It Won't be a Straight Line - Peers Conf 2017

This was the most difficult and rewarding presentations I've ever given. It provided a more personal look behind-the-scenes of running a small software business while navigating health issues that ultimately led to my left below-knee amputation.

1. IT WON’T BE A STRAIGHT LINE
2. I’m @garrettdimon HELLO
4. STARTING & SUSTAINING
6. A new work fl ow to write, review, and ship web applications. A fast & reliable transactional-only email platform for web applications A complete work fl ow to write, review & deploy code. Instantly build and ship code anywhere in one consistent process for your entire team. Com ing soon
7. 3.92YEARS
8. 9 SURGERIES 1 AMPUTATION + 28 TOTAL HOURS IN HYPERBARIC 15 SURGEONS CONSULTED 16 WOUND VAC CHANGES 20+ PROSTHETIST APPOINTMENTS 30 TOTAL NIGHTS IN HOSPITALS 60+ DOCTOR’S OFFICE VISITS 100+ PHYSICAL THERAPY APPOINTMENTS PAINKILLERS & ANTIBIOTICS COUNTLESS 4 MRI/CT SCANS (AND COUNTING)
9. 100DAYS LOST
10. 7.3% OF THE LAST 4 YEARS
11. 1.75 HOURS PER DAY FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS
13. 🖥
14. ✈
16. SURGERY #1 Estimated 3 month recovery time. JULY 17TH, 2013
18. ☃
19. 😧 🤔 😎
20. LESSON: Responding beats reacting. Things will go wrong. Focus on the aspects you can a ff ect.
21. 💩
23. Winston Churchill When you’re going through hell, keep going.
24. SURGERY #2 Let’s go the ER for some pain relief.
25. 💉💉💉
27. LESSON: Maintain perspective. Not “Well. It could be worse.” But rather “I can handle this.”
28. SURGERY #3 Skin graft.
30. q
31. SURGERIES #4 & #5 Time to get serious. Let’s do some debridement to prepare for a free fl ap.
34. LESSON: Tiny steps are still steps. The key is that they’re your steps. Don’t compare your rate of progress to anyone else. (Or to “past you.”)
35. SURGERY #6 Free fl ap. Three weeks in the hospital starts now.
36. WHAT IS A FREE FLAP? 🥓 🍖
37. ⚠ “THAT’S NOT GOOD…”
38. SURGERY #7 That was fun, let’s do it again! (Another free fl ap.)
39. 🏥
40. 🔘
41. 💓
42. 🚨
43. “HOW LONG WILL I BE HERE?” ⏰
44. “We’ll keep you here a few more days and then we’ll move you to the fl oor.”
48. PHYSICAL THERAPY! It’s kind of like paying someone to torture you several days per week.
49. 🏋
50. 👩💼 👨💻 👩🎨👨🍳👩💻 👩⚕ 👨🏫
51. LESSON: Pain and discomfort are part of the process. Go right up to your limit. Push past it. Su ff er a little. Then do it all over again.
52. SURGERY #8 Liposuction! That makes 8 surgeries in about 3 months.
53. 🏃 ⛹ 🚶 SOMEWHAT TOLERABLE 🚵 🏋 TOLERABLE WITH LIMITATIONS 🏂 ONLY WITH PAINKILLERS NOPE
54. SURGERY #9 Fuse or amputate?
57. ⏳ REGRET?
59. ❤ 👪 SAFE & RESPONSIBLE FOLLOW MY HEART VS.
62. IS FUSION GOOD ENOUGH? Settle on getting by with moderate chronic pain or take risks to gain functionality?
63. 🤔
66. 🏂
68. 👋
69. LESSON: Don’t count on data and logic to provide the right answer. Too often we try to be 100% con fi dent about decisions that require a leap of faith.
70. SURGERY #10 Left below knee amputation. AUGUST 29, 2016 (3 YEARS AND 12 DAYS LATER) THAT WAS 8 MONTHS AGO.
74. LESSON: It’s ok to let go. Just because something is holding you back, doesn’t mean you have to hold on too.
75. STUMPTASTIC! Plenty of challenges. Zero limitations.
77. “Daddy, can you run yet?” 😊
78. “You can’t beat me!” 😛
79. “Daddy, you’re cheating!” 😡
82. LESSON: It’s about progress— not aspirations. Focus on how far you’ve come because our journeys never end. You’ll never reach a fi nish line.
83. Bill Gates (Probably) Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.
87. LESSON: Find your people so they can nudge you along safely. When you’re in the thick of it, it’s di ff i cult to know if you’re pushing yourself too hard or not hard enough.
88. 🏃 ⛹ 🚶 NO PROBLEM 🚵 🏋 SIMPLE FOOT CHANGE 🏂 GETTING THERE SURE, WHY NOT
94. ⛸ 👡 👢 👞 👟 👠 🎿
95. LESSON: We’re all adaptive. Yes. You too. (And a whole lot stronger than we realize until we’re tested.)
96. Sir Edmund Hillary First to summit Mt. Everest It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.
97. 🏔
98. start_sustain garrettdimon garrettdimon.com THANKS g T T