#303 – Living with MS: Personal Stories and Insights for World MS Day
Welcome to Episode 303 of the Spun Today Podcast—your home for honest conversations about writing, creativity, and the journeys that shape us. I’m your host, Tony Ortiz, and today we’re releasing a truly special episode to honor World MS Day.
In this heartfelt conversation, I sit down with my wife, Zoila Ortiz, to share her powerful story of living with multiple sclerosis. We dive deep into her first symptoms, the uncertainty of diagnosis, and the emotional and physical challenges that come with MS. Zoila walks us through her search for information, the importance—and dangers—of online self-diagnosis, and the strength found in community.
Through candid discussion, Zoila offers an inside look at adapting to adversity, the rollercoaster of medications (Glatiramer by injection (Copaxone) and Fingolimod (Gilenya) to the current day infusion Rituximab which is a monoclonal antibody). We touched on clinical trials, and the vital role of support systems. She talks openly about how MS can impact confidence, independence, and daily routines—but also about how determination and a strong mindset can turn even the most daunting obstacles into new paths forward.
We dig into the importance of raising awareness, supporting one another, and using our platforms to connect and inspire.
Tune in for a conversation about resilience, empathy, and the healing power of storytelling—and learn how you, too, can advocate for others and yourself.
The Spun Today Podcast is a Podcast that is anchored in Writing, but unlimited in scope. Give it a whirl.
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Links referenced in this episode:
Follow Zoila: @melodyrosa2083
What is Multiple Sclerosis video from ASAP Science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naecv3h868c
To donate for MS research or partake in activities like Bike MS, Walk MS, or just to learn more, check out the National MS Society: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/
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Transcript
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Transcript 〰️
Zoila Ortiz [00:00:00]:
I used to fall going down the stairs. I lived in the third floor and like going down the stairs and carrying grocery bags like that was like climbing the Mount Everest. Like, oh my God, how am I gonna do this? And like thinking things through too much. Yeah, like when I never used to do that. It's like, what's going on with me?
Tony Ortiz [00:00:28]:
I vaguely remember like in the beginning, like stuff like that. What's up folks?
Tony Ortiz [00:00:51]:
What's going on? Welcome to the Spun Today Podcast, the only podcast that is anchored in writing but unlimited in scope. I'm your host Tony Ortiz and I appreciate you listening. This is episode 303 of the Spun Today Podcast. It is a special edition re release of a prior episode which I'll get into in a second, being released off my usual release schedule of every other Thursday because I wanted to do it for World Ms. Day, which is Saturday, May 30, 2026. Mississippi for those who don't know, is short for multiple sclerosis. It is an autoimmune disease which my wife was diagnosed with decades ago at this point and is who originally recorded this episode with me way back when we sat down, spoke about her experience with Ms. At that time.
Tony Ortiz [00:01:46]:
We released it originally while we were still engaged so many, many years ago. And it was for Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month, which is March if I'm not mistaken. But I found out about this World Ms. Day being May 30th and I thought it would be fitting to re release it. I'm re recording this brief intro now in 2026 to let you guys know that. And also just a heads up on the quality of the actual recording which I've re edited a bit, cut out the very long, completely unrelated original intro that I recorded at that point in time, or the extended intro before I got into the intro. Related to the interview itself. I think I spoke about a UFC event at first, like Misha Tate verse Holly Holm and Connor versus Nate Diaz or something like that, and broke that down.
Tony Ortiz [00:02:45]:
So yeah, I cut all that out. If you're interested in that kind of stuff and want to hear very embarrassingly low quality production of the Spawn Today podcast, go back and listen to episode 42, which was literally a couple hundred episodes ago. You're more than free to do so. But what I did with this episode was cut all that stuff out, try to elevate the sound quality. At least re edited the interview itself a bit just to cut off some of the dead air and the ums and Oz and things like that. So just Bear that in mind. You know, I did my best, you know, with a couple hundred episodes worth of higher production quality and editing capabilities. Not that I'm great at either of those things, but you know, a couple hundred episodes worth of experience, you should notice the difference or at least make it a better listening experience for you.
Tony Ortiz [00:03:38]:
And by way of an update on my wife, a couple things that I know have changed from the original recording would be the medication that she was on she was originally on. Well initially she had an injection that she would take. Then she was on Gilenia pill which was great and working really well for her. She would have some flare ups here and there as we'll get into in the episode. But since and as of a couple years now, she's been on an infusion called Rituxan, which is literally just twice a year and has had zero flare ups. They actually pushed her from twice a year to every nine months and I think now is switched off to just once a year. She has to go do these infusions which take several hours, but it's literally just once a year and has not had any relapses or symptoms the way she she used to. That's definitely, definitely a plus.
Tony Ortiz [00:04:37]:
Definitely something for folks to look into if you're ever diagnosed with Ms. Or if you know someone who is hopefully find that information helpful. She has since also a couple years back. Folks who listen to the podcast may know, but if you just stumbled upon this episode, you you wouldn't know. And it's obviously not something we covered during the interview because it happened many years later, but she was diagnosed with breast cancer and is an absolute trooper. We actually did an episode dedicated to that and everything that she went through, so definitely go back and check that out. But all in all, she's doing great. Life is not without its obstacles and bumps and bruises, but she's an absolute trooper.
Tony Ortiz [00:05:19]:
I always tell her the strongest person I know and really appreciate her taking the time to do this, even if it was many years ago. She's always been a ride or die day one supporter of the Spun Today podcast. So without further ado folks, I want to give a very special thank you shout out to my then fiance, now wife Zoil Ortiz, for doing this episode. Here's one way that you can help support the podcast if you so choose, and then we'll jump right into it. Another great way for you to help support the show and also take care of your foundational health is by going to sponsite.com support and clicking on my affiliate link for Athletic Greens aka AG1. One scoop of AG1 in your water helps to fill nutrient gaps, promote gut health and support whole body vitality. Just one serving delivers a comprehensive blend of nine products, a multivitamin, minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, adaptogens and more, all of which work together for the strongest foundation for better health. I personally take AG1 and really appreciate the peace of mind of knowing that my foundational health bases are covered even when I know I'm not eating as healthily as I should be.
Tony Ortiz [00:06:35]:
Also, by using my affiliate link@ Sponsor8.com support you will get one free year of vitamin D3 as well as five AG1 travel packs absolutely for free. Again, go to spunte.com support and click on the banner for AG1.
Tony Ortiz [00:06:55]:
If you guys see the title of this episode is Multiple Sclerosis. This is an episode that I put together with my beautiful fiance who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about six years ago almost and we wanted to put this out to help spread awareness. We're doing it now because March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. And in the episode we get into what exactly it is and there's actually links in the episode notes that you guys can check out for the National Ms. Society where you can check out additional information on it studies, cutting edge treatments you can donate. You can donate directly or become a part of like Bike Ms. Or Walk Ms. And like stuff like that, which obviously would be helpful for the cause.
Tony Ortiz [00:07:44]:
And I also linked a video that I played. It's like a two minute ASAP science video that I like that breaks down exactly what multiple sclerosis is and how it affects someone. I actually played it like early on in the episode so you guys are gonna listen to it anyway. But if you want to, you know, actually see the video because it has a visual, visual visuals and stuff to help explain it. The link for that is in the episode notes and that's pretty much it. Without further ado, here is the episode. Alright, so Zoiler Rosa, my fiance, as I mentioned in the intro that I haven't recorded yet, but it will after this is here to pretty much share her experience with having ms, which is multiple sclerosis. What's the word I'm looking for in observance? Not observance, but March is technically Ms.
Tony Ortiz [00:08:38]:
Awareness Month in awareness. That's what I was looking for. So we figured we would just have this conversation to make people aware. Yeah, to do do our, our part in spreading awareness to the, to the three people that Listen to the podcast, which is Soila herself, my brother. Hold the microphone close. I remember one of the things that you told me was that when you got diagnosed. But you like we'll get into all that. Like you stumbled upon videos and.
Tony Ortiz [00:09:14]:
Or actually after you were diagnosed when you found out about like the. That test pill. Right. It was like a video that you stumbled upon on YouTube or something like that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:09:23]:
No.
Tony Ortiz [00:09:24]:
The girl told you about, wasn't it?
Zoila Ortiz [00:09:26]:
No.
Tony Ortiz [00:09:27]:
Okay, so you want me to tell
Zoila Ortiz [00:09:28]:
you the whole story? Yeah, no, I googled it. I googled what Ms. Was. So I look up a whole bunch of videos on YouTube and never to do that. Cuz you get really creeped out.
Tony Ortiz [00:09:45]:
Like start like self diagnosing.
Zoila Ortiz [00:09:47]:
Yeah, like.
Tony Ortiz [00:09:47]:
Like that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:09:48]:
You know, there's always people that are worse than you and. Or better than you. You never know. It's different cases for everybody.
Tony Ortiz [00:09:55]:
Yeah. Which is always the case with everything, I think. But I see your point specific to this. So. All right, let's go back. You got diagnosed about five years ago, 2011. Yeah. Around there.
Tony Ortiz [00:10:10]:
Because like we're right around the time we started going out a couple months after and what a gift. So how was that? How was first. All right, there's a video that everybody should. That doesn't know what Ms. Is, should check out and I have it linked in the episode notes. You guys can check it out and I'll probably insert it right here.
MS Explainer Clip [00:10:34]:
This month, many countries around the world will be spreading awareness on multiple sclerosis, or ms, a disease that affects millions of people worldwide. But what exactly is multiple sclerosis? Ms. Primarily affects the central nervous system, which consists of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. Just about everything you do depends on this system functioning properly, from breathing to moving and even watching YouTube videos. And these actions are all facilitated by neurons throughout your body cells, which we've talked about many times in our previous videos. These neurons are able to send signals all throughout the body at incredible speeds, in part because of the fatty coating that surrounds them, something called myelin, or the myelin sheath. This myelin insulates the impulses and allows the nerve signals to reach their destination. However, in the case of ms, this is where the issues occur.
MS Explainer Clip [00:11:18]:
The immune system is designed to fight off disease from viruses, bacteria, parasites, or other agents, and does so by distinguishing these things from healthy tissue. But in the case of ms, the immune system ends up attacking the myelin in what is classified as an autoimmune disorder. This process of demyelination can lead to a buildup of scar tissue, hence the word sclerosis. The CNS then becomes unable to send and receive signals properly. Messages traveling along the neurons may be slowed down, distorted, or stopped altogether. Because of the varying locations and nature of demyelination, the symptoms of Ms. Are incredibly diverse. They can range from muscle weakness to decreased coordination, fatigue, vision problems, numbness, or even paralysis.
MS Explainer Clip [00:11:58]:
Though an MRI scan of the brain to look for lesions or scarring is integral to diagnosis, for some, the symptoms come as acute episodes, while others experience more chronic and permanent symptoms, which worsen over time. At this point, no true cause or cure is known, while potential links to environmental factors, viral infections and genetics have been found. Studies are ongoing and not yet conclusive. And while there has been a lot of work towards not only alleviating some of the symptoms, but slowing their progression, sadly these treatments do not work for all Ms. Sufferers. Ultimately, bringing light to this issue in an effort to support and fund research is an incredibly important step to erasing Ms. And though many of us will never truly understand the challenges of living with ms, we can work together to raise awareness. We would be so grateful if you could take a moment and pass this video on to your family and friends and join in the effort to end Ms.
Zoila Ortiz [00:12:48]:
Which explains what Ms. Is.
Tony Ortiz [00:12:49]:
Which explains what Ms. Is exactly, because
Zoila Ortiz [00:12:52]:
I honestly don't even know myself that much and I've been with for about
Tony Ortiz [00:12:58]:
five years and pretty much like my understanding of it. And again, guys, check out the video which I just played in the middle of the podcast so you didn't really have a choice, but pretty much it's. We all have an immune system, obviously, which fights off viruses and, and diseases. And Ms. Is known as a autoimmune disease because of the fact that your own immune system attacks your body. And the way specifically that it does it is that we all have something called a myelin sheath which wraps around the neurons in our central. In. Yeah, pretty much the nerves in our central nervous system, which is the brain spinal cord and brain spinal cord.
Tony Ortiz [00:13:47]:
And something else makes up the central nervous system. I forgot what the other part is, but brain and spinal cord pretty much. And the neurons in there, or all neurons have a protective tissue around it called the myelin sheath. And the neurons are pretty much like electrical impulses that your body uses to communicate with itself. And you know, if you want to move your arm, there's a electrical impulse that goes off in your brain that alerts your arm to move or whatever, right? And those impulses are happen between the neurons and axons and dendrites and shit like that, which is all part of a neuron. And the myelin sheath protects. Is like a protective layer or insulation that allows those impulses to. And those messages to get delivered.
Tony Ortiz [00:14:35]:
So when you have ms, your immune system mistakes the myelin sheath. And as a disease or as a virus, so it attacks it to. Like, it does with, like, when you have a cold or something, your immune system attacks the cold, so your immune system attacks the myelin sheath. And that create, you know, it fucks up the insulation of the nerves. And that creates a scar tissue when it's. It's like healing itself and that scar tissue in turn. Now the messages and impulses that your neurons are trying to send through each other because it has, like, gaps and it's. The myelin sheath is fucked up, the insulation is fucked up.
Tony Ortiz [00:15:17]:
So the message is not, like, going through as clearly as it should. That's where the symptoms of a mess come from, which being that it's part of your central nervous system, which is your entire brain and your spinal cord, depending on where your immune system attacks. And the different areas of your brain then translate into different types of symptoms. That's why symptoms for one person with Ms. Could be completely different from symptoms of another person with Ms. And you could tell us a little bit about your symptoms.
Zoila Ortiz [00:15:49]:
Good job, babe. I didn't even know that much, but. Well, I started feeling, like, really weird, you know, when you're not all there. So I started thinking more than normal. Like when I was going down the stairs and I used to feel numb,
Tony Ortiz [00:16:09]:
like, thinking twice about it, right? Like, when you're going down, it's like,
Zoila Ortiz [00:16:11]:
oh, I have to go down a stair. And just finding the way to get down a stair. Like, you.
Tony Ortiz [00:16:17]:
And normally stuff that you don't even think about.
Zoila Ortiz [00:16:19]:
Yeah, you don't think about it. Just do it. But I felt, like, unbalanced.
Tony Ortiz [00:16:24]:
And that's a. That's a big symptom that's common people with Ms. Is. Is loss of balance.
Zoila Ortiz [00:16:29]:
And I couldn't wear high heels anymore. Like, I used to feel pain in my ankles, so I couldn't, like, handle heels. I used to fall. It was little things. And I used to feel numb everywhere. Like, first I used to feel numb, like, in my thumb, like, at the edge of my thumb. And that's it. Like, in my right hand.
Zoila Ortiz [00:16:54]:
And I used to feel, like, so big.
Tony Ortiz [00:16:57]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:16:57]:
Yeah. I was like, okay.
Tony Ortiz [00:16:59]:
Like, when you sleep on your hand kind of thing, like, that feeling that it feels, like, really fat.
Zoila Ortiz [00:17:03]:
The edge of your thumb and that's it.
Tony Ortiz [00:17:06]:
That's weird.
Zoila Ortiz [00:17:06]:
I used to feel like, cold. Like really cold.
Tony Ortiz [00:17:09]:
Like, how, how often would you feel that? Like every day you would have that feeling. Okay.
Zoila Ortiz [00:17:14]:
It used to be non stop. And then like it used to go away. Like all of a sudden I used to leave. And then I used to feel like, different symptoms.
Tony Ortiz [00:17:24]:
But then like, let's say, let's say one, one time when you had the thumb, the numbness, and you had it for a certain amount of time, then it would go away for like how long? Like a day, a week, or just random?
Zoila Ortiz [00:17:37]:
Well, like I had a period of time that I was feeling. Like all the symptoms, like they used to vary.
Tony Ortiz [00:17:45]:
Okay.
Zoila Ortiz [00:17:46]:
Pretty much. But I didn't really know what I was feeling, so I. Drilling. Really?
Tony Ortiz [00:17:50]:
You would dismiss it? Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:17:52]:
Yeah. So I used to be like, oh, it went away so fine. Like I didn't really know how long it lasted, whatever. And what else I used to feel.
Tony Ortiz [00:18:04]:
And a fatigue is a common one.
Zoila Ortiz [00:18:07]:
It was like horribly exhausted. Like I couldn't walk. Like, I used to fall going down the stairs. I. I lived in the third floor and like going down the stairs and carrying grocery bags like that was like climbing the Mount Everest. I think, like, like, oh my God, how am I gonna do this? Like, thinking things through too much.
Tony Ortiz [00:18:36]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:18:37]:
Like when I never used to do that. It's like, what's going on with me?
Tony Ortiz [00:18:42]:
I vaguely remember, like in the beginning, like, stuff like that, like you walking and going down the stairs.
Zoila Ortiz [00:18:49]:
Because there's stairs everywhere.
Tony Ortiz [00:18:50]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:18:51]:
Like, and now I noticed now stairs were like my Achilles heel. Yeah, it was horrible.
Tony Ortiz [00:18:59]:
And then I saw. What was it? I saw a video of, of another chick with Ms. That was like. That the fatigue is like she was trying to like, compare it to certain things she was saying. She said the balance is like if you're drunk and you like off balance, but you try to like play it off, like you're not drunk and like you're not off balance. That, that was like the balancing that she felt that that's what she could compare it to. And the fatigue, I think she compared it to like being at the gym and like running on a treadmill, lifting weights. And then even if you lift up afterwards, like after you're done with the gym, but you're, you're tired and exhausted, you lift up like a feather, but that feather feels like so heavy because you're like so tired from like lifting other stuff that you can't even lift anything else.
Tony Ortiz [00:19:46]:
Like that's how the fatigue Felt for her all the time. Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:19:51]:
Like, from lifting. Nothing.
Tony Ortiz [00:19:54]:
And like, no matter how much you sleep and stuff like that, like, it doesn't go away.
Zoila Ortiz [00:19:58]:
It doesn't go away.
Tony Ortiz [00:19:59]:
Okay.
Zoila Ortiz [00:19:59]:
Never. And there's, like, so many things together that make it worse. Like, that all you want to do is sit down because you get numb after a while. You get numb everywhere. Like, your legs, they're always numb, like, 24 hours a day.
Tony Ortiz [00:20:17]:
It's like your whole leg, from your thigh to everything.
Zoila Ortiz [00:20:21]:
Plus, like, when I used to walk. I'm talking about walking, which is like three steps. Like, I used to feel like my stomach used to get hard. It's weird.
Tony Ortiz [00:20:32]:
And not like, six pack hard.
Zoila Ortiz [00:20:34]:
No, like, full of air.
Tony Ortiz [00:20:37]:
Okay. Like, bloated.
Zoila Ortiz [00:20:39]:
Feeling the numbness in the legs. And then, like, I used to get so tired that, like, after a certain amount of walking, I used to feel like my ankles used to, like, cross, go in inwards. It was weird. And, like, you have to sit down. I had to sit down. I don't know if. If it was in the floor or whatever, but I just had to stop walking.
Tony Ortiz [00:21:04]:
That might. Remember I used to collapse when we went to the. The museum. Natural History or whatever. That was like our third date.
Zoila Ortiz [00:21:12]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:21:13]:
That you got really tired and it
Zoila Ortiz [00:21:15]:
was so hot in there.
Tony Ortiz [00:21:16]:
Yeah, because that didn't help.
Zoila Ortiz [00:21:18]:
It makes it exacerbate. It makes it worse.
Tony Ortiz [00:21:21]:
Like, flares it up and. Yeah. And.
Zoila Ortiz [00:21:23]:
But I didn't know what I had then.
Tony Ortiz [00:21:25]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:21:26]:
So I was, like, so exhausted, so tired, and Sonny's looking at me like, what the hell? This chick is mad lazy because she
Tony Ortiz [00:21:37]:
wanted to sit down in, like, every. Every spot, every room that we went to. Like, she would sit, like, under the exhibit. And I'm, like, looking around like, yo, this isn't even a seat. And there's like a rope there. What the is wrong with this chick?
Zoila Ortiz [00:21:48]:
Care. Because I thought that I was gonna collapse if I didn't sit down.
Tony Ortiz [00:21:51]:
And at that point, you weren't even diagnosed yet. And then I remember the biggest.
Zoila Ortiz [00:21:54]:
Even though I was sick and then that was weird, but I didn't know what was going on.
Tony Ortiz [00:21:59]:
And that's something. That's something that everybody should take away from this conversation. Like, little weird that you feel like, especially even myself. Like, I. I dismiss stuff, like, all the time. It's good to always, like, go to doctor and, like, check it out. And. And it's not good just to rely on, like, Google and stuff.
Zoila Ortiz [00:22:16]:
Never do that.
Tony Ortiz [00:22:18]:
I wouldn't say never, but I would say never. Never just Google something and be like. And think that's it, that that's your answer, whether it's a positive or negative. But it's so accessible that it's like, at least it gives you some sort of direction. As long as you take that information to a doctor.
Zoila Ortiz [00:22:33]:
Like with my symptoms and it's that restless leg syndrome. Yeah, that's not that bad. Yeah, that's okay.
Tony Ortiz [00:22:41]:
Yeah. And then was I gonna say, oh, yeah. Then when we were leaving, you, you. You were like. The car was parked, I remember, like three blocks away.
Zoila Ortiz [00:22:49]:
No, I was so exhausted. I just needed to sit, like for 10 minutes without being judged by Tony. So I went into the bathroom. The girl. I don't even know how I got in there because I was so tired that I couldn't even move. Move two steps. So I went into the bathroom and I sat in the toilet for like five minutes.
Tony Ortiz [00:23:10]:
I don't remember.
Zoila Ortiz [00:23:11]:
Just to get strength to get up, to get out of the bath.
Tony Ortiz [00:23:15]:
To walk outside.
Zoila Ortiz [00:23:15]:
Yeah, to walk out of the bathroom. And then I was tired again. It's like non stop. It's a non stop cycle.
Tony Ortiz [00:23:23]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:23:23]:
Like you're just thinking about the next step. Okay, how am I gonna get there?
Tony Ortiz [00:23:28]:
That sucks. Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:23:29]:
Yeah, it was hard.
Tony Ortiz [00:23:30]:
And then at that point, like, not knowing, I remember we get outside and then you would tell me, like, no, you go get the car and come get me.
Zoila Ortiz [00:23:38]:
You know, the car was like parked really far.
Tony Ortiz [00:23:41]:
Yeah, it was probably like three to five blocks or something like that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:23:44]:
In the city, I used to sit down. I used to get like enough energy to walk a little bit more, but I had to sit down first. It's like.
Tony Ortiz [00:23:53]:
And then. But meanwhile in my head, I'm like, you're this lazy, yo. You seriously sitting the whole time, throughout the whole fucking thing. And now she's something with myself. What the fuck kind of chick is. I'm definitely not seeing her again and blah, blah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:24:04]:
Outside, like, there was no place to sit. And it was like Woodhaven, the street. And you were on the other side,
Tony Ortiz [00:24:12]:
as wide as Woodhaven. But it was in the city.
Zoila Ortiz [00:24:14]:
Yeah. So imagine you're exhausted. You feel like you're gonna collapse. There's no place to sit and I have to go across the street. Street.
Tony Ortiz [00:24:24]:
A long, nice street and a million cars.
Zoila Ortiz [00:24:28]:
And how am I going to walk? What if I collapse in the middle of the street?
Tony Ortiz [00:24:31]:
Like.
Zoila Ortiz [00:24:32]:
Yeah, that's how exhausted you feel. Like you feel like you're going to collapse if you give one more stop.
Tony Ortiz [00:24:37]:
I remember then you got in the car, you like, knocked out.
Zoila Ortiz [00:24:40]:
I was so exhausted. Just the thinking of how to get over there across the street and you know, all these things and you don't know what's going on with you.
Tony Ortiz [00:24:50]:
Yeah, I must have been thinking like
Zoila Ortiz [00:24:51]:
so much weird, like, oh my God, what is going on? And like, I remember one time I was like showering and I put my feet into the water and it started jumping like crazy. Like my foot, because it was cold, the water. And I'm like, yo, what the. What the hell is this? Like, what's going on? It's like weird things, little symptoms that you don't realize is all a common thing.
Tony Ortiz [00:25:22]:
That it's all like related.
Zoila Ortiz [00:25:23]:
It's all related.
Tony Ortiz [00:25:24]:
Yeah, it makes sense because your foot jumping, you being tired, your thumb being numb is like, you don't see a connection. Especially without knowing what the fuck Ms. Is or how it works and like, stuff like that. And then, let me see, another symptom of it is bladder control, which I know you, you have to pee all
Zoila Ortiz [00:25:43]:
the time, but now I do it. Like I'm paranoid now. Before, I used to have to really go, like drinking water right now and then having to go like five seconds later.
Tony Ortiz [00:25:54]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:25:55]:
Cuz I can't. Well, I couldn't hold it that much. Now I could control it more, but I still have that urgency to pee.
Tony Ortiz [00:26:03]:
Yeah, yeah, you definitely got way better with that camera. Before it was like, I gotta go, I gotta go. It's like running to the bathroom. What else? All right, so memory alarm. Was I gonna say?
Zoila Ortiz [00:26:19]:
And then the memory is one of those things too.
Tony Ortiz [00:26:22]:
Oh, your memory's not that great.
Zoila Ortiz [00:26:23]:
Sometimes my memory sucks. Well, it used to look bad, but it was because it was naturally bad, not because of Ms. But like, there's little things that I forgot that I shouldn't forget.
Tony Ortiz [00:26:39]:
Like what? Can you think of an example?
Zoila Ortiz [00:26:42]:
Like if I have to do something, you know, something important, maybe I totally forgot. Like now I'm not that bad.
Tony Ortiz [00:26:51]:
You ever forget my name?
Zoila Ortiz [00:26:53]:
No, but little things, like, I might forget. Like, let's say I had a friend in college for four years. Like, I know that person's name. Like, really? You telling me I don't know that person's name? I've known that person for four years. Like, you know, and it's like, oh my God, I have to rack my brain.
Tony Ortiz [00:27:17]:
I forget like that all the time. You just need to.
Zoila Ortiz [00:27:20]:
No, but when you re. When you hang out with a person every day, like really, you're going to forget that person's name. Like. Like, it's like things like that, you know, like it's not normal, but. I don't know. Things I forgot to mention.
Tony Ortiz [00:27:38]:
And now let's see, what else? Any other symptoms that you could think of? Those the only one.
Zoila Ortiz [00:27:42]:
Well, then I started getting really bad. Like, this is all. Before I went to the doctor and told me what was going on, whatever. I used to sit down, and then when I got up, I used to get this spasm in my face. Like, it felt like I couldn't move. I had to wait a second.
Tony Ortiz [00:28:02]:
Like, in your face? What do you mean? Like, twitching?
Zoila Ortiz [00:28:05]:
No, it was like. It was like my brain used to freeze for a few seconds. It was horrible. And it was so painful.
Tony Ortiz [00:28:13]:
Yeah. Like brain freeze. It would feel like.
Zoila Ortiz [00:28:15]:
Like brain freeze. Yeah. You see when you get, like, brain freeze that you. You can't move.
Tony Ortiz [00:28:20]:
Yeah. Okay, okay, okay. Like, your face. You can't. You like.
Zoila Ortiz [00:28:22]:
Ah. And my eyebrows used to, like, go up like that.
Tony Ortiz [00:28:28]:
And I used to like a Puerto
Zoila Ortiz [00:28:30]:
Rican, like, that, like, freeze. It was so scary. And it used to happen every time that I was getting really bad. It used to happen every time I used to get up after being, like, sitting down for a minute, and I used to get up and I had to, like, wait a few seconds, and I used to get the spasm. Then my. My dad saw it once.
Tony Ortiz [00:28:50]:
He's like, this is why you were in the yard?
Zoila Ortiz [00:28:53]:
No.
Tony Ortiz [00:28:54]:
Okay.
Zoila Ortiz [00:28:54]:
No, I was here already.
Tony Ortiz [00:28:56]:
He was here, like, visiting and shit.
Zoila Ortiz [00:28:59]:
No, I already had moved here, but I have recently moved. I had, like a month here. And my dad was like, what's wrong with you? And I'm like, I. I couldn't even speak. Like, I had to wait until it was over. That's how bad it was.
Tony Ortiz [00:29:16]:
Like, how many times did that happen?
Zoila Ortiz [00:29:17]:
Like, it happened for a week or so. And after that, after I used to get that, I knew I had to go to the doctor asap.
Tony Ortiz [00:29:26]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:29:26]:
Because all of the symptoms were freaking me out and weird.
Tony Ortiz [00:29:31]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:29:32]:
It was like too many things happening that you were like, what the.
Zoila Ortiz [00:29:35]:
And my dad noticed, so, you know, it's not like it's me.
Tony Ortiz [00:29:39]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:29:40]:
Thinking about it. So then after that, I went to. I didn't have health insurance because I just came from Dr. Fresh off the Boat. Fresh off the boat. I was an immigrant, so I didn't have any health insurance. So what am I gonna do? I'm not gonna go to the emergency room last 10 hours for them to tell me nothing. So thank God that my sister told the lady from hr, from her job, and she looked up, like, free clinics.
Tony Ortiz [00:30:16]:
Okay.
Zoila Ortiz [00:30:17]:
From churches and stuff. And I was like, okay. So they used to give it, like, once a week. So that was like a. Maybe a Monday or so. And it was on Wednesdays only, so I had to wait until Wednesday on that week. And I was, like, so happy that it was free.
Tony Ortiz [00:30:35]:
Hold on my close.
Zoila Ortiz [00:30:37]:
I was happy, though, that it was free and that I could see somebody.
Tony Ortiz [00:30:43]:
Yeah. And what they tell you. So it was just like a regular general doctor, not a neurologist.
Zoila Ortiz [00:30:49]:
It was. There were several doctors there, and they ask you if you have any health insurance or whatever. And I told them no. And they asked you, like, a brief history of what's going on. Well, the nurses sees you first. And then I went to see a doctor, and I told them all the symptoms. I was like, I know you're gonna think I'm crazy, but I can't feel my thumb. Like, the edge of my thumb.
Zoila Ortiz [00:31:15]:
And I told them all my symptoms. And when I walk, I feel really tired, and my belly feels really hard when I get exhausted. And I walk a certain amount. And he did, like, this test that. Now I'm very familiar with it. Like, I do it in the neurologist all the time. And he used. He took, like, a pen, and he, like, scraped the bottom of my foot, and it jumped like crazy.
Zoila Ortiz [00:31:45]:
And then he, like, pulled it, like spasm. Yeah, it was, like, crazy going crazy. And he was like, well, I think you need a MRI because I think you have inflammation in your brain. I was like, okay, Inflammation in my brain. I don't understand what that means, but. Doesn't sound that bad. I don't know why.
Tony Ortiz [00:32:08]:
Sounds horrible to me.
Zoila Ortiz [00:32:10]:
But, you know, like, I was. I was thinking other things.
Tony Ortiz [00:32:13]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:32:14]:
So I was like, okay. Inflammation on my brain. I don't understand.
Tony Ortiz [00:32:17]:
It doesn't sound like a crazy disease that you had heard of or something? Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:32:21]:
So I was like, okay. So when I was leaving the place, the girl asked me, do they have a diagnosis for you? And then she asked the girl next to her. I think she was a nurse or something. Like, what does this diagnosis mean? Because she was, like, trying to. She was just like a secretary, like, writing everything down. And she was like, oh, that's for Ms. And when I heard that, I was like, what? The only time I've. I've ever heard Ms.
Zoila Ortiz [00:32:54]:
Was Montel Williams.
Tony Ortiz [00:32:57]:
You serious?
Zoila Ortiz [00:32:58]:
He had Ms. That's the only, like, relationship I had with Ms. Like, that's the only time I've heard it. And I've heard, like, not good things.
Tony Ortiz [00:33:07]:
I never even heard of it before, too.
Zoila Ortiz [00:33:10]:
So that's the only time. And at least I knew something like, oh, what it was or whatever. So when I went home, I was devastated. When I heard that, I was like, oh, my God, what does that mean? Now I need to get an MRI
Tony Ortiz [00:33:25]:
to see if it really is that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:33:27]:
To see if it's really that. And then I started Googling everything. I saw people, like, with spines curved like an S. I saw people on wheelchairs. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm gonna be in a wheelchair. Like, really?
Tony Ortiz [00:33:44]:
That has to be scary.
Zoila Ortiz [00:33:45]:
It was horrifying. What? Oh. And then I called you, and I was like, we don't need to be together anymore because I think I have a mess. If you don't want to be with me, that's okay.
Tony Ortiz [00:33:56]:
I made the right choice.
Zoila Ortiz [00:33:59]:
And you were so sweet, babe. You're like, no, we gotta find out what's going on.
Tony Ortiz [00:34:03]:
Yeah, I mean, at that point, we
Zoila Ortiz [00:34:06]:
were, like, starting, so.
Tony Ortiz [00:34:07]:
Yeah. But I felt like at that point, what I based the decision on was if it wasn't because of the ms, like, everything else stays the same, minus the ms, would I stop seeing this girl? And the answer was no. So then I couldn't stop just because of that. Something that wasn't your fault, you know?
Zoila Ortiz [00:34:29]:
So thanks.
Tony Ortiz [00:34:31]:
Like, it. That's the right choice. All right, so then. Then you get your mri.
Zoila Ortiz [00:34:38]:
Then. I got the mri. First I had to get, like, insurance and stuff because the MRI wasn't going to be free. So that took, like, a couple weeks. They got it for me fast because I did, at 6, say that it was urgent and that I had inflammation in my brain and I needed an MRI asap. So they got it for me fast.
Tony Ortiz [00:34:58]:
I gotta say, it was a mass Health, right?
Zoila Ortiz [00:35:01]:
Mass Health. Yeah. Massachusetts.
Tony Ortiz [00:35:03]:
See is the Obamacare. Before it was Obamacare, it was Romney care in Massachusetts.
Zoila Ortiz [00:35:08]:
Medicaid. Medicaid for Massachusetts. It was awesome.
Tony Ortiz [00:35:12]:
It was. Rami used to talk so much about it.
Zoila Ortiz [00:35:15]:
And I got the mri, and then I went to see a. A doctor to read the mri, and she did say that it did look like it was Ms. And when I heard that, I was like, oh, no, what am I gonna do? Like, how can I stop this? Like, really? I can't stop it. And I told my dad, and then I had. They made an appointment for me. They told me I had to see a neurologist. Neurologist right away. Oh, that's another symptom.
Zoila Ortiz [00:35:51]:
Blurry or whatever.
Tony Ortiz [00:35:52]:
Slur speech.
Zoila Ortiz [00:35:53]:
Slur speech.
Tony Ortiz [00:35:54]:
The, the girl in the video I was, I was just talking about said the same thing that it's like, like slur speech. Like when you're drunk also like when
Zoila Ortiz [00:36:02]:
you're speaking has a lot of symptoms of being drunk.
Tony Ortiz [00:36:05]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:36:06]:
And. But you're not drunk at all.
Tony Ortiz [00:36:08]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:36:08]:
But everybody looks at you weird because you do. You, you're on balance and you talk weird and you tired. Just like a drunk.
Tony Ortiz [00:36:19]:
I know it's just serious. I never noticed you slurry your speech though, to be honest.
Zoila Ortiz [00:36:24]:
Like sometimes I do it, but not, not now. I don't do a lot of things
Tony Ortiz [00:36:29]:
now because of the medication I'm taking. We'll get there.
Tony Ortiz [00:36:33]:
We'll get there.
Zoila Ortiz [00:36:33]:
Really helpful but.
Tony Ortiz [00:36:35]:
Cuz I want to go through like the first medication and all that but.
Zoila Ortiz [00:36:38]:
And I had to wait the longest time to see the neurologist for the first time.
Tony Ortiz [00:36:43]:
Like a few weeks.
Zoila Ortiz [00:36:44]:
I had to wait like couple months, a month and a half.
Tony Ortiz [00:36:46]:
Damn.
Zoila Ortiz [00:36:47]:
Which was a long time because I was feeling yucky and.
Tony Ortiz [00:36:50]:
Yeah. And at that point you just had a diagnosis. You don't have any medicine, you don't have anything.
Zoila Ortiz [00:36:54]:
And they said that I had, I needed another mri cuz I had one of the brain and there was lesions in my brain which I didn't understand what the hell.
Tony Ortiz [00:37:05]:
Which lesions are. The scar tissue that happens from what we just spoke about. The mindless.
Zoila Ortiz [00:37:14]:
But I needed one of my spine and they told me if I wanted to get a spinal tap. But I did read that it was risky and very harsh that you feel really bad.
Tony Ortiz [00:37:25]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:37:26]:
And I, I just didn't want to go through that. I just wanted to start taking medication. I dealt with having Ms. Like okay, so what's the next step?
Tony Ortiz [00:37:38]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:37:39]:
So then I saw the neurologist and he, he said, so what are the symptoms that you're feeling? And I told them everything. And, and I told them, oh, and they told me that I have Ms. And he was like, no, don't tell me that. I want you to tell me your symptoms so I could make the decision.
Tony Ortiz [00:37:59]:
Yeah, that's a good doctor.
Zoila Ortiz [00:38:00]:
Have Ms. Or not? Because they're not, you know, neurologists. Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:05]:
That's not their specialist.
Zoila Ortiz [00:38:06]:
So they don't know.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:07]:
They could ballpark it, but it's not necessarily that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:38:09]:
Yeah. I mean it might be that.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:11]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:12]:
But he would be a bad doctor
Tony Ortiz [00:38:13]:
if he was just like, okay, you have a mess. So here, take this Ms. Pill.
Zoila Ortiz [00:38:16]:
Yeah. So after that I Went for a second opinion. He did say that he saw lesions in my brain and it did seem like it was a mess and that I had to start taking copaxin, which is the injection.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:31]:
Injection on a daily basis.
Zoila Ortiz [00:38:34]:
Daily.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:34]:
Like insulin type shit.
Zoila Ortiz [00:38:36]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:37]:
He put you on that right away?
Zoila Ortiz [00:38:39]:
Yeah. And he sent a nurse, like, well, you know, whatever the regimen is, the. They send a nurse to teach you how to inject yourself.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:49]:
And where'd you have to inject yourself? Your arm?
Zoila Ortiz [00:38:52]:
I had an auto injector, just place numbers of how deep the needle has to go. I had, like. I had instructions.
Tony Ortiz [00:39:01]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:39:02]:
I rotated the places throughout the week. Like, one day I used to do it. My thighs. Another day I used to do it in my hips, like, where the fatty area is. Another day in my arms, in the back of my arms, where the fat is. Stomach. The front of my stomach.
Tony Ortiz [00:39:24]:
I remember that. Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:39:25]:
Wherever the fats.
Tony Ortiz [00:39:26]:
And it was every single day.
Zoila Ortiz [00:39:28]:
Every day.
Tony Ortiz [00:39:28]:
You had to take it every day
Zoila Ortiz [00:39:30]:
at the same time.
Tony Ortiz [00:39:31]:
And then. Well, did he diagnose the type of Ms. At this point yet?
Zoila Ortiz [00:39:35]:
Yeah, he did because he said that it was relapsing. Remitting Ms.
Tony Ortiz [00:39:42]:
Versus.
Zoila Ortiz [00:39:43]:
Which is the. The first type, which one?
Tony Ortiz [00:39:46]:
If you have ms, that's the best case scenario. Ms. That you can. And then versus progressive ms, which is the worst. Those are more like symptoms. That event that, you know, it just gets worse, worse and worse, and eventually you could be paralyzed and like, those types of situations and die from it. Like. Was it Richard Pryor had ms? Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:40:06]:
I don't know what ms, which one he had.
Tony Ortiz [00:40:09]:
Yeah, me neither.
Zoila Ortiz [00:40:10]:
But I know he had. And he died of symptoms.
Tony Ortiz [00:40:13]:
Oh, you know what? You know who had ms, too? The attorney for Anon said from cereal. Yeah, the serial podcast. She. She had Ms. She had Ms. And something else, and she died. Christina Gutierrez. Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:40:26]:
All right. So they had to go take a piss. Speaking of bladder control. Sorry, who else? We're talking about famous people at Ms. Jack Osborne.
Zoila Ortiz [00:40:36]:
Jack Osborne, yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:40:38]:
Who? He was born. He. He went blind from one eye because the ms, like, attacked his neuro. His eyesight?
Zoila Ortiz [00:40:49]:
Yeah, yeah, his left eye or something like that, which is horrible. I still haven't. I haven't felt like, those type of symptoms. I do get, like, really blurry vision sometimes when I'm tired, but I guess that's a normal thing when you work with computers.
Tony Ortiz [00:41:07]:
Yeah. All right, so you had the remitting, relapsing, remitting. A mess. Then at this point, you got a second opinion.
Zoila Ortiz [00:41:17]:
I got a Second opinion. And he did say that it was the same thing. He looked at my MRIs and all that.
Tony Ortiz [00:41:24]:
And there was another neurologist.
Zoila Ortiz [00:41:26]:
Crazy. He looked crazy, though. But I took his word, you know, like, he seemed professional. So I got my second opinion. I started taking the medication, which is Copax1 Copaxone. It was so scary. Like, I felt sick.
Tony Ortiz [00:41:43]:
Yeah, cuz you have to inject yourself.
Zoila Ortiz [00:41:44]:
I have to inject myself every day. I was. I was feeling so symptomatic. Like I couldn't stand up, I couldn't take a shower. Like taking a shower was painful. Shaving my legs, like, I used to feel like I was. Like there was needles. Like little ants crawling up my skin when I used to shave.
Tony Ortiz [00:42:08]:
Fuck. Because of the razor or because of the numbness.
Zoila Ortiz [00:42:11]:
Okay, so when you touch your legs and you're numb, like, yeah, it hurts. I was still having that spasm. Every time I got up, I was falling everywhere.
Tony Ortiz [00:42:25]:
Like, falling out. Like you walk to the kitchen, you just collapse face first on the floor.
Zoila Ortiz [00:42:30]:
Not like, not so severe like that. But I used to collapse pretty much going down the stairs. It was the same way.
Tony Ortiz [00:42:40]:
Like, how often would you fall?
Zoila Ortiz [00:42:41]:
After a while, like, I didn't go anywhere, so not that much. But when I. In the beginning, I used to fall off, like going down the stairs. I used to collapse.
Tony Ortiz [00:42:52]:
Did you ever, like, hurt yourself?
Zoila Ortiz [00:42:54]:
No, because it was carpet.
Tony Ortiz [00:42:58]:
It was just like fall and you grab yourself type of thing. Or. Okay. It wasn't like tumbling, rolling down the stairs.
Zoila Ortiz [00:43:03]:
No, I used to hold on.
Tony Ortiz [00:43:05]:
Like, I'm thinking the. Like the old lady from Scary Movie when they run up the stairs and she throws a piano and then she runs up and grandma. And she throws the grandma. Not like that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:43:14]:
I like that.
Tony Ortiz [00:43:16]:
All right, so then you taking Kopax 1. I remember you took that. That for a while.
Zoila Ortiz [00:43:21]:
It took it for a year.
Tony Ortiz [00:43:23]:
More than a year, I think.
Zoila Ortiz [00:43:24]:
No, no, a year. Because I asked the doctor, yo, like, this is not making me feel better. I feel shitty every day. Like, when is this gonna work?
Tony Ortiz [00:43:33]:
Because the point of the medication, if I remember correctly, was so it could keep symptoms at bay. So you don't feel the symptoms as often.
Zoila Ortiz [00:43:41]:
I reduce lesions from your brain.
Tony Ortiz [00:43:43]:
Yeah. Which would in turn.
Zoila Ortiz [00:43:45]:
Yeah, yeah. Fix all the symptoms. But it takes a long time to actually work. Really long time. Until he told me it took about a year for me to even start feeling anything. And I was taking it for a year and I didn't feel anything. Well, I didn't. I stopped having the spasms so that
Tony Ortiz [00:44:05]:
stopped like the shit in your face, like your brain.
Zoila Ortiz [00:44:09]:
Yeah, that was like really bad. So it stopped. I was getting used to the routine, like every day injecting myself. Then I just got over it and I used to do it and try to forget about it. Yeah, try to do things.
Tony Ortiz [00:44:26]:
Did they recommend like any, anything else besides the medication, like a certain diet
Zoila Ortiz [00:44:31]:
or exercise to like try to eat healthy and. Which I didn't do. And exercise. Try to do certain exercises that I could do because I couldn't really run.
Tony Ortiz [00:44:44]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:44:45]:
I couldn't walk. But try like to lift my legs and certain heights and stretch. But like I was in so much pain. Hard to even get up in the morning. It was hard cuz like as soon as you get up you feel all this, like the numbness, which I think is besides the walking, because walk, walking gives you freedom to do anything, like to go anywhere and whatever. Which that was like the main symptom that I missed being able to walk anywhere was like. And feeling independent because every time I used to go anywhere I used to have to hang on to somebody.
Tony Ortiz [00:45:30]:
Yeah, I, I remember that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:45:32]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:45:33]:
So I wouldn't like your sisters to anybody.
Zoila Ortiz [00:45:36]:
Anybody who was with me. I used to hang on to them to not collapse or fall, whatever.
Tony Ortiz [00:45:43]:
So besides that, the, the numbness was
Zoila Ortiz [00:45:45]:
like the worst ones because it was non stop. Like it's not like it went away. Yeah, I used to feel huge. Like really big.
Tony Ortiz [00:45:54]:
Does it feel, is it like the same type of numbness like when you, you know, like sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night because I slept. I sleep on my arm and I'm like freaked out because I can't feel my arm.
Zoila Ortiz [00:46:03]:
You know when you go to the dentist and you get like that novocaine, you feel like your lips are huge. Yeah, like that. And like when you push it, you don't feel anything. But it hurts. Like if you, if you do it hard enough. Yeah. You feel like pinching. Yeah, in a way.
Zoila Ortiz [00:46:22]:
Yeah. But it's more painful than novocaine in your mouth.
Tony Ortiz [00:46:28]:
Fucking sucks.
Zoila Ortiz [00:46:29]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:46:30]:
And then. Okay, so then from Kopax 1, you found Jalenia. And I think that's how you found it, like on a video or some, some chick online told you about the test study thing for Jalenia.
Zoila Ortiz [00:46:46]:
I don't recall how exactly it happened, but I did. So I saw this girl is the
Tony Ortiz [00:46:54]:
chick that draws right and has a podcast or something. What's her name?
Zoila Ortiz [00:46:57]:
JP? Matt.
Tony Ortiz [00:46:58]:
Okay. Metz or something like that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:47:00]:
I think TZ yeah. JP met.
Tony Ortiz [00:47:03]:
She has, like, a YouTube channel online. You guys can check it out.
Zoila Ortiz [00:47:06]:
She has Ms. Herself, and she did a video. It was so funny. Like, I wish I could find it again.
Tony Ortiz [00:47:12]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:47:13]:
Like, explaining what Ms. Was. And I found this so hilarious. So I wrote back to her and I was like, oh. It was like, I have Ms. Myself. And thank you for making me laugh because that was really cool. And explaining what it was.
Tony Ortiz [00:47:28]:
Yeah, that's awesome.
Zoila Ortiz [00:47:30]:
So she wrote back, and I was so happy that she wrote back. I was like, oh, my God.
Tony Ortiz [00:47:34]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:47:35]:
Like, she was famous.
Tony Ortiz [00:47:36]:
You feel like a famous. Yeah, exactly. She said that's how people feel when I write them.
Zoila Ortiz [00:47:41]:
Thank you. I'm so happy that you feel the same way. Whatever. Like, good. Whatever. But she was, like, so funny because she made it seem like if you want to accept it, you accept it. If you don't, then go yourself. Yeah, it was funny.
Zoila Ortiz [00:48:00]:
So after a while, like, I just. I don't even know what brought the conversation, but she told me that she was taking this medication that wasn't approved, FDA approved, but she was on a trial, I think. I asked her what she was taking because she had the same Ms. As I was.
Tony Ortiz [00:48:22]:
Remitting. Relapsing.
Zoila Ortiz [00:48:24]:
Yeah, relapsing, Remitting.
Tony Ortiz [00:48:25]:
There you go.
Zoila Ortiz [00:48:27]:
And she told me she was taking an injection before, but she didn't have any health insurance, so she was paying it herself or whatever, which I. I found, like, really crazy because it's so expensive.
Tony Ortiz [00:48:42]:
No.
Zoila Ortiz [00:48:43]:
And then she told me. I don't know how she told me. I don't remember, but she told me about this trial that she was on, and she was like this. I'm taking an oral medication. And when I heard oral medication, because there was no oral medication. There was only injections that you had to do every day. That was the only medication that you could take.
Tony Ortiz [00:49:04]:
Damn.
Zoila Ortiz [00:49:05]:
So I had no choice.
Tony Ortiz [00:49:06]:
That was the only thing that was FDA approved.
Zoila Ortiz [00:49:08]:
Approved. And she said, I'm taking an oral medication, and I think it's going to be approved by next year. And I'm talking to her, like, in October, she said, maybe by next year. February. And I'm like, was she saying that
Tony Ortiz [00:49:22]:
it was good or.
Zoila Ortiz [00:49:23]:
She said it was amazing. Like, she took it for two weeks and she already started feeling better. And I was like, oh, my God, that's what I need. I need that. How can I get that? And she was like, well, it's gonna be approved, so just tell your neurologist. That conversation happened, and that conversation changed everything.
Tony Ortiz [00:49:48]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:49:50]:
Like she doesn't know what she did. Well, I told her afterwards. I did thank her and everything, but, like, she doesn't actually know how much she changed. Yeah, my life right there with just that conversation. That little conversation.
Tony Ortiz [00:50:05]:
That's awesome.
Zoila Ortiz [00:50:05]:
That she had.
Tony Ortiz [00:50:06]:
Well, maybe she'll hear this and she'll know, because everybody listens to this podcast, I'm sure.
Zoila Ortiz [00:50:10]:
Yeah. But a shout out to JP Metz.
Tony Ortiz [00:50:16]:
Yeah. Hell, yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:50:16]:
Thanks.
Tony Ortiz [00:50:17]:
Definitely.
Zoila Ortiz [00:50:18]:
Yeah. So after I spoke to her, I was really pumped and I had an appointment with my neurologist and I told him after I found out that the. The oral medication was actually approved. I don't know how I found out, but I think I was, like, looking into it, like, every day.
Tony Ortiz [00:50:38]:
But didn't you do it while it was still on trial? You did, because you got on a trial. Remember, they used to pay you for the trial or some.
Zoila Ortiz [00:50:43]:
Yeah, but I think it was approved already. It just needed to be on trial or something.
Tony Ortiz [00:50:49]:
It was because FDA approval goes in stages, so it's probably, like, approved in stage two or something. And it had to go through the last phase of approval.
Zoila Ortiz [00:50:56]:
But it wasn't. It wasn't still in trial. An error or whatever.
Tony Ortiz [00:51:01]:
It wasn't out for, like, mass distribution.
Zoila Ortiz [00:51:03]:
No, it was doing trials.
Tony Ortiz [00:51:05]:
Okay.
Zoila Ortiz [00:51:05]:
So my. I told my neurologist about it, and he did say, oh, we're gonna start a new trial with the pill. We're gonna let you know when that happens. When we started. I'm like, so really, like, he knew
Tony Ortiz [00:51:22]:
about it and everything.
Zoila Ortiz [00:51:22]:
Working nice. Like I'm. I could be able to take it or whatever in this trial. I didn't know what the terms were with the trial, but all I heard was that I was going to be able to take an oral medication and not have to inject.
Tony Ortiz [00:51:37]:
Was just like one pill a day.
Zoila Ortiz [00:51:39]:
Type of one pill a day. And since I. Good. I heard good things about it.
Tony Ortiz [00:51:44]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [00:51:45]:
From JP Mads, and I imagine.
Tony Ortiz [00:51:46]:
I would imagine, like at that point, you already. You take an injection, which is uncomfortable and inconvenient to begin with, and then doing it for a year and not feeling barely anything different. So any other option must sound good, especially if you're hearing good things about it.
Zoila Ortiz [00:52:01]:
Yeah. So I was crazy excited. I didn't hear anything, like, in a couple months, I believe. I don't remember, but because I forgot about it, I just used to inject myself and whatever. Then I. And then he called me and he told my neurologist. He called me and he told me, oh, we're gonna Start a new trial. Do you want to be a part of it? I was like, really? You're asking me? Like, just put me in that shit, like, right now, like, what you want me to do? He's like, we're gonna start it in a week.
Tony Ortiz [00:52:35]:
Nice.
Zoila Ortiz [00:52:35]:
You have to come in. It does have his terms, you know. You have to come in.
Tony Ortiz [00:52:43]:
It was a double blind placebo study. Some people were gonna get the pill, and some people were not.
Zoila Ortiz [00:52:48]:
People were gonna get the pill and some people were gonna get screwed and keep on taking the freaking injection.
Tony Ortiz [00:52:53]:
Yeah, the.
Zoila Ortiz [00:52:55]:
It worked. Like, we had to call a number and it was gonna randomly pick if you were gonna take the. The. Not the. The injection or be on the pill. And I was like, oh, it was gonna be for three months. If you had the injection, you were gonna have to be on the ejection for three months. But after those three months, then they were gonna give you the pill.
Zoila Ortiz [00:53:24]:
So you could still try the pill, but you had to be in the,
Tony Ortiz [00:53:29]:
you know, in the study.
Zoila Ortiz [00:53:30]:
In the study.
Tony Ortiz [00:53:30]:
The control study.
Zoila Ortiz [00:53:31]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:53:32]:
And if you could compare the two,
Zoila Ortiz [00:53:34]:
you will get it for three months for free and then continue taking it. They had to monitor you if you got the pill. They had to monitor you for six hours. Giving you EKGs and taking your pressure or whatever that. I don't know. They used to do a lot of things.
Tony Ortiz [00:53:55]:
Six hours. What? Just one time. Six hours or every week if you are approved.
Zoila Ortiz [00:53:59]:
No, just one time.
Tony Ortiz [00:54:00]:
Okay. Okay.
Zoila Ortiz [00:54:01]:
Just used to take it once, I remember. Okay. So then they called the. The phone number and I was waiting, and I was like. And the nurse, she looked at me and she gave me the thumbs up, and I was like, oh, my God. You don't know how much I prayed. I was like, oh, my God, please, I. If I get the.
Zoila Ortiz [00:54:22]:
The injection, I'm gonna die. Like, damn, I need to take this. It was like my only hope of something, you know, of a change. And when she said. She gave me the thumbs up and she was, like, smiling. The nurse. The nurse was awesome, by the way. Yeah, she was so nice.
Zoila Ortiz [00:54:40]:
I'm still friends with her on Facebook. She, you know, I told her that I'm doing really well and all that. So I took the pill for that day. I had to stay there for six hours and they monitor me or whatever, and I was feeling fine. I couldn't take the injection anymore, which, hallelujah. I didn't want to do that anyways. So I just put it away and I started taking the medication. And this medication was awesome.
Tony Ortiz [00:55:12]:
Like, how long did it take after you took the first pill?
Zoila Ortiz [00:55:14]:
After I took the first pill. I want to say the first pill, but no, it's not realistic. After a week. After a week, Stop.
Tony Ortiz [00:55:23]:
The seven pills.
Zoila Ortiz [00:55:25]:
After a week, I stopped feeling a lot of numbness. I was still feeling the numbness, but not as severe. I was noticing that I had, like, a little more energy. Like, the symptoms were there, but I don't know if it was the, you
Tony Ortiz [00:55:43]:
know, lamos Young of, like, just taking the pill.
Zoila Ortiz [00:55:46]:
Taking a pill that worked.
Tony Ortiz [00:55:49]:
I'm sure that has something to do with it, but obviously we see now the results of.
Zoila Ortiz [00:55:53]:
Yeah. And, like, little by little, I used to feel better. And then I had to go, like, every three months. Like, the first time, I had to go every
Tony Ortiz [00:56:05]:
weekend, week to check if
Zoila Ortiz [00:56:08]:
I was doing okay.
Tony Ortiz [00:56:09]:
To monitor you and see.
Zoila Ortiz [00:56:11]:
Monitor me. They used to pay me like 50. 50 bucks every time I used to go.
Tony Ortiz [00:56:15]:
Yeah, I remember that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:56:17]:
I used to go for an hour. They used to do the neurologist test or whatever. And I used to feel like the spasms used to go. Like they were still there, but they used to go down. I was able to, like, hit my nose and the doctor's thumb, like, finger. Like, I used to do that, like,
Tony Ortiz [00:56:37]:
point, like, touch the doctor's nose with
Zoila Ortiz [00:56:39]:
your finger, then touch the finger.
Tony Ortiz [00:56:41]:
Oh, and then touch the doctor's finger. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
Zoila Ortiz [00:56:45]:
Because I couldn't do that before.
Tony Ortiz [00:56:47]:
Damn.
Zoila Ortiz [00:56:47]:
I used to be like, I don't know how that works, but I couldn't do it.
Tony Ortiz [00:56:52]:
That's to do with, like, balance. And. Yeah, they tested.
Zoila Ortiz [00:56:55]:
I guess he did the. Like that. It did like, the drunken. If they ever stop me, they're gonna think I'm drunk or something from this bad. But I felt great after. After a week of taking it, I, like, I couldn't believe it.
Tony Ortiz [00:57:14]:
That's awesome.
Zoila Ortiz [00:57:15]:
After waiting a year for this thing to freaking work or do something that I could notice. And then after a week of taking a pill, feeling different, back to myself, back to normal.
Tony Ortiz [00:57:28]:
And if anybody. If anybody wants this pill, we'll be selling it at sponsor.com forward/pill. No, I'm joking.
Zoila Ortiz [00:57:37]:
They'll sue you.
Tony Ortiz [00:57:38]:
So then you.
Zoila Ortiz [00:57:40]:
This medication is Gilenia.
Tony Ortiz [00:57:43]:
There you go.
Zoila Ortiz [00:57:44]:
Gilenia. Or like, the real name is Fingola Mod. When I was taking it, which I like better than Gilenia.
Tony Ortiz [00:57:53]:
I like Gilenia because I can pronounce it.
Zoila Ortiz [00:57:55]:
Sounds funnier.
Tony Ortiz [00:57:56]:
That's like the pharmacological name or whatever.
Zoila Ortiz [00:58:00]:
Yeah. So it's Gilenia. And I take 0.5 milligrams of it. So it's a small dosage I think. I'm not even know. I don't even know if it's small
Tony Ortiz [00:58:09]:
or whatever, but it sounds small.
Zoila Ortiz [00:58:12]:
So what this does is that it suppresses your white blood count.
Tony Ortiz [00:58:17]:
White blood cell count?
Zoila Ortiz [00:58:19]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:58:20]:
So essentially your immune system.
Zoila Ortiz [00:58:22]:
Yes.
Tony Ortiz [00:58:22]:
Is depleted.
Zoila Ortiz [00:58:23]:
System doesn't attack it attack the boiling sheet or whatever.
Tony Ortiz [00:58:28]:
Yeah. Because you're wiped. Blood cell count is your immune system pretty much. So it lowers it. So you're more prone I guess to get sick like common colds and like. Like that.
Zoila Ortiz [00:58:39]:
By the way, that's one of the those things that you have to deal with. Every time there's somebody sick next to me, I get sick right away the next day and. And it does damage your liver which
Tony Ortiz [00:58:53]:
is why you have to go keep
Zoila Ortiz [00:58:54]:
monitoring like my blood and like every couple months to see that it's okay
Tony Ortiz [00:59:00]:
and your liver and stuff like that, just to make sure.
Zoila Ortiz [00:59:03]:
Speaking about that, I have to go get my blood drawn one tomorrow if I could.
Tony Ortiz [00:59:09]:
Okay.
Zoila Ortiz [00:59:09]:
I have to do it today, but I forgot because I have an appointment next week.
Tony Ortiz [00:59:13]:
Yeah, yeah. But as far as symptoms and you've been monitoring it obviously ever since. For the last what like three years?
Zoila Ortiz [00:59:20]:
I've been taking it for four years, I think. And sometimes I forget that I have ms, to be honest.
Tony Ortiz [00:59:28]:
Yeah, it's like night and day compared to like in the. I remember Harley Drive when you used to live in Harley Drive.
Zoila Ortiz [00:59:34]:
I was so depressed. I was like starting a relationship with you, going through all these things, moving. Because I had just moved from doctor.
Tony Ortiz [00:59:46]:
Yeah, because you used to live here then you lived in doctor and then.
Zoila Ortiz [00:59:49]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [00:59:49]:
You moved to Massachusetts. There's a lot of going on, a
Zoila Ortiz [00:59:52]:
lot of going on together and I dealt with it.
Tony Ortiz [00:59:56]:
He got through it one thing at a time. You're a brave girl. I believe so too. I tell you that all the time. I try and. And now. Yeah, it's like a nine day difference compared to how you were then and
Zoila Ortiz [01:00:06]:
all those symptoms and now I. I still can't wear heels, which I don't
Tony Ortiz [01:00:11]:
mind cuz I'm short so I don't
Zoila Ortiz [01:00:14]:
wear heels because I feel like I still don't have that balance to wear heels. I could probably do, but I will walk weird.
Tony Ortiz [01:00:22]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:00:23]:
Which is not cute. Why would I do that to myself? And what else?
Tony Ortiz [01:00:30]:
Do you still pee a lot?
Zoila Ortiz [01:00:31]:
But I still pee a lot, but it's more controllable.
Tony Ortiz [01:00:33]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:00:34]:
Now I could hold it.
Tony Ortiz [01:00:35]:
You can actually hold it? Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:00:37]:
Before I did it, like, I couldn't hold it at all.
Tony Ortiz [01:00:40]:
Before, I used to, like, squirt in your pants.
Zoila Ortiz [01:00:42]:
Think that's gross. But I wasn't able to hold it. It was very scary.
Tony Ortiz [01:00:50]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:00:50]:
Like, I. I used to stay the whole day without drinking.
Tony Ortiz [01:00:55]:
Drink anything, drop, which is not good because you're supposed to be drinking water and trying to be healthy.
Zoila Ortiz [01:01:01]:
And so, like, if I had to go someplace, I didn't want to be able to, like, you have to be able to hold it at least for a few seconds. And I couldn't. So I just didn't drink anything to avoid it.
Tony Ortiz [01:01:16]:
And what else? What are the symptoms now?
Zoila Ortiz [01:01:20]:
I couldn't believe one day it was, like, raining. I was outside for my job and. And then afterwards I got a new job and all that. So that helps. It gave me confidence, definitely, because I was able to walk normal.
Tony Ortiz [01:01:38]:
And now you're taking the subway, like a real New Yorker walking.
Zoila Ortiz [01:01:42]:
Yeah. Now going up the stairs and down
Tony Ortiz [01:01:44]:
the stairs and all that.
Zoila Ortiz [01:01:46]:
It's insane. I was outside and it started pouring, like. Like, I've never seen so much rain in my life. And I started, like, running fast. Fast. Like, walking fast. I wasn't able to do that before.
Tony Ortiz [01:02:02]:
No.
Zoila Ortiz [01:02:03]:
And then I. I realized that that was a turning point. Like, it helped me so much that I was like, what? I couldn't believe it. Like, I told the nurse, I. I texted her. I was like, oh, do you know? I started, like, running. Not running, but walking fast.
Tony Ortiz [01:02:22]:
Like, power walk.
Zoila Ortiz [01:02:23]:
Yeah. To get to the car or whatever. And she was like, oh, that's great. That's such such a good news. Let me say. Is it is working or whatever. But I was happy. That's a happy camper.
Tony Ortiz [01:02:37]:
That's awesome, man. So that's pretty much all the questions I had. You have anything?
Zoila Ortiz [01:02:44]:
I talked all the. The way through.
Tony Ortiz [01:02:47]:
That's good.
Zoila Ortiz [01:02:49]:
What could I say?
Tony Ortiz [01:02:50]:
My hope with this, just like, this conversation is that just like that girl JP Metz, touched you and was able to put you onto something. Maybe you could do the same for somebody else that has Ms. Or somebody that hears this, that might know somebody with Ms. And just to help them understand it more and be able to know how to, like, deal with it. Because sometimes you hear about people that might have something, then you don't know how to act around them, or you don't know how to, like, approach it.
Zoila Ortiz [01:03:20]:
You can't get it. Like, if I'm around you, if you do see somebody who's. Who you Know that's not drunk but.
Tony Ortiz [01:03:28]:
Or like walking with a cane and
Zoila Ortiz [01:03:29]:
they're young and like they're walking with a walker. Cuz I did use a cane for a little while there.
Tony Ortiz [01:03:37]:
Yeah. The beginning.
Zoila Ortiz [01:03:38]:
A long time. But I, I had to use it because I can't be like attached to. To somebody before it's happened. I mean like, don't judge. It's not.
Tony Ortiz [01:03:49]:
I mean it's douchey to do that anyway.
Zoila Ortiz [01:03:51]:
Nobody's fault that you're like that, you know. So I try to be like now that I'm okay, like I feel better. Like I try to be aware as well because sometimes you forget, you know,
Tony Ortiz [01:04:05]:
and there's a lot of other. That's similar to Ms. That yeah, people could have like similar symptoms, stuff like that. So it's gonna be cognizant and like
Zoila Ortiz [01:04:12]:
fibromyalgia I heard is really painful and you got joint pain or whatever and sometimes I imagine it's really painful too. Just try to be aware of your surroundings and not judge nobody.
Tony Ortiz [01:04:30]:
Just be a decent human being. Don't be an.
Zoila Ortiz [01:04:32]:
Don't stare.
Tony Ortiz [01:04:34]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:04:35]:
Because you don't want, you know, when you feel that way, you don't want people to stare at you.
Tony Ortiz [01:04:40]:
Yeah. I would imagine you feel like self conscious and yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:04:43]:
You already feel.
Tony Ortiz [01:04:44]:
It makes you more uncomfortable.
Zoila Ortiz [01:04:45]:
You're already feeling shitty about yourself and depressed and that's one of those things that you get really depressed because you don't feel like yourself. You feel sick. You feel like.
Tony Ortiz [01:04:57]:
I would imagine party feels like I shouldn't broken.
Zoila Ortiz [01:04:59]:
You feel guilty in a way because you. I don't know, you like, oh, what did I do in life.
Tony Ortiz [01:05:06]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:05:07]:
To deserve this or whatever.
Tony Ortiz [01:05:08]:
Because something that's completely out of your control. It's not like you. Yeah, you did it to yourself. And that's another thing with Ms. It's like a mysterious disease in the sense that there's. They don't know the cause of it, they don't have a cure for it. They have linked certain studies to genetics and environmental factors and stuff like that. But there's nothing concrete that says you, you get Ms.
Tony Ortiz [01:05:27]:
Because of this or. Or that.
Zoila Ortiz [01:05:29]:
So I'm sure that nobody in my family, like I had to teach my dad about it. And most people.
Tony Ortiz [01:05:38]:
And your sisters.
Zoila Ortiz [01:05:39]:
My sisters never heard about it at all. Because at least I knew about Montel William. My sister didn't know nothing about it. Like you didn't know anything about. I don't know, I didn't know myself. I had to like, learn little by little.
Tony Ortiz [01:05:56]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:05:57]:
I still don't know how to explain it, but I know what it is, but I don't know how to explain it.
Tony Ortiz [01:06:01]:
Well, anybody that ever actually tell them to listen to the podcast and they'll know.
Zoila Ortiz [01:06:04]:
Yeah. But, you know, just take one day at a time. Let's get better. You just have to learn how to adjust to what you're going through. Like, if you can't walk that much. I used to do so much research to go to the mall. I used to do research to see if there's any sitting places. I used to learn where all the bathrooms.
Zoila Ortiz [01:06:27]:
I still do that. I know where all the bathrooms in every place is. Like, that's the first thing I ask. Like, where's the bathroom? Because I have to adjust to my surroundings.
Tony Ortiz [01:06:37]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:06:37]:
And see what I could deal with and what I can't. If you know that you're gonna walk a lot, just try not to do it or use a walker. It's hard, but it does help. I think that walker, that is a awesome invention.
Tony Ortiz [01:06:53]:
It gives you support because it gives you support.
Zoila Ortiz [01:06:55]:
You could walk and you could sit down when you feel tired.
Tony Ortiz [01:06:58]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:06:59]:
It is kind of.
Tony Ortiz [01:07:00]:
And it's a form of exercise.
Zoila Ortiz [01:07:01]:
Yeah. It's kind of sad because you feel old and. But you know, if you need to go out, it's better to go out than stay home.
Tony Ortiz [01:07:10]:
Yeah.
Zoila Ortiz [01:07:10]:
Like feeling sorry and feeling sad or whatever. So it's better to go out and always. Your friends were your real friends. They will understand.
Tony Ortiz [01:07:20]:
Yeah, absolutely.
Zoila Ortiz [01:07:21]:
They will deal with it with you.
Tony Ortiz [01:07:23]:
And anyone that doesn't is definitely worth.
Zoila Ortiz [01:07:25]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [01:07:26]:
Cutting off. And you'll be much better with that.
Zoila Ortiz [01:07:29]:
Yeah.
Tony Ortiz [01:07:31]:
Thank you. Thank you very much for doing this. I'm sure other people thank you as well.
Zoila Ortiz [01:07:35]:
I feel famous.
Tony Ortiz [01:07:38]:
Trust me. Trust me or not.
Zoila Ortiz [01:07:43]:
Well, I just hope, you know, this helps anybody if, even if it's one person, can I feel down or whatever. It's always a plus.
Tony Ortiz [01:07:52]:
Definitely. Thank you very much. I wish I could do like Ari and how he does on his podcast and he's able to pay his guests with sponsorship money, but we don't have any sponsors at the sponsor podcast.
Zoila Ortiz [01:08:04]:
Not even McDonald's. That's not McDonald's or whatever. No. Come on. Sponsors help a brother out.
Tony Ortiz [01:08:15]:
Thank you very much.
Zoila Ortiz [01:08:16]:
Thank you. Love you, too.
Tony Ortiz [01:08:21]:
And that, folks, was episode 303 of the Spun Today podcast conversation with my wife that was recorded, had to be 8, 9, 10 years ago at this point and be released today on May 30, 2020. 6 for World Ms. Day. If you or a loved one is struggling with ms, I hope this episode gave you a bit of reprieve, let you see the silver lining in it, and understanding that it is definitely something that is manageable has been over the years for my wife and I hope it is for you as well. Please check out the episode notes for links to several resources, including ones that were mentioned in this episode. I just want to thank my wife again, Zoe La Ortiz, for taking the time and thank each and every one of you for taking the time to listen. If you'd like to support the Spun Today podcast, you can do so in a myriad of ways, which I'll let you know all about right now and I'll check you guys out next time for our regularly scheduled programming. Peace.
Tony Ortiz [01:09:20]:
What's up folks?
Tony Ortiz [01:09:21]:
Tony here. I hope you're enjoying the Spun Today Podcast as much as I enjoy producing it for you. Here are a few ways you can help support the show. You can help support the Sponsor Day podcast by shopping my Merch section. Go to spuncerday.com support and navigate to the Merch section. Here you'll find the iconic Podcast versus Anybody tee, which comes in many different color schemes and all different sizes. There are a bunch of other designs available as well, including writing themed shirts, cycling shirts, and the classic Dominican Escudo, and much, much more. And if T shirts aren't your thing, all designs also come in pullover hoodies, zip up hoodies, sweatshirts and tank tops.
Tony Ortiz [01:10:05]:
You can also shop the spontane coffee mugs which has the spontane logo on one side and the tagline that I end every episode with on the other, which is start taking steps in the general direction of your dreams. Once again, for all Spun Today merch, go to spun today.com support and navigate to the Merch section. Another great way for you to help support the show and also take care of your foundational health is by going to spontai.com support and clicking on my affiliate link for Athletic Greens, aka AG1. One scoop of AG1 in your water helps to fill nutrient gaps, promote gut health, and support whole body vitality. Just one serving delivers a comprehensive blend of nine products a multivitamin, minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, adaptogens and more, all of which work together for the strongest foundation for better health. I personally take AG1 and really appreciate the peace of mind of knowing that my foundational health bases are covered even when I know I'm not eating as healthily as I should be. Also by using my affiliate link@ Sponsor.com support you will get one free year of vitamin D3 as well as five AG1 travel packs absolutely for free. And go to spontane.com support and click on the banner for AG1.
Tony Ortiz [01:11:30]:
If you're a fellow creative, A cool way that you can help support the Spun Today Podcast and actually be part of the podcast is by filling out my five question questionnaire located@spun2date.com questionnaire. Here you'll find five open questions related to your craft, your art, what inspired you to create, what type of unrelated hobbies you're into, and what motivates you to get your work done. You can choose to remain anonymous or plug your website and your work and once you submit your questionnaire, I read your responses on a future episode of the Spun Tonight podcast. It's completely free at no cost to you.
Tony Ortiz [01:12:05]:
And what I like to say about
Tony Ortiz [01:12:06]:
it is that if your responses could potentially spark inspiration in someone else, why not share that SpuncerDay.com questionnaire the Spun Today newsletter is available to each and every one of my listeners absolutely for free. All you have to do is go to spuntoday.com subscribe and drop in your email address. What I'm gonna do is brighten up everybody's least favorite day of the week by delivering five curated things within my weekly newsletter. Every Monday at noon, you're gonna receive a Photo of the Week, a recommended Podcast of the Week. I listen to tons of podcasts from an array of varied interests. I cherry pick the very best ones
Tony Ortiz [01:12:49]:
so that you can check them out.
Tony Ortiz [01:12:50]:
I also share a Video of the Week which can be anything from a tasty recipe to a dope rap battle to an enlightening TED Talk. I also share a Quote of the Week and finally for my fellow wordsmiths out there, a Word of the Week so that you can step up your vocab again. This curated list is yours absolutely free by going to spuntoday.com subscribe and dropping in your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time. Again, go to spuntoday.com subscribe, drop in your email address and you'll get the very next one. And as always, folks, substitute the mysticism with hard work and start taking steps in the general direction of your dreams.
Tony Ortiz [01:13:34]:
Thanks for listening. I love you Aiden.
Zoila Ortiz [01:13:51]:
I love you daddy.
Tony Ortiz [01:13:53]:
I love you Grayson.
Zoila Ortiz [01:13:55]:
I love you daddy.