The Story of Jim’s Death & Rebirth | Jim A. | Better Man Podcast Ep. 168

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys. It’s Dean. Welcome to the Better Man podcast. Today’s episode is a member interview. I’m talking with Jim Alsop, who literally died, and came back to life. And he tells his story here. So I don’t know how to explain it other than you guys should listen to this podcast episode. We talk about what Jim learned from it.

Dean Pohlman: We talk about how his life changed afterwards. We talk about how he is now a proponent for men’s health and what he recommends that men in similar situations do. The biggest thing I think it conveys is the importance of us not being invincible, not thinking that we’re invincible, and getting our blood levels checked more regularly. So, he was actually featured on his local, Kentucky Louisville news channel, to tell his story.

Dean Pohlman: And he’s also been invited to speak at the American Heart Association at some of their events. And, so I think this will be a great episode. Especially if you’re, you know, especially if you’re getting older, which is all of us. And, I hope this inspires you to be a better man. I’ll see you on the next episode.

Dean Pohlman: Hey, guys, it’s Dean. Welcome to the Best Man podcast day. I’ve got Jim Allsop here. Sorry I said your last name. Not supposed to say last names, but you already have your name in a, You’ve already been published and you were in Kentucky news. Yeah. So, on a news channel. So, Doesn’t matter. You’re not anonymous anymore.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. That’s out. Well, thanks for being here. And sharing. You’re sharing your fitness story with us. How’s it going?

Jim A.: I’m better than I’ve ever been, mentally and physically, so. Wow. Absolutely fantastic.

Dean Pohlman: Okay, cool. And so, you know, you had a, you know, you had a big health scare, to put it lightly, last year and, but but you’ve been using mental yoga for quite a long time now. I, I did a quick email search before we got on this, recording, and, I’ve got emails dating back to, like, 2018 with you.

Dean Pohlman: So you’ve been using mental yoga for a long. Thank you for being part of the community. By the way, so what what initially got you into, you know, at that time when you were looking for or you stumbled upon man for yoga, however you found it, what else were you doing fitness wise, or was it even a thought fitness wise?

Jim A.: I had a total gym that I use in the basement, but really, my journey began with you over, getting a mental health therapist and my mental health therapist suggesting that, you know, I boost my serotonin levels and, and, with, with some type of exercise program suggested yoga. And like you, I, I went to yoga studio and I found I didn’t like the namaste kind of stuff, and I was really in it for the fitness piece, which is when I found your program and, and tied into it, and I could I never believe that looking at your one degree, that was called yoga Sweat, that I would be sweating in my living room, but I certainly was.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Okay, cool. So at that time, do you remember how old you were around that time?

Jim A.: So that was, you know, gosh, 2018. I was, in my 50s.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. And around that time, this was more this was more mental health focused than official goals. Okay. What was going on at the time in terms of your mental health?

Jim A.: Just relationships? I the job I had, that I retired from was very stressful. I, I was manager or, director of global health and safety and then crisis management, business continuity, for a global company. And, it took a toll on you specifically during Covid, Russia, Ukraine war, things that had happened internationally.

Jim A.: I was first on point for any type of crisis.

Dean Pohlman: Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, I can imagine that would be stressful. And so you, you you found a mental health counselor. You that eventually he eventually recommended yoga. What happened? Did you how much longer did you stay with that? That career for.

Jim A.: I, I retired from it in 2024. The company offered me an early retirement package. I was super stoked about it. I felt like a you know, a load of bricks came off my back when they did. Yeah. I, I was fortunate to be able to have pensions at my employer, my previous employer, General Electric, and then the company I was working for, Brown-Forman.

Jim A.: That’s, I’ll call it beverage manufacturer Jack Daniel’s Woodford Reserve. You might know them by that, but, I, I was offered a retirement, and, I retired and was bored and working on my yard and end up hurting my back. And I was out of shape. I wasn’t doing as much of the stretching then I should have been.

Jim A.: And you ended up with, back injury. That set me sedentary for a while. And, started working through that, through P.T. and and doing your yoga program. But it took me a while. The older I got, the longer it took me to recover.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah, yeah. So that was all right. That was 2024. The injury was 2025 for months.

Jim A.: And it was it was that fall. So August 1st was my last day of work. I got injured in September, September, October, November I was pretty sedentary. Okay. Family was telling me I did look great. And I didn’t realize there was something more going on.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. Got it. Okay. And then you had your your your big your your big event, which I’m not even sure of the specifics of. So what happened after that? What was the big thing that happened in 2025?

Jim A.: Because the back injury, I was taking a lot of ibuprofen and, I was on way too much ibuprofen and I was getting fatigued. I find myself very tired. I’d go upstairs and be out of breath. One day I got out of the shower and look, and there were these red spots all over my legs. I went to a nurse online and and to my health care company, and she said, you’ve this is your overdosed on either you or ibuprofen.

Jim A.: You really need to, you need to do something about this and dilutions the solution. I got the bright idea that with as much water as I was drinking, that if I added a hydrator to it, that would help me out. Actually, it was it was a helpful nurse, but it was also a curse because that stuff contains a whole lot of sodium.

Jim A.: So my legs and hands started to swell up. And at that point, with the red spots on the swell, I am like, it’s like muscular. I’m not going to get here. I’ll be fine. I’m just going to go to an immediate care and they’ll they’ll give me a something to reduce the swelling and some salve for my legs and I’ll be fine.

Jim A.: Yeah. The lady that was there, the nurse practitioner, she listen to my heart and she said, I hear water on you and water in your chest. I hear a murmur in your heart. You need to go the air. Do not go home. If I need, I’ll call an ambulance. And it was just really, literally across the the, hospital or the hospital is right across the parking lot.

Jim A.: So I went in there and they did an EKG and found that I was in very grave health.

Dean Pohlman: Oh, wow. So I want to go back to, you know, the the back injury and the ibuprofen. And so I guess I’m just trying to understand it was the it just seems so to me, it just seems so weird that we have a, you know, a medical. I don’t know if we call blame it on the medical system or what’s a, what’s who to blame it on.

Dean Pohlman: But it’s just so strange to me that, you know, painkillers on that long of a basis are just like, oh, yeah, I just keep taking the painkillers, keep taking the painkillers. When, you know, there are so many things that can be done for, you know, that that a back injury. So like, what was the back injury specifically did do, did you have a, you know, an MRI done or did someone.

Jim A.: I just had a write down not too long ago because everything that that transpired, I was still having issues sitting down and found out that I when the issue was I was on a lawn mower and it tried to tip over on me. So I twisted my back. When I did that, I ruptured a disc or. Okay.

Jim A.: And it was pressing in on the sciatic nerve.

Dean Pohlman: But.

Jim A.: Yeah, it got monumentally worse while I was in the hospital, I got better, but then it got worse. After I got out of the hospital.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Okay. And so you were doing PT for that regularly, and then you’re using ibuprofen to treat the pain. How long were you on ibuprofen? Until, you know, the the the grave health incident began?

Jim A.: Probably a couple of months. The nurse had asked me, said, how many bottles of you take home? I said, at least two, plus what she had prescribed. And they were giving me some, muscle relaxers as well, which I like being on at all. So I thought I just switched to the ibuprofen, but I didn’t realize what was going on was that had started bleeding in my stomach.

Jim A.: And, when they took me in the hospital and took my blood work, my hemoglobin level was 6.6 and should have been 13. And so they knew that there was a lot of internal issues going on at that time. Besides, I had a-fib tachycardia, brachial cardia. So at that point I got morphine and they sent me upstairs.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. All right. So what happens after what happens after you checked? You got checked in?

Jim A.: The next morning, there were six doctors standing around my bed, all of them specialist. Everything from cardiology to nephrology to infectious diseases to find out, that I needed open heart surgery. I mean, they had diagnosed a pretty quick saying that I had this bacterial endocarditis. No idea where it came from. The other non suggestion it was a strep infection.

Jim A.: Either I never got diagnosed with or it came from bacteria on my teeth. And I had a mitral valve issue and I was a kid, but there was always just get pre medicated before you go to the dentist. No more thought to that. However, you know the bacteria can grow on those valves. Well it had grown on both of those valves where they weren’t functioning properly.

Jim A.: So I had to get both of those valves replaced. One I had one pig valve and one cow valve now and then. I call it a Groupon that I got out of that because, they found a double blockage at the same time. So, when I had that surgery, I got that all taken care of. The complication was that when they did all this extensive blood work, that’s why infectious disease was there.

Jim A.: They found that I had a condition called crying globin anemia. And that’s an autoimmune disease that in essence, the proteins clump when you go your blood level drops in temperature. And it’s dangerous to get a surgery because your body, your heart may throw a clot. And that could be instant heart attack, stroke or both. And death. So they had to get that under control, which led them down with infectious disease giving me chemotherapy, steroid therapy.

Jim A.: So around the hospital January 18th. But I couldn’t I needed the surgery immediately but couldn’t get the surgery till February the 1st of 2025.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. Wow. All right. So you get the surgery and then what happens?

Jim A.: During the surgery, I win because of the weakness in my body in the chemotherapy steroid therapy, I went into cardiogenic shock. They had to bring me back a couple of times. My kidneys failed. My lung collapsed. They kept having these little upsets. That’s. They called them, to my. What? My. They were telling my family.

Jim A.: And, so, you know, we were supposed to be 5 to 6 hours with 11 hours when the cardiothoracic surgeon came out and said, the choice is here to close them up and say your goodbyes, or we put him on what’s called chemo. And most people don’t know what that is. But if you remember, around the time of Covid, that’s what they or the machine they were putting people on to save their lives.

Jim A.: It removes blood out of your body, oxygenate that and puts it back in so it takes place of your lungs and your heart working so your body can rest and heal. I spent nine days on that and drug induced coma. And it was, quite horrific.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So you your heart stopped during the surgery. Wow. Okay. This is, this is. I’ve never interviewed someone. What? Do you remember anything?

Jim A.: No, none of that till I came. Till I came out of it. And that was pretty horrible coming out of it. Because when you’re on a drug induced coma, you have hallucinations. So I know the nurses got tired of me ringing the bell going. They’re spiders all over my walls, or there’s this stuff in my room. And there I was having hallucinations, so it was pretty horrible.

Jim A.: I really hadn’t realized what I had gone through. You’re right. Your brain’s just not where it need to be. And there was a lot of worry about how much memory I had lost because I lost oxygen to my brain during that cardiogenic shock. They do stop your heart to replace heart valves. And when they had replaced my mitral valve, my coronary valve, they had to stop it.

Jim A.: But they couldn’t get me off the bypass. And so that was the kind of a life or death call which I would tell our audience to make sure. One of the lessons learned out of that is I updated my power of attorney before I got sick, before I knew any this was going on, and my daughter, who was a nursing student, I made her my power of attorney.

Jim A.: So she was going to make a, you know, a database decision, no emotional decision on what happened with my health, with very specific what I wanted if I were to, you know, go down.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. And how old are you?

Jim A.: Right now I’m 61.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. So you’re 60. So what were some of the. I’m just curious, outside of the, you know, the event itself, you know, preparing for your own potential mortality, you know, going through your assigning power of attorney. What were some of the things that came up?

Jim A.: In in regards to.

Dean Pohlman: Just thinking about just like going through that process of, you know, preparing for it, the, you know, the possibility of it and what what did you, you know, what did your mind go to? What were the you know, what were the things that were most important? And what did you think about that was, you know, what do you waste time doing?

Jim A.: I was with my financial planner who had a program that could help me build that. That guy living well. And at that point, my mindset was that if for something happening, if I’m brain dead, or if I’m going to be on a machine the rest of my life, then let me go. Otherwise do all means to save me.

Jim A.: Because I felt like, you know, I’m, No, you don’t? No. Never know when this is going to happen. And certainly I didn’t think it would happen as soon as it did. So here I am, a young man, and I knew that I still have a lot to give. And, So I’m so glad I did it and put it that way.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Okay. So you get out of your your coma nine days later, you’re the nurses are annoyed with you. Probably not actually annoyed with you, but what what all is happening now.

Jim A.: There at this point, the sooner they get you out of that bad, the better. I had lost 61 pounds during this time. I had started dieting beforehand, but. And I lost some weight. But I had a dramatic weight loss being on a feeding tube and, you know, being sedentary for so long, and just not have any calories going in.

Jim A.: And my body went down to nothing. They set me on the side of the bed and I thought, shoot, I’m just going to get up and walk. I put my feet on the floor. I realized I looked at my legs, they look like toothpicks. And I’m. I’ve been fairly, good musculoskeletal for for a long time. But I looked at my legs.

Jim A.: They were like toothpicks and were jello at the same time. I stood up and and I’m like, see? I’m standing there like, there’s four people holding you up right now. And I was shocked and I said, take me to the mirror. And they took me to the mirror and I was look, totally emaciated jaw. I mean, my cheeks were sunken in.

Jim A.: I looked at my abdomen and I looked like, you know, I had been starved for a long time and I just broke down a crying. I’m like, oh my gosh, what has happened to me? My beard had grown and I couldn’t show you because I was on these blood thinner. So, you know, I had this, this little fucking beard.

Jim A.: And, I looked I looked like I aged 15 years in the mirror.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Wow.

Jim A.: So that really just began my journey of in-house, you know, pt ot because I didn’t realize that I was having a hard time swallowing, I was choking, so I lost some a lot of functionality during that time. They got me to the point where I had to walk across the room, and then they eventually put me in a facility for two weeks that was intensive, physical therapy.

Jim A.: Occupational therapy to get me, you know, hand motions back to swallowing, swallowing tests, as well as walking. And I absolutely had no independence whatsoever. You know, you’re you’re wearing a diaper. You’re you have no you have no ability to even walk to the bathroom. I’d have to get out of my bed, which had helped someone to help me assist, to get up because they cracked open your chest.

Jim A.: And you’re worried about, you know, any movement like that and, affecting that situation. And it’s very painful as well. But, you know, get me out of bed to a wheelchair, a wheelchair to a walk or a walk or to the bathroom, was extremely difficult. So taking three steps, then five steps and ten steps, I mean, it was four hours intensive every single day of physical and occupational therapy.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. How did you, you know, just kind of emotionally, mentally. How did you handle that drastic change of going from, you know, fully independent to completely dependent?

Jim A.:

Jim A.: I don’t know that. I remember calling in a psychiatrist, into the room and I said, I really need your help here. I said, I’m majorly depressed. My anxiety is through the roof. I don’t understand what’s happened to me. And I still couldn’t process at all. You know, that drug induced coma really messes with your head for a long period of time.

Jim A.: And so, you know, I was getting some therapy while I was in the hospital. Thank goodness for that. The music therapy, having someone come in and play and sing to me was phenomenal. Well, I’m into art therapy. Just things to pass my day by. As I was trying to regain strength. But I want the food so bad.

Jim A.: And all I could get was ice chips. And but I was still choking on those because I was. I just had my I, it was a closing down properly when I would swallow and I would choke. And that was the last thing they wanted. I had, double pneumonia while I was in there. So I had chest tubes going in, which was extremely painful.

Jim A.: So remove me out of the bed. Took a big effort by a lot of people. So, you know, here I have no independence whatsoever. And I’m like, oh my gosh, what’s happened to me? I knew I was just happy to be alive. Yeah, but I did. I couldn’t imagine what the future held at that point.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So and family support wise, who was who was with you during this time? How often did they come?

Jim A.: Well, if it weren’t for my mother, who convinced me I look like crap. And then I needed to go. In fact, I was so bullheaded, like a lot of men I’ve talked to since I’ve gone through this, I’ve interviewed men. And. So why don’t men go to doctors? Why to men? Sometimes just think that you’re invincible. And, I was one of those.

Jim A.: And she threatened to basically go back to southern Illinois. I live in Louisville, Kentucky, but she eventually said, well, I’m going to take your dog and I’m going to go back and leave you here to die. And so that got me convinced to go there. And then she was, you know, helping me out until until that moment of, you know, she really couldn’t take it.

Jim A.: Seeing me in the CB, ICU. My daughter then was really kind of my caretaker at that point. She was in nursing school and learning the craft. And, you know, I put a lot of burden on her being power of attorney. But also, she was a nursing student. She was a daughter. And then she was learning the craft from really from CVA, IQ, learning what they do and trying to deal with that.

Jim A.: I never thought that I would be the patient that would make her books come to life because she was doing cardiovascular studies at the time, quite ironically.

Dean Pohlman: So what was it like having your daughter care for you, Dean? You know, you being her father and now she being your caretaker. What was that? What was that like?

Jim A.: It was fantastic. It’s an unbreakable bond now. It’s bonded us differently than I think we ever could have been. You know, her taking everything, you know, getting me and, you know, getting me into the right rehab facility and making sure my medicines were all set up, getting me after you leave. I probably, I was calculating things on my taxes.

Jim A.: I did over 1200 miles of driving just locally in Louisville to different doctors and and rehabilitation that I went to, and she was making sure I got to all that stuff. Besides, I had in-home health care going on. So it was it was a it was a big burden for my mom and my daughter as well to manage through that.

Jim A.: Yeah. And you got to think about it. When you have a house, it’s like when your bedrooms upstairs and you can’t functionally go upstairs, by yourself, you know, that became difficult.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So it was. And did your, did your mom or your daughter come visit you in the hospital?

Jim A.: Oh yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. I, you know, I talked with a guy last week. Who? Different situation. But he was just so drained from the experience. His son was sick, and he was in the hospital for, like, 150 days or something like that. And so he was, you know, sleeping in the hospital and, you know, with just mostly that that was his life, essentially.

Dean Pohlman: And he just he didn’t have the energy to you just to reach out to people or to talk with people and, you know, I’m curious for you, like, did you, did you want people to reach out? Did you did you not want people to see you or what was what was your, you know, your desire for connection at that outbreak?

Jim A.: Probably one of the better things I do this I have my daughter. We went through my list of contacts and she set up a large texting group. I truly believe that was part of me surviving. Were these prayers circles going on? From friends of mine. And and I wanted really just to funnel that information of what was happening, out to them via text.

Jim A.: I didn’t know that I be, you know, I didn’t know I need this would go this deep. But it came to be a really good decision because I couldn’t have taken that many people. I was so out of it. And just so, you know, coming out of this. And I didn’t really want to be seen like that, the pictures, there were very few pictures taken of me, and, and the ones that are, they’re kind of horrific when I look at them now going, oh my gosh, look at this.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Wow. Okay, so you’re in intensive, inpatient therapy for four hours a day for two weeks. What happens? I mean, what happens after that? What’s the what’s the progression?

Jim A.: It was I get out of there, I get home to home health, you know, people coming in to see me, the things they taught me in that, you know, using devices to help pull my socks on because I couldn’t bend over a whole lot. My, I had zero flexibility at that point. You know, just the strength to get up and walk a little bit.

Jim A.: I mean, going from Walker to cane, and then eventually managing myself to get upstairs to bathe myself was, was, a feat, quite frankly. And I just couldn’t believe the difficulty in pulling on your socks and having to use a device that have a stick on it that you would grab and pull socks up on, or devices, you know.

Jim A.: And here I am with patients in that hospital, that or major stroke or veterans that had limbs missing, etc.. And, you know, I felt now I’m good for you. I’m I’m good. I’ve got all my parts here and I’m watching these folks struggle. So it really gave me an impetus to, to really keep going.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Was that was that helpful to just see that, you know, despite your condition, you work me you know, you still had your limbs versus, you know, just seeing other people’s situations. I guess it did allow you to have gratitude for your situation. And that allowed you to heal or be successful with it. Okay.

Jim A.: Yeah. To see someone who’d gone through a massive stroke and they would be sitting next to you and they couldn’t talk and you’re still doing the same. Things are all trying to learn to use your limbs and to walk and and grab and to fine motor skills. It was I was gracious, very gracious that I was in the condition that I was in versus what some of these folks ran.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. You know, I think one of the big reasons why people I think one of the big underlying reasons and commonalities that I see within the man for yoga community is there’s just this overall desire to be independent, for as long as possible, you know, so being someone who has recognized that fear firsthand, you know, in your own experience what you how did that change?

Dean Pohlman: How did that change your fear of it? You know.

Jim A.: Know? Well, it did. And then knowing that I could get back to where I was, but the progression, the length of time it was taking was really bothersome. So a program that I had bought for my mom, which was your chair yoga, for years, I started I started going through that and trying to do some of those things, and that was progression to get there.

Jim A.: But it was I was being impatient, unfortunately, with myself, and I really wanted that independence. So desperately. Yeah. I hated the fact that everybody was having to do everything for me. It’s demeaning in a way, and and hard to deal with.

Dean Pohlman: How did you give yourself grace in that situation, or did you or did you just refuse to accept it? Or how did you get.

Jim A.: I really did. I mean, I gave myself grace and, you know, and I was having to have people tell me that you’re it’s going to take time. You know, I thought I was going to recover. I never believed it would take me eight months later, up until the beginning of this year, to where I felt fully functional and capable again to be able to do life, quite frankly.

Dean Pohlman: Well, what did you tell yourself, or what was the kind of the internal dialog you had when you would get frustrated with the slow recovery?

Jim A.: You, you, you escaped death, you got a second chance at life and you’re going to make the best of it. You’re going to try damn hard. And that’s what was going through my head. You’re going, you can do this, you can do this. That. The the struggle I really had was balance. I had zero balance. I mean, trying to to think of doing a tree or, you know, an eagle pose or something like that.

Jim A.: Not possible. I’d fall over on the floor. So and I’m still working through that. That’s now where my journey’s taking me to say. Now I got to get back to this, because I know that I can build that balance back and that stamina that I need. Yeah. And that that’s really great with your program.

Dean Pohlman: Gotcha. Okay. So what’s the, All right. So you’re I think where we left off was your your back. You maybe three months out, you mentioned and now you’re, you’re able to give yourself a bath at home. This is okay. So progression wise where do we go from here. What’s what’s happening. What are you doing to to recover still.

Jim A.: At that point, I was able to drive small distances. The key thing was the cardio rehab that I had to go through, and that was a very intensive program to get cardio wise. And still having the back issue, I couldn’t ride a recumbent bike. A treadmill was too difficult because being in bed so long, I ended up getting deep tissue wounds on both of my heels.

Jim A.: And they were very painful. So I was having to go to to wound care for that. And I couldn’t wear shoes. So they’re like, they finally found a it’s where you sit back like this and you’re pressing your feet forward. And, I was making big strides there because I was like, I’ll be darned if I’m not going to get to the right level, meet and exceed the goal every time.

Jim A.: And they were pretty impressed. The the motivation that I had. And I was sitting next to one guy who was blind, who went through something very similar to me, and the next guy who was in farmer’s clothes pedaling away on that same machine. And we all got to know each other and helped each other. So that connection I had with those two other guys, I’ll never forget them.

Jim A.: You know, we all kept each other going and press them to get out of there and all that cardio rehab.

Dean Pohlman: Wow. Okay. So you had, so you had a good mental approach. You had community support. That’s great. What else helped you? I mean, what else did you do for the recovery? What else was what else helped you?

Jim A.: I guess I think mentally going back and understanding what happened to me and talking to my team, my cardiologist, the cardiothoracic surgeon, and the guy who put me on FEMA, who, by the way, was walking out the door with his lunchbox when he got a call and said, we need to do this emergency no on this guy. These three guys are heroes to me now.

Jim A.: So I went met with all of them to hug him and thank him for saving my life. Number one. And then let them know that I was going to be an advocate for what they do. I started getting involved with the American Heart Association. I told them my story a couple weekends ago. I told my story in front of 500 people at a black tie event to say, here’s what happened to me.

Jim A.: Don’t let this happen to you. And a very powerful, emotional story. You saw at least the news clip. I’ll be glad to send you the clip of that American Heart. Did, to it was a video of myself and then how it impacted my family as well as important. And so advocating for cardiovascular health and men to stop thinking that you’re invincible and to stop self-medicating and, you know, thinking that, you know, some Advil, some gas and, and Tums and the occasional visit to an immediate care is health care.

Jim A.: It’s not you got to be you got to be vulnerable. You got to be courageous about your own health and realizing what goes on in your own body and take action when something’s not right versus, that’s just a pain of just gas or whatever it may be. Take it serious, because I didn’t and I almost bit it over it.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So what’s what what all has changed in your life since then, you know, how do you how do you look at life differently?

Jim A.: I met a guy that. Hey, he framed it. Very cool for me. I was working with American Heart, and they have a program called hardhats for hearts. And it’s for the construction industry. A predominance of heart attacks happens on construction sites. Construction individuals who think that their job is exercise when it’s not. And they’re probably not the healthiest eaters and smokers and drinkers, etc..

Jim A.: And this guy who worked for one of those construction companies taking his garbage out, drops between the road and the sidewalk, and a good Samaritan stops by and does hands only CPR for him, and he survives. While he he said to me which something I just kind of woke me up. He said, most people say you have only one chance at life.

Jim A.: And he said, we have two. And he says, we have to make the best of that by giving back and what we’re doing. So we were already doing that, and it was that moment of elation that hits you, that goes, I can do so much more now. I’m going to get back to be the best I ever have been mentally and physically and strength and flexibility.

Jim A.: That’s my goals. I don’t think I’m done with work yet. I retired, but I. I came out of a job at work that I really loved in business continuity and crisis management. And I’m like, I can help other people fool proof their business, you know, and not go through disasters that shut them down and still protect lives in a, in a different way.

Jim A.: So that all kind of came to me rushing in, and I just got busy.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Does it is that something that, is that a a force that is constantly with you? Does it ebb, does it wane or does it’s just like a tool doesn’t do.

Jim A.: It does it? When I wake up every morning, the first morning I wake up, I look at the alarm clock and it’s like, it’s five. I still need to sleep some more, but I want to get up and get busy because I’m like, it’s a brand new day. I’m six feet above ground and I’m the happiest person I’ve ever been.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah.

Jim A.: Wow. The unhealthiest person I’ve ever been. I mean, I’ve had every test you can imagine, every Skippy you can imagine. I’ve been checked out. And the last appointment that I went to with my nephrologist, he said, do you feel as good as you look on paper? He said, it’s phenomenal. Look, from January to January, where you were, where you were given a 1% chance to live and where you are right now.

Jim A.: Wow.

Dean Pohlman: It’s amazing. So what is your, what’s your typical day look right now?

Jim A.: Do some cardio. Do as much stretching. I’m still in a little bit of pit for my back. Still trying to work through, you know what? What’s really driving it. Unfortunately, during the medical process there, the chemo, they do put compression socks and boots on your in it pinched a nerve on my leg so I don’t have ceiling from the knee down on my right.

Jim A.: My right foot and leg. But I’m working through that, trying to get through it because God knows I don’t want another surgery and I’ve. Yeah. And worker’s compensation and see people that get surgery and they get a fusion in their lower back. And then the back part of their back stops working. And I don’t want to lose flexibility.

Jim A.: And I’ve managed those claims to watch people be totally disabled after that. So I’m going to do everything I can to work it out by means, and strengthening. So I’ve joined a gym, and I’m loving that, that that just drives me to go do that early in the morning, get that out of the way, and then make my day and starting a consulting business.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Oh, wow. Cool. So one thing I’ll just throw out as a recommendation to you, but also to anyone else who might be in a similar situation, the, treatment methods that I would consider for you is something called new fit. And you fit and it is, it’s Eastham, but it’s, it’s, it’s a instead of, most Eastham, treatments are a they’re kind of like a they send they send a shockwave like every half second or so.

Dean Pohlman: This one is a constant, it’s a constant electrical stimulation. And, and so it helps to reestablish neural pathways. And so in areas like what I hear about, like what you just described with not being able to feel knee down, this is something that I, you know, that’s what I, if it were me or if it was someone who was close to me, that’s what I would say.

Dean Pohlman: Go find a new fit practitioner. It’s relatively new technology, actually. The guy who founded it is based in Austin, Texas. I’ve had it on the podcast and I’ve done some of it. I’ve done some of it on myself. And I have, I actually have a group of friends who like, they all love it and they actually, like, travel with it.

Dean Pohlman: So they take this device in a backpack with them. It’s an $8,000 device, and they take it with them. It’s like a like a carry on item, which is, which is ridiculous. But anyways, it’s something that’s really cool and I’d recommend you look into it as just a recovery.

Jim A.: It’s something I do after I talk to my cardiologist, because one of the things that I went through after I got out of intensive care and, you know, the world was coming back to me. I’m looking at the TV screen in my room. And the cool thing when, when I was when I was that ill, it was March Madness.

Jim A.: So not run from January to March now. And I’m watching all these basketball games. And the screen went to about a thousand of them on the wall. And then all of a sudden, I passed out and unfortunately, I had to go get a pacemaker at that point because they’d fix the top part of my heart so. Well that I got a condition called Taurus odds de point, which the bottom half of the part of the heart just flutters and it’s life threatening within itself.

Jim A.: So I immediately got put in a surgery, got a pacemaker put in. And I think another powerful part of this story is to understand how your brain works because of the loss of oxygen. And they thought I might not have some of my memory left. A nurse and my daughter suggested who was sitting there to get my playlist out and play music.

Jim A.: And I love Chris Stapleton. And so my daughter picks up Chris Stapleton, says, here you are, fully intubated. You’ve been intubated three days. I not seen any movement out of you. I’m worried that you now have memory left. You all remember who I am. And so I start playing the song Tennessee Whiskey, which kind of goes along with Jack Daniels and the folks that I worked with.

Jim A.: But yeah, she said, here you are. Your lips start motioning Tennessee whiskey, and she says, I knew you were in there. She said it was like your soul that was talking to me, saying, you’re going to be okay. Wow. And and, it was powerful. It was a very powerful moment. She didn’t tell me that until after she got out of nursing school.

Jim A.: She graduated last July. She’s in a nursing job now, and I helped her to move into her big girl apartment, and I couldn’t help her mood, but I said, I can hang pictures. We go out to dinner. She tells me that story, and I lost it because it was very powerful to me. And I’ve shared it with Chris Stapleton as well.

Jim A.: He gave a very nice donation to American Heart Association.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. That’s amazing. Yeah, that’s one of my one of my favorite clips to go back and watch every now and then is the, I think it was the CMAs. He does this live performance with Justin Timberlake. Oh, yeah. And they go back and forth and they just. Wow. That’s so cool though. What a story. So. So your friends is Chris Stapleton now.

Dean Pohlman: So so okay. So you have a better you have an amazing relationship with your daughter. You have this renewed energy for life.

Jim A.: I preach that I’m a miracle. And and I need to think about what divine intervention meant. And he said, you know, he loves what I’m doing to get back. And one of the things we’re looking at, even with our church, is people who’ve gone through crisis, the moment of crisis. You got a ton of people surrounding you. Yeah.

Jim A.: I mean, those people go away and they may still be in crisis. So we’re going to connect those people. And I think between doing that within my church, the work with American Heart, I’m on an executive board for a mental health organization, for people, for different therapies. And, it’s it’s fulfilling. And, and then I’m building my business for doing consulting and in crisis management and risk management and.

Jim A.: Yeah, I think I’m fulfilled. You have a I have completely different relationships out there now. And, and, it’s it’s my life is very meaningful and full of this point. Full of it. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: And then how has it changed how you interact with the other, other male friends in your life?

Jim A.: Oh, they all get the speech. I had a guy the other day, that I, he’s a guy that he just pursue it out in his garage. He’s a foodie like I am. I love to cook and eat. And he. I told him, I said, man, you need to go get a corner calcium scan. I recommend that to people from a lot of states.

Jim A.: You can get it without a doctor having a doctor, but in reality it’s a CT scan of your chest looking for calcification. So I told him about it. He took a picture, a selfie of himself in front of the clinic he was going in. I see him at a Super Bowl party and he’s like, I love you and I hate you.

Jim A.: So I love you to know that I’ve got this blockage. I hate you because I got to give up my butter and my prosciutto time, you know, and I’ve that’s the response I’ve gotten back and talking to men, you know, I find that, you know, they’re they’re still in this invincible mode. And they find out they got cholesterol problems.

Jim A.: They don’t want to take the medicine. I’m like, just do it. This this is not worth what I went through. And my story is compelling enough. I get constant text and feedback from people saying, thank you for being vulnerable and courageous to do it.

Dean Pohlman: So what are some of the basic tests that you know, throughout this whole process you’ve learned and and where you’ve learned about and you are now recommending to men, just to get regular testing? What what are the kind of tests that guys should be doing?

Jim A.: Well, the first test is what’s going on in your family. You know, what is what is your family history look like when it comes to heart disease? I had none, so therefore I was confident that it wasn’t a problem I should have gone in. I never really had high cholesterol levels, but, I’d have them tested. Not that the curiosity that they suggest.

Jim A.: So know what your numbers are and know what your blood numbers are, because that would have possibly caught the anemia that I found out that I had, the bleeding that I had going on and my hemoglobin levels, and I would get that blood work done. And if you don’t, if you don’t have faith in your I always tell folks this, if you don’t have faith in your primary care physician, find somebody you like.

Jim A.: My, I got a new one. And he said, he said to me one time he goes, men are stupid. He said, they come out of the woods after 20 years and say, you got this pain. And it’s my job to tell them they’re dying. And he said, so go, you know, be proactive about your health and go get these things done.

Jim A.: Top be curious about a Cornell calcium scan. I didn’t know anything about it. I had a 90 to 95% blockage that I had no idea I had that fatigue. That’s really what was driving. They believe that fatigue, along with my hemoglobin numbers.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. Anything else?

Jim A.: Just remember, you’re not Superman. Even Superman had Kryptonite. Your Kryptonite may be cardiovascular disease. So take care of yourself. Eat well, I’ve switched a mediterranean diet, I love it, it it suits me well. And it. I’m my greatest weight I’ve ever been. I like 175. I’m 59. And. Yeah, now it’s time to get my flexibility. And I’m gaining the muscle back.

Jim A.: My body strength back my back. And I’m. I can say I’ve never been happier. And thanks so much to you for your for what you’ve done in this world and your business, because it’s made a difference in my life.

Dean Pohlman: You’re welcome. I’m glad it was. I’m glad you gave it a shot. I’m glad you had the confidence to to trust me. Yeah. So. Mediterranean diet. I want to go. Where? How what was your typical weight like, throughout your adult life? How much did you weigh at five.

Jim A.: When I retired, I was at 206. Okay. And when I left, when I went to the rehab hospital is at 140. So I had gained 30 pounds back. I never realized how difficult it was to gain weight back. And I was drinking those boost with all those calories in it. And they said, need as much ice cream as you want.

Jim A.: Don’t worry about heart health right now. We got to get the weight on. We got to get the weight on. So you’ve got the strength to walk. So that was kind of fun, but unfortunately I, I remember Saturday night, I, there was a skit called Preach Good Food, and everything I got was ground up. You know, it’s like you get a ground up chicken breast.

Jim A.: It’s overcooked. It was like eating sawdust. So that was choking on that. So I got to where I got normal food and could put the glue down. But I remember them going up and getting me, blizzards and things like that so I could put weight on. Yeah. I just wasn’t gaining it. So you got to be at a healthy weight, but eating healthy foods and with that Mediterranean diet works really well for me now.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Okay. Cool. Yeah. I just had a guy on the podcast recently who is a a raw foodie, so he only eats raw fruits and vegetables. There’s so many different types of diets. It’s loose, you know, and there’s so much different. Yeah, there’s so much different information. But anyways, figure out for yourself, I guess, what diet you like.

Dean Pohlman: And I’m glad that Mediterranean works well for you.

Jim A.: Low sodium, low cholesterol. I’m doing that. And high protein. Tons of fruits and vegetables. My budget on my food is something I had to readjust other things to say. I’m going to buy good foods and I’m I buy organic stuff and I’m going to eat well. And I know I that’s my that’s my thing. I love to cut and and create and I’m having fun with it.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. I mean honestly, yeah. Like food budget being I remember you know this is every now and then I’ll walk around and I’ll look at things that I used to buy and remember when it was X dollars. Like I look at, you know, you look I, I think I probably, I think I probably purchased like, a drink or a soda from like one of those machines that you push the button, maybe five times in the last ten years.

Dean Pohlman: And I’m always shocked. Mike, it’s $3 for a Coke. It’s like it’s $3 for water. I remember when it was a dollar or like when candy was like $0.49, and now it’s like a dollar 75 and look what happened. But you know, I think about that in terms of groceries, when you used to think, oh yeah, like $100 a week for groceries.

Dean Pohlman: And I’m like, how are people getting $100? Because if you actually go to the grocery store and you buy good meat, you buy vegetables, you buy fruits, you buy good eggs, right? You buy all the good stuff. I mean, I’m minimum $300 a week for, and that’s with me for a family of four. And I usually end up going out one, you know, a couple other times to the grocery store as well.

Dean Pohlman: So, you know, the idea of only spending $100 a week on groceries, I’m like, what are you what are you getting for? You know, for that, like how much? You know how much, you know, how much pre-made food does that include or how much non fresh food does that include. So I mean yeah if you want to be healthy you do you have to spend more money on food.

Dean Pohlman: You have to have more fresh vegetables and fruits. And you know the the good quality meat and like all that stuff.

Jim A.: So yeah, I found this app, and this was something I saw on TV called Flash Food. And I tell people to explore it. It’s not available everywhere, but it’s stores that are marking stuff down that’s getting ready that it needs to be on flash sale to use it. And I buy a lot of meat and things like, and vegetables like that, that you go in and you find it on the app every day.

Jim A.: What they’ve loaded into the cooler and, and I think places like Myer, Kroger do that. But okay, you go in and you buy it on the app, and then you go in the store and you’re getting a half bag of fruit that that’s got a bruise in it, but there’s nothing wrong with it. Yeah. I’m saving myself a ton of money that way.

Dean Pohlman: Nice. Okay, that’s good to know. So what’s the next thing you want to work on in your fitness? And, you know, you’ve got all these things that you’re working on right now. You’re building your business. You you know, you say you’re going to be stronger, more flexible, healthier, feel steel, more mentally, you know, clear than you’ve ever been.

Dean Pohlman: What’s the next thing you want to work on?

Jim A.: It is go back to where you’ve already said. It’s that flexibility. I want that flexibility. I need that flexibility. I know just do some of the stuff I’m doing in PT right now for, they they’ve changed it since I got the MRI back and, and what’s going on. And so I’m, you know, doing as much and stuff and flexibility as I can.

Jim A.: So that’s really my big thing getting back into your program to do that.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. What are the movements that you’re and not yoga specific movements. But what movements are you struggling with flexibility wise right now?

Jim A.: Hip flexors, big issues. Just, you know, where I just don’t have that flexibility. And as I’m building muscle at the same time in my legs, you know, I’m, I’m, I’m gaining muscle and but I’m, you know, I gotta go out and make sure that I’m doing that stretching as well. So really, in my legs, back areas where I go to really looking for that flexibility, lower back and then my legs and, my ligaments, they’re just getting things a lot more loosened up and feel more I can, I can do, you know, lizard or pretzel or things like that, that it’s not painful.

Jim A.: It’s it’s actually enjoyable. And I can sweat to up to your, to your program.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Are you friends with the foam roller yet.

Jim A.: I am yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Good. Okay. That was good. Make sure you’re doing that. All right. Ready to do a rapid fires? Sure. Okay. What’s the one habit, belief or mindset that has helped you the most with your overall health and wellness?

Jim A.: It’s it’s it’s a weird one. It’s knowing how your condition, affects other people. Most people don’t think about it that way. They think of health and wellness just to themselves. But you have to think about how that affects other people. And when it goes wrong, horribly wrong, like it did for me that affected had on my family and what I put them through.

Jim A.: So that’s a motivator for me to be the best I can be.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. All right. What’s one thing that you do for your health that is overlooked or undervalued by others?

Jim A.: I believe having a fantastic therapist, mental health therapist, is something that I would encourage a lot of people. I was one of those individuals who I don’t need that. And I got into it, and I don’t know what I would have done without it. We just broke up after seven years. I’m like, I’m doing really well right now.

Jim A.: I don’t need to see on a monthly basis. I’d take them up, plan. But thank you card. And I said, we’re breaking up. And, he and he’s like, you’re in so much better place than you have been. And he said, you call me if you need me any time. So building that relationship with a therapist is huge.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Okay. What’s the most stressful part of your day to day life?

Jim A.: It’s. I don’t have it. I mean, when you got a second chance in life, like I do, I don’t have those stressful moments and that stressful moments behind me. And what really matters anymore, is the things that used to bother me. It’s like waters off a duck’s back at this point. Just let it go. Just let it go.

Jim A.: I mean, that’s that’s one of the things is, you know, let go of what you can’t control. And that’s my new motto. Let go of what you can’t control.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. What’s your best piece of advice for men who want to be healthier?

Jim A.: Know your numbers. Know. Know what’s going on in your body. You can’t continue to to eat fast food. And these things I mean, it’s convenient, but you really need to make sure you eat right and and make sure that your heart and your brain are the two most important organs that you have. And if you’re not doing the right things there mentally, and you’re not doing the right things that help you physically, and, you know, I never believed that your program could get your heart rate up, and it certainly can.

Jim A.: And, so, I mean, really, I that’s the two areas to focus on because you can’t be physically well if you’re not mentally well. And vice versa.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So what’s the, what’s the easiest way to get your levels checked?

Jim A.: Get to a level. Sorry.

Dean Pohlman: What’s what’s the easiest way to get your levels checked? Like, if you’re a guy listening, you’re like, I need to go get my blood levels. Check. What do I do?

Jim A.: Yeah. Make sure you got a solid relationship. A good, primary care physician. You’re not going to get there with, I don’t I don’t think going to an immediate care. You’ve got to have a relationship. I mean, they’re labs. You can go get lab work done on your own dime if, if you want. But let’s let a professional manage it and, let them know what you want.

Jim A.: And I know some friends that, a guy that’s down the street from me, this triathlete man, he goes and gets this inordinate amount of blood work, and he just pays for it. They don’t, you know, it’s insurance doesn’t pick it up, but you just. It goes, does it? That way. He knows all of his numbers. And it’s all these things happening.

Jim A.: I’ve been doing some studies where what what’s getting ready to occur. And you’re starting to see it now in commercials where, you know, you start to thing get the, you know, the at home, testing. I think that’s going to be a power come a bigger thing where you actually get blood and find out whether you’ve got cancer or, you know, indicators that would lead to certain diseases.

Jim A.: And I think that’s the future. So let’s embrace it. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: There’s tons of that already. I know I’ve, I’ve tested out a few companies who have you know, sent me blood collection kits and and even based give me give supplementation based on that. Yeah. So but yeah, I think the most cost efficient route is if you do have health insurance and go to the go to your primary care physician, and hopefully he’s someone who believes in blood tests.

Dean Pohlman: I’ve heard from some people who are like, oh, yeah, my physician wouldn’t do it. I’m like, why? Why? Yeah, yeah, get a new physician. Right? Yeah.

Jim A.: So I said, if you don’t like them, get a new one and find someone who’s going to work with you, because there’s no need to put up with that.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. You know, it’s funny you mentioned the Z.z top beard because I have, my my doctor here in Austin is like, super hippie doctor. It seems like he’s. I don’t know if hippies the right word, but he’s got this gigantic z.z top beard. And. Yeah, I like him, you know, I don’t know if we have the same exact health practices he uses.

Dean Pohlman: You know, he’s he’s pro medicine in a lot of cases, but he’s also like, yeah, let’s do the blood test, you know, so. Sure. Anyhow. All right. James. Jim. So I don’t know. I said James, is your name James somewhere? Why am I messing up? It is. Okay, cool. All right. Not just making that up. Well, Jim, thank you so much for sharing your story here and all your advice and so glad that you made it out of that situation and your new lease on life.

Dean Pohlman: It’s amazing.

Jim A.: Well, and thank you for the product you do. You’re very encouraging. And I loved your story in your story has got me to where, you know, I’m, you know, I’m looking at how do I manage my own life like that. And yeah, I think a lot of encouragement I got from how you took on your business and how you’ve been successful.

Jim A.: And, I appreciate that. And the work that you do has helped me physically and mentally.

Dean Pohlman: You’re welcome. Again, thank you for trusting me and for part of our community. Yeah. All right, guys, well, I hope you enjoyed this interview with Jim, and I hope this inspires you to be a better man. I will see you on the next video. Next interview. Have a great day.

Jim A.: Take care y’all.

Dean Pohlman: All right. Thanks again Jim. Bye bye. All right. All right guys, hope you enjoyed this episode with Jim. Anything that we talked about in the links for the things that he mentioned, you can check it out in the show notes and the show notes below. If you’re enjoying this podcast, please leave a review wherever you listen.

Dean Pohlman: We also have video versions of the podcast on the Better Man Podcast MFI YouTube channel, as well as in the man for yoga members area. If you’re thinking about joining our community, we do a free seven day trial. You can sign up at any time at Mansell yoga.com/join. We also have a free seven day challenge if you don’t want to get out your credit card yet.

Dean Pohlman: It’s a great way to see if the workouts are a good fit for you. And I’ve been saying this on the last couple vouchers that I’ve been doing, but you know, the benefit podcast is an extension of of the man of Man for yoga mission. You know, I started mental yoga to help men be healthier. And the betterment podcast is a way to complement the physical improvement and the physical fitness side of things.

Dean Pohlman: It’s to have the actual discussions and do do the work outside of what you can do on your own. You know, this is where we change how we have relationships, how we change, you know, our beliefs, about how we fit into the world. Ironically, it does go into a spirituality. Not in an organized religion sense, but in a finding meaning.

Dean Pohlman: So anyways, if this is a community that you’re interested in being part of, check it out. And for yoga.com. So otherwise I hope you guys are enjoying the podcast. Hope you guys have a great day! I hope this inspires you to be a better man. I’ll see you guys on the next episode.

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