In this episode of The Tedd Huff Show, we speak to Jordan Ray, a 22 yr old entrepreneur whose life changed forever after being diagnosed with a Chiari malformation.

She explains where the idea for the limitless Medical log came from, how she turned her passion and drive for Softball into helping others, and what you can do to live a limitless life.

We recorded this a while back, and Jordan is about to launch the Limitless Medical Log mobile app. Get notified when it launches by signing up at www.teddhuff.com

Be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, and at www.teddhuff.com.

THINGS TO GET STARTED NOW!

1. Find your purpose

2. Have a long term vision

3. Take life day by day

 

Episode Links:

Website(s):

Limitless Medaical Logs – www.LimitlessMedicalLogs.com

Social Media

INSTAGRAM — @limitlessmedicallogs

Transcript:

Tedd Huff: Your story is, is one that, is very interesting, very inspiring, and I think a lot of people are going to really learn on how they can reframe events that are going on in their life briefly. give a quick background of, of who you are.

Jordan Ray: Yeah, a brief background. I was born in Davie, Florida. So, it’s about 25 minutes North of Miami for some people that aren’t around Florida. And so I was born there and I moved up to Wellington, Florida. So about an hour North of Miami when I was about three and a half four, and that’s where my parents were like, we need to put her in a sport. She’s a lot of energy. So they signed me up for, they signed me up for softball and just right away, I fell in love with the sport, just turned 22 and I am a business owner and I never thought I’d be this young

Tedd Huff: Business at 22. So what, what is it that you’re, you’re doing today

Jordan Ray: So what I do is I provide medical logs to people like myself that are battling a chronic health issue that needs to accurately track their pain and symptoms. So when I was diagnosed with my illness, I saw the need for the product and I wanted to fill that hole. I actually launched a company when I was 20. I turned 21 a month after I launched. So I always say it was officially 20. but that’s what I do. I just provide, medical logs for better communication between patients, caregivers and their specialists.

Tedd Huff: That’s great because you and I talked before and it really comes down to is when you have a chronic illness or you have a severe illness that requires you to go back and forth to doctors all the time. You had mentioned to me that, and I haven’t had that. So I’m extremely blessed for that. But you’ve mentioned to me that the doctors like to ask the same question, how do you feel compared to last time

Jordan Ray: Right. And that’s really what they do. They, they say, how have you been feeling And it’s, let’s say you see them once a month. It’s like, how are you going to accurately remember how you’ve been doing So you’re just going to say, Oh, I’ve been okay, have some migraines, some back pain. And then they look at you and they want an accurate number of how many days you had a migraine, how many days the pain was a 10 out of 10, but you just look at them and you guess, and so now you’re wasting your time, your money and you can’t enhance the treatment plan because you’re guessing you don’t know.

Tedd Huff: And it’s like, you shared with me before we started this. And I really appreciate you hopping on because you shared with me that you you’re, you’re suffering from a migraine as we’re talking right now. So that is like massively major props to you for being able to pull that off. I’m completely useless when I get one. So, so like, you’re right now, you’re, you’re doing this and you’re doing really well with, with our discussion. But if you were to, if I were to ask you how, when was the last time you had a migraine What, you know, how bad was it compared to today And those types of things, you’re going to probably struggle with that. Wouldn’t you agree

Jordan Ray: Right, right now, because of how bad my migraine is. And, you know, thank you for saying that, you know, for me, I’ve been dealing with them for so long and I’ve been fighting this battle for so long. I’ve gotten used to it and I know what my limitations are, but if I was to have my book right out in front of me, I could tell you, Hey, Ted, the last time I had a migraine, like this was actually yesterday. So the past three days have been rough for me. But if we’re just sitting like we are now, and I didn’t look at my book earlier, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you,

Tedd Huff: I’m gonna try and pronounce this correctly. But you were diagnosed with a sheari, right

Jordan Ray: Chiari Pronounced: /kiˈɑːriː/

Tedd Huff: I even Googled it and everything. And it’s like, here we go.

Jordan Ray: It took me a month after I was diagnosed. So I don’t get mad when someone says it wrong. Cause I can’t even say Ari.

Tedd Huff: So they don’t have to try and go Google it or they can, if they want to, we’ll put it in the show notes, how to spell it, but kind of describe what that is and what kind of impacts that has on your daily life.

Jordan Ray: Chiari malformation is a serious neurological disorder that you are born with where your cerebellum extends into your spinal canal, blocking cerebral spinal fluid to your brain. So with me saying, I was born with that. I blacked out on the softball field when I was 17. So I went from zero to 17 with no symptoms of flow being blocked to my brain. So when I was going for that play, like I said, I played softball when I was running for that. But I played third base. I was very aggressive when I played, I was running for the ball. I looked down at the ball, but I looked left over to first base and right up here, that’s where my flow got blocked to my brain right at my neck. And that’s how the blackout occurred. So something really has to happen for the symptoms to appear. In my case, it was me being on the ball field, making that neck turn. Some people, the symptoms just randomly appear. And it is considered a very rare illness that a lot of people don’t know about or know how to spell and say, so

Tedd Huff: Point taken that wasn’t really the trigger for you to develop the limit as logs. I mean, you, you had a couple of other things going on in your life, kinda, kinda help us understand what the, when you decided that you needed to create this log for others like yourself and those in your family. What was, what was like one of the other things that triggered that

Jordan Ray: So the first thing was my mom got diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 16 and I saw the need for the medical logs because I saw her struggling from all of the doctors. She had all the treatments, she had to do the surgeries. And I was like, there really needs to be something like this. But then when my health failed, I lost softball. So I lost everything to me. So it was either I give up on everything or I make something out of the adversity that I just faced. And that’s the real turning point of when I said, I need to create this because I know others need it.

Tedd Huff: Softball was your, is your love, right but

Jordan Ray: Still Is

Tedd Huff: well, I, I started to say was, and then I switched back to is, so you, mentioned that, you decided to try out, a sport on the weekend after seeing or shortly after seeing, a friend play what’s for, was that and, and how did you, how did that turn out for you

Jordan Ray: So my family and I, we went to a good friend of mine, our, her basketball game, and we had a hoop in our front yard. And so we went to the game, it was about seven o’clock. We got home seven 30, we come home. I say to my brother, cause I was very active. I just loved being outside and playing a sport. And I said to him, let’s go, just play a quick little game. I have a tournament coming up in two days, but I want to get some energy out. And he says, all right, let’s go. So we start playing. And the first clay that I was going to do, I was running after the ball. I stepped on his ankle, mine completely rolled in snapped, and I didn’t know this, but I tore at that point, I fractured the whole top of my foot and I tried to get back up. I just fell right back down. And I’m like, this is really bad because I have to now go tell my coach what just happened. And they’re going to ask, how did it happen I was playing basketball, not I was playing softball or anything else. So that was really rough, but I stuck it out. Like I’m, like you said, I’m doing right now. And I played nine games that weekend wrapped my ankle up. And then three months later I ended up having to have ankle surgery. Once I turned 14

Tedd Huff: That takes an especially high level of mental toughness to be able to continue to push through, to continue to keep the right mindset, to continue to do those things. Where did that come from and how?

Jordan Ray: I think just playing the sport since I was so young and I was actually on a team where it was very competitive and we stayed with each other for about like seven years. So just being on that team with show athletes that were so good, and I know we were young, but our potential was unlimited. So just knowing that I have to fight for my spot no matter what, because I know somebody else can take it from me. And I mean, before, that injury, I have something in my left foot where I have another bone that sticks out further than my ankle. And there was points from like age 10 to 12. I couldn’t even walk, but I continued to play cause I would tough it out because I knew if I stopped playing this would be a major surgery and I would be out for a really long time. And I didn’t want to miss any of my sport. I didn’t want to miss practice or games.

Tedd Huff: What, what kind of things do you do to get psyched up, to keep pushing through

Jordan Ray: It was just knowing what my end goal was and what I needed to do to achieve it. And if I miss a day, then someone else is working harder than me to achieve the same goal that I am even the same position because I wanted to play for the university of Florida. I played third base. I mean, I can just imagine how many other third basements are, are that are better than me. That would take my spot. So just knowing what my end goal was and know that if I do not give up, I will get there one day.

Tedd Huff: I think that your drive, that work ethic that you’re talking about, where do you, where did that come from

Jordan Ray: I’m going to say my dad. And so, hopefully she doesn’t listen to this, but I really, I would really say my dad because I see him, you know, how he is at work and how driven he is and, and how, if he makes a mistake or his team makes a mistake, it’s on him. It’s not on the team because that was his job to lead them properly. So I think we’re seeing that from him and that really instilled me. And, and that’s how I am now running my business. He’s my go to for business because I know he is and I want to be like him.

Tedd Huff: That is awesome. There have gotta be times where you get frustrated, even recognizing that, and you get overwhelmed with things or you lose your focus. What are, what are some tactics or some things that you do to regain that overwhelm from that overwhelm or loss of focus

Jordan Ray: Well, I can tell you, I literally feel overwhelmed every day. because this is still very new for me. Yes. I’ve been dealing with her for four years, but it’s still new. And what has really helped me is I realized that this is out of my control and my attitude can be towards what I can control and my company and how I, how I feel when I’m not feeling well, but the mental side of it. So, but I can tell you, I literally feel overwhelmed every day because of the amount of pain I’m into. It’s just, it’s hard to adjust and, and, and just relax sometimes because I was so driven, go, go, go for 15 hours per day. And now sometimes I can only do three hours.

Tedd Huff: Is there a specific thing that you do to, to reset that though, to, to get back to feeling like yourself I mean, I have friends that, that have migraines a lot or other things as well. Not to my, I don’t have that to the extent, but they’re, you know, they may go and lay down in a dark room or they may go and do something different. I don’t, I don’t know. but that’s what I’m trying to understand is like, how do you, how do you hit that reset button

Jordan Ray: I go take a nap. I mean, in a dark room, like you said, I mean, that’s just basically what I can do. I just, I don’t want to see the light. I don’t want to see the screen. I want to go lay down and rest and hopefully I can be okay in an hour or two,

Tedd Huff: You mentioned this has happened in the last four years for you and what belief, behavior or habit have you brought on for yourself that you feel has drastically changed the quality of life for yourself

Jordan Ray: I just believe that I will get to my end goal, bringing that quality of life back. So just knowing that there’s an end and it will get better. So that’s just been really big for me and those beliefs.

Tedd Huff: That’s really important. Did the coming back and reminding yourself that you can, you can do this, what are three things that they could start doing today that would make their, their life

Jordan Ray: I think finding your purpose in life, what you’re meant to do, what you’re going to do. Having a vision is something that I see. So for the company, I don’t have like what I’m going to do tomorrow. I have 10 years down the road, so that vision, and I think if you take it day by day, I that with my health, if I plan a week out and say, Oh, in a week, this is how I’m going to feel. No, I need to take everything day by day, same with my company, because I’ve realized that works for me.

Tedd Huff: You had mentioned find your purpose. Obviously your, your purpose early on was softball. How has that changed for you And how did you, I guess you could say refined or find another purpose

Jordan Ray: My purpose now is to help people. I, in the beginning, when this all happened, obviously I have my company that helps others in my shoes that are battling an illness. But it’s beyond that. It’s more of me doing an interview like this. And you never know someone might be listening or they’re afraid to share their story because I could tell you, I was for a very long time, because I went from this great athlete to now I’m this girl with a disability that nobody’s heard of. So that is just, it’s just really finding that purpose, but I believe everything happens for a reason. So all of this happened for me to help others.

Tedd Huff: What was the aha moment when you realized that you’re like, I just gotta take this one day at a time because you know, when you’re, when you’re focused on a sport and you’re focused on a goal, like becoming a college athlete, like you were, that’s very, very focused and you start to plan further out. What, how did you decide Or what was that like that breaking point when you’re like, I just got to get through today or I just, I shouldn’t say get through, that’s probably the wrong way to word it, but

Jordan Ray: I can tell you when I was younger, I didn’t have that mindset. When I hit high school. I did because it got to the point where I was practicing. I had school starting at six, seven o’clock in the morning, that would go to three and then practice from three 15 to six 30. And then if it wasn’t practice, it was games from five to 11 at night. So that is when the take it day by day, because, you know, you were kind of right where I just need to get through this day. It’s true. There were some games where I just need to get through this game. I’m exhausted mentally, physically, and I just needed to get through that one day to get to the next one. But that didn’t happen until maybe my sophomore year of high school. And then when my health failed, I lost softball.

Jordan Ray: I went back to, I was at a point where I didn’t care because I was just so like angry and confused with what was going on right before my surgery. Because when you’re told that you’re about to have brain surgery, first of all, there’s a million emotions going through your mind. And you’re scared, confused. I was really angry at the time and I realized that I need to get through the surgery. That’s one, I was in the PICC use of the kid’s ICU for five days. I need to get through that next day, the following day. So take it day by day. That’s where it really clicked. So it was my sophomore year, then it like left and then it came back right before my surgery.

Tedd Huff: What was the moment like when you realized that softball, as you knew it was over

Jordan Ray: it was the day I was diagnosed. I heard it, but it took me a month and a half later to realize because when I was first diagnosed, I thought in my head, Oh, it’s fine. I have softball tomorrow. I’m good. You know, that’s just another thing I gotta deal with the field. It’ll it’ll keep me calm my teammates. And then I realized, Oh crap, I can’t step on the ball field anymore. But it probably took me over a month and a half closer to the surgery, knowing that I had ankle surgery at 14, I was able to recover brain surgery surgery. You cannot recover in the way I did for my ankle. So I knew that I was never stepping on the field. And there was a point where I was just really depressed for about a whole month leading up to the surgery because that’s when it clicked. I realized that the sport that I fallen in love with at four years old, that was everything to me that helped me through my mom’s cancer. Battle is gone. My dreams are gone. So when that all hit me, it hit me like a truck, but it was around like right before my surgery, maybe a month or two after my diagnosis.

Tedd Huff: If, if everything that, that I enjoyed was

Jordan Ray: It was taken away, ripped away from you.

Tedd Huff: So how, how, how, how did you work through that

Jordan Ray: I started building my company. That’s literally what I did. I went from, I lost everything to, I need to do something because you have two choices you can give up or make something out of it. And I made the choice to make something out of it. And when I was building the company, it was like, okay, I lost softball, but now this is my new thing that I’m doing. And it’s going to be longer than just 14, 15 years of ball. It’s going to be a lifetime. So just honestly, building the company was what kind of kept me going, kept me sane. And also I coach softball. So being able to start that I’m trying to be the coach that I always wish I had to these girls and I’m coaching them on and off the field because of the amount of experience I have and what I’ve been through at such a young age,

Tedd Huff: You’ve moved to put your focus on the limitless medical logs and helping people get through their diagnosis and all of their basically you’ve created a support system for them, right. For those who want to know more about the limitless medical logs, can we do just a quick overview of, of what it is, how it works It works so well. And then, in the show notes, I will have all of the links to it. So if you want to go check it out or pick up one for yourself, you can do that, but let’s, let’s give them kind of a flavor of how it works and why it’s so effective.

Jordan Ray: Sure. Like I said, it’s for someone like myself that needs to accurately track their pain and symptoms. and so what I’ll go to my favorite page is the appointment notes. So we were talking about that going to a doctor’s appointment. So in that page, it’s for a whole year, the jury, it’s a physical log journal diary, whatever you want to call it. so for that, I go back to my neurosurgeon in a month when I’m sitting in the waiting room. Am I going to remember all of the questions, the important questions I need to ask if I didn’t have this log all in one laid out for me No I wouldn’t. And especially having brain surgery, you really want it. so I’m able to, if I think of a question right now, I can go write it down and not have to worry in a month.

Jordan Ray: What was that question a month ago So that’s just a basic of the appointment notes. You can write out when you’re at the appointment, what’s going on, what the doctor says, and then you get to the end part is the 52 week tracker where you can put in, like today I woke up with the eight out of 10 migraine throughout the whole day. It’s about a seven out of 10 now. So I’m able to accurately fill that out. And there’s a human body chart on the right, so I can fill out, I have a lot of lower back pain and middle back pain. So I can fill that in. Is it stabbing, tingling, numbness. and then the beginning of the book is just your basic about you, your past history. Cause they always ask the doctors and and then you’ll get to your medical contacts, which is very important. There’s a few other pages in there, but really the most important I tried to talk to you on,

Tedd Huff: You mentioned when we first started talking about doing this interview, is it, you explained to me the reason why you decided to do it as a physical paper journal, help, help or log, kind of explain why, why the paper, the pen to paper is so important for you.

Jordan Ray: Well, that will never fail you paper and pens. Like we had the little tech issues earlier, but the reason for that is I think I touched on it earlier is when you asked me, what do I do when I don’t feel good I go lay down, stay away from the screens, screens bother me light. so I wanted to keep it where you can just open it, write it down really quick, close it, you’re done. You don’t have to go find it somewhere else. Put it on your phone notes, put in your computer notes. That takes too much time where you can just open the page, write it out. And when you see your doctor there, you don’t have to show them your phone and go through you just open to that week and say, this is what’s been going on. So it’s just to eliminate looking the screen and it’s very user friendly.

Tedd Huff: So does it also serve as more of a cathartic type of feel as well I mean, the fact that you’re physically writing it down, that you’re going through that. I mean, does that, does that play into it at all

Jordan Ray: I’m glad you brought that up because it is journaling. It is at the end. I actually have write your story because this log is a part of your story. It’s a part of your life. So yes, it’s very therapeutic and it’s just for me. I love it. And it’s not being biased. I created it because of a health issue and I saw the need for it. So it’s just very easy to use and I just love using it because I can look back and be like last week, I’ve made some progress in physical therapy. I’m doing better. Being able to physically see that in my own handwriting. It just does something to you.

Tedd Huff: So if people want to learn more about your story, learn more about limitless, medical logs, want to help you along your journey. What is the best way for them to reach out to you

Jordan Ray: you can do contact@limitlessmedicallogs.com is the email. I will end up seeing it. And also on the website, www.limitlessmedicallogs.com. My story’s up there past interviews, newspaper interviews have been up there to learn more about it. And then also, obviously the product is up there with more bullet point details of what it can do for you. And I mean, just to help me out, I mean, I’m trying, I’m getting involved with keynote speaking as well. Just started that a month ago. So trying to share my story more and give me more of a platform so that, and I’m also writing a book about my story and, and overcoming this adversity. So that will be coming soon.

Tedd Huff: That is awesome. Those are all great things. I wish you the best of luck. Congratulations on both of those. I will put in the show notes for everybody ways to get ahold of her, Jordan we’ll, we’ll make sure to have them get ahold of you. your website links, all that other fun stuff, but I really appreciate you coming on today. this is something that is definitely gonna help a lot of people. And I love the fact that you took a childhood dream and changed it into something that can help somebody else when something unexpected happened.

Jordan Ray: Thank you. I appreciate it, Tedd. Thanks for having me on.

Tedd Huff: Thanks Jordan.