378 - Neuropathy, Cancer and A Career Pivot: The Dana Cardinas Story
Dana Cardinas loved podiatry, and she was damn good at it. But a surprise diagnosis of idiopathic ulnar neuropathy, followed by a shocking discovery of Stage 3C colon cancer, forced her to step away from the profession she adored. In this episode, Dana opens up about how she handled early retirement, battled cancer, and found purpose again through helping others and launching a new business, 1 Stop Promotional Products. From laughing down clinic hallways to launching a neuropathy support group that’s changing lives in Colontown, Dana proves that purpose doesn't end with a job title. If you’re a podiatrist, business owner, or just someone navigating life’s curveballs, this conversation is for you. Please visit the Podiatry Legends Podcast website to read more and see photos. If you're enjoying the Podiatry Legends Podcast, please tell your podiatry friend and consider subscribing. 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ONLINE CALENDAR Facebook Group: Podiatry Business Owners Club Have you grabbed a copy of one of my books yet? 2014 – It’s No Secret There’s Money in Podiatry 2017 – It’s No Secret There’s Money in Small Business Un-edited Transcript Tyson E Franklin: [00:00:00] Hi, I am Tyson Franklin and welcome to this week's episode of the Podiatry Legends Podcast. The podcast designed to help you feel, see, and think differently about the Podiatry profession. With me today is an old friend, well...not that old. We've only known each other for about 12 years. It is Dana Cardinas, and we met in 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee, at REM Jackson's top practices. But our friendship got bonded even more from about 2015 onwards, when we were at Dave Free's business Black Ops event, which people have heard that I go to on a regular basis. So Dana, how you doing today? Dana Cardinas: I'm so good. I'm so happy to be here, Tyson. Thank you. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Tyson E Franklin: I knew you'd bring the energy and I should mention to people that Dana lives in Texas, so there is a slight accent. Dana Cardinas: Yes, most definitely. And I apologize for my attire today. I literally just got out of the pool. It's hot and it's summertime and it was pool time tonight, so, yes. Tyson E Franklin: [00:01:00] So are you born and bred Texan? Dana Cardinas: Yeah, I was born and raised in central Texas. Yes. On a ranch. 300 acre ranch? Tyson E Franklin: I have seen photos of you driving tractors. Dana Cardinas: Yes. Yeah. So most recently convinced my dad to teach me how to drive the bulldozer. So finally was able to get on that machine after 50 something years. Tyson E Franklin: He wouldn't let you drive it? Dana Cardinas: No. He's very protective of that thing, so understandably he didn't want me to take it out any fences, but I did pretty good for my first go. Tyson E Franklin: So what we're gonna be talking about today, I'm gonna tell give people a bit of a rundown. We're gonna talk about what got you into Podiatry and also what got you out of Podiatry and what you're currently doing now, which I think is pretty cool. So yeah, let's go to that first question. Why Podiatry? How did you get into Podiatry in the first place? Dana Cardinas: So I always, my entire life, since I was wee little, I wanted to be a doctor. I didn't have a specific profession. I just knew I wanted to be a [00:02:00] doctor. But as I went through undergrad and spent time shadowing different professions I narrowed down things that I didn't wanna do. I knew I didn't wanna do certain things, and after I graduated from undergrad I needed, I just needed some time to figure out what was gonna be next. While I was studying for my MCATs, getting ready to, try to get into med school. And I worked in a large Podiatry practice in Carrollton, Texas. And I loved it. I absolutely loved it. And I started, just in their front office answering phones. I needed a job to pay bills, and I went from answering phones to being a medical assistant because I was very interested in what they were doing back there. And at one point, one of the docs pulled me aside and said, Dana, you need to do [00:03:00] this for a living because you're diagnosing and treating my patients. And really, you should be paid for it if you're gonna do it. And I, and we had a long talk about it, and I really picked his brain about why he wanted to be a Podiatry. Yeah. What did he get outta it? Why did he like it? And what was happening in Podiatry that I didn't see and what did I not know? I really wanted to know about it. Tyson E Franklin: That's a really good question though that you asked because Yeah. I do think sometimes when people are choosing careers or even when they're in Podiatry now and they may have only been in for a couple of years and go, oh, I don't know if I should keep doing this. They need to talk to people. Yeah. Even if they'd send an email and say, can we jump on a Zoom call with someone like myself, it's been in the profession for well over 30 years is reach out to those people and say, why are you, why did you stay in this profession for so long? When I feel like giving it away after two or three years. Dana Cardinas: Right. And he and that is key, honestly for any profession. Honestly. I think it's reaching out to people in your [00:04:00] profession and asking them, if you're burned out, find out, what's the other person doing that They love it so much, that they can help you. But this practice had seven docs in it. I talked to all of them and they all had such good things to say about the specialty. They loved it. And that from a doc that had been out for two years to, I wanna say, the one doc that started the group had been out for 30 something years. So at the time, so like they were in it, they loved it, they loved the business side of it, but they loved treating the patients. Just the whole aspect of it. Yeah. So that's when I said, okay I'm doing this because I really liked it. I just, I loved the idea that you could see a patient. And maybe fix their problem right away. Maybe it was just a simple ingrow toenail boom, you fixed it and they feel better. Or you could offer them something that wasn't [00:05:00] surgically, related like orthotics or just talking to them about improved running, anything like that could just make them feel better almost instantly. But then there was also that other side of it for me that really grabbed my attention was. Taking something structural that wasn't working right and fixing it so that they could function either without pain or more appropriately. So, that, that was a big draw for me. That was my draw. Okay. 'cause that was, I loved working with my hands. Again, I grew up. That way. I didn't grow up in the city. I grew up on a farm and we fixed things and so I, that was my track. And so that's how I got into Podiatry. So I applied to four or five different schools. And so I ended up going to Temple University of Philadelphia. Which blew my mind. I was not from a [00:06:00] size of a city that big, so that was like, a culture shock for this West Texas girl. But I loved it. I loved every bit of it. I just soaked it up. I traveled while I was there a ton, but I also made such great friends, but I really. I really just dove right in it, man. I dove right in it. I wanted to know everything about Podiatry and loved it. Went to residency back here in Texas, so a year in San Antonio, and then two years with lake Great Sam Mendocino in Houston. God rest that guy. But from that point knew that, okay, this is where I was supposed to be. Yeah. This is what I was supposed to be doing. And then ended up in practice in Grapevine, fantastic practice in Grapevine and we grew that practice to two locations actually. So we had one in Grapevine and one in Keller. So I joined Foot Ankle Associates of North Texas and then ended up [00:07:00] becoming a partner there about a year and a half after I joined. So yeah, it was awesome. Loved it. And that's Tyson E Franklin: where you were, right up through to you finishing? Dana Cardinas: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I really didn't have plans of retiring when I did, yeah. I just didn't have an option. Tyson E Franklin: We'll get to that in a sec. But the one thing I noticed when I first met you too and why we've probably remained friends is I've always loved your energy. And if, and I'm sure people whether watching the video on YouTube or they're listening to the podcast, they can pick up your energy. Yes. And I would say that was a big part of what made you a good Podiatry too. You took that energy into the room. Dana Cardinas: I did. I who I am is exactly who I was when I walked into a patient's room. It didn't matter if you were three years old or 103 years old, you got the same me. And we smiled and we laughed and we talked about [00:08:00] your life not mine. And we talked about your kids and your family and I got to know you. And when some of my patients hit huge milestones in their treatment, whether that be my diabetic patients when we healed ulcers or we saved limb. Or my ankle fracture patients, when they could actually put their boots back on and go back to work. We would dance down the halls. Yeah, we would party down the hall. That's who I was. And that's, you got this when you came to see me, which was usually quite a mess, let me tell you that. It was fun. Tyson E Franklin: I just love it. And you worked for a couple of years at the practice that you ended up becoming a partner in, was that always part of your plan to become a partner or you never even thought about that? It took you by surprise that they wanted this loud text and, Hey, by the way, is everyone in Texas loud? Dana Cardinas: No. Tyson E Franklin: No. Okay. Most Dana Cardinas: of us are. Yes. [00:09:00] Yes. Most of us are. There are just some that are a little louder than others. But yeah. Yes. Tyson E Franklin: Are you one of the louder ones? Dana Cardinas: Yeah. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. Okay. Just checking. Just wanted to check, just see. So I'm prepared in December. Get ready man. Tyson E Franklin: So, so when they approached you by buying in the practice, were you sort of like, yeah, that's great. That's what I was hoping would happen. Or did it take by surprise? Dana Cardinas: I think timing wise took me by surprise 'cause it happened a little sooner than what I thought. But the way the three of us at the time, there was only three of us. We just were, we jelled so well together that it just seemed like a natural fit for that to happen. And so it, it was perfect timing. And I, in residency, you always heard, oh, you wanna be a partner in a practice, that's where you wanna head. And now looking back on it and talking to other, my residency mates that were not partners in a [00:10:00] practice because they chose not to go that route, that it didn't fit their lifestyle. So I would say anybody listening, you don't feel like if you're not a partner, you're not successful by any means. Yeah. It just might not be the track that it fits your life for us. In that particular moment, it was perfect. It was the right scenario for us to do that. And it worked out phenomenal. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah I think that's a really good point because I think some people meant to be business owners, like I was always meant to work for myself . I just always knew that was gonna happen. And the funny part is. Neither of my parents owned their own business. Nobody in my family that I even know had their own business. So why I was that way. I have no idea that was just me. Yeah. But I think there's certain people that they should never own their own business. They should stay as employees because they are really good employees. Yeah. And what, like you said too, it's a different level of pressure you get when you are actually the business owner that when you're an employee, [00:11:00] you go away on your four weeks holiday, you don't have to think about anything. Dana Cardinas: Yeah, right. Tyson E Franklin: Two weeks in America, you only get two weeks holiday in America, don't you? Dana Cardinas: It depends on how much you negotiate, man. Tyson E Franklin: But in general. In general, in America, two weeks is all you get. Dana Cardinas: Depends. Most of the docs that we, you know, when we brought in docs as associates, we gave them three weeks in the beginning. So I, that's pretty good. Tyson E Franklin: But yeah, two weeks in, in Australia. In Australia, mandatory, four, four weeks holiday. Dana Cardinas: I honestly, I'm not gonna lie, everybody should move to Australia. Numerous reasons just to like hear you guys speak all the time. But if you can get four weeks automatic man, sign me up. Tyson E Franklin: Being an employer, you used to sometimes go, god dammit, when people are on holidays. But as a society, I think it's a fantastic thing because you need to have those mental breaks away from your business. And this is a problem that business owners don't do, is they work from morning [00:12:00] till night. They don't take holidays, they do it year after year and they burn themselves out. And I think you've gotta have that break. Dana Cardinas: Right. And it's hard as a business owner to take the break. It's hard to walk away 'cause you're you get in this, in your mind that, I'm not making any money if I'm not there and if I've got to have the money so I can't take off. You just get into that cycle, but when you take the time away is when you have clarity and you can think, and then you usually end up making better decisions, which make you more money in the long run. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah I remember my first, we, I'd take a week off here and there but it wasn't until, I think it was 2012. I took my first three week break. Away from clinic, went overseas, went to America, did the trifecta of Disneyland, Las Vegas, and then San Francisco. Dana Cardinas: Oh my gosh. That's amazing. Tyson E Franklin: And I had a daughter with us and my wife and [00:13:00] we went with another family. Had such a good trip. I came back to work and nothing had changed. Everyone was still working, in fact. Right. They were probably enjoying me not being there better. And from that year onwards, I realized I can take time off. So I was taking two, three week holidays a couple of times a year. Never looked back. Right, right. So I think you gotta trust, you gotta trust your team. Dana Cardinas: Yeah. And that's it too, like. If you build a team that you've trained well, they know what they're doing. They know how to handle the situations, and they know how, like who to call when they don't know the answer. Like that situation's gonna come up. But when you've got that training in place. Oh, you can leave. Trust me. They want you to go, they want you to go. They do, but you're getting cranky and you're getting agitated and they want you out as much as you need to take a [00:14:00] break. Tyson E Franklin: Oh, yeah. But I totally get it. And I totally understand if someone is a solo practitioner and they feel that they can't do it. But I think if you're a solo practitioner, go back to one of my earliest episodes on this podcast. It was episode 10 with Andrew Snyder and it's running a successful solo practice. This guy is the most relate. He's been doing this for 30 years or something. Now. Love that guy. Solo practitioner. Tyson E Franklin: Has never employed another Podiatry. He goes to Disneyland more often than anybody else I know, right? Right. Tyson E Franklin: If you're a solo practitioner, go back and listen to episode 10 because it will change the way you think about having a solo practice. Dana Cardinas: Yeah. Oh yeah. A super good friend of mine that we went to residency together, he was a solo practitioner for, gosh. At least 10 years before he brought on an associate. Tyson E Franklin: [00:15:00] Yeah. Dana Cardinas: And in the beginning he was this, I can't take, I can't leave, but once he figured out, okay I've got someone local that can cover my call if I'm out, they can take phone calls for patients that, call in after hours or have an emergency, whatever it might be. So he had coverage for that. They didn't come in the office, but it was just a quick phone call if necessary. He, when he figured that out. He would take vacation about once every eight weeks. It might be a short little, like four day or thing. Yeah. But he was gone somewhere and his practice grew immensely. Just simply because he was getting that mental break because it, let's just get real, it's not easy, Tyson E Franklin: no. To Dana Cardinas: do what we do. It's Tyson E Franklin: not. And it's one of those things too. Every patient that comes through the door could be a potential lawsuit. [00:16:00] And that's something that's, and that's why we have insurance and that Right. But we choose this profession and Right. And you know that 99.999% of patients come in. That is never going to happen. Dana Cardinas: No, it's never gonna happen. Right. And majority Tyson E Franklin: of patients are nice. Dana Cardinas: Right. Majority or. There's always a potential that patient's gonna walk in your front door that you don't know is going to absolutely kill your day. Just kill it. It's over done. There goes the schedule. Forget it. You're not getting home till way late because that one person entered your office, but it's what we signed up for. Yeah, and honestly i'm not gonna lie, I don't think I'm not different than anybody else. I think we thrive on that a little bit. I think we do love that little bit of excitement it's like you get excited about walking in that door to the patient room of, okay, what kind of shit am I gonna see on this one? Yeah. Like, what crazy crap did this guy just do that I'm [00:17:00] gonna have to fix? And that was always my favorite. Tyson E Franklin: That's the thing I think in life in general you, everybody wants a certain amount of certainty, which you need. It makes you feel comfortable and secure, but you also need that little bit of uncertainty to keep life interesting. And I, yeah, and I feel when I hear someone's, oh, I'm bored with Podiatry, I wanna leave. It's the same thing, day in, day out, I'm going, we need to, you need to change things up. Yes. Tyson E Franklin: It's obviously what, however you are running your day, you've got too much certainty. You need a little bit of uncertainty to spice things up a little bit. And that doesn't mean just going walking into work and sack somebody and create chaos. It's just your approach to work. Dana Cardinas: Yeah. Tyson E Franklin: Hey, make it a little bit different. Dana Cardinas: I totally agree. And that might be why you're bored. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. Oh yeah. I like, if I wanted to, I could pick a certain part of Podiatry, keep doing that, and I would be bored, senseless. I needed different types of patients coming through with different types of injuries to make it interesting. Yes. But some days I did wanna just switch my brain off. Yeah, [00:18:00] I did wanna to use it. Yeah. Tyson E Franklin: So, okay, I'm gonna pivot slightly because you love Podiatry so much. Everyone must be listening to this. You hear your energy, your enthusiasm, you loved it, and why'd you leave? Dana Cardinas: So, in December about mid-December of 20 2015, and I thought I had carpal tunnel. I, my hands were just killing me at night. In, in, in here, in the us. The end of the year is always slamming busy because everybody's met their deductibles. They want everything done before the end of the year. Okay? And so we are all just maxed out. We've had surgery schedules full for three months or more. Patients are just like, I gotta get in, I gotta, again, I got it in. So we're busy and we make it happen. That's what we do. We make it happen. So I would go to bed at night and , wear these wraps on my [00:19:00] wrist because it just felt better. I kept thinking, all right, I gotta go get this checked out. My hands just really hurt. But the next day I was like, it's okay. It's not hurting as much. But by the end of a long surgery day, they were just, it was pain and it was pain, especially on my right that was going up to my elbow. And I was like, all right I just gotta go get this checked out. So get through December, I'm in the first week. January and I, it was fairly quiet, which was unusual, and I had one case booked on a Friday afternoon, and it was a tiny fifth toe arthroplasty. Literally anybody that does these on a regular basis, skin to skin, you're looking at max. Six minutes to me. Yeah. That was me, max. Boom. It's not hard. And it took me 20 minutes and I couldn't feel [00:20:00] what I was doing and I was terrified. And I, it had, I had another case, I would have canceled it. And I left, I got in the car and I called the office. Canceled all of my cases that were coming up. Put 'em onto one of the other partners and called my friend, who's a neurologist and said, I'm coming over something's wrong. And she was awesome. I had actually done surgery on her two, two years prior because she had some really cool ganglion cyst on her foot, which was amazing. But another story. And so she's yeah, come on over. She did a, what is that nerve conduction study? Yeah. On me. And she's Dana, how long have you had this? And I was like, this week, like today, like I today. And she's like, how did this not, how did you not see this happening? Because as she showed me at the time, and I'll show you my hands in the camera, all I had [00:21:00] lost the muscle mass on both of my hands. Along my thumb, especially along my ulnar side on my right, a little bit more or a little bit on my left. And the nerve conduction study showed that I had severe ulnar neuropathy on both sides. She's like, that doesn't just happen overnight. I'm like, I'm telling you. I had pain, but I could feel until today. And so, we did some further studies and over the next, the course of next two to three weeks and then really realized that what I had was not gonna be reversible. I had severe loss of my muscles in my hands, but also nerve damage. I didn't have an option, but I had to retire. If you Tyson E Franklin: had picked it up earlier, could you have prevented this from happening or was it inevitable that it was going to happen? Dana Cardinas: Well, it was inevitable [00:22:00] because I didn't know what I had at the time. Yeah. Which as we'll continue the conversation you'll hear. At she diagnosed me with idiopathic ulnar neuropathy. Because we went through all the tests, all the blood work tests, the MRIs of my neck, you name it, trying to find a reason for this to have happened suddenly , which we never came up with a reason. I ended up getting an ulnar release on my right side that helped the pain. And, but I was officially retired March 31st. Of 2016. So within 90 days I found out I had basically permanent neuropathy in my hands. That was with a sudden onset and I was retired, but out. Tyson E Franklin: How old were you then? Dana Cardinas: I was, at the time I was 46. Tyson E Franklin: Unexpected. Yeah. Dana Cardinas: Very unexpected. That was not on the [00:23:00] bingo card for that year, Tyson at all. Tyson E Franklin: It's, yeah, it's like those yeah, one of those things like death pill, you people bet on who's gonna pass away that year. You never would've thought in 2015 and we had caught up in October, 2015. Yeah, within six months you'd be retired. That'd be it. And I still remember the photo of us in 2015 where I had my cactus shirt on. Remember before, before we went out into the desert and you thought it was hilarious. Dana Cardinas: I just, that photo just popped up on my phone as a memory the other day. Yes. Tyson E Franklin: It is a great photo. Dana Cardinas: It's the best. Yeah. And Tyson E Franklin: I always tell people that too, that it's one of those things, just life in general, you don't know. What's going to happen. And it's, and you can't sit there in fear thinking, oh, is this going to happen? But every now and then you will be thrown a, a curve ball and it's how you bounce back. Dana Cardinas: Right. It's true. I I was not expecting the curve balls that would happen [00:24:00] after that. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah, for sure. I know there were more curve balls. Dana Cardinas: And they kept coming for a while. But, so here I am, I'm done. I had no idea what I was gonna do next. So tried a few things here and there, but it just didn't, that, it just didn't, wasn't supposed to pan out, to be honest. It just wasn't supposed to because. In January of 2018 I was having some pain in my abdomen, my lower abdomen like right lower quadrant pain, and I kept putting it off to, oh, it's probably gas. It's probably this, it's what we all do as physicians. Ah, I'm fine. It's whatever. Yeah. We think we know. And so, my wife Becky said, will you just go get it checked out? You are really complaining about it, you should actually get it checked out. So I go see the GI doc, explain what I've got going [00:25:00] on, and he was like, you know what? It sounds like it's nothing because I did have a history of like acid reflux and some GI stuff. And he is like, it's probably nothing but let's just do an upper or lower endoscopy and let's just see. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. And were you the, and were you the windy one in the relationship? Dana Cardinas: Yes, most definitely. Tyson E Franklin: And that's why always when you had that pain, first thing you think, oh, it's just gas again, right? Yeah. Dana Cardinas: Just gas, whatever. Yeah. And so, I won't ever forget January 8th, 2018, I have my scopes and as I'm laying in recovery, waking up, I hear the GI Doc tell Becky. The upper is fine. She has colon cancer though. She has a large tumor in her colon. And I was like, and I just remember laying there thinking what the, [00:26:00] I have cancer. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. Be thinking of the same thing. Dana Cardinas: I have cancer, like the real cancer. And so, Tyson E Franklin: the real one. Dana Cardinas: Yeah, like the real one. So I ended up he couldn't complete the colonoscopy because the tumor was too big for him to pass it. So, that, that day was a blur. And then the next day I called my friend, who was a colorectal surgeon that I sat on a board with at one of the hospitals. And said, cliff guess what? I need you. And he basically said, I'll see you in the morning. And then right after that phone call, I called my good friend who is an oncologist who I used to call. When I got those reports back, you know when you do biopsies in the office and it comes back melanoma and you're like, oh shit, melanoma on a [00:27:00] toe. I don't need to be seeing this. Yeah. This is not my, she was the one that I would call to say, Heidi, who's the best oncologist? Oncological surgeon that needs this. She was my sounding board when I got those strange things back, and so I called her and said, Heidi. Guess what? I need you. And she said, okay, I'll see you when Cliff is done with you. And they literally became my team overnight. And they talked to each other before I even got to the, his office the next morning. They had a plan in place for me. And so I had CT scans. The next day saw him. I've come to find out I had a very large tumor that was over 10 inches long, and it was almost 99% occluding in my colon. So likely had I gone another couple of weeks, a month I probably would [00:28:00] not be here. Yeah. Because Dana Cardinas: it, it would've just ended me. So, then. Fast forward after that, he did surgery. I lost 27 inches of my ascending and transverse colon, but he was able to reconnect re anastomosis both ends so that I did not end up with a bag, which I wasn't excited about, if I was gonna have to have one. But if it kept me alive, okay, fine. Me, I would've made a ton of jokes out of it, and it would've been like, Tyson E Franklin: Oh, you've carried around like a handbag. Dana Cardinas: Oh God, yes. It would've happened. Yeah. But for me it did not have to happen. So, once I healed from that, six weeks later started chemo, went through eight months of chemo that was probably the worst thing I've ever been through. Because now let's flash back a little bit. Yeah. On the neuropathy part. [00:29:00] Okay. We didn't know at the time in 2016 why I had neuropathy. But after I retired and before I found out I was diagnosed with cancer, I kept breaking out on these full body hives. And I don't mean like itty bitty tiny hives, hives, massive four six inches hives all over my body. I was going through the treatment of trying to figure out what environmental food, what allergy did I have that was causing this. But in talking with my oncologist, she put all of my picture together. And what I had was perine neoplastic syndrome, which is rare. But it's the cancer that I had growing in me that I didn't know I had. Was causing the hives that gave me the wonderful neuropathy and a few other things. And so that's so that Tyson E Franklin: there are all signs of something else was actually happening anyway. Dana Cardinas: Yes. I just didn't, I just didn't know that's, and per neoplastic syndrome is something that is diagnosed. After the [00:30:00] fact. It is rarely something that some physician would put together and say, oh, you have cancer because you have all these things happening. Yeah. It just doesn't work that way. Yeah. Tyson E Franklin: Real cancer. Dana Cardinas: Real cancer. Yeah. Tyson E Franklin: A another friend of mine exactly the same diagnosis around exactly the same time and that's why I, I. Way back. I wanted to get you on here way, way back. And I said the same thing to him. I wanted to get him on the podcast as well. And he's not with us anymore. Right? Tyson E Franklin: He didn't, he he got the bag and last time I saw him was actually on my birthday. I had to make him breakfast on my birthday. At his house? Yeah, at his house. 'cause he said, I want your favorite breakfast that you make. And I saw him then. He said, oh, they've told me I've got heaps of time. I'm gonna beat this. Everything's gonna be absolutely fantastic. And five weeks later he passed away. Dana Cardinas: Yeah. Tyson E Franklin: [00:31:00] And so, yeah, that, and that's why, Dana Cardinas: and I'm, I'm sorry, I'm sorry to hear that. Tyson, I, that breaks my heart, Tyson E Franklin: but Oh geez. That's why I think it's important to talk about this. Dana Cardinas: It's hugely important because I'm lucky. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. Dana Cardinas: I know I'm lucky. I, when I was diagnosed stage three C. So I only had one more stage to go before I was stage four, and I was lucky that it had not spread to any other organs. But that was that I'm lucky in two regards in educating myself on colon cancer because as I was diagnosed, yeah, once you get past that first initial part of it and you get a plan. Once you get a plan, it's almost, that's when you can breathe. You can't breathe until you get a plan. But once you know [00:32:00] the, these, X, Y, and Z need to happen, and this is when we're gonna do it. That's when I started researching and and finding out more about the diagnosis and what does it mean and what does treatment mean and what am I looking at here? What, where am I gonna be here? And so, I was lucky enough that, someone else who had a family member that was going through colon cancer. She this wonderful person connected me with her and through her I got connected with a wonderful organization called Colon Town. And Colon Town is an online um, resource for patients that are going through colon cancer, but it's also for the caregivers and the, your, the spouses, the friends, anybody who is either affected by it, is a patient, any of [00:33:00] that. You can go to colontown.org to get more information about it. But I dove into it and it's right now it is on online, on Facebook. It's private. So you, everything we discuss in there, you, nobody else is gonna see it. It's just us. They are working their way off to a separate platform. That's even better, to be honest. But so I dove into it. And it made me feel better because I could talk to other people that were just like me, that were going through exactly what I was going through. But what the crazy part Tyson is while I'm going through chemo and my dang numbness is getting worse because the chemo that we have to go on that keeps us alive. Its number one side effect is peripheral neuropathy. Okay. And cold sensitivity. Oh God, it sucked. Oh, so my neuropathy went off the charts. Like, Tyson E Franklin: I shouldn't, I shouldn't be giggling when you say that. I, but you Dana Cardinas: [00:34:00] can because you, I mean you, oh God. The stories. But I would have my, had I ended up with full facial numbness, my tongue was numb most of the time. My, my chest was numb. Just there wasn't much of me that wasn't numb except my butt. Go figure. So there were so many questions that would come up in this group about how to deal with neuropathy that I noticed I was answering them because it was what we treated. And I knew the answer and I knew what could help. 'cause I was helping myself. That I reached out, eventually reached out to the creators of Colontown because in Colontown there's these little neighborhoods. So if you're stage four, you're in a certain neighborhood, so you can just have those specific conversations. Or if you are a certain genotype, then you have those conversations in that trials group maybe. And so I said, Hey, can I start a group for neuropathy? And they were like, yes, please, because we all have it. [00:35:00] And so I started a group inside Colon Town that is only for neuropathy and I it. Warms my heart because we have, within that group now created some treatment processes for those that are now going through chemo with the certain drug that we have to take where we now ice our hands and our feet so that it's reducing the neuropathy that people are getting now. And we started that as a patient led. Research project basically, and it is now becoming standard of care and it's the most fucking awesome thing I think I've ever done in my life. Tyson E Franklin: I think that is absolutely fantastic and what I like about it is you've used your knowledge in your experience as a Podiatry to actually help this group of people. Dana Cardinas: Yeah. Tyson E Franklin: I didn't see [00:36:00] that Dana Cardinas: coming. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. Right. Dana Cardinas: Unexpectedly. I didn't see it coming. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. I always say everything's supposed to happen for a reason. Exactly. And sometimes I do question a lot of things that happen and I like to think there's a reason behind it. Yeah. My dad passed away when he was 49. I was only 17. I kept thinking, where's the reason? And that, yeah, Tyson E Franklin: there's certain things I changed in my life around that time afterwards that I wouldn't, probably wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now or had the career I had if. I hadn't got that kick back then. Yeah. I would've had a different path that I was on. So I think it's the same with you. You've had a few crazy things happen and now you're on this completely different path. So when did you get the the tick, the all clear Dana Cardinas: so I got the all clear? October of 2018. That we call it no evidence of disease. Yeah. Because I'm a stage three CI never get cured. I, I will forever, my whole life be monitored. [00:37:00] But I've been clear ever since. I just saw the, my oncologist, in fact, I retired, my friend she left me to go travel the world and so I'm working, I'm breaking in a new one, and I like her a Tyson E Franklin: lot. So how often needs to get checked? Dana Cardinas: So now I just graduated, so once a year. Woo. It's awesome. Tyson E Franklin: That is good news. Dana Cardinas: I know it is. Tyson E Franklin: So now, now you've got through all that and retired from Podiatry, your Helping ColonTown I, oh, by the way, I love that t-shirt. Was that your design? That t-shirt? Dana Cardinas: The. Tyson E Franklin: The one I read out before that says colorectal cancer awareness, because that shit matters. That shit matters. Yes. Tyson E Franklin: That's a great t-shirt. And then you've got, on the t-shirt, you've got all the names of what people who have had colon cancer, what they would call their poo. Dana Cardinas: Yeah, their poo. And Tyson E Franklin: I like dookie. I haven't heard dookie for a while. [00:38:00] Dana Cardinas: Oh my gosh. The stink pickle. That's my favorite one. Tyson E Franklin: That's my favorite one. I like the Corn Eyed butt snake that this is all by the way. People just let you know this is all on a t-shirt, which I think is very funny. Um, Code brown goat pellets nuggets. Dana Cardinas: I did, I asked all of my friends, okay, what do you call it? And I had my good friend Lauren, who is a graphic artist I said, okay, Lauren, here's all the name here. Here's what we call it. And I used the poop emoji and put it all in there. And he did a phenomenal job. Tyson E Franklin: In the show notes, I'm gonna put a copy of this shirt, the front and back because it is a hilarious shirt. And I think you give everyone a bit of a laugh too. I like the head of, they have put here turd. It's basic. It's basic. It's very basic. And somebody else did put shit. Dana Cardinas: Yes. Tyson E Franklin: Basics. I dunno what a shoey is. That's a little bit weird. In Australia shoe's called a [00:39:00] Completely a shoey is drinking a beer out of a, out of a jogger. That's called a shoey. Oh Dana Cardinas: No. A shoe chewy that, yeah, that's a stinky one. Yeah. Whoof, that's That's a big one. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. Ah, that's like shoe fly pie. Dana Cardinas: No, Tyson E Franklin: No, that's completely different. That's actually quite nice. Dana Cardinas: Good. That's awesome. Have you had Tyson E Franklin: that? Have you had shoe fly pie? I Dana Cardinas: did when I was in Philly. Yes. Yeah. Tyson E Franklin: Yes. That's pretty good in the I got it. Good. I got it from this town called Intercourse. Dana Cardinas: I, that's where I had it too. That's right next to Birden hand. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. Where the arm where the Amish. The Amish had the shop there. Yes. And they were selling shoe fly pie where I Dana Cardinas: had it. Yeah. That's awesome. Tyson E Franklin: And people don't think this podcast is education. Dana Cardinas: There's so much education here. Tyson E Franklin: Some people think this show's not educational. Dana Cardinas: Tyson, I could go on and on about poop. Tyson E Franklin: So now you have your own business. You've set up something else called One Stop [00:40:00] Promotional Products. And if people are looking for it, it's one. The number one. One stop promotional products.com. Dana Cardinas: Yes. Tyson E Franklin: People can go check it all out. Actually, Dana Cardinas: either way, you can put one, the number one or spill out one both ways. We'll get you there. Tyson E Franklin: Oh, cool. Okay. I wasn't quite sure. So OneStop promotional products.com. So this is your business that you're doing now. All promotional products? Yeah. You are servicing mostly America. Do you ship it overseas or anything like that? Dana Cardinas: No. Right now we're not doing anything overseas 'cause it's a little too crazy for that right now. Yeah. But we do we are. Mostly 95% B2B. And we love it. We love it. We have two airlines and 175 active companies that we work with monthly. Oh, cool. And adding more, we add more weekly. It's a lot of fun. Tyson E Franklin: Who? Yeah. Well, I'm gonna order something and pick it up when I come over. In December. Dana Cardinas: Oh my God. Oh my God. And I'm gonna put [00:41:00] a big stink pickle on it. I'm gonna say you that right now, Tyson E Franklin: but the get ready. So how did you get into this? What was the OO Obviously like you retired young. Dana Cardinas: Yeah. Tyson E Franklin: And you, did you end up selling the practice? Dana Cardinas: I sold my shares in the practice. So the other docs were still there practicing. Yeah. And so they were not ready to retire yet, obviously. No, they were still doing it. They were, they, we were all pretty much the same age, so they were still doing their thing. So I, I sold my shares and got out. Tyson E Franklin: Okay. And then being young, as you still are. In my eyes Dana Cardinas: absolutely Tyson E Franklin: is this, how, why you, we gotta do something else. And that's how this came about. Dana Cardinas: It was totally by accident, a hundred percent accident. I go going through the cancer thing. I didn't do anything that year. Obviously. Yeah. Dana Cardinas: But in 2019 my wife and I were. Talking about, well, you know, let's, let's do something for fun. I'm getting bored. I need to do something with my hands. I like building things. [00:42:00] And somebody said, Hey, what, why don't you get one of those cricket machines and make signs? And a cricket machine is like a machine that you can send a design to. And it'll cut it out for you and then you can, put the vinyl or whatever Yeah. On side. Okay. That sounds fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so, I was just doing it for fun and our local Mexican food restaurant that we go to entirely too much. But I refuse to stop going. They were like family and they said, Hey, you're doing some fun stuff. Do, can you make t-shirts? Because their staff, their shirts were horrible. They were truly horrible. And I, that night, we said, you know what? We don't know how, but we'll figure it out. Yeah. Dana Cardinas: 'Cause they needed shirts, so we went home. We bought a cheap Amazon press. I watched about 10 YouTube videos and was like, screw it. Let's make some shirts. And so we literally did their, that year it was their Cinco de Mayo shirts and they all it said was [00:43:00] Margarita's Mexican restaurant on it. That's it, that's all it said. But we made them and they could not have been happier with them. And. Customer said, Hey, where'd you get your new shirt? And they said, Dana. And Becky. And then next thing you know, they, we got more business and more business. And it got to where we said we might need to figure out how to do this with more professional equipment. Yeah. And Dana Cardinas: so we upgraded to more professional equipment, as you can see behind me. Tyson E Franklin: Yep. You can see it all there. Dana Cardinas: And now we run two heat presses, two professional heat presses on a regular base daily and just added this fabulous two head embroidery machine behind me. So we didn't have to outsource that anymore. And so, we do apparel, no minimums in house, which is awesome. But then if you need things like pens or name badges or you name it, literally anything you can think of, [00:44:00] lip balm. Lip balm. Yes. Lip balm. Lip balm. Dana Cardinas: We work with wholesalers for that and so we can, we have access to over 2 million products, which is fun. Tyson E Franklin: I know when I was on the website having a look around there was, it was so much fun looking at everything. And I was think as a Podiatry business, and I've got some Podiatry. One particular Podiatry friend called Carly who just loves swag. But Tyson E Franklin: anything that's branded and got names on it. Right. Just, Tyson E Franklin: and I must admit, I've got so many t-shirts, I've got like 200 t-shirts that I won't part with half my t-shirts. I've picked up at events, podcasting conferences and I just love, I'm the same thing. I just love that sort of stuff. Dana Cardinas: Right. Well, and the so again. Something I didn't see heading my way was all the things that I learned at top practices in day freeze and reading Jim Palmer, all those things. That is [00:45:00] now what we do. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. Dana Cardinas: So we are that, that aspect of your business that keeps people top of mind. And that's the fun part because I have a little different spin on how we present products. I'm not gonna present you just a cheap cozy which a lot of companies will do because it's a cheap, cozy. Yeah. I'm gonna, if you are an electrician, I'm gonna present you something that is for your field that a customer is gonna want for the rest of their life they're never gonna get rid of. They're gonna keep it, and they're gonna call you over and over again. And that's why we keep getting business. Tyson E Franklin: Yeah that's a really good point. I've been to places where they'll have promotional products and it is cheap. I mean, You'll, you're trying, it's cheap. You're write with the pen and you've got RSI before you've written about the fourth word. 'cause it's just, there's so much resistance against the paper. Yeah. Or you'll bring something home [00:46:00] and your first time you use it, it just breaks. And to me, that makes a business look bad when they hand out crap swag. Exactly. Whereas if they hand a quality swag that you use again and again, then all of a sudden it, it actually puts that business in a positive light in your mind. Dana Cardinas: Right. And it keeps them top of mind. Yeah. Like, it truly does. Give them that up. Advantage over maybe somebody else. We and a lot of times I talk to customers, potential clients that say, okay, I want five different things. And I'm like, well, what's your budget? And they made me say, 500 bucks, $500. I'm like, all right, let's get one really good quality. Swag item. Yeah. For $500, let's not get a hundred of all these other little things, because all those other little things are gonna go in the trash. But this one really cool thing is gonna sit on somebody's desk and they're gonna look at it every day.[00:47:00] Tyson E Franklin: Yeah. I, well, I got stubby holders done stubby coolers. Your coozies as you call 'em over there 15 years ago before I sold the clinic. And I've still got a number of 'em here at home that I still use, and I've gone to people's places and I've seen them sitting with their stubby holders. Right. With a stubby in it. 15 years, after having them made. And they are still looking solid. They're still, yeah. Right. Dana Cardinas: Yeah. That's Tyson E Franklin: quality. Dana Cardinas: That's what we're all about. And that's one of our taglines is quality products only. That's the focus. Tyson E Franklin: I don't Dana Cardinas: want just walking around with a bunch of cheap shit. Let's go with some something good quality. Tyson E Franklin: Well think everyone listening to this, they that. To me that just applies to everything in life. Even your Podiatry business is provide a quality service. If you are gonna buy machinery, get the best that you can. Just get the best. Exactly. 'cause it will last longer. Give the patients the best. Whether it's covering [00:48:00] material or what you're getting the orthotics made of, just do, I think just always do the best you can. Dana Cardinas: Right, right. And if it costs a little bit more, explain to the patient or the customer who, whoever you're talking to. Tell them, okay, it's, it costs more because there's more going into this one. I've there's more time. The product's better. The craftsmanship is better. There's education behind it. It's not just, oh, I went online and ordered a pin from I don't know where, and I don't know who makes it and whatever. Spend the time and talk to your patients, especially because if there's something that you should be offering, but you're not because you don't think they'll buy it, they're buying it on Amazon, so why can't they buy it from you? But it's a better product if you're getting it from a reputable vendor or you know that, okay, this product is a better product than what they're getting on Amazon. Why can't they spend money with you versus Amazon? [00:49:00] Tyson E Franklin: It's true, and even the pen that I use most. This one is from a Podiatry clinic friend of mine, sole focus in Toowoomba. Nice. Dana Cardinas: Ooh. It is a, it is my God. SAT is my top seller. This is a Tyson E Franklin: beautiful pen to write with. And whenever I run out she usually sends me a few more. Dana Cardinas: I'll get you some. Tyson E Franklin: Just, they just really good pens. It just the feel of it. And because, and she got the whole pen done, like in her corporate colors, what her clinic is all about as well. And yeah. And she said the same thing. Wanted a quality pen, wanted something. When people write with it, they go, I want another one of these pens when they run out. And that's exactly what I do. But I do see it so she doesn't have to send it to me. I'll just pick some up next time I'm down there. So on. On that note, I want to thank you for coming on the podcast, sharing what got you into Podiatry, what got you out of Podiatry, which I think is just as important and what you're doing there. And like I said at the start, I just, I've [00:50:00] always loved your energy. Love chatting with you. You're so much fun to be around. Dana Cardinas: Thank you, Tyson. I, well, same is right back at you. I think as soon as we met. There was no doubt we were going to be destined to be lifelong friends because we laughed too much together. For sure. So, and before we get off, I will just say this if you are 45 or older and you haven't had a colonoscopy, please get one. They're not scary. All you do is poop the night, the day before and everybody poops. So it's, that's not scary. But get it done. And if you are not 45, but you're having symptoms force your doc to get you in to get it done you really just need to get it checked out. So, it'll save your life. Tyson E Franklin: That is fantastic. So I look forward to talking to you again soon. Oh, and I'll see you in December anyway. Dana Cardinas: Yes. Can't wait. Tyson E Franklin: Okay. Talk to you later. Bye. Dana Cardinas: Bye.
