him about what he did to my leg because he was like, I took some liberties. I'm like, couldn't you have done both sides? You only did the left. And he's like, insurance won't let me touch the right. So anyway, it's he's a great guy and he could totally just do boobs and butts and noses and all the things, but he dedicated his work to people like me. So he specializes in helping people with this specific disease rebuild, start living their life again. It's really cool. It's like completely new possibilities when we're told that this is a dead end. Right, Kel?
Kelle: Yeah, when you're told that the doctors can't do anything for you, that it's just going to get worse, and there's nothing they can do, it's just like, what?
Nina: Well, and like you, I don't understand “no” all the time. And it's funny, like don't we have friends who like literally don't take no for an answer, but like, I did not take there was just no way no was there's just no way. I was just like, there's no way that this is going to be like this and only get worse.
Kelle: I am thinking of this, I can't remember if it's a meme or a hat. I think it was like a hat. Maybe it was a mug on social media, but excuse me, I'm just going to say it. It said, "Fuck that shit."
Nina: Fuck that shit.
Kelle: And I was just like, fuck that shit. No.
Nina: Fuck that shit. Totally. And it takes kind of like a boss approach to stand up to medicine and say, I don't think that's my story. Thank you, next. I'm going to take what you said and find an answer that I appreciate. I'm going to keep going, right? I'm going to keep going.
Kelle: Yes.
Kelle: I see you sitting poolside a lot, Nina.
Nina: Yeah. Yeah, maybe I can like dip in and like keep my leg out or something. Yeah, the incisions, you know, are going to require some time, but I am not complaining. This is such a game-changer. I feel so lucky. Yeah, I just, I know this is going to be better than I ever could imagine, you know, eventually.
Kelle: I am so excited. I got to come check out your left butt.
Nina: You can. Everyone can tell. I mean, if you really take a look at my ass, the left side looks really nice compared to the right. It's pretty funny. It's pretty funny. I mean, personally, I can totally notice it, and I don't know. It's awesome. I love it. Hang on, one more thing. I'm just curious, Nina, what does it look like for you moving forward from here? Are there more surgeries? What's next?
Nina: Yeah, there are two more surgeries. So he worked on my lower leg this time, and he'll work on my upper leg next time, kind of my quad. And then he'll work on my groin. So I have a tricky relationship with anesthesia, and so we have to break it up for me. It's just safer that way, and I'm totally fine with it. You know, it's a little more drawn out. As soon as insurance approves the next one, I'll fly to Florida and get it done. Like, in two weeks, sure. I don't think insurance turns things around that quickly, but so I'm just on call.
Kelle: I'm coming. I'm coming to Florida with you.
Nina: I know. Actually, Jacksonville's rad. I don't know if anyone's spent time there. There are really cool parts of it. My kids have come with me. I've been down there about 10 times now. You know, pre-op, post-op checkups. We've found a really special place that we love to snuggle in down there, and the beaches are killer, and yeah, it doesn't suck. It could be worse. So yeah, you're coming.
Kelle: Okay. All right, Kel, well, we have a big day later today.
Nina: Yeah.
Kelle: Yeah, yeah.
Nina: Yeah. We're heading down to Salt Lake together. Yeah.
Kelle: Yeah, we're going to go to Huntsman. Nina's going to join me, and I'm going to get a PET scan. I've never gotten a PET scan before.
Nina: Do we know what PET stands for?
Kelle: I don't. I don't. We could look it up, but whatever. If anyone's interested, they can look it up and tell us, please. DM us. All I know is I was researching the difference between a PET scan and a CT scan, MRI, which those two I've gotten a lot before, and I haven't gotten a PET scan. So it's more specific, and it's radioactivity instead of X-ray type stuff. Yeah.
Nina: Okay, and so why are we doing this? Kelle: We're doing this because I had a blood test called the Signatera done a couple of weeks ago, and I did not get the result that I wanted to from that. It's either yes, there's cancer detected in your blood, or no, there is not. And mine was yes this time. It has been no the previous three or four times. So I immediately got on the portal and called my team at Huntsman, called my oncologist and my surgeon, and all the people. And Nancy is my kind of quarterback, so I typically go through her. And I was like, "All right, I need to get in sooner. I need to figure out, like what are the next steps here now that I have a yes when it's been no." That's scared a little bit scary to me.
Nina: It's not like a scale, like a number. It's a yes or a no. It's like a positive or negative. That's all we know.
Kelle: Yes. I've been getting another blood test called a CA 19-9, and that has been like trending up, which we didn't love. And then it trended down a little bit, and then it's back up. So it's a little bit like inconclusive and not as specific as the Signatera. So the Signatera, when I saw the yes, I kind of, you know, had a little mini freak out as one does when they're like, okay, I didn't think I had cancer anymore, and now I have it again. It's back already.
Nina: Yeah, you called me in Florida.
Kelle: Yeah. And I was just like, "Okay, well, I'm not even done with treatment, and it's back." And that really sucks because my last immunotherapy was supposed to be the 23rd of this month.
Nina: Right. It's the 15th. Yeah, we had that on the schedule.
Kelle: Yeah, so just it's really disconcerting when I like think about like, am I going to start chemotherapy again before I even get off of treatment?
Nina: So, just to back up for a second, the PET scan is head to toe, right? So we're not even like, we're looking everywhere.
Kelle: I think so. I think so. That's a question I will be able to answer after today. I know I drink this radioactive solution that the cancer loves, and so if there's cancer, wherever there's cancer, it will show up. The cancer loves this stuff.
Nina: Yeah. And so we will still go to immunotherapy on the 23rd. And this test will happen today and potentially dictate the next couple of months.
Kelle: Yeah, I'm not sure. I don't know. I am hesitant to want to start chemotherapy again for obvious reasons. I felt like total crap, and I really want to at least enjoy the summer. And then if I need to do more laying around and feeling yucky, I can do it all winter long. I was talking to one of my family members the other day about this, if I should just put off chemotherapy. The problem is the cancer that I have is really aggressive, and I don't know what that looks like if they probably don't want to put it off.
And I am doing this special program that I'm really excited about. It's this retreat that I'm going to. It's kind of a healing retreat at the end of August. And it's teaching your body and mind to work together and really to clear out anything that is not working for your body. So it's very specific meditation and breathwork. And I'm just barely learning it. So I'm doing kind of what's called the pre-work for it right now. And then I go to this seven-day retreat, also in Florida, by the way, Marco Island. And I'm so excited to be at the beach and doing this magical work. So, and this is just adjunctive to all of the Western medicine that of course I am doing.
Nina: Do you find, Kel, that we've, I say we because I really do feel like we have cancer, we need to, of course, trust and rely on our Western oncologists, but how do you feel about like a functional oncologist and that other side of things? And what have you found there? And maybe you can even explain that to listeners. Do you know what I'm saying?
Kelle: Yeah. Yeah, I actually haven't found a functional oncologist. I absolutely love my oncologist, and the people at Huntsman have been otherworldly incredible, and I trust them. And I know that they stay in their lane, right? They stay in their lane. They know the medicines. They don't know all this other adjunctive therapy that you can do, like high-dose vitamin C, which I am trying. I'm trying. They're not really working. I had one and then the second one, she couldn't get a vein because my veins are just such a mess from all the chemotherapy that I used to have these like awesome veins. And yeah, now they just don't really work.
Nina: Can we give a quick shout-out to one of our local queens?
Kelle: Yes, please. Please.
Nina: Okay, so Sloan Johnson is a rock star at Two Hearts Concierge Care. If you live in Park City or visit, Park City is one of those places that people visit, you know, even if you don't live here, you need to call Sloan for any of your hydration therapy, IV infusion, wellness, anything you need here in town, you need to call Two Hearts and Sloan Johnson.
She's been amazing, introducing us. I think you knew about high-concentration vitamin C, but she is just an expert because of just a lot of her personal history in treating and helping cancer patients with IV therapy. And she's helping me big time right now post-op, with just post-anesthesia and stuff. She's amazing. Nurse is like an understatement. She's just amazing. Please give them a call or like reach out for any need whatsoever, locally. She's just a lovely, caring, compassionate…
Kelle: Oh my god, it's 11:11 right now, Nina. It's 11:11.
Nina: And we're talking about her.
Kelle: And we're talking about her because she is just magic. And so she did the first vitamin C infusion for me the first part of the week. And then she tried to do another one but, it's not her. She is like such a pro. It's my veins. And even when I go to Huntsman, I have to have the PIC team come and the PIC team come is this these special, this special team that comes in and uses an ultrasound to find veins because it's so hard to find a vein that'll work for me. And even they usually have to stick me a couple times before they find one that works.
Nina: Yeah, no, totally. Totally. I mean, and that was so frustrating. I remember I talked to you on the phone after that and it, from what I saw, Kel, I can just, it makes so much sense that there are days when you're just like, "Fuck my body. Like, fuck my veins. Why is this broken? Like, why won't this fix? I'm doing everything."
Kelle: Yeah, and I'm tearing up a little bit right now because going back to that, it's like trying to do all that you can to make this cancer go away and not come back. And then even the stuff that you're trying isn't working for whatever reason. It's just like so frustrating. And then I have to remind myself that I am doing everything I possibly can, and I need to enjoy life right here.
Nina: Yeah. That's still available, which is amazing. That's what's so amazing about you, Kel, and what we see you choose. You don't have to choose that. You could totally go into the hurt locker, and you guys just moved into this beautiful new house that's been a baby that you've been growing.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: Like another baby.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: Right? And this beautiful new house in our amazing community, and just the travel and the kids' stuff that you're a part of, and what's next with work and everything. The choices I see you make, you choose joy, you choose fun, even when it feels hard and impossible and unavailable. You show us.
Kelle: Thank you, Nina. Thank you. I really have been leaning into like what's going to be fun today? What's going to be good today? What's going to bring me joy? And that's where it's at for me right now. And just staying a big part of this meditation practice that I'm working on is staying, I mean, they don't call it that, but I call it a really high vibe. And just anytime you see yourself dipping into like the what ifs or the unknown, the uncertainty of life and what might happen in the future, it's like, okay, present moment. I actually feel awesome. I feel amazing right now. Like if I didn't have to go down to Huntsman and get a PET scan, I would be on my mountain bike today for sure.
Nina: Yes, ride for me. Fucking pedal.
Kelle: Right? Right?
Nina: Yes, we'll do it tomorrow for me. Yeah.
Kelle: And I'm lining up walks with friends. The kids are going, they're both going to Grandma camp next week.
Nina: Oh, yes, I didn't know that. That's awesome.
Kelle: Yes. And so I have, and Mike is going to be out of town a lot, so I'm literally going to be home alone for a lot of next week. I know, right? You're going to hang out. I'm lining up a ton of like walks and hangouts with friends because I actually have time to do it. And yeah, I'm just really excited. And that is what feeds me and drives me. And I just want to be around people after being isolated so much last year. I want to be around people. I want to have fun with my kids. Ava and I are going to go horseback riding on Thursday afternoon. She just turned 14. So we're having so much fun. We went go-karting the other day and it was no joke. It was like 40-mile-an-hour go-karting. It was intense. My whole body was like, oof.
Nina: Yeah. I mean, see how you can choose. We always have choice. I'm going to be honest and say, like, fun may not be available every day, right, Kel?
Kelle: Yeah, yeah.
Nina: But like sufficiency is. I see you choosing like just sufficiency. We love this feeling. And clients, if you're listening, you're like rolling your eyes because we talk about this all the time. Like, instead of feeling less than or lack or fear or scarce, just feel like you're enough today.
Kelle: Yeah. I have everything I need.
Nina: I have everything I need in this moment. I have everything I need in this moment, right? I feel good today. There's no pain, there's no nausea, there's no blah blah blah. There’s nothing.
Kelle: No, no, and that's what like I'm so lucky. I don't have any pain. I'm not sick. I don't even feel sick. I feel a little bit tired sometimes, and other than that, do I even have cancer? I don't know. Maybe I don't even have cancer. And that is what got me through pulmonary hypertension years ago is almost not pretending, but just like living life and being in the moment and not being worried about what might happen.
Nina: How is that useful? Worrying about what might happen. Seriously, like if I went there every day about you or I don't know, pre-surgery, right? All the shit that could have gone wrong. What if? What if? That could really drive someone into a very dark place.
Kelle: Right? Again, I'm just going to say, "Fuck that shit."
Nina: No, and it's also it's like the vibration you keep talking about. I don't know how else to put it, but I know that the retreat you're going on is, you put it really well, we learn how to raise our vibration so that the dis-ease in our body, it breaks up when we learn how to raise our vibration. It's a weird way to put it, right? But like the dis-ease in our body is, a lot of it is created by our own emotional and mental tension. And part of this healing retreat is just that, is learning how to like raise your vibe, break all that down.
Kelle: All the time. Yes.
Nina: Yeah, integrate it.
Kelle: Yes. And to listen, right, Nina, to listen to your body and when you need to slow down and get your brain and body on board because our brains, especially these high achiever brains, are so wired to produce and achieve and get shit done.
Nina: Move. Go. Yeah. It's that doing energy, not the being energy. And here's where we come back to like slowing down to slow down. Not slowing down to speed up eventually, right? We're slowing down literally to develop new skills and a new way of being for the long haul. Because the finish line is sort of evasive, right? We don't know. So in slowing down right now, yeah, we're reminded of what's most important. We appreciate things in a really different way. A friend of mine just brought me a green juice in the driveway, and just a hug from a friend, and like a green juice. I was like, "This is just gold. I'm in heaven."
Kelle: Yeah, right?
Nina: It's just the best, you know? These small like treasures, like rainbows.
Kelle: So, one other thing that I just want to talk about today that I'm doing is getting out of my comfort zone. Part of this meditation retreat that I'm going on is it's we wake up and we groundhog day our lives, right? And we just get our coffee, and we read our emails, and we just continue through life over and over and over again. So I have been doing some things, Nina, that I want you to join me on.
So we went ecstatic dancing the other night at the Krishna Temple down in Salt Lake, 6:30 on Wednesdays. There is an ecstatic dance, and it's so interesting to me. I have never been to one. And okay, it's sober. They talk about consent of dancing. So if someone's dancing with their eyes closed, it's a very like hippie vibe. It's not necessarily my vibe because I'm not like super hippie, but I just love it because it's all about like just moving your body and connecting with your body and moving to the music. And yeah, it's just so it's really high vibe. So…
Nina: Oh, that's awesome. I would love to come. Is it hot and sweaty though? I can't stand quite yet, but like…
Kelle: I mean, it's a little hot and sweaty. Yeah, it's a little hot and sweaty. You probably cannot come quite yet. Actually, you know what's really cool is in the back they have an area that's kind of like almost stretching. Like yoga and stretching.
Nina: Interesting. Yeah, I was going to say, I bet there's like an ADA sort of situation there for people who are even who can't stand or dance. Yeah.
Kelle: Yeah, just FYI.
Nina: So interesting. Cool. Cool. Yeah, I've heard a lot about that. Actually, I think we had a client who checked it out.
Kelle: Yes, we did.
Nina: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kelle: She did the Sunday midday one.
Nina: Okay. All right.
Nina: Part of this might be why like you and I both, I haven't been traveling as much lately, but that's why I love travel, because you're out of your routine.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: Like maybe you don't even have a coffee maker for your morning coffee right away, right? You kind of have to break that ritual or routine. I think there's a difference between routine and ritual. Right? And we could break that down maybe in another episode, but routine is rote, right? There's certainty and clarity, and it's rote and ritual, I think, involves a little bit more awe and wonder, if you will. So, yeah, when we're traveling, you know, you're just experiencing your day in a different way because you've broken that routine. And I think that is part of what the doctor on your retreat encourages, right? Is exploring that.
Kelle: Yes, all these different things. Like, if you wake up and check your email first thing, he's like, "Absolutely do not do that." I used to do that all the time. I used to lay in bed with my email first thing in the morning. And now I'm like, no, no, we're not doing that.
Nina: Yeah, I have my phone downstairs. I don't even keep, yeah.
Kelle: I do confess, like, I check my Oura right away.
Nina: Me too. I check my sleep score right away. Oh my god. After surgery, I have to digress, Kel, I didn't tell you this. My sleep score was a 94.
Kelle: Whoa.
Nina: So I'm like a B+ plus sleeper. I'm really proud of it. But 94, that's a solid A.
Kelle: Yeah, that is a solid day. So wow.
Nina: Wow. Yeah. Anyway.
Kelle: Yeah. Yeah. So for you listeners, it's getting out of your routine, like drive a different way than you usually drive if you can, right? Eat with your left hand or brush your teeth with your left hand if you're right-handed. Like just try to do things in a different way because it wakes up those, I want to say, like neurons. It wakes up your brain, and you build new pathways, and it's so cool. Otherwise, you're just living the same life over and over day after day. And even if you have the most incredible life, it could be even better.
Nina: Totally. You're an eight right now, but you don't even know that an eight right now could be a two two years from now. Like you don't even know until you know, right? Yeah, this is kind of a funny story, but I was driving on 224 yesterday and a guy in front of me had a bike on his bike rack on the back of his car, and the, oh my god, you guys, it wasn't on correctly. So only the front tire was on, and the back tire was off. And if you live in this town, like you want to flag this guy over, right? So I'm following him. I had to go to FedEx, and FedEx in Kimball Junction is where I typically go, but I was like, okay, there's another FedEx in town. I didn't really plan on going 20 minutes out of my way.
But I followed this guy and I'm trying to wave him down all the way into town, and he wouldn't look at me. For 20 minutes, I'm driving right next to him. He was so zoned in on like, maybe he was having a conversation in his head. He was just so focused on where he was going. And I was so scared that his mountain bike was going to, you know, fall off his car. And at first I was like, "Shoot, I really need to run this errand and get all this stuff done." But I was like, "Hang on, I can go all the way to town right now and go to the other FedEx and do all my other errands in town and maybe flag this guy over and help a guy, help the person."
Kelle: I love it. I love it.
Nina: He never looked at me, but I did wind up running all my errands in a different part of town. This is such a silly example, but it was great, and I bumped into friends, and it was great. It was so fun.
Kelle: So fun.
Nina: And I won't hesitate to be sort of malleable like that next time.
Kelle: Yeah. You know? Yeah. Yeah, just doing things differently. Like going out of the norm, going out of like what you would typically do. That's where the magic is.
Nina: That is where the magic is. Okay, so that might be homework, right? So do something you do every day differently. Like you say, Kel, could just be brushing your teeth with your left hand versus your right. What else? I mean, like the rides and walks I go on, maybe I'll do them counterclockwise from now on. You know?
Kelle: Totally.
Nina: Instead of clockwise. Yeah, it's a totally different perspective. Yeah, I am calling some friends I don't usually hang out with and meeting up with them and doing something with them or just sitting with them and just enjoying time, and yeah, so good. It's so good. I got these, Nina and I have matching glasses. We'll put them up in social. And mine are rose-colored, and I just love that because I really am anytime I find myself dipping low energy, low vibe, I just remind myself in so many ways to go back to the high vibe because that's where it's at. Not in a toxic positivity way, right? But in a like, I actually feel like fucking amazing right now.
Nina: I have a choice right now.
Kelle: Yes.
Nina: I don't not have a choice. I think that's really powerful. Okay, well, that's kind of our, is that our big picture sort of update? Anything else to
Kelle: That's our, yeah, that's our big picture update. I get my results this afternoon. I assume they come pretty quick. I don't, I actually don't know. But as soon as I get the results, I will put it on social because, you know.
Nina: Yeah, because every there are a lot of people hoping and cheering, and supporting you.
Kelle: Yeah, are reaching out, and the reason why I am on social more with this is because if you go into the comments, like people are actually saying it's helping them. And if nothing else, if I can help someone go through this with a little bit more ease, with a little bit more like comfort and all of this like uncertainty and discomfort, I am all for it. And people might be like, oh man, I don't know how you're putting all that online. And I'm just like, that's just who I am. I'm a little bit more open, and I want people to know, not necessarily like what I'm going through, but what people are going through that are going through stuff, right? That are going through cancer, or caregivers, and what this looks like, because a lot of people don't talk about it, and I want to live my life out loud.
Nina: Yeah. And I can attest to that on my journey. While I'm a little different than Kelle, right? And if you guys know us, you may notice, right? That I'm a little bit more, how would I describe it? I'm not like more private, but Kelle is, she lives out loud, right? And I'm just a little bit less of that, you know? But I found my doctors in this way. While I'm not speaking about this the same way Kelle is, like these kinds of outreach and communication, I would not be where I am today without people like you who share their journey and their story. I'm in the best, most competent hands on the planet. So thank you and all my people, all my resources, but it's brave and important, and we appreciate you.
Kelle: Oh, thank you. Thank you. So happy to do it. And thank you for being here, Nina. Thanks for telling us all the things.
Nina: All the things. Yeah.
Kelle: Yeah.
Nina: Okay, so, yeah, really quick, let's just tease the next episode. We are going to be talking next week about why doing what's right for you can sometimes feel so wrong and how to do it anyway. This has been coming up with clients a lot, right? Think about the last time you did something that was genuinely right for you. Maybe just saying no to a request that would have overwhelmed you, right? You knew it was the right choice, but your body felt terrible, right? Guilty, anxious, like you were being selfish, maybe. You felt wrong. We're just going to unpack all of that, tell you what's really happening, and explain the programming behind that and how to, you know, do it anyway.
So that's what's coming up next week. And yeah, thanks for being here today. We love hearing from everyone. Keep DMing us on Instagram and LinkedIn. And yeah, let us know if you noticed a difference today with all of our seating. We're both seated.
Kelle: Yes. Yes.
Nina: Anyway, this was a fun one. Thanks, Kel.
Kelle: Yeah, thank you. Thanks, listeners, for being here, and we'll see you next time.
Nina: Yeah, we'll see you next time.
Nina: Hey everyone, if you want more live access to me and Kelle, you have to join our email list.
Kelle: Yes, we’ll come to your email box every Tuesday and Thursday.
Nina: You can ask us questions, get clarity, and get coached.
Kelle: We offer monthly free email coaching when you’re on our list and you’re the first to know about trainings, events, and other free coaching opportunities.
Nina: Just go to KelleAndNina.com to sign up.
Kelle: Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of Ambitious-Ish.
Nina: If you’re ready to align your ambitions with your heart and feel more calm, balanced, and connected, visit KelleAndNina.com for more information about how to work with us and make sure you get on our list.
Kelle: See you in the next episode!
Enjoy the Show?
Don’t miss an episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!