Those Who Inspire Me - The Morning Crew - Nancy Blackmon

Nancy and I have been friends now for a little over a year.  I'll never forget her asking me, "Have you seen Miracles from Heaven?"  I don't watch many movies so I told her, "No."  She told me that I needed to watch it.  Nancy and I are firm believers in prayer and so I took her advice and watched the movie.  It was a great movie.  I remember reporting back to Nancy, "Hey I watched the movie."  I'll never forget and I tear up just writing this, she said, "I was that mom.  I had to fight that hard for my son."  All I can say is thank God for mothers (and fathers) who never give up, who push until they find an answer.

I had this in mind when I sat down to talk to Nancy last week at Golds gym.  When we were all done talking, we glanced up at the front counter and we both just had to smile.  The movie playing that day in the cardio cinema was "Miracles from Heaven."

I always like to ask "how did you end up in NLP/Gold's at the same time as I did?"  Nancy tells me she had not been to the gym for at least a year.  She had been having major problems with her neck and major migraines.  She was seeing a chiropractor three times a week for relief.  Sara (Stephenson) made a "cold-call" to Nancy saying something like, we haven't seen you in awhile, would you like to come back in and discuss your fitness goals?   Her phone call got Nancy in the door.  NLP was being promoted at the time, so Nancy decided to give it a try.  This was November of 2015.

She participated in the NLP classes from November through January, but had no weight loss.  Patricia Roberts said, "If you want to talk nutrition, you have to talk to Ryan."  (I love the common thread in these posts.)  Nancy had been observing us during our semi-private sessions-- you know kind of checking us out.  She ended up meeting with Ryan about nutrition and Ryan tells me he remembers not even having to sell her on the semi-privates.  Nancy was just like - That's what I want to do.  There was a spin-the-wheel promotion going on and she won 10.00 off a month so she signed up for a year, right then and there.

When I asked her what she liked about the semi-privates, she said, "I loved showing up and getting my butt kicked.  They pushed me further than I have ever been pushed before.  You wonder why you keep coming back, but you do.  And then our core group -- that morning crew -- we had something special.  We were always checking on one another.  We chatted on Messenger at night.  If someone didn't show up, we were right on it asking what was up.

Patty, Jenna, Ryan, and Nancy (Natasha had started nursing school)

By far the biggest change she saw was physically.  She was supposed to get an injection in her neck on December 30th but the doctor got stuck in a snow storm and had to reschedule.  Well the reschedule pushed it into a new year and new deductibles.  She had begun to feel better so she decided not to reschedule.  In the past anything she lifted would put her neck out and give her a migraine.  As she continued with NLP and with lifting heavy weight and building muscle, all of that changed.  She can now lift her granddaughter and has not had a migraine for almost a year.

Me, Nancy, and Jenna just hanging out.  No neck problems there.

By far her greatest challenge in life has been having a child with a medical condition that noone could figure out.  This started when he was 11 and in 5th grade and it took 2 years to get in contact with a specialist in Denver.  He couldn't eat.  He hadn't grown.  He was losing weight and was down to 55 pounds.   The doctors here could not diagnose what was wrong and they would just keep sending him home.  He didn't have a diagnosis, yet was too sick to go to school and the school was on Nancy for this too.  She remembers that it got to the point where he was dying and they (her husband and her) HAD to figure it out.

She remembers saying, I understand you have run every test but SOMETHING is wrong.  She asked to be sent to Mayo Clinic.  Instead of sending them to Mayo they sent them to Denver (but were treated like Mayo) where a group of specialists came in -- each trying to figure out what was wrong.  She remembers a PET scan being run to determine if he had cancer.  They literally sat in the doctor's office for TWO hours waiting for the doctor.  The doctor came in and said, "Your son does not have cancer."  Now that is comforting to know, but Nancy was like, "Well that's good, but SOMETHING is wrong."  She said that doctor wanted to put him on anti-depressants.  Like it was all in his head.  He even said to Nancy, "If you're so smart, why don't you tell me what is wrong."  She said, "He can't eat!"  That doctor even though he was an ass, sent her to Dr. Stathos, a GI Specialist who slowly began to get the answers they needed.    The diagnosis was that a common bile duct didn't work.  So he couldn't digest his food.  Her determination saved her child's life.

Now watch Miracles from Heaven and you'll see why I tear up.  Her son has had over 50 surgeries in his lifetime.  He is now 22 years old.  The boy never complained.  She is just so proud of him.  When he was able to do something, anything, go to school, play with a friend, he just looked forward to that greatly.  He's doing well now and that is such a blessing.

Nancy and her two boys.

In closing, I asked what else did she want to tell me.  She said that she absolutely loved that we became friends (the feeling is mutual.)  She loves being with people with the same goals.  She enjoys her gym family.  And in light of the challenges she has faced in her life, she states, "I believe God gives us battles, so we can help other people."