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Transcript
Sophia's Living Room Inspiration
00:00:00
Speaker
Uh-huh. Oh, it looks great. I love it. Thank you. So mature. Well, at first, I'll thank you. At first, I wasn't going to do it this fancy until I saw my mom's background. I'm like, oh. So right now, my living room, I literally turn all the furniture around because I wish I'm trying to get out of place. Yep. Yep, it looks good. Looks good.
00:00:30
Speaker
It does look nice. It really is giving off Lisa vibes, like that painting in the background. And yeah, you're giving like your little chair that's giving off Lisa vibes. I like it. I can see
Reflections on a Past Episode
00:00:46
Speaker
it. I'll take it. I can see it. How was the episode? It was so good. I wish I had more time with her. Is she crying? Mm-hmm. Oh. No. Did she sound better than me?
00:00:59
Speaker
No, it was some similarities. Like they still told, they not telling folks about the GVHD with black folks and this, they still don't have a lot of resources and the pills, she struggled with her pills too. Um, yeah. The only difference is, um, is her like, well, and you know, this, the, um, the protective styles that she did for her hair.
Friends' Career Updates
00:01:28
Speaker
That was really the main difference. And she said she wants to be a pediatric hematologist. Oh, that's so cool. I love that. And you know, Paul just graduated. Oh, good. Uh-huh. Yeah, I said congratulations. He's going into nursing for hematology. That's so great. What'd you say, Elisa? What'd you say, Elisa?
Chemotherapy and Radiation Recap
00:01:54
Speaker
What? Why? Yeah, that was her final step. She did the seven days of chemo and then that final day radiation. Wow.
Combining Episodes: Life After Transplant
00:02:08
Speaker
All right, ladies, let's wrap up these final two episodes. So we're trying to like combine the last two into one. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, we'll just talk. You'll go from turning the corner to
00:02:23
Speaker
where are you now life after transplant? I feel like this episode is just going to be really hard because there's so much I can say, like there's a lot of positives I can say, but there's also like the reality too, you know? Well, you share what you are comfortable sharing and you know, we'll start off with, I think you should start off with the seventh grade maize and blue stuff because that was like the, the after your
00:02:52
Speaker
after your breakthrough moment, like you kind of went to cheerleading.
Breakthrough: Cheerleading Involvement
00:03:02
Speaker
That was like your next stepping stone. So I think that's where you start and then you go where you want to go. All right. Okay. All right. So this is episode six turned into corner six and seven.
00:03:30
Speaker
Oh, we're recording. Okay. Perfect. Hold on with me. I get my chair. You're doing great, Lisa. No, thank you. I didn't get a chance. No Red Bull, no chai, no dirty chai or anything. So you're doing great, Lisa.
00:03:51
Speaker
So Sophia, I think when we left off, we were starting to talk about your return to school. So at what point did you feel like once you were back in school that, okay, I can start to live my life like a normal, at that point you probably were a teenager or pre-teen?
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like seventh grade, I believe the end of it during the summer, time just started to go by really fast. And with a transplant, like at first you have to go back to the doctor's like every other day, then it's like every three days, then it's once a week, then it's biweekly, monthly, quarterly, and so on.
00:04:35
Speaker
So I feel like at that point I wasn't going to the doctor's as often.
Journey to Independence: New York Trip
00:04:40
Speaker
I was starting to feel better. I wasn't really experiencing as many side effects, like nausea and stuff. Like I had my appetite back. I was able to hang out with friends again. I wasn't wearing a mask anymore. So I feel like I started to go back to our normal life during that time. And yeah. You traveled to New York?
00:05:03
Speaker
Oh my God. Yeah. They forget about that. Yeah. So now that I'm thinking about, cause I was just sitting here thinking about, you know, eighth grade in that year, like it was completely night and day from seventh grade. Like I really feel like I was doing normal things. And like my aunt said, I was able to like get on a plane by myself to visit her and like have like a shopping trip for my birthday and to see family in New York and hang out with her.
00:05:32
Speaker
But that's not something I could have ever done if I had sickle cell, like get on a plane by myself and be able to take a vacation in another state that's away from my doctors. So yeah. Can I say too, because before transplant, when you had to take a
00:05:51
Speaker
playing right, you would have had to go in, get a blood transfusion. We had a medical letter that we had to travel, take with us. When we traveled, we had to know where the closest medical center was that was familiar with patients with sickle cell. Sometimes you had to have oxygen, right? Or that would have been an option if things got too
00:06:18
Speaker
too bad. Because when you're on the plane, the cabin pressure, it makes your sometimes it affects your hemoglobin. So yeah, like just to be able to get on the plane as an unaccompanied minor and sashay your way through New York. Yep, it was a great time. And I feel like that moment
00:06:43
Speaker
started my journey of independence, of being like the person who I am today. Like always just wanting to do things independently, being able to travel to places like by myself and live like an independent life. Because I feel like once I finally got that independence, I'm like, there's no turning back now. And then I went like extreme independent mode. I'm about to do what I want to do. Everything that I dreamed of doing when I had sickle cell, what I wasn't able to do.
00:07:09
Speaker
And, you know, on a side note, going back to that New York trip and seeing Sophia's progress, she was still working on picking up weight when she came to see me, but she had so much energy. And, you know, the funny story, the funny thing that happened when she was here, you know, I'm a subway girl, you know, I don't mind taking you from the transportation. And I told Sophia, I was like, you know, when these trains are coming, we got to hustle. Like, we got to get on these trains.
00:07:39
Speaker
And so Pia was like, yeah, I got it. You know, some more hustling from train to train to train.
00:07:46
Speaker
And unfortunately, this one time, we're both coming through. Sophia's in front of me. She wipes the card. She goes. The train has pulled into the station. So that means we really got to hustle. Sophia swiped, runs. She gets on the train. I'm right behind her. Same move. And this woman bumped into me, and I dropped my Metro card. And I went to pick it up. And by the time I picked it up, I looked. Those doors were gone, and Sophia was on that train.
00:08:14
Speaker
Alone. Oh my God. Alone. Alone. Another auntie moment. It's like, not on my watch. And of course, you know, it goes out. But I hopped on the next train that came in, got up off the next stop. Sophia was there, but she was already on the phone with her mama, y'all. On the payphone.
00:08:36
Speaker
It's funny. It's so funny. Because I was not on the phone. I wasn't even on the phone with my mom yet because there was no signal down there. Right. I didn't know. Yeah, it wasn't until after but it was funny because I have never used a paid phone before. But that was the only thing that they had down there. So I'm like, let me try and I didn't know at least this number by heart. So I was like, let me try and
00:08:59
Speaker
to call my mom on this pay phone and I gave that pay phone some quarters and some money and I couldn't figure out how to use it. And I was like, well, I guess I said I wanted independence and this is what it's giving me because yeah. Oh, she was shook. I'm like, I'm like, but she's okay. She took a nap. You have to go to bed after that.
00:09:21
Speaker
It was manic. I was like, boy. Yeah, you were very traumatized. I felt bad for you. I felt, I felt, yeah, I felt bad. More, more sorry. I'm sorrier. What's the word? Sorrier. More sorry. I felt more sorry for you than I did for Sophia. Oh, I mean, the list, the line of people who would have been like, you lost a baby. You lost a baby. I was like, oh, Lord. No, wait. You don't get her back. I promise y'all.
00:09:48
Speaker
But luckily we did not come to that. So it worked out. I digress. I digress. So it sounds like once you got back into the swing of things, you had a list of things, obviously, that you wanted to get involved in. So tell us a few things about going from middle school to high school, what you started doing.
Yearbook Club Leadership and Sales Interest
00:10:12
Speaker
Yeah, so again, like for those of you who don't know, like I come from a very athletic family, not everyone in my family is athletic, but you know, as you heard my brother talking about he plays basketball, my step brother played football and basketball for a while.
00:10:26
Speaker
I have cousins that play football and basketball, like very athletic family. So I knew, you know, me being me, I'm like, this is my time. Like my whole life, people, you know, cause I had, or I had an invisible disability. Like if you look at me, you can't, you couldn't tell I was disabled. You couldn't tell I had sickle cell. So a lot of people would come up to me like, Oh, you're so tall. Like, why aren't you playing sports? Like you're not on the team. But I also knew I did not want to play basketball.
00:10:57
Speaker
At that time, a lot of my friends were on the cheerleading team in sixth and seventh grade. And I was like, oh, cheerleading sounds fun. That's a sport. That's something I want to do. I want to be with my friends. So there was this moment where I came up to my mom. I was like, oh, can you sign me up for cheerleading? And it was not through the schools, this summer program thing. But it was intense. It was serious. We were practicing four times a week, games on Saturdays. It was a lot.
00:11:25
Speaker
So I came up to my mom, I was like talking to her about it, like, hey, like, I'm trying to do cheerleading, like, this is the time. And my mom was like, Oh, like, no, you're not ready. He has so much work, you're gonna be tired, like, you know, going into protective, still thinking I have a daughter with sickle cell mode, which, you know, it takes a while to
00:11:46
Speaker
get used to not having to advocate or having to be cautious anymore. It's like a completely different change of lifestyle. But I was like, so I had to like give my mom like the puppy eyes and talk to her. I was like, but mom.
00:12:04
Speaker
Isn't this why we had to transplant so I could have opportunities like this? And I could live a normal life and be a cheerleader. So I feel like in that moment, my mom had nothing else to say, but like, oh, yeah, you're right. Like I didn't have sickle cell anymore. I was very post-transplant. I was high energy.
00:12:25
Speaker
So it worked and I joined the cheerleading team and I did cheerleading in eighth grade and it was a lot more work than I thought, but I'm very grateful for that because I'd never been on a team. That was my first time getting to be on a team with other, it was mostly other black girls on the team. So that was a cool experience. Being able to just experience that for the first time
00:12:49
Speaker
being able to play a sport, something that I've always dreamed of. And I did cheerleading from eighth grade until 10th grade. I was a varsity cheerleader at my high school and ninth and 10th grade, but then due to other factors and other things I wanted to pursue, shout out to the yearbook. I decided I was too active and I gave up cheerleading, but I'm grateful.
00:13:18
Speaker
I did lettered. I was a varsity athlete for two years, but I'm grateful to have had that experience in starting an eighth grade. So then you mentioned the yearbook. Another side note, if you guys ever need anyone to raise money or sell anything, Sophia is perfect. Yes. Hit me up. Hit me up. If I wasn't doing what I was doing now, I would definitely be in sales.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yeah, so I don't know why. Okay, a little thing about me, I really try to do things that people tell me not to do. I don't know how I end up in yearbook, and they definitely told me, the middle school counselor told me, because you signed up for classes for high school while you're still in middle school, then the counselor walks you through the process. And as we're like all going through the electives of what to select, she's like, oh, yearbook, like that's for older students, like don't do that your first year.
00:14:14
Speaker
maybe me I'm like why not like let me just try it so I clicked and I selected yearbook um for my elective that I was going to do in high school and I had no idea what I was getting into like my yearbook was like professional we didn't use like an online prep platform we used in design which is like through Photoshop like we were
00:14:37
Speaker
literally producing a book. Like we had editors, we had people, I was making money off of the yearbook because it was commission for how many cells you can have. I was pulling all-nighters working on this yearbook, but it became like literally we will have something called late nights, which means we will stay after school on a Friday and be there till like three o'clock in the morning working on this yearbook. Like it was the most
00:15:04
Speaker
probably like the most intense job that I had and I was really getting paid besides commission if I sold an ad to a business but that also became a side hustle. My freshman year I was kind of like dipping my toes into it. I started to realize like we're not just going around taking pictures like I'm interviewing people, I'm taking pictures, I'm writing articles. It was a lot of work but
00:15:31
Speaker
freshman year, I wasn't like super committed. But then I decided to continue with it after freshman year. And then sophomore year, I became like, Oh, I can make money. Like you're telling me if I get over my goal, you'll pay me in gift cards. So like I used to get a lot like, I mean, at that time, it seemed like a lot for a school job, like $300 in gift cards, because I would go. Yeah.
00:15:55
Speaker
I would go business to business trying to sell advertising. She's motivated by gift cards, y'all. She's motivated by gift cards. Yeah. So I worked my way up the yearbook chain and literally was obsessed. Like would go to yearbook conferences, dedicated my basically my high school life to the yearbook. Like I, no regrets. Like I would honestly, if I could right now, if they were to pay
00:16:19
Speaker
What I would want to pay be paid I would go back and be an editor of the yearbook class. Um, so I think it was Junior year I think sophomore
College Selection and ASL Major
00:16:31
Speaker
year. I was just still another staff staff member junior year. I was head of advertisements so I would help
00:16:40
Speaker
sell ads and show the ropes to the new people how to sell ads. And then I was the person who also did the spreads for the advertisements. So imagine in the back of the yearbook, businesses pay for an ad or if you pay for a senior ad.
00:16:55
Speaker
You can have like a quarter page, an eighth, or four half page, and I would be responsible for creating the logo and stuff for a designer if they didn't, excuse me, if they didn't submit one. So it was literally, I spent a lot of time doing that. And then senior year,
00:17:11
Speaker
I became the editor-in-chief of a yearbook. Okay, so fast. And I know I wish like most people don't realize how intense yearbook is until you do it, but it was one of my favorite things. It was my favorite thing about high school was being involved in yearbook. Wow, that's impressive. I won't even get into what my high school life looked like.
00:17:47
Speaker
It seems like once you got to high school, you really started to hit your stride. It wasn't just your book. It was everything. It was
00:17:59
Speaker
Black Student Union. I was in Rising Scholars, which it was a group for accelerated BIPOC students who were doing it in class. I was in Girls Group, which was a group for a young woman coming together. And we'll talk about different problems. And they also have helped me and still currently are helping me on my journey of womanhood and
00:18:23
Speaker
staying connected to that group and they offer mentoring. I think freshman and sophomore year I did. So freshman year, I stood in front of my entire class and ran for position on student council.
00:18:37
Speaker
And I won one of those positions and did a speech in front of the entire ninth grade class. And I didn't continue with that because I just, it was, you know, politics. I'm not really into that, but it was just like, I feel like at that moment, I was like, Oh my God, there's only possibilities for stuff I could be doing.
00:18:54
Speaker
And I just wanted to be involved in everything. And I think freshman and sophomore year, I really did do that. But then I started to narrow down what I was actually passionate about and focus in on that, instead of trying to be involved in everything. But it was just like a newfound freedom that I never had before. Wow. Well, it sounds like you've ceased the moment, that is for sure. Yes, I tried. Yes. And then how did that drive and passion
00:19:25
Speaker
translate into going to college and making the choice to go away. Yeah. So in terms of college, I forgot to mention another passion that I had picked up on while I was in the hospital. But when I had sickle cell is I had a deaf roommate who when I was in the hospital one time, I had never met a deaf person before. But right when I met her and I was like trying to communicate and like it wasn't working, I was like,
00:19:54
Speaker
My mom was like, oh, you know, you had to like look up ASL and there was a computer in our hospital room. So I looked up like how to say, hi, how are you? My name's Sophie, like introduce myself in ASL, which now that I am an ASL interpreter, I know what I said probably did not make sense, but
00:20:11
Speaker
you tried, don't you try? Yeah, I did try. And I, you know, having that just a little tiny bit of interaction with her was like, wow, I want more of this. Like I want to learn ASL. And for a while, like, like I mentioned before, like I was too involved in everything. So I didn't really I did take so I only took ASL as my foreign language in high school. So I took ASL one and two.
00:20:36
Speaker
So when I came to college and finally going off like trying to pick my major, I
00:20:43
Speaker
For me, I think I chose the school first and the major second. So I knew I did want to do ASL, but I also knew I did not want to stay in Michigan for college. Like my brother, he went off to Florida and I'm like, wow, that's so cool. Like he did two years in Michigan by just seeing how much independence he had in Florida and how like he was having so many new experiences with people, new people that like weren't at all connected to Michigan. And I knew that's what I wanted too.
00:21:13
Speaker
So I think at first, after I learned like, wow, you could be an ASL, American Sign Language interpreter, as a career, I started to research different programs and I found a school in North Carolina. And my grandma lives in North Carolina. So I'm like, well, it's a public university. I will at least have someone there. And this was sophomore year, like I found the school sophomore year of high school.
00:21:37
Speaker
So I feel like from that point forward, I'm like, I'm either going to be an ASL interpreter, or I'm going to major in business because also, besides doing your book, I was working sales jobs, like I worked at journeys, and then I got recruited from journeys to work at Champs.
00:21:54
Speaker
And I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but to me being in high school, like working at these shoe stores and also making commission, making a lot of money at chance, not a lot, but like for high school or making commission off of shoes and like beating sales goals and stuff like that was a big deal. So I knew I had a passion for sales, but I also knew like when I'm doing sales that
00:22:16
Speaker
It's not really fulfilling. I don't feel like I'm supporting the world by doing sales, by selling someone's shoes. And I felt like I was basically saying anything to get them to buy something, like hyping them up. Like, oh, you look so good. Literally saying anything that will make you close that sell. And I'm like, do I really want to be doing, having to put my best face forward, trying to
00:22:41
Speaker
persuade people up to buy stuff. I'm like, oh, I probably and I maybe later in life, I knew I needed something else that would be more fulfilling because I knew I would burn out that fast. So eventually, like I was still stuck on UNCG, which is the university I went to, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. And I literally only applied. I applied to two colleges when I applied. I applied for UNCG.
00:23:10
Speaker
And I applied for North Carolina A&T because I also went on a HBCU tour. And I felt bad because I'm like, oh, they paid for me to go on this tour. Like I need to apply to at least one HBCU. And A&T is in the same city as UNCG. So I was like, well, that's close enough to UNCG. So even if I for some reason don't go there,
00:23:33
Speaker
I don't go there at least, I'll still be in the same city. But I remember the differences. I toured UNCG and I fell in love with that campus. Sophomore year of college, because I would visit my grandma in North Carolina. Sophomore year of high school, I was already on campus, falling in love. And then I think it was maybe my senior year or junior year I visited UNCG again.
00:23:57
Speaker
and then during the Black College Tour we toured A&T and I just did not have that feeling of connection there like I did with UNCG. So I ended up only applying for those two out-of-state universities. I didn't apply for any schools in Michigan and I was probably wasn't, I do not recommend doing that because that's risky, but I was determined and I knew since sophomore year that I am going
00:24:22
Speaker
to UNCG and that's what I did and I ended up majoring in ASL interpreting which was interesting because a lot of my classmates like there's only a few that were like true there were only a few people that were like true freshmen starting off their first year as ASL interprets like most of them like transfer from a different major or is their second career so it's like me and one other girl were like the youngest people in the class like 18 year olds in this major and
00:24:51
Speaker
Being my journey for becoming an interpreter could be like a whole nother series, but I'm very grateful for the position that I have and being able to graduate from UNCG and the Professions and Deafness Program as an interpreter and experiencing.
12 Years Post-Transplant Reflections
00:25:05
Speaker
And I also figured out at that time with self-discovery that I did not belong in North Carolina. And even though my education was great, I didn't feel that connection with like friendship and being able to connect with people in North Carolina. So I ended up
00:25:19
Speaker
I'm moving away, not in North Carolina. But we love North Carolina, my birth state. So period. Let them know. Just not for me. I'm a Northern girl. Long term. Long term. Yeah. It was a good, I know regrets, but yeah, I was about to stay. Your granddad was very sad that you were moved, that you,
00:25:47
Speaker
we're moving out of state or going to college out of state. He was very sad. Yeah. I remember that. He's like, are you sure? Like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cause he knew, he knew what she looked like. She's not coming back. I know, I know what happens. Yup. Did not come back and still not back. Much to his chagrin, I bet. Oh, absolutely.
00:26:14
Speaker
Absolutely. So, man, Sofia, that is a lot, a lot. You talk about transformation in, you know, although it's been 12 years, I'm sure those 12 years have flown by.
00:26:30
Speaker
and how much stuff you've done. You've had your healing and recovery and discovery and selected a career and you were involved in high school and getting in the college and a professional. A lot has happened in that 12 years. And one thing that we haven't touched upon is what it's been like to live with
00:26:59
Speaker
the after-fact, the impact of the boatboat, if there's been any, that you get to deal with.
00:27:08
Speaker
Yeah, that I feel like even though it's been post 12 years past my transplant, I'm currently like in Rochester, New York living independently, starting my career in 2021 and starting to get more involved in my career, my profession and currently working on a university. And even though I feel like
00:27:31
Speaker
I live a quote unquote normal life. There's still like ongoing things about my transplant that I experience on a day-to-day basis like connected to survivor's guilt feeling like oh when I think about
00:27:46
Speaker
my the people that I know from the clinic that are either still battling with sickle cell are passed away from sickle cell or my cousin who is currently always in the hospital in and out of the hospital the same way I was and she's still living with sickle cell and recently I was having dinner with one of my friends and a group of friends
00:28:10
Speaker
And I was like talking a little bit about my life. And then she's like, Oh my God, like my dad had sickle cell, but he passed away when he was 46. And that really like impacted me and like almost had me crying at the table because I was like, I can't talk about this right now. Cause it's just like, I'm very grateful to have the transplant. But as we know, not everyone can have bone marrow transplant. So I feel very fortunate by feel like I am.
00:28:33
Speaker
constantly on a journey just to think about gratitude but to also just be appreciative because I knew like my reality was not looking great for me long-term like and I feel like I think about that a lot and kind of am not kind of and I am still experiencing that guilt sometimes when I think about
00:29:00
Speaker
Wow, like I am one of the chosen ones who got to have a transplant but still feeling guilty. Like I wish everyone with sickle cell did not have to go through that harsh battle. So I feel like that's one component.
00:29:12
Speaker
Should I just jump into like everything? I'm not sure. Yeah, actually. Okay. So I feel like that's one part. So I feel like there's three main things that I still...
Genetic Chimera Discovery
00:29:25
Speaker
It's probably gonna be like the rest of my life self-discovery journey and
00:29:30
Speaker
therapy type thing of trying to work my way through it. So that's the first thing. And the second thing that I literally just discovered this week, literally just discovered this week, it has me like shook to the core every time when I think about, oh, were you gonna say something? No, go ahead.
00:29:52
Speaker
Okay. I did tell her. I did tell her about this. She claims that I didn't, but go ahead. I do not remember. I feel like this is something that's important to say. So listeners, viewers, aunt Lisa and mom, sorry, my headphones still working. It kind of went out.
00:30:10
Speaker
Okay, cool. So what I did not realize about a bone marrow transplant until, let me set the scene. I was laying in bed. I was scrolling through TikTok as I do. And this video pops up and said that I had a bone marrow transplant, but my donor was a male. So now when I take a blood test, my sex is a male too, even though I was born a female.
00:30:39
Speaker
So I saw that and I kept reading it over and over again. I was like, what? That's not true. Why are you over here lying to the people on the internet? So then I was like, no. And then I went to the comments and I'm going to pull up the word because I've never heard of this word before. But then I pull up the comment section and it was like, oh, so you're a chimera. Do you guys know what that means? No.
00:31:05
Speaker
Okay. Well, yeah, but you didn't know what it meant before, right? No, not before this week. Okay. So then, oh, that sounds like you're a chimera. You're a chimera. And then I looked at her bio. I'm like, oh, she didn't have sickle. So like she had cancer. I'm like, I didn't. That's not me. So, so then I was like, no, let me do my research. So then I started to research it. And it was like, yeah, anyone who has not just a bone marrow transplant from like male defeat, like if you're opposite sex,
00:31:35
Speaker
But if you have a transplant, you literally have your donor's DNA. So my blood DNA is my brother's DNA. It's not my DNA. So if I take a blood test, it shows up that I'm a male and I have like his male DNA cells in my bloodstream.
00:31:56
Speaker
And I guess I never processed that. And I remember my mom always is like, we'll joke around, but oh, you have your brother's DNA, you have your brother's DNA. But I never realized that if I were to go to the doctor's right now, and if I didn't like self identify as a female, if you were to just look at my blood test, it would show them a male, even though I'm not a male. But I feel like, and that's why it's so a chimera.
00:32:22
Speaker
And I'm literally just starting this self-discovery of what this means, but a chimera is a grief mythological character that has three heads and it's portrayed as someone that has a lion's head. It's a woman's lion, but it has also a tiger's tail. I mean, sorry, it has a snake as a tail, and then it has a goat, like basically showing three
00:32:47
Speaker
different types of DNA, but into one, but mine. And so the medical world calls it a genetic chimera, and that's what I have after the transplant. So inside of me, I literally currently have my brother's DNA, which is a male, and my DNA, which is a female, and it's mixed together. So I feel like
00:33:09
Speaker
discovering that, I was like, that's crazy to me. And backstory, I should have known this because I tried to do a DNA or 23 and me test, right? So I took the test. And then the results came back as inclusive. And I was like, interesting, like the rest of my family that got their test back, they're able to like see what
00:33:31
Speaker
they are. But for me, it just was like inclusive. So they were like, Oh, maybe because I like I was not following the rules. Like I was eating on a chocolate wafer. And I probably I wasn't maybe I didn't wait enough time until after someone let me do it again. I'm not gonna eat anything. So I took the test again. And it was still inclusive. So at that moment, this was in college. So I'm like, I'm just an alien. Like it's cool. Like it's fine.
00:33:57
Speaker
Yeah, I'm like, oh, you know, it's, it's on brand for me. Like, it makes sense for me to just be an alien for me to not know where I came from. I'm not rooted into this world. But with the recent research I've been discovering, because I have two different sets of DNA inside of me, it's just not possible to do
00:34:17
Speaker
that test. So basically with this, like I still like this is probably could be a whole nother series of what that means to be a genetic chimera. But I just think that's so interesting to think about, you know, you literally are carrying your donor's DNA for the rest of your life. And if your donor isn't the same sex as your
00:34:39
Speaker
how you want to identify. I'm curious to research now, is it just the blood DNA or is there actual changes within your body, like certain hormones that are high? I don't think so, but I'm now starting to research a little bit about that too, like other people's experiences who have had transplants in. So, genetic chimeras, when you are
00:35:07
Speaker
like a transplant. But some people, like if someone like absorbed their twin, that can also happen. But that's more rare. But that's just like a regular chimera. Like if you if you observed your twin, so now you're sharing both their DNA in your DNA. Yeah. And also, I think when you're pregnant with the opposite sex for temporarily, you also share some DNA. So if you do a blood test, I might say that you're a male instead of a female. So
00:35:34
Speaker
Honestly, it was just like a lot. Interesting. Right. After these 12 years, I had no idea about that, but now I'm glad that I'm aware and able to do my own research. I feel like that's number two. Any comments about number two before I go to number three? Well, I will say that on transplant day, when they brought in the cooler with the cells and they were hanging it up, the lady gave me a card.
00:36:02
Speaker
And she told me that when you take a blood test, your DNA will show as male, but we all know she's a female, but just don't get freaked out. And it was literally a 30-second conversation, and that was it.
00:36:20
Speaker
so important. Like, how would y'all feel, you know, like, to me, that to me, I'm like, mind blown, like, to me, that's crazy. And I never like, literally, until this week, I did not know that.
00:36:33
Speaker
I can see why it's such a passing, you know, let me give you the 30 minute, I mean, 30 second spill on it towards the end, because for like your reaction right now, most people are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute. Right. I'm not sure. Right. You don't have to rethink this, and you don't have to tell me more. It's too late now. We in the cell hanging stage. Like, we can't have no conversations about this. We need to get these cells hung, right? Yeah, that's why they went to that very moment, to be like, boom, boom, boom.
00:37:03
Speaker
We got to keep moving. It's also crazy because as I was doing my research, if I were to commit a crime, like he's lucky I'm living a straightened out path because if I were to commit a crime, his DNA would like it would not be pinned on me technically.
00:37:25
Speaker
That is his DNA. Like, literally, that's what it was saying, like, literally, and there, like, was one case about it. But whatever, I can't get into that. But to me, that's just like, I don't have my DNA, I have my brother's DNA. So I really do wonder, like, how that impacts personality, if it does at all, and just like, overall, me as a human.
00:37:45
Speaker
Well, so that goes back to my earlier question about the math skills and if you noticed a difference in that example with your math skills pre and post transplant.
00:37:59
Speaker
I don't know what you're talking about with math. I was not good at math until I was in college. And the only reason why I'm good at math is because of my math tutor, shout out to Sarah Lynn. And literally the only time I ever got in a good grade in a math class was freshman year, excuse me, was freshman year of college. And I only got that good grade because in high school we never had multiple choice math test.
00:38:23
Speaker
But in college, there's a lot of students, so it was multiple choice. So most of the time when I was solving the problems, I would just plug in the answer choices to the equations to see which one would make more sense. So I don't even think I'm that good at math. I remember you saying at one point when you were working with Sarah Lynn, shout out to Sarah Lynn,
00:38:45
Speaker
that you talked about how you were having a bit of an easier time picking up the concepts. I do remember seeing that. Yeah, I think it just took me a while to get to that point because most of my classes in high school ended up getting a C in math and I didn't get an A until college. So I don't know about that one. And I also think about
00:39:09
Speaker
athletic, like my brother's athletic, I still don't think, even though I was on the cheerleading team, I still don't view myself as an athletic person. But I feel like being an athlete is hard. It's just one of those things that if you don't start when you are young, it's hard to pick up on as you're older. But I do like enjoy weightlifting and have been really into that recently. But I'm not sure if I have an advantage of that from having male DNA as well. I don't know. Did you pick up any of his allergies?
00:39:38
Speaker
Um, yeah, so before I wasn't allergic to anything, and now I'm allergic to dogs and cats, um, a little bit of grass, sensitive to fragrances. So he has the same issue. Yep. But I didn't before the transplant. And you're the one family who we befriended during transplant. She, uh, her, her.
00:40:06
Speaker
bone marrow transplant. She had cancer, but she had to have a bone marrow transplant and it was from an unrelated donor and her donor was allergic to shellfish. And now she's allergic to shellfish. Oh wow. That's so crazy. So crazy. I know me too. So what's the third thing, Sophia? All
Reproductive Health and Lifestyle Choices
00:40:32
Speaker
right. Number three.
00:40:34
Speaker
drum roll. Okay. So the thing about having a bone marrow transplant, it impacts a lot of your organs directly. And I'm not really I haven't done like a whole bunch of in depth research of why it impacts some organs over the other. But having a transplant before before going into puberty impacted my reproductive system. And I feel like for me, it wasn't a big deal.
00:41:03
Speaker
it because I knew even my reality was sickle cell like it's not really recommended for people with sickle cell to have kids even though you know you can you can do what you want but I knew that was would not be a good idea for me to go through pregnancy and to be carrying kids with someone with sickle cell because there's always a potential that I could die or just thinking about having to like carrying around a kid and having to like watch after them I feel like there's that's not something I wasn't
00:41:30
Speaker
ever going to imagine I would be doing myself. So I've never had my mind set of seeing in the future, I want to have kids. So by having a bone marrow transplant, it directly impacted my reproductive system and destroying my eggs that I have. So I'm unable to... I can carry a kid, but my eggs would not be used. It would be through IVF with a donor egg.
00:42:00
Speaker
if I wanted to do that. And I feel like
00:42:04
Speaker
For me, that's not as big of a deal, because I never imagined myself having kids. But I feel like it's something that you have to constantly talk about with serious relationships. Because not everyone wants that path to not be able to have kids the natural way, and having to pay for IVF, which is really expensive, and having to go through the process of finding someone who's willing to donate an egg or going through the egg bank. And eggs are very expensive.
00:42:32
Speaker
Yes, in that process. Yes, so expensive. So I feel like even though it doesn't really directly, well, it does directly impact me in my journey, but also just thinking about, you know, being aware if that is something that you really want in your future is to be able to have kids that is not a possibility after a transplant. And I feel like it's also for me, it's
00:42:57
Speaker
I'm always important like before being serious with someone being transparent with partners like hey like I'm unable to normally or I can't my eggs are just short like I can't reproduce and I will only be able to have a capable IVF like are you cool with that I'm not trying to like scare you or get serious too fast but I feel like it's always important to throw out that disclaimer
00:43:18
Speaker
because you don't want to get too serious. And then down the line, you know, they're just now finding out and then them not being able to have what they want. And then you having to experience that sadness, like, oh man, I should have told them sooner. But also with it being like,
00:43:39
Speaker
with the transplant impacting my reproductive system, having to like, basically I had from seventh grade, I've been on a birth control patch, but the birth control patch is an estrogen replacement because my body doesn't normally kick in the estrogen cycle type thing. So my body has to be on consistently be on birth control in order to match the estrogen levels. And I know
00:44:06
Speaker
For most people, when you're on birth control, you take like a week off and do like the fake bills or I wear a birth control patch. So you take a week off of your patch. But as someone who has a bone marrow transplant, I always keep my patch on. I don't take any breaks from wearing it and we'll be wearing the patch until I'm older, like, you know, ready before menopause. So I think that is something that menopause.
00:44:31
Speaker
Right, mine as well. But that part of the transplant is very, or what I'm currently going through is really important for my health because if I don't wear the birth control patch, if I don't
00:44:47
Speaker
look after my bone health, like I will be brittle boned when I'm older if I don't follow that regimen. And I won't be able to live like a healthy life if I don't constantly wear the birth control patches. So I think that's just something to be aware of. And it's definitely hard like knowing that man, like sometimes I'm like, Oh, the life will be so much easier if I ever did want to have a kid to be able to naturally reproduce, but also think about again, that
00:45:18
Speaker
Even if I didn't have a bone marrow transplant, my reality was most likely I was not going to have a kid. So, and I think now looking, reflecting, I'm not even sure if I want to have a kid at all because I really enjoy my independence. I enjoy traveling. I enjoy being like this career woman. And I'm not sure if I want kids in my future, but I feel like if I did want kids, it will probably be through adoption and maybe adopting like a deaf child would be
00:45:45
Speaker
the route I would go. And so we got to get our sign language together. We got to get it together. Y'all better get it together before we just go. What are you doing again? I think you messed up. Oh, you're frozen. I can't. Oh, shoot. Am I still frozen? Do it again. You're, you're good. Oh, frozen. Okay. L. I. Yep. S. Yep.
00:46:13
Speaker
Yes. Okay. I'm just going to give them the look. I'm just going to give them the start. Oh my God. That's so awful. You better start learning sign language. I tried, but you got mad at me because you said I wasn't learning fast enough.
00:46:31
Speaker
I think if you, for all those listeners that are listening or you're watching the video, if you want to learn sign language, you need to go be in the Deaf community and learn from a Deaf person. I am not an ASL teacher. She is not.
00:46:47
Speaker
I'm really not. But the fastest way to learn is to be in the community, be active, and you will pick it up very fast. Because even though my degree, I went through a four year degree program for ASL, I barely learned any sign language actually being in the classroom. It was being with deaf friends and going out with deaf people and going to all these deaf events. And that's why I credit to being able to pick up sign language
00:47:16
Speaker
Yeah, in those timeframes. And now I currently live in Rochester, New York, and I work at the Rochester Institute of Technology. And for those of you who don't know, Rochester has the biggest deaf population per capita in the United States. So now I'm just surrounded by deaf people, which I love. I love being in the community.
00:47:39
Speaker
being not only working with deaf people at my job, but also like just everyday social activities. We were able to like go out to the club last night and be with deaf friends and just seeing deaf people everywhere, which I loved and being involved in that. So I'm grateful to be here in Rochester. That is phenomenal. Phenomenal. Well,
00:48:05
Speaker
I think to close out these three things, tell us how you, and you touched on this a little bit, how are you coping and what type of support mechanisms do you have in place to deal with some of the things that you mentioned here this evening?
Therapy and Mental Health Support
00:48:24
Speaker
Yeah, so I feel like for me, I really enjoy reading about experiences and seeing what other people have gone through. That is a big resource for me just reading up, like now that I know the thing about
00:48:40
Speaker
My brother's DNA and the sex being a male technically like now I've been like just reading all about it But I feel like it's something that I really want to go back into which I tried when I was in college But unfortunately it didn't work out long-term is just going to therapy and being able to talk about what you're going through because it is hard it's hard just thinking about survivors guilt it's hard thinking about your
00:49:05
Speaker
gender technically not matching your sex on paper. It's hard thinking about even though if I like not having the option to not have kids, even though that may not be what I want, but still not even being able to decide for myself if I want it to or not. So I think it therapy is very important and something that I am now racing trying to find a new therapist.
00:49:31
Speaker
to be able to talk about those things. And I would encourage anyone who's going through a transplant to also take advantage of going to therapy because it's okay to feel like you're not normal to constantly be thinking about whatever thoughts you have post-transplant. And it's okay to ask for help and to reach out. And that's what I would say about those three things. Like your mental health is so important.
00:49:57
Speaker
whatever you do to support you, you do it. But don't feel that guilt of, oh, I should be living a normal life now. Like it's past my transplant. Like, no, it's still a journey. 12 years to this day. Like I still am on this journey and I will be for the rest of my life. You know what? It just hit me. Like I got the bomb.com idea.
00:50:21
Speaker
What? Let's hear it. You need to reach out to Kirk Franklin and tell him you will do sign language at one of his concerts, girl. Oh, no, thank you. But thanks. What? I am not a performing arts interpreter. I am a business interpreter. I like being in the classroom interpreting business in colder classes. Look at Lisa's face.
00:50:47
Speaker
It gave me shivers, just thinking at his concert, doing one of his songs. Oh my God. You just remember earlier you all talked about how the Robinsons like to be in the background, miss background. I introduced.
00:51:04
Speaker
me. People are like, when am I going to see you on TV? When are you going to interpret for the president? I'm like forget when you're going to be on this because it's so interesting to me. Like most people when they think about interpreters, they think about like seeing them on the TV. That's all we know, though.
00:51:20
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. That's all you guys know. And I'm like, there's so many talented interpreters and deaf interpreters and hearing interpreters. I'm like, you guys can do that. I don't want to be in the spotlight. I cannot handle being criticized that much by other people, like my skills and oh, she should have done this or she should have done that or even like becoming popular like, Oh, let me like there's interpreters.
00:51:45
Speaker
are like famous right now because of like they do concerts interpreting, which is great. But I am more even with my job right now, like my position, even though I'm an interpreter, I also do like a lot of background work for the program that I support. So I enjoy being the background and not receiving the shine and just making sure the pieces
00:52:07
Speaker
run together in the background because someone has to do it. Someone has to put in the work. And that's how the governor of Maryland asked me to ask Sophia if he would come and work for him because I told, I met him and told him how he impacted. Shout out to governor West governor. Did he start? Did he start already? Oh yeah. I would assume beginning of the year. Okay. So shout out to governor Westmore. I told him how his book,
00:52:38
Speaker
inspired and encouraged us during Sophia's transplant.
00:52:43
Speaker
And I come back and tell Sophia what Governor Moore says. Sophia's like, um, I don't know. I had to think about it. What girl? Because basically my mom was saying that he wants me to work for him. I'm like, this man doesn't know me. Like he's never met me. What do you mean? Like that's concerning. You're just saying you want me to work for you. You never have met me before. He saw, he saw brilliance and he was like, Oh, what an apple must not fall, fall, fall too far from the tree.
00:53:10
Speaker
I need her on my team. I'm like, that's a little suspicious. I'm good. And I don't want to live in Maryland, so. You don't even know Maryland. Maryland is beautiful. I work for you, Governor Moore. Holler at me. No, I'm just playing. I don't see you applying. I do not see you applying. Did you listen to season one? I am unable to work. So sorry. So sorry. But let me just say, though, that with the
00:53:40
Speaker
reproductive issue is tough.
Family Decisions and Transplant Impact
00:53:43
Speaker
It's a tough decision because, you know, when patients are considering going through transplant, bone marrow transplant, at least in our case, and I believe it's still the case now, they recommend, medical professionals recommend that the younger the patient is, the better chances of success.
00:54:09
Speaker
The older the patient is, the more likelihood it is that the patient will encounter complications from graft-versus-host disease or infection or anything like that. And so it's tough because you're like, do I go through transplant at a younger age, pre-puberty, right?
00:54:36
Speaker
run the risk, you're going to damage your organs, right? The chemotherapy knocks it out. Or do I wait until later post puberty, freeze my eggs, right? Freeze my sperm. But then you face potential complications down the road. It's like what, you know, there's no easy answer. And, you know, I don't know what the answer is for that. It's tough. You know, what I'll say to that is
00:55:06
Speaker
We don't control this life. We have no idea what cards are going to be dealt, when they're going to be dealt to us, right? So you could have moved with option B until later and still doesn't mean she would have been able to use her eggs for various reasons. So, you know, you have to make the best decision for yourself or for your loved one based on the information that you have on hand in the moment at the time.
00:55:35
Speaker
It's so true. And you know, and personally, I will say to that, that when I was going through the process of praying and meditating and seeking God's guidance and when he, you know, directed me to the book of Job and, you know, I
00:55:54
Speaker
It was very clear that my direction, my job as a mother was to give Sophia the very best childhood, young adulthood, right? That I could not go through the door of option B, right? That's not what God told me to do. He told me to make this move to improve Sophia's quality of life as an 11 year old.
00:56:24
Speaker
right to have her have all of the opportunities and experiences that she has shared with us during this episode and throughout the podcast. And so, you know, as a mother, I know that I did what I was supposed to do. It still does not make it easier to see your child, you know, having to face these obstacles and deal with these challenges.
00:56:48
Speaker
And so we support her the best way that we can. But it's tough. I don't know. I don't know how. Like you said, I guess another family, they would just have to weigh the pros and cons and pray, reflect, or seek whatever being they turn to and just make the best choice that's best for them. But it's tough. It is tough. It is. Yes, it is.
Gratitude and Awareness
00:57:17
Speaker
It's the human side of it, right? When someone takes the optionality out of it, you know, even Sophia says she doesn't think she wants kids, but she doesn't have that optionality. And that's, that is tough. But I think that, you know, it sounds like, Sophia, you're open to a lot of things. And, you know, with the bone marrow transplant and, you know, just the way that the medical, medical science works, things change all the time.
00:57:45
Speaker
things change all the time. And so you have no idea what will be available in the next decade.
00:57:53
Speaker
That's so true. I was talking to my mom about that. And I was like, we're recording this podcast is kind of like, what is it called? A time capsule. Like, it is a time capsule because already, like my brother was mentioning earlier, the fact and I'm sure you talked about the last episode, the fact that they're doing half transplants now. That wasn't even a possibility when I in 2011. And now it's only 2023.
00:58:18
Speaker
Excuse me and it's already changed to being able to now you can do half transplants and I'm sure Way down when I'm older you're gonna have like maybe like a shot or something you could give to your newborn baby And you won't have sickle cell anymore. I really don't think There's well, it's unfortunate because as we know
00:58:39
Speaker
Since this disease is only found in people of color, it's not as like the research and not doing a lot of research on it. And I'm sure they're not putting a lot of funding into it compared to if this disease would affect white people. So unfortunately being the minority, you know, I'm not really sure what that's going to look like, but it does seem like there's already been numerous medical
00:59:06
Speaker
medical discoveries of how to treat sickle cell. And I know the process is going to be easier to maybe, um, maybe in the future that hopefully people will have the option to keep their reproductive system intact. And you know, one of the good things is that your doctor, Dr. Campbell, shout out to him. He's now working at the federal level with the national, I'm going to, I'm not even going to try to call out the name of the Institute, but he's working.
00:59:36
Speaker
at the federal level with sickle cell research and legislation. And I know he's gone to the White House. So he's the perfect one to be up there advocating and trying to make changes happen. So the future looks bright with him at the end. Yeah, it does. You got to get Dr. Campbell on here. Yeah, I thought about that. I thought about that. I will reach out to him. Oh, I will reach out to him because I know he will.
01:00:06
Speaker
Mm-hmm, yep. Black man, doctor, in the sickle cell world, leading it. Love that. Yes, love it. So, Sophia, how do you want to close out this chapter of the story? I would say for anyone, I could say a couple things. First, people who are having a bone marrow transplant, the journey is not easy.
01:00:36
Speaker
It's a hard battle, but I really, even though it took me until like a year or two after the transplant to realize it, it was definitely worth it. And if you are thinking about a transplant, just make sure to question, be curious. I wish that's something I would have done more during my transplant.
01:00:58
Speaker
is to actually be involved in the process of questioning and stuff. But also I was 11, so maybe I was just too young at that time. But I would say that your journey is going to be your journey. Your journey may look completely different than mine. It may look similar, but your path is going to be your path. And I would say that
01:01:22
Speaker
Um, you just have to let people how you want to be supported. And if you feel like something is not working, don't be afraid to speak up. Or if you are more reserved, finding that person like a parent or a family or friend that is willing to advocate for you. Because I know sometimes it could be frustrating having to constantly advocate for your needs through this process. And also when after the process, if
01:01:46
Speaker
you know, if you're an older adult and going back to your job, what that will look like if you have a transplant when you're an adult, all the way until if you had a transplant when you're in kindergarten, like just finding ways and coming up with that plan with how to advocate for yourself. I would say for people who are donating bone marrow,
01:02:09
Speaker
Um, thank you. Thank you for donating bone marrow. It's like, I honestly, I, again, I can't imagine where I would have been if it wasn't for my brother and I'm extremely grateful for him. And I'm extremely grateful for anyone who is willing to donate bone marrow, even if your sibling is not going through a transplant, you can still look into our being on the donor list. If you want to donate your bone marrow, it's not.
01:02:35
Speaker
that much of a recovery process and you could literally save someone's life. And I would say just for anyone who was listening, who was not part of like has someone in their family with sickle cell or just curious about this story, I would say spread awareness about sickle cell anemia and the transplant process because I feel like
01:02:57
Speaker
For me, we were very aware about it, about sickle cell. I'm very fortunate for my mom who was willing to educate herself and educate us about sickle cell, but I know that's not the reality for everyone.
01:03:09
Speaker
So if you know someone with sickle cell or if you just brought awareness for people to get tested to see if you have the trait and to make sure if you do have the trait before you decide to have kids, making sure your partner doesn't also have sickle cell trait. Because if you reproduce with someone who has sickle cell trait, then you have a 1 of 4 chance of having
01:03:32
Speaker
a child with sickle cell. So I'm not saying don't have a kid, like don't fall in love with people who also have the trait, but I think it's just important to be aware of what you have and aware of your identity. So it's all about self-discovery, no matter what you're going through, no matter if you're going through the transplant, you know, or just going through life. It's really just about
01:03:54
Speaker
finding yourself and spreading awareness. I think spreading awareness is just really important and that's something, it took me a while to want to talk about the transplant because it's hard. The transplant itself and having sickles over the first 11 years of my life was not
01:04:09
Speaker
good time for me and I don't like now I don't really think about it a lot because I don't really it was funny one of my friends was asking me like what's your favorite childhood memory and yes I do have a lot of good childhood memories but she was like going in-depth about her childhood and all the stuff that happened like playing outside and like all that stuff and like that wasn't my reality reality for the first 11 years of my life so all that to say that I'm glad that my mom and
01:04:39
Speaker
has constantly, consistently since I was for a while, been asking me to come and share my journey. And now that I finally am like putting it all out there, I really hope to do more. And anyone who wants to talk more about it, please feel free to reach out to me and send an email. My email is Robinson, R-O-B-I-N, S-O-M, Sophia, S-O-F-I-A, 722 at gmail.com. If anyone ever wants to talk about it,
01:05:05
Speaker
I would be happy and willing to meet more people. Cause I feel like now I'm not really involved in the sickle cell community. Now that I don't live in Michigan, I haven't like really reached back out, back out to the local community, but I'm very fortunate for social media to be able to bring people together. Um, so yeah, I hope to meet more people in the community and anyone else who was willing to learn more about sickle cell anemia and the bone marrow transplant process. And thank you for listening.
01:05:35
Speaker
Wow. With that being said, it was an honor and a privilege. And yeah, I don't have the words to express how proud I am of you. The family is proud and we just know you're going to continue to rock it out and do phenomenal things. So thank you. And thank you so much for hosting and being
01:05:58
Speaker
such a supportive aunt through the process. For those of you who don't know, Aunt Lisa does not live in Michigan during the transplant. So the fact that you came and took care of me during that time, I'm very appreciative of that because that was a commitment. You're not working, taking care of me, having to deal with all this crazy stuff with someone trying to kill me, basically.
01:06:23
Speaker
So I'm appreciative that you took the time to do that as an aunt because you didn't have to and you did. Shout out to Aunt Lisa. Shout out to Aunt Lisa. Shout out to Aunt Lisa. Shout out to Aunt Lisa. Shout out to Aunt Lisa. Shout out to Aunt Lisa. Shout out to Aunt Lisa.
01:06:41
Speaker
Right, she really like when I tell you the advocate like when you honestly I'm gonna submit a picture to the Webster dictionary whatever the dictionary is like
Closing Reflections on Advocacy and Future
01:06:52
Speaker
I want when the word Abby it comes up to just be a picture of my mom because that's what you are and you're literally the definition of a advocate and that's what you did so I'm very I don't know
01:06:52
Speaker
Shout out to Aunt Lisa. Shout out to Aunt Lisa. Shout out to Aunt Lisa.
01:07:03
Speaker
what this journey wouldn't have been like without your advocacy. So thank you for being willing to make some situations uncomfortable for to get the results that we need. No, no, thanks needed. It was it was my job. And I it was a pleasure and a privilege to be able to do it. And I hope you know how proud I am of you. And, you know, I just love seeing you flourish and
01:07:31
Speaker
I just love just seeing you advocate for yourself and just, you know, how you give to your community, how you give to others, how, I mean, you know, you are my chiro. Like, when I grow up, I hope to be just like you. I really do. I really do. I'm very proud of you. That's me for you. That's me for you. You guys are both. No, that's you. Like, wow. Stop. We want to be like you, Sophia, but in red dresses, though.
01:07:59
Speaker
Yes, red shimmy dresses. Yes. That's right. Oh, wow. I see. Gimme it on now. That's right. Makes sense. Yeah. So all right. Well, thank you both, ladies. And that's a wrap on season two. Thank you. Woo-hoo. Woo-hoo. Peace. All right. Bye. Bye, deuces.