Two years ago, I took a life-changing moonshot. Diagnosed in 2012 with Achalasia, a rare, incurable esophageal disease, I vowed to find a cure within five years. What’s Achalasia? The basic explanation is that my esophageal muscles and nerves are dead and will never work again. From the food I eat to the way I eat it, I have to think…
Have you ever tried the pecan butter from Guidry Organic Farms? It’s pretty unlikely that you have even heard of the brand. I hadn’t either — until recently. They did one small gesture that blew me away, made me a customer for life, and I even promoted them in my recent interview on the highly-rated James Altucher Show (and again to you right now).…
While my results were not perfect, this was staggeringly positive news. Most everything was moving in the right direction. I don’t know Dr. Steven Gundry. Never met him either. But the guy changed my life. Frankly, I believe he helped save my life. It started with gut health. What I’ve learned about the digestive system in the last eight months…
In April, I returned to the Mayo Clinic for a checkup and to see if my esophageal ulcer had healed — an ulcer I had painfully lived with for 12 months. Their endoscopy revealed the ulcer was gone (a huge relief), but also lots of scar tissue remained within the esophageal wall and the appendage had begun curving again. The report was…
It was like throwing a fishing line in a big ocean and hoping to catch a very specific shark. “Hi, Philip. This is Nancy Lazarus calling. I just read an article of yours. I am the founder of Achalasia Awareness. I would absolutely love to talk to you. I am a die hard Achalasia advocate and I would absolutely love…
A long road was ahead but for the first time I had hope and purpose. I returned home in early February 2017 from the Abundance 360 conference and following my talk with Dr. Neil Riordan, I was cautiously optimistic. After six years of living with Achalasia, I’d taken control of my condition and stopped thinking my doctors were just going…
Life doesn’t always move along a linear path. It has detours, contours, setbacks, breakthroughs and revelations. “What’s your moonshot?” The question posed by Peter Diamandis in late January 2017 piqued my interest in a way I wasn’t expecting. In my first post in this series, I describe in detail attending Diamandis’ Abundance 360 conference. Frankly, I was attending this conference…
Little did I know that 2017 was about to change everything for me and I was unknowingly hopping on a rocket ship that was about to launch. “Phillip, the tests are back, we need to talk.” This was the voicemail I received last November from Dr. Kyle Chavers, my new functional doctor. In the early fall of 2016, I underwent a…
I made a decision: take control of this disease. I wasn’t going to let it take control of me anymore. In August 2016, I headed to the Mayo Clinic for a one year check-up on my latest esophageal surgery (to treat my Achalasia disease). This latest surgery, called a Heller Myotomy with Fundoplication (completed in 2015) was invasive — even today…
I’m convinced positive progress is the most important element to life. At the ripe, young age of 40 I committed to changing — everything. Positive progress. I’m convinced that it is the most important element to life — it brings purpose, passion, mission, outcome-based thinking, and growth. It sustains and allows one to love, be grateful and selfless. Personally, if I’m not positively progressing…