Day 1 & 2 - You Are the World's Best

The first two days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) I don't remember anything.

I was intubated, out of it, amnesiac, and told sometimes combative (trying to take out the intubation tube on my own - I really didn't like it!). Everything I will recount here I was later told by friends, family and caregivers. By the morning of Day 1 (evening of Day 0), my sister Maria was there along with my sons Ashton, and Sig 3 (affectionately known by me as Sigareeno) and his wife Becca.

Sigareeno put his second year medical school skills to work with his Dad as a real life case study in consulting with the Doctors about my condition and care. The biggest concern he had was that I might might be in a permanent vegatative state given the length of time my heart was stopped and I was without oxygen.

Maria was supportive and there as the captain for the duration of my 6 days in the hospital - everyone needs a Maria in their life! She helped everyone row together, remain optimistic, and to make sure I got the World's Best Care.

While in my amnesiac state I repeatedly said 2 things thousands of times to everyone who came into the room. Family, friends, doctors, nurses, lab technicians, janitors et. al. Everyone who came in was told repeatedly and continuously:

1. "You are the World's Best"

2. "Don't give me clopidogrel" (Plavix)

While I worked at the Mayo Clinic I worked with a pharmacogenomic company Mayo helped found called OneOme. Essentially, the company helps genetically decode how an individual might process a given medication and via clinical evidence improve outcomes. I was able to take the test during my time working with the company and learned that I had a major drug-gene interaction with Clopidogrel. Clopidogrel is an antiplatelet medication that can help prevent blood clots. During those first two days, I am not even sure if I knew what was wrong with me or what had happened, but i figured this might be important. I told everyone "Don't give me clopidogrel". When I started to comprehend and process things on day 3, I looked up at the white board at the foot of my hospital bed and saw in large capital letters "CLOPIDOGREL ALLERGY". A thousand times to everyone was apparently enough times to say it :)

"You are the World's Best". Again, everyone who came in the room was told this continually and with deep sincerity. Looking back on this, I think I did this for several reasons: 1) As an expression of gratitude and appreciation for the fantastic care they were giving me. 2) As a reminder for me and them that everyday we can show up as our World's Best Self. 3) We are too often told about our problems and deficincies and not nearly often enough that we are great or the World's Best. It becomes part of your belief system and confidence to achieve or defeats you.

I have stopped telling people "Don't give me clopidogrel" - it's now in my medical record as an 'allergy'.

I will never stop telling people "You are the World's Best". Everyday, everyone of us has a choice to be the World's Best doctor, nurse, parent, spouse, boss, accountant, teacher, marketer... Whatever you are called to be.

While this was the genesis of my company Be the World's Best, LLC, my journey to Be the World's Best Sig began decades ago. It is far from perfect but remember this is just the middle of the story and now my mission is to help others.

"You are the World's Best"! Unleash your power. Focus. Remove the barriers.