Episode 322: 06-25-15
On this week’s show we sit with two executive coaches and discuss what executive coaching is and if you need one. Uhealth doctor Dennis J. Patin discusses cancer pain management, and our local hero Marisel Martin shares her story on living with Vitiligo.
Noelia Moreno is an attorney, entrepreneur and certified Integrative Coach. She is the founder and president of Life Tools Miami, a business strategy firm. From 2009-2011, she was the first and only female president of the Latin Builders Association. In 2012, after retiring from the construction industry, she transitioned to her dream career – coaching.
Joe Cruz is the founder and principal of Invenire Leadership Coaching an executive coaching and training firm. Joe is a Certified Professional Coach and a seasoned executive with over 40 years of business experience. Cruz has held a number of senior leadership positions within the financial services industry. He has co-authored a book titled “Roadmap To Success,” which also features Deepak Chopra and Ken Blanchard.
I have been wondering what executive coaches do. Who needs an executive coach and why? We will get answers to these and other questions on today’s show.
Our special UHealth guest is Dennis J. Patin, M.D., an Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine and a leader in the practice of pain management at UHealth and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Care Center.
We discuss breakthroughs in cancer pain management.
Our local hero, Marisel Martin, is a Vitiligo patient, advocate and law student. She was diagnosed with Vitiligo in 2010 and is a leading local advocate for people suffering from this condition. Marisel is one of the local heroes we like to profile on the show periodically.
We will discuss what Vitiligo is and its impact on people that suffer from it.
Episode 322: 06-25-15 (To download, right-click and select “Save Link As”.)
Transcription:
Jim Fried: Alright we got a great show today. We’re going to talk executive coaching. Do you need an executive coach? Do I need an executive coach? I don’t know, but we’re going to find out. We’ve got executive coaching with Noelia Moreno and Joe Cruz on, that’s the first half of the show. The second half of the show will be all about health and wellness, we’re going to talk about breakthroughs in cancer pain medication. We’re also going to talk about, what is vila tigo . . .vila tygo . . .vila . . .I don’t even know how to say it but when we say it later on we’ll get it right. And we’re going to talk about that and you’re all wondering what that is, that’s the funny spotting thing that you get on your skin there, people that have that, it’s a disease, so stick with us, we’ve got a super show. We’ll be back after this. It’s absolutely house on fire . . .Dee it’s yours.
[Commercial Break]
Jim Fried: Alright, we’re back. I hope they heard that. I’ll start again, alright, we’re back. I’m just having fun with you Dee. We’re back, we’ve got a great segment. We’re going to talk about executive coaching. I’m wondering if I need one, I probably need my head examined more than anything else. Noelia Moreno, she’s top of the line. Joe Cruz, he is too. We’re going to ask them to talk about why they’re coaches. What they do. What they’re qualifications are and who needs them. So, welcome to the show Noe and Joe.
Noelia Moreno: Hey, hi Jim. Thank you for having us today.
Joe Cruz: Great to be here Jim.
Jim Fried: Alright, now first of all, let’s spend a second or two, Noe and Joe, what’s your background to be a coach? Why should somebody ask your advice?
Noelia Moreno: Well Jim, my background is, I’m an attorney, I was a successful business owner for 20 years of one of the largest manufacturing firms for kitchens in the State of Florida, former president and only female president of the Latin Builders Association. I’m a mom, I have life experience. I’ve trained as a coach and why should people hire me? Well, you know, if you feel stuck and frustrated and you want to make a jump, that’s why you should hire me.
Jim Fried: Well Joe, that’s a tough act to follow. Go for it!
Joe Cruz: I’ll try, I’ll try. Well actually I spent the bulk of my career in banking and decided a few years ago that I wanted to do something different and I stumbled into coaching and actually fell in love with it. I think it’s a great field. The real reason that I got involved in it is because I think there are a lot of people, particularly in the corporate world that are stuck and have blocks and need somebody to kind of show them the way.
Jim Fried: Well let’s start with a basic question. What is coaching? Joe you go first this time.
Joe Cruz: Well coaching is really a means to help people kind of find their own answers. That sounds perhaps a little wishy washy but at the end of the day what we’re really doing is helping people to understand what it is that’s keeping them from finding success, finding happiness, really getting their life to the point where they feel that they are in control and can pretty much do what it is they want to do.
Jim Fried: Noe, so we heard from Joe what’s coaching, I heard you both have different backgrounds. What do you think coaching is?
Noelia Moreno: Well, you know, coaching is really it’s a way to work with a client to empower them so that they can focus, they can train, they can be accountable to achieve consistent results.
Jim Fried: So sounds to me like this is just sort of mentoring.
Noelia Moreno: It’s paid mentoring. Mentoring is a little different because as a mentor you are being more of a teacher and a guide and you’re giving the persons the answers. Whereas a coach helps you dig deep to find the answers that are of meaning to you so that you can transform.
Jim Fried: Okay well Joe, what’s your specialty in coaching? Is there such a thing?
Joe Cruz: Well actually there is. Believe it or not there are many areas that coaches go into. I specialize in executive coaching.
Jim Fried: Well you’re an executive . . .in fact I met Joe because he came to solicit us for business when he was the senior loan officer at one of the big banks in town. Joe and I have known each other for years. I was impressed, that’s why I wanted to bring him on.
Joe Cruz: Well I appreciate that. I kind of work with senior executives, business owners and professionals. Trying to get them to recognize that in order to be successful there are certain things they have to do and often times they don’t see it; people skills, communication skills, things of that nature. So it’s really helping them to find the things that they have to do in order to be successful.
Jim Fried: Joe, nobody needs people skills in business. I don’t know when you’re going to realize that. Noe . . .
Noelia Moreno: Oh yeah, that’s why they do dis-profiles and all that other stuff, right? Because nobody needs people skills.
Jim Fried: Anyway . . .yeah go ahead Noe.
Noelia Moreno: You know, listen, I was going to say, did you know that coaching is a two billion dollar industry?
Jim Fried: Well no. Sounds like people need coaching.
Noelia Moreno: Yeah and listen . . .self-help, people spend 11 Billion dollars on self-help books. That’s insane!
Jim Fried: Sounds like they need help. You didn’t even realize you made a funny, did you? It was one of those delayed reactions. I wish I was on TV sometimes. Joe, thoughts?
Joe Cruz: Actually there was an interesting study that people that get training can improve their productivity by about 20% but when they get coaching it’s closer to 90%.
Noelia Moreno: Yes, I read that study. They outperform.
Jim Fried: Well what are you doing? Are you helping the person remove anxiety or are you making them more efficient? What’s going on here?
Joe Cruz: Well what we’re trying to do is really get them to understand what it is that’s holding them up. It’s funny, it sounds simple but at the end of the day it’s really getting people to change behavior, getting them to think differently, to act differently and . . .
Jim Fried: So it’s impossible.
Joe Cruz: Well, believe it or not, it is possible.
Jim Fried: Noe is that something you can help people with? And before we roll by it, I asked Joe what his specialty was, you rolled yourself out with a couple of different qualifiers, what’s your specialty?
Noelia Moreno: I’m going to tell you Jim . . .
Jim Fried: Tell me Noe . . .
Noelia Moreno: I’ll tell you, my business has changed and I’m really passionate about helping women overcome their stumbling blocks. Men . . .and this is not to like get into a man versus woman thing but the men, they can play golf, they can go fishing, but where can women go for support to talk about the things that are really important like, how much am I putting away for retirement? The heartbreak that, because we’re emotional beings . . .
Jim Fried: I just lost this job to that guy, how do I handle this?
Noelia Moreno: Right, that kind of stuff . . .
Jim Fried: Again, that guy . . .
Noelia Moreno: Again, that guy. And my kids are driving me nuts. And my mom did it and she didn’t have a housekeepers and I do and I feel really guilty. So that’s my specialty, is getting women to overcome those stumbling blocks.
Jim Fried: Wow . . .
Noelia Moreno: Professional women . . .
Jim Fried: Thank you, I just had a stumbling block right there and I still got five more minutes in this segment. So Joe, help me out. So we talked about what Noe does and some of the things that she says, I’m a big time executive, at least I was when the show started I was . . .what are some of the things that you might say to somebody, it doesn’t have to be me, that might be having stumbling blocks? What kind of stumbling blocks does a man have? Or, let me rephrase it, a corporate executive?
Joe Cruz: Okay, you know, we talked about people skills . . .
Jim Fried: I don’t have those.
Joe Cruz: Well believe it or not a lot of executives don’t have them either, that’s the problem. But probably the number one area we kind of work with it developing people skills. The ability to communicate to empathies, to kind of connect. When you promote somebody to a new position they think that because they have experience or because they have a technical background that qualifies them to lead . . .
Jim Fried: The Peter Principle . . .
Joe Cruz: Well, to a certain degree but when you get to a leadership role, you have to lead. And so, what you need to do is understand how you can motivate people.
Jim Fried: You know somebody once said to me recently, hey Jim, all I want you to do is be a leader. I go, “okay am I doing that okay?” Because to me, being a leader is showing up to work early, making your phone calls, bringing in business, coaching up the young folks, letting them feel it’s okay to walk into your office and talk to you, giving them the baseball tickets when you can’t go to the game, that kind of stuff.
Noelia Moreno: Okay and that’s great but you can kick it up a notch.
Jim Fried: Okay . . .let’s do that . . .boom.
Noelia Moreno: Let’s do that, let’s take a minute and meditate . . .just kidding.
Jim Fried: Well just for the record Noe was getting her mindfulness thing going right before we went on the air. She was sitting there like, looking at me but her eyes were closed and I had to say, “Hey Noe, we’re all right here.”
Noelia Moreno: There you go . . .you can laugh at me all you want.
Joe Cruz: Can I offer Noe a free coaching tip?
Jim Fried: Sure . . .
Noelia Moreno: Sure . . .
Joe Cruz: Women can go on the golf course too.
Noelia Moreno: We can but some of us don’t really enjoy it.
Jim Fried: Yeah, yeah . . .
Noelia Moreno: That’s the truth of the matter. And then so we end up at a party or somewhere and the conversation is always the same and it’s not productive. So, in terms of a tip, to kick it up a notch . . .
Jim Fried: How do we steer it in the right direction?
Noelia Moreno: So you have to learn to ask yourself the right questions that aren’t coming from a place which . . .I think Joe and I are saying the same thing . . .that aren’t coming from a place of fear or from the things that hold you back or from insecurities because a lot of leaders, they’re somebody in the organization who is a really bright star and they won’t bring them up because they’re personally challenged by them and that doesn’t. . .
Jim Fried: What a loser . . .
Noelia Moreno: Could you imagine that?
Jim Fried: I would want to be surrounded by the best and I would want the most, the best and brightest to feel motivated to come see me. I want to empower those people.
Noelia Moreno: Because you’re an outstanding leader then.
Jim Fried: Oh, well . . .I wasn’t really fishing for that but thank you so much.
Joe Cruz: A lot of executives don’t admit that they need coaching and part of it is because they think it’s stigmatizing but I think a lot of that is changing, I think people recognize that there’s some advantages to being coached and I think it’s opening up a lot of opportunity for coaches.
Jim Fried: Well I would think . . .to me the basic idea would be, hey I need a fresh set of eyes from outside of the organization that’s not afraid of me and not biased, how do I find that? Hey, are we ready for a break, Dee? I thought it was a great segue for a break. You should have said, “yeah Jim” but now we got one more minute. So, what does somebody do that needs to go to the next step? We got Noe’s idea, what’s yours Joe?
Joe: I think what they have to do first of all is recognize that they need a coach, understand that coaching requires hard work, it’s not something that you just show up and talk about . . .
Jim Fried: You just don’t flip the switch and get 90% productivity . . .
Joe Cruz: Absolutely not.
Noelia Moreno: You don’t . . .
Joe Cruz: No, its hard work, it takes dedication and commitment.
Jim Fried: Well we’re getting tweeted and re-tweeted, that’s what’s popping on my thing. Now is it time, Dee? You run the show, not me. Okay . . .listen, go to break, we’ll come back a little early, we’ll give another couple seconds on that. We’ll be right back after this, this is actually great. It seems like I might need coaching, maybe you do too. Listen some more and we’ll find out more. Dee, take it away.
[Commercial break]
Jim Fried: Dee is giving me the signal, the finger, the indicator, that we are back and not only are we back but apparently we’re being heard around the State, around the World, Noe what’s going on here?
Noelia Moreno: Well let’s see, my good friend Monica Rodriguez is listening to us from Tampa, so a big shout out to you Monica.
Jim Fried: Hey, high five to Tampa.
Joe Cruz: My daughter is listening in online, streaming from Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Jim Fried: Awesome! The world gets smaller every year, every day, every minute. Now, I want to ask a couple of questions. It seems to me that one of the really good ways that somebody could use a coach is if they have an idea or a business plan and they want an unvarnished understanding about what somebody thinks about that, maybe spin it up a little. What do you think about that?
Noelia Moreno: You know Jim, I think that is one of the great things that a coach can help you with. Now . . .
Jim Fried: That was my brainstorm, I came up with that.
Noelia Moreno: With that said, when you’re looking to hire a coach make sure that the person has experience, that they’re qualified, that they’ve been around in business, because you’ve got to have somebody that’s credible. The coach is an unbiased, unbiased person that’s looking out for your best interest.
Jim Fried: We got a call, Evie has called in. Evie, you’re on the show with the coaches, what’s up?
Evie: Hi, how are you? I have a question regarding the coaching for entrepreneurs. Noelia, I’m a woman, business owner and I have had my struggles as well as a single mother and everything, what is Noelia’s take on separating the personal and professional and how can coaching help me organization myself in this way.
Jim Fried: Awesome question, thank you for calling in. Noe?
Noelia Moreno: Well Eve, thank you for listening and for calling in. One of the things that I often tell women when they’re running their own business is, you sort of need to compartmentalize everything, and you can’t let what’s going on in your family life disrupt what’s going on in your business life and I help women sort of put that personal life in a box while they’re at work and then help them realize their goals at work, while at the same time finding a little more satisfaction and a little more balance on the personal side.
Jim Fried: Now before we got any further, and I hope that answered the question, why don’t we give everybody how they can contact with you, and we’ll do it again later but now that we’ve got people’s focus, Noe you gave a great answer, how do people find you?
Noelia Moreno: People can call me at 305-859-3200, 859-3200 or on my website, lifetoolsmiami.com.
Jim Fried: And we’ll give that again in about 5-10 minutes. Joe?
Joe Cruz: They can reach me at 754-223-5304, or they can reach me on the email at jcruz@invenireleadership.com.
Jim Fried: Well that was an easy one. We’ll give that again later too. Holy camoly. So you know, so we talk about brainstorming, how about if you want to just run through some ideas with somebody that doesn’t . . .that it’s impartial. Joe, we’ll give you that one . . .is a coach a good person to run ideas past?
Joe Cruz: Well certainly, but you know you have to be careful because coaching is not consulting. We don’t tell them what to do. We’re happy to listen to ideas but at the end of the day if they’re looking for coaching, what we do is provide them to with guidance. There’s some directive that we can provide, obviously, but in order to make it work it’s got to be them. It’s got to be their decision.
Jim Fried: Okay, so then that’s good. So, you know, let’s say that I’m trying to accomplish a goal and I’m not getting there, can you help me with that?
Noelia Moreno: Absolutely! One of the things that a good coach will do is they will help you, not only identify a goal, but make sure that the goal is actually achievable. So, one of the things is, you’ve really got to stick with it, just like exercise, just like a personal trainer, you’ve got to stick with it. You have to take action steps, baby steps, to get to your goal and realize that it doesn’t happen overnight. Most meaningful change, most goals, unless it’s sometimes very simple but most goals sometimes take a year to achieve.
Jim Fried: So you can actually help people, give a mile post on their progress then?
Noelia Moreno: Absolutely! Steps along the way, milestones and small . . .you know we celebrate the many feet’s . . .
Jim Fried: Oh my God, thank you so much. You know, what I do, I’m a commercial real estate, we make five, six deals a year that we work on for four or five years at a time and we think we’re golden. And that’s always been a big problem for me is, how do I get daily positive feedback from what I do and what I use . . .I’ll just throw it out there, I write down the things that happen that are great every day and what I hold is a positive event log. So for me, something that works for me is a positive events log. Wow, I actually put that out there, I’m excited and proud of that.
Joe Cruz: I’m impressed.
Jim Fried: Thank you.
Noelia Moreno: I love that, most people call it just gratitude practice but positive events log, that’s a good one.
Joe Cruz: You know, adding to what Noe was saying, sometimes the successes can be so modest that they are almost imperceptible. I’ll give you an example, having someone who looks at things . . .as an example, I use…I have a client that looked at things as a challenge and I kind of refocused that and said, look at things as an opportunity, it kind of changes the mindset and I like that . . .
Jim Fried: I like that . . .
Joe Cruz: That’s really what you are doing.
Jim Fried: Yeah and I like that also, it’s overused at this point, it was last year’s word of the year, process, process management. I think that if you can take solace in positive energy from the management and the execution of the appropriate process, I think that’s important too but I guess you have to have the appropriate process.
Noelia Moreno: Yeah, absolutely! You have to identify what you really want and a lot of times in organizations, individuals, they’re so focused on a goal that they think they should have that they don’t really realize the goal that they really want to have. And that’s where you have that tension and that’s why sometimes you get stuck and frustrated because you’re not doing what’s really in your heart.
Jim Fried: So it sounds to me that there is a real good differentiation between what somebody would go to a therapist for, let’s say, and what a coach can do.
Joe Cruz: Absolutely, absolutely. One thing a coach is not, we’re not therapist. We don’t diagnose and we don’t treat. Very, very important, we’re not licensed therapist but what we can do is help people find answers.
Jim Fried: Now, I’m going to stick with you, Joe, on this, what are some of the certifications that people can look for since there’s not endorsements, ratings, organizations . . .are there organizations?
Joe Cruz: Well actually there is. There is an umbrella organization, The International Coach Federation, which is kind of the industry standard, if you will, for coaching. Most of want to be certified, ICF certified.
Jim Fried: Yeah, I’m certifiable but that’s a different show.
Joe Cruz: Well, and there are other organizations but the ICF is clearly the brand.
Jim Fried: That meant there are three minutes left in the segment.
Noelia Moreno: Yeah, they’re the leader . . .you know it’s funny . . .
Jim Fried: Well it’s also 3:05 right? Oh we don’t do that on this show . . .
Noelia Moreno: Oh don’t get me started on 3:05.
Jim Fried: We’re not going to do that. We’re going to stay right . . .
Noelia Moreno: That’s another show.
Jim Fried: That’s correct.
Noelia Moreno: ICF is the most recognized one. I belong to . . .I’m a trained certified integrative coach and the group I got trained with was sort of a break off group from the ICF. I got trained back in 2007 . . .
Jim Fried: Wow . . .
Noelia Moreno: It was a two year certification program and I think yours was about the same.
Joe Cruz: Mine was just about a year . . .
Jim Fried: Wow it takes that long to be certified.
Noelia Moreno: Yeah.
Jim Fried: Wow . . .
Noelia Moreno: I’m not going to go and follow that double entendre.
Jim Fried: Thanks so much, I abused it already, I abused it earlier . . .
Noelia Moreno: I’m going to let it go . . .
Jim Fried: I abused it earlier . . .so we’re kind of running down to the end of what we’re trying to accomplish, so why don’t I give everybody another chance to talk about what coaching can really do for somebody else, sort of like an elevator speech, takeaway kind of thing for each . . .Noe started, so let’s go with Joe this time.
Joe Cruz: Well, for my segment, my elevator speech is pretty simple. I help make executives better leaders, I help them find what’s important to them, help them understand what it takes to be successful and hopefully enlighten them on really finding a quality of life.
Jim Fried: Whoa, whoa, whoa . . .say that last part again because that sounds to me like I’m at the peak of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, where I went to school.
Joe Cruz: Well as I said, I want to enlighten them on finding a better quality of life.
Jim Fried: Well god bless you Joe. Okay, Noe you’re up . . .one minute, I’m getting the finger, one minute.
Noelia Moreno: I guide people to view things from a slightly different perspective to create consensus and also give a positions that no longer suit them. I help them achieve meaningful and lasting transformation.
Jim Fried: You’re the best, wow. Left me breathless and wanting more.
Joe Cruz: Yeah, I was impressed also.
Jim Fried: Alright, so we’ve only got 30 seconds left. I promised everybody they would be able to write down how to get in touch with either of your, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . .and go slow because we’ve got lots of Jets fans that listen.
Noelia Moreno: 305-859-3200, 305-859-3200.
Joe Cruz: 754-223-5304 . . .
Jim Fried: One more time for the Jets fans.
Joe Cruz: 754-223-5304.
Jim Fried: Awesome! Awesome! What a great show, thank you so much for coming on, thank you for somewhat coaching me and helping me feel good about what I’m doing and letting me know that there’s oh so much more, there’s still another 90% out there. We’ll have to talk about that. Looks like the next segments guest is on the line. Dee is giving me the nod, so again thank you so much. More Jim Fried on Business right after this. We’re going to talk about advances in cancer care, pain management with the head of pain management at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, back after this. Good stuff on the way. Thank you again.
Joe Cruz: Thanks Jim.
[Commercial Break]
Jim Fried: Feel nice like sugar and spice, that’s because I have one of the best doctors on the planet. This is a guy who makes sure I don’t feel much pain, Dr. Dennis Patin. He’s an assistant professor, associate professor, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. He also runs the innovative cancer treatment center they have over there, Dr. Patin welcome to the show.
Dennis Patin: Hi Jim! Thanks for inviting me and thanks for everything you do for the listeners in South Florida, talking about Sylvester and especially our Center of Excellence Award, I’m glad you mentioned it.
Jim Fried: Hey, it’s my absolute pleasure. And I got to tell you, if it wasn’t for you I would be in pain constantly. So let’s talk a little bit about what pain management is, because I got it confused for a while with rehab medicine, pain management. Then let’s talk about some of your cutting edge cancer stuff you are doing.
Dennis Patin: Great Jim! Thanks for asking. Well, the first question might be, what’s pain? Well it’s whatever a patient says it is and in a cancer setting it’s often associated with what the cancer is doing to the body and it’s the responsibility of the oncologist to treat the cancer, that might be with surgery, radiation or chemo-therapy and then it’s our responsibility to help the patient along the way with all sort of ways to make them feel better.
Jim Fried: So then somebody has cancer discovered, it’s treated, it’s removed as best as possible, it’s been eradicated, then there they’re going to give the person chemo-therapy or some other treatment and each one of those steps is . . .I’ll just be nice . . .sort of uncomfortable.
Dennis Patin: That’s right, there can be procedural discomfort with those steps and unfortunately some of those treatments, they can actually have their own pains that they cause, pain syndromes, say after surgery or after chemo, but that’s fine because we have solutions to all those problems.
Jim Fried: Well now, I’ve got my executive coach here who just talked to me about mindfulness can help pain management and in fact it can and we’ve have Dr. Ashwin Mehta, who is part of Dr. Patin’s team, with certain patients and he does integrated medicine but today we’re talking about what this guy does, Noe.
Dennis Patin: So we practice in an integrated setting and it’s called The Cancer Support Services, it’s like a social oncology integrated medicine cancer rehabilitation and in our specialty, my specialty, what I have an interest in . . .and/or expertise in, is cancer pain management. So we evaluate patients, we ask them how they’re doing, obviously look at their medical records, evaluate them and then come up with a plan that a particular patient might need medication, various types of medication, they might need other specialty consultations. They might need special nerve blocks we do, perhaps under a cat-scan or x-ray, or the patient might benefit from some special things that I do such as intrathecal drug delivery, where we actually put medications into the spinal canal, very exciting there and we’ve very cutting edge in that.
Jim Fried: Yeah, in fact, I had a situation over the holidays over the Christmas holidays and you came blasting into my room all happy that it was me that you were going to get the chance to put the big needle in. And what you did was one of those things in the spinal cord thing, isn’t it?
Dennis Patin: That’s right, I might say you did not have cancer related pain . . .
Jim Fried: No, thank God, thank God . . .yes that’s right . . .
Dennis Patin: But you still benefited from our therapy, a particular type of injection into, I think it was the facturialiad joint, and that made you a lot better. And I think that’s a good thing to mention, that just because a patient has cancer doesn’t mean they have cancer related pain. Cancer patients can still have migraine headaches and herniated discs and other things that need treatment as well.
Jim Fried: So then, you have got an array of different treatments, medications, that you put together to help manage the person’s pain so that they can continue on with their cancer treatment and get to the finish line recovery.
Dennis Patin: That’s right and especially for clinical trials, patients have to do particularly well to be participates in clinical trials, and pain . . .unrelieved pain can exclude patients from clinical trials, so we will often get referrals from an oncologist who managed their pain, I’ll give you an example. Somebody with pancreatic cancer, a patient with pancreatic cancer, they’re often on opiates, narcotics, morphine-like medications, those have side effects; constipation, etc. and we’ll put one of these devices called intrathecal drug delivery systems, with a little catheter or tube in the spinal canal up pretty high, up in the upper thoracic spine, giving little doses of local anesthetic and an opiate and we can essentially completely relieve somebody’s pain and they have a little remove control they can press a button and when they have pain, press the button and leave it, just like going to the hospital and having an operation and pressing the ECA button after the operation. We can do the same thing for cancer pain.
Jim Fried: It sounds to me like this is the definition of what Dean Goldschmidt talks about all the time, which is the integrative process of management. Where the oncologist is on your team with the integrative specialist and perhaps some psychology people. It sounds to me like you’re a key member of one of those big teams.
Dennis Patin: Oh absolutely! And just like the real estate agents say “location, location, location” my clinic is right there, one day a week in the surgical oncology clinic at Sylvester. Another day of the week at the Hematology Oncology Clinic and the interaction with the other specialist there, they will have a patient, “hey do you mind doing this first . . .” “No, send them . . .” you’re not going to get that anywhere else in South Florida.
Jim Fried: It’s amazing. And then you can also help because you’ve a specialty and expertise that really can help you identify a problem that may go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed even.
Dennis Patin: Yes, yes there’s no substitute for, how should I say this, gray hair . . .a little expertise experience and some out of the box thinking. I must say that the University encourages that the out of the box thinking and we’ve done a number of things that haven’t been done before, and we’ve published them and we’re doing pretty good.
Jim Fried: Well the one thing that I hope is really coming across in the interview is perhaps, to me, what the most important thing about pain management is and that is that you deliver all of this with a sense of humor and that’s to me one of the most important parts of the whole thing.
Dennis Patin: Did I tell you a joke?
Jim Fried: You can if you want. We got a minute.
Dennis Patin: I’m not nearly as funny as you.
Jim Fried: No, no you don’t have to tell me a joke but what it is, is it’s really the way that you pace your voice, the feeling that you get. Let’s face it, pain management isn’t exactly a place where a lot of people are going to have a lot of smiley emoji’s all over the place.
Dennis Patin: Oh I see, I see. Well you know what’s really important is giving patients hope, and I truly mean that when I interact with a patient. We can help them. There’s so many ways to help them and I like saying that, I can help you, I’m glad you are here. And people feel better when they leave the clinic and really we haven’t done anything for them yet other than to talk to them and told them all their options and they do feel hope and you need hope when you have cancer.
Jim Fried: Oh God bless you Dr. Patin. We have to have you back on again. We’ve got to go. How do people find you if they have pain and they need relief?
Dennis Patin: Great, thanks for asking. Just call one of the main university numbers, 305-243-1000 or specifically my office 305-243-9369 and we schedule patient appointments right away, no waiting.
Jim Fried: You’re terrific. Doctor I’m going to be texting or emailing or calling next week. I’ve got to get a follow-up on everything but we’re going to not do the personal stuff today, personally all I want to do is say thank you from me and all the patients that are not going to get to thank you from. Thank you so much.
Dennis Patin: Thanks for having me on your show. Good night.
Jim Fried: Good night! We’ll be back after this, we’re going to talk about Villa . . .I’ll get it right by the time we come back. Back after this.
[Commercial break]
Jim Fried: Alright we’re back with our fourth quarter of the show and we’re going to talk about what is Vitiligo . . .we’ll figure it out. We’ve got Marisel Martin . . .I’m really butchering all of this aren’t I?
Marisel Martin: Yes, you definitely are.
Jim Fried: You’re going to have your chance . . .make sure you talk into this. But Marisel is our local hero today. We’re going to talk about what is Villa . . .Villatog . . .what is it Marisel?
Marisel Martin: It’s Vitiligo . . .
Jim Fried: I’m glad you could say that. What is Vitiligo? I’ve been telling it all day, Marisel welcome to the show. It’s no joking matter, so let’s talk real seriously for a second. Vitiligo, you guys know it as the dermatological circumstance that people have spotting all over their skin. You saw it on your friends in high school, we’ve got people in the workforce that do it. Marisel is a local representative, she’s been working with Governor Rick Scott to declare this as Vitiligo month, how did I get it that time? Was I close?
Marisel Martin: A little bit closer.
Jim Fried: Alright so tell us really what this is Marisel.
Marisel Martin: Vitiligo, what it is, it’s a skin condition. It’s an autoimmune deficiency from the body. It attacks our skin pigmentation, killing it and basically just putting white patches on the skin. It’s not contagious and it’s not painful.
Jim Fried: Is it hereditary?
Marisel Martin: It can be, in some cases it is hereditary, in other cases it may be rheumatoid arthritis, it can be diabetes type 1, it can be several things. It can also be a thyroid condition, so basically it can be triggered by different things.
Jim Fried: Wow, so we got to get somebody at UHealth because they have integrative medicine, sounds like a lot of different things can happen. Now, is there any age when this comes on? Is it young people, old people, middle aged people?
Marisel Martin: No, basically, Vitiligo doesn’t discriminate age. You can basically have it at the age of 20, at the age of 5, at the age of 7, it doesn’t discriminate age.
Jim Fried: How about gender? Men? Women?
Marisel Martin: It does not discriminate gender, women, nothing . . .
Jim Fried: Black, White, Hispanic?
Marisel Martin: No.
Jim Fried: Wow, so this is really just a generic thing, it comes in and it just starts eating your skin up? What goes on?
Marisel Martin: Basically what happens is that it’s kind of like your insides fighting with each other. So it’s just killing the pigment of your skin.
Jim Fried: So is there like a gene therapy or a gene test or something that they found in the genome about this yet?
Marisel Martin: There can be. There’s a doctor, his name is Dr. Richard Spritz. He’s actually doing a lot of research on Vitiligo and he found that there is a gene called “nalp 1 gene” and he’s basically doing a lot of research on that, just getting people to do blood work and getting more information on what causes Vitiligo.
Jim Fried: Well now how does somebody get diagnosed with Vitiligo?
Marisel Martin: You can basically get diagnosed when you visit your doctor. A smile biopsy can be done or some blood work can also be done.
Jim Fried: Now, let me ask you this. Are there different types of Vitiligo or is it just one kind?
Marisel Martin: No, there’s several kinds of types of Vitiligo. There’s different kinds. It can be on different areas of the body, localized, which is typically characterized by one area of the pigment loss confined area. Segmental, this type manifests also on one more area of the pigment loss, meaning the arms, the legs, the faces . . .I mean excuse me, the face, orofacial, it’s a deep pigmentation that occurs on parts away from the center of the body, such as the face, the head, the hands and the feet.
Jim Fried: Well how do people cope with this? It sounds to me like it can be pretty devastating.
Marisel Martin: It can be. I would say that it has a lot also to do with the person. If you have a great personality and you have good self-esteem you could be good but a lot of people suffer and they do have difficulty just accepting the fact that they have Vitiligo.
Jim Fried: Now is this usually found in one location, in various locations on the body? How does this manifest itself?
Marisel Martin: No, actually, it can manifest itself in several places. You can get it on your face and just keep it on your face or you can just have it generalized, which is all over the body.
Jim Fried: Okay and if somebody comes down with this is there a specific . . .where do they go, do they go to the emergency room? Do they go to the doctor, the regular doctor, who?
Marisel Martin: No, basically, you can with your blood . . .with you having a blood sample with the doctor, they can recommend you to see different specialists. Either they can recommend you to see neurologist, a dermatologist, it depends on the one that you have.
Jim Fried: And where would somebody go to get additional information on Vitiligo?
Marisel Martin: You can visit our website, we have several websites on . . .there’s one called VitiligoFoundation, you can visit there and you can have a lot of information. They give you local doctors that can help you out with information that you may need.
Jim Fried: Okay, well Marisel I want to thank you for, a) coming on the show, I want to thank you, b) for being a thought leader on Vitiligo, but really what I want to do is I want to congratulate you for all the strength and positive energy that you’ve put towards fighting this disease and not being . . .I’ll use the V word, the victim, I’ll use another V word, you’re a victor, that’s who you are. You are our local hero today and I’ve got to tell you, my gosh I have all the admiration in the World for you and what you have done going down, tracking down Governor . . .I don’t care . . .and getting him to sign that thing. You are just the best! You are the Vitiligo queen as far as I’m concerned.
Marisel Martin: Thank you, thank you.
Jim Fried: God Bless, thank you so much for bringing this to the attention of our audience.
Marisel Martin: Thank you for having me on your wonderful show.
Jim Fried: Oh gosh now I’m blushing. I think I’m actually going to cry. I’m going to look at Noe, she’s going to give me the tough upper lip there.
Marisel Martin: You actually pronounce it very good now.
Jim Fried: Yeah I did that because somebody taught me all about Vitiligo.
Marisel Martin: Good, that’s good.
Jim Fried: God Bless you dear. Alright I want to thank our guests today. Our coaches, I want to thank Marisel Martin, I want to thank Dr. Patin from UHealth, I want to thank Joe and Noe the coaches, Noe high five you got a call, well done. I want to thank our sponsors, KIND Snacks, South Florida Business and Wealth Magazine, Terek Maddox, the CCIMs, UHealth, Warren Henry Family of Auto Dealerships, the NFL alumni, the Miami Dolphins, the Miami Marlins, Social Media 305 and of course Lauren’s Kids, the Aztec Group, Magnum Energy Solutions, the Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies, UHealth, but most importantly this show, as always, has been all about you, the listeners. So I want to thank you very much. I want to ask you to go to our Facebook page, like our show, please tell your friends about it. Join our community. You can give us feedback, comments, you can tell us who you want to hear from. I can be followed on Twitter @JimFried @FriedonBusiness. I’m on Facebook, that’s how Noe keeps in touch. Joe, we talk on LinkedIn. YouTube is where you can find a bunch of stuff that we’ve done on the show and the hits on the website keep on going up, so thank you to those of you who go to www.FriedonBusiness.com and hit the website. If you missed a show it’s going to be up on our webpage probably by Friday or Saturday and then we’ll put it out there real hard on Sunday. This is Jim Fried for Fried on Business, look for us next Thursday on 880 AM at 6. Why? Because, gosh darn it, I love doing this. Remember, this is not a rehearsal, this is your life. The person that wants to do something finds a way, the other finds an excuse, now go out there and make it happen. Dee, take it away.
[End of Show]
