It started off like any other Tuesday. I was waiting to start my 1:1 sessions with 3 clients and supporting my Facebook group in the meantime. Then I got a message from one of my subscribers.
“Someone is going to contact you from Lamis El Hadidy’s show today about appearing on her show.”
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I’m not sure how long it took me to register the message, but it seemed like forever. And before I could process it, my phone rang. A very professional man on the other line explained that he was one of Lamis’ editors; that she was hosting a show tonight (tonight??) on cancer and nutrition and if I was available to join?
The first thing that came out of my mouth was, TONIGHT??? It was 11:30am. I repeated my question: TONIGHT??
He said, yes, tonight, very nonchalantly, as if it’s the most normal thing to ask someone who’s never been on tv to show up to appear on tv on a major TV show without any prior notice. “We will send a car to pick you up at 8pm.”
I hung up and started to shake and hyperventilate. I couldn’t say no. Who says no? Who would ever say no; I can’t say no.
As much as I knew what an amazing opportunity this was, I was petrified of speaking publicly in Arabic. (Yes, I’m Lebanese/Egypian, but my education has been entirely in English). And conversational Arabic is one thing, but to speak about my work, and the terminology involved was a whole other thing. If the show had been in English, I would have been nervous, yes, but not petrified.
Once I finished my client sessions, I made a list of words I needed to translate and become really comfortable with, really quickly:
- inflammation
- toxicity
- holistic
- alternative
- digestive system
- immunity
- organic
- pesticides
- cleansing
- symptoms
- functional medicine
- processed food
- clean eating
- quick fix
I called up my good friend and holistic oncologist Dr. Wafaa Abdel Hady and she very patiently and thoroughly walked me through the list of questions they gave me (which they never ended up using).
Then, I broke down. A complete and near-hysterical break down. Actually, not near hysterical. It was a full blown hysterical break down.
I was shaking and crying and talking at a 100 words a minute at the same time, telling my husband and kids that I can’t do it; I’m not doing it; I can’t do it; I’m not doing it; why is it in Arabic, damn it; I need to practice my Arabic; why did they call me so last minute; who does that?; why is everything in Egypt so unorganised; why didn’t they give me at least one day; they know no-one says no, they know I can’t say no; what if I can’t talk; what happens if I can’t answer..
(I didn’t stop shaking until the show finished 9 hours later.)
When I arrived at the studio that evening I discovered that I would be part of a panel, no one had told me that. And while that was certainly a relief and a load off that I wouldn’t be the only one speaking, the other two panelists were doctors. Two doctors who had been on this show before; two seasoned doctors, one of whom, apparently, had been on the show so many times that she preferred to be at home asleep.
“Oh crap,” I thought to myself, “I’m screwed. They’re going to bulldoze me. Live. On air. In front of a million people. In Arabic. Would anyone notice if I just left now?”
I kept waiting for someone to come in to prep us but no-one ever did. 10 minutes before the commercial break, a technician came in and hooked up our mics and once the commercials started they took us into the studio and sat us down. Lamis was already sitting in her chair while they shifted the set. She greeted us and made sure she had our correct names and titles then suddenly someone yelled “15.” That was it for prep.
My heart was pounding out of my chest and my lips were dry. Actually, my heart is pounding again now as I recall the moment..I had no idea where to look or which camera was on me, so I decided to just look at Lamis the whole time.
“So tell us Dana, what is a health coach?”
WHAT IS A HEALTH COACH? I hadn’t prepped for that question. I didn’t have an answer. I ACTUALLY didn’t have an answer. OMG, I’m being asked a question I didn’t prepare for! Even if I didn’t know which camera was on me, I knew that by now SOME camera was on me. Why aren’t you asking me about cancer cells, about nutrition or immunity..those are the questions I’m ready for! I literally froze for a split second.
To be honest, I don’t know how I answered that question or the ones that followed. I believe it was a case of massive adrenaline and knowing that I could either sink or swim. I decided to swim really fast.
And then, just like that, it was over.
The lights turned off, we got up and the technicians removed our mics. Lamis shook our hands and we walked out.
Overall, it was a great, invigorating, exhilarating experience. With the exception of a few very obvious differences, and relative to many, many other doctors I’ve dealt with, whether here or abroad, these two doctors were quite progressive in their ideas.
Despite that, while chatting on our way back to the waiting room to pick up our coats and things, the lady doctor basically told me that everything I said during the show was nothing more than “concepts,” whereas she and the other doctor followed the guidelines of the FDA and the WHO, and as such, were the true authorities.** At which point, the other doctor joined us, shook hands with both of us but only offered his business card to the lady doctor.
I grinned from ear to ear and shook his hand again, said it was great to meet you and left.
As health coaches, we have ALOT of work to do. This experience reminded me why I do what I do and I’m more determined than ever to keep doing it and working harder at spreading awareness about non-inflammatory foods and the connection between food and disease.
More importantly though, I realised how blessed I am to have the love and support of my community. I never imagined the flood of comments that I received. Whether your sincere support before the show or your incredible feedback after and the number of you who messaged me or emailed me to give me constructive criticism so that I can be better “next time”!
Wow! You guys believe there will be a next time!!
I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart and tell you that I truly love you:))))
If you haven’t watched the show you can see it below.
**For those of you who may not be aware, medical doctors disagree with health coaches/holistic practitioners when it comes to using food as medicine, especially if our recommendations don’t follow the guidelines of the FDA, which they rarely do. This is out of no fault of their own, they are simply not taught nutrition in medical school and they aren’t taught about the relationship between food and the digestive system in terms of illness and disease. They simply learn how to diagnose disease and to prescribe medications based on the symptoms without delving deep into the cause of the symptoms. This goes back to a long standing agreement between medical schools and big corporations called the Flexnor Report which confines doctors to ONLY prescribe medication and to steer patients away from any alternative treatments.