Host: Hello and welcome. Thank you for joining us today. We have Chad Weiberg here at Stillwater Medical. Chad, thank you for being here.

Chad Weiberg: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

Host: Yes, absolutely. Well, for our audience, will you just give a little bit of background about yourself and when Stillwater became home for you?

Chad Weiberg: Well, I've, been in Stillwater, I've made it home several different times. Mm-hmm. So we actually moved here when I was in junior high. my dad was an assistant coach on OSU basketball staff. Mm-hmm. so, went to junior high here And then moved away And then came back for school.

Mm-hmm. started in the athletic department as an unpaid intern my junior year in school. And little did I know that it would lead to, someday then, being able to come back, um, eight years ago as the deputy ad And then, took over as the AD four years ago.

Host: That's amazing. what is the favorite part of your job?

Chad Weiberg: Oh, definitely the people. the opportunity to be around our student athletes first and. And foremost, I think that's why any of us, here on a college campus get into what we do is, is to, have the opportunity to, have, a part in what we all experienced in college, which is, people shaping our lives and who we want to be as adults.

And then, you know, obviously the working with the coaches as well. so they're a huge part of that for the student athletes also. And then, just our fans and donors. So it's, definitely the people.

Host: That's great. Well, and you've been a great role model and community leader, so we're grateful for that. Most recently, you've been sharing your health journey, so talk to us about, which includes open heart surgery. Yeah. When did you discover there was a problem?

Chad Weiberg: Yeah, So, It was, definitely something that, uh, came up over the summer that was not on my summer bingo card, but, just very blessed in the end That it was caught, So, It really just started with my primary care physician, which is Dr. Green. on OSU campus, and he's great.

and, as I recall, these were things that, I call the 50-year-old things that when I had my 50 year, annual physical, he started wanting me to do all these. different things, and some of them I knew were coming colonoscopy, you know, all those things. And so kind of took care of those right away.

But, he also started talking to me about doing these vascular screening and calcium score. I kind of put those off. because fortunately, with all my other tests, I, didn't have high cholesterol, didn't have high blood pressure, so I kind of thought, well, I don't know why he is asking me to, do these things.

But I, just put it off And then he'd bring it up. My 50 one-year physical and he'd bring it up to my 52 year physical. And, after the 53 year physical, I decided to go ahead and get it done. And I think mainly just because I thought, well, I want to make him happy 'cause I really like him and mm-hmm.

so came in here to the hospital to do the, screenings and, everything. Got my scores that day and everything checked out fine as far as the vascular, screening And the calcium score was, really good. and it wasn't, you know, it was several days later when I got, uh, notice from, Amy Kirby mm-hmm.

The radiologist that, she had reviewed. The CAT scan, that's part of the calcium score. and had noticed that, I had an aneurysm in my, ascending aorta and, that I needed to come in for further testing. Of course, part of me thought This is a mistake 'cause, I left there and everything was fine but before I could even call Dr. Green.

To ask him if he'd gotten the same notice he was calling me And said, that triggered a. Series of other tests here, both here at the hospital, and, know, Dr. Van Z Became my cardiologist. So some tests with Dr. Van Zant And then ultimately some tests at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital in Oklahoma City.

And, each step of the way, I kind of kept thinking this was gonna get better, but it, it actually, they were confirming, sort of worse things, that this was definitely something that needed to get, taken care of. So. after my last test at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital is when I met, um, my surgeon mm-hmm.

For the first-time Dr. Randolph. he started walking me through. You know, what this was going to look like. And at the end he asked if I had any questions and I was kind of like, I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around any of this much less questions.

And it was at that point that he kind of got real serious with me and told me the seriousness of what we were, were dealing with. and kind of when he put in that perspective, I quickly went from, Are we sure we need to do this to how quick can we get this mm-hmm.

Scheduled and get it and get it done. So, yeah. Um, it's quite the journey, but, just very blessed that all of those people, were able to, discover it and yeah. And then get it fixed.

Host: What kind of fears and challenges do you kind of work through in embracing that? 'cause if you've thought you've been healthy your whole life, like how Yeah. You know, how do you walk into a surgery of that magnitude?

Chad Weiberg: Yeah, it was definitely a wake up call. You know, I think that, You know, there's obviously all of the, fears, concerns, whatever you want, call them. But, pretty quickly got a lot of confidence just in the expertise of the people that were Dr. Randolph and his team, the people that were gonna be doing it.

You know, obviously the first question is how many of these have you done? Mm-hmm. It's literally, I think in the thousands. So you're going, okay, okay. That, that makes you feel good. And of course his reputation, was just really, really good. And so I felt good about that. And you do kind of start thinking about the what ifs mm-hmm.

And the, all of that. And have, I mean, I had some conversations with my wife about. those things, but, felt good about that. And that at the end, You know, as you're literally being wheeled in for, And the surgery, I just, I kind of had this piece, that everything was gonna work out the way it was supposed to work out.

Of course, faith for me is a big part of that. but also just having confidence in, where I was and their ability to do it. So, And again, just having the overall blessing, feeling of being blessed that they even caught it. Right. Yeah. Because there was really had no symptoms.

Mm-hmm.

Host: And

Chad Weiberg: what I learned is I was likely to never have any symptoms until it was just too late. Yes. with this particular, thing and, And so just very, very blessed that they caught it.

Host: Absolutely. we're a community health system, And so community is really important to us. How was your community present to you as you navigated all this? Oh man. Yeah,

Chad Weiberg: So, it happened really quick, obviously going through the test and figuring out where, this was headed And then when the decision was made that that's what was going to happen. So, and you know, we're getting ready to start football season, high profile season, And we have. Student athletes coming in, getting ready for their seasons.

And so, I didn't want to create a distraction. I mean, that was the main thing and I felt really good about, my team, my staff, And the athletic department. Be able to continue everything moving forward, without my presence there. And that was really important, just mainly 'cause of the time of the year, it was ramping up for everything.

And, And so I really, it wasn't that I was trying to keep anything secret or hidden or anything, but I just didn't want to create any distractions. So, so, um, you know, there were a few key people, that I needed to tell, in advance. but most everybody found out, like the night before the surgery, I sent an email out to everyone and, and at that point, you know, the word kind of.

slowly spread and, the outpouring of support that, I got from, whether it was athletic department staff or fans or, community members and not just me, but obviously being very focused on my wife and family and making sure that they had everything That they needed So, It was, I really, really appreciated that.

But at the same time I was like, uh, you know, I wanted to keep everything focused on, you know, what was going on at OSU Athletics.

Host: Absolutely. What does life look like on the other side of the big surgery of the, that?

Chad Weiberg: Yeah. Well, there's obviously then just the recovery that you have to. Go through. And again, everyone was great and, you know, in the hospital with you, start that journey. And, once you get out, you know, they tell you what they want you doing And the, you know, kind of the follow-up appointments.

Mm-hmm. Of course the medications and all that. everyone here, hospital, Dr. Green. Uh

Host: mm-hmm.

Chad Weiberg: Heart Hospital, everybody involved with that. it's been great. Dr. Van Zant and now I've started, rehab, so Oh, great. Cardio rehab. I'm here at the hospital And so that's been great just to, 'cause the biggest thing the end of the day, once you kind of work through the first parts of recovery is, for me at least, has just been building up my strength.

Mm-hmm. And stamina. 'cause you don't realize how much of that you lose when. you're just not able to do anything for that period of time. And, so getting back into that, having them sort of educate me and pace me mm-hmm. Through what I should be doing has been really good.

feeling better, you know, every day just because of that.

Host: What are you most hopeful for when you think about the future?

Chad Weiberg: good question. I mean, obviously, one of the things that I think has come out of this for me is just this, realization, That, we are blessed to live in an age where we've got, good knowledge and good technology, and a lot of, obviously really skilled professionals that, can fix a lot of things that may be going wrong, but they have to know about it first.

And so my message to, you know, all of my friends and counterparts and anybody that has reached out to me, during this time has been. Go get your physicals, You know, and get checked out what the doctors want you to get checked out, you know, because if I. You know, if I put these screenings off any longer, I mean, who knows?

Yeah. What would've happened. So I just really appreciate, you know, Dr. Green's consistent, you know, message to get these done. And so my message has been, listen to 'em.

Host: Yeah.

Chad Weiberg: Seriously. And go get those things done. Because you never know, you know, what they may discover and, and obviously I'm finding it as the first step Yeah. You know, to fixing it. And so, um. And I've had a lot of people, you know, through those conversations say, Hey, I went in and got my screenings done, or got my physical done.

And, that's been great to hear.

Host: Do you feel like that information gives you a little bit more control over your health?

Chad Weiberg: yeah, I think so. I mean, I think it is just awareness I guess. I've told a lot of my, friends that are obviously, my age mm-hmm. Is that we're in a stage in life Right. Where our, brains are still telling us that we're young. Yeah. You know, we don't, from that standpoint, don't feel like we're any different than we were when we're 25.

But, our bodies obviously are not 25 anymore. so yes, I think it, certainly. Probably it is true all the time, but you know, I think as, we get older, we need to probably be taking more ownership in our health and, I just paying more attention to that sort of thing and making sure that we're, taking care of it as best.

Best we can.

Host: Absolutely. Well, we're ending all of our conversations with a challenge to care. So encouraging people to do something at a personal level, whether it's for themselves or for the community. Yeah. So how would you summarize that challenge to care?

Chad Weiberg: Well, I think that would be, it is, You know, just stay on top of your health and prioritize it. you know, take it serious. And that's everything from getting some, physical activity, whether that's just walking or, whatever it is you. I think that's. You know, very important. But then also just, doing your annual physicals and doing what the doctors ask you to do.

Yeah. If they want you to check something out, you know, to, do that. So, we're very fortunate, here in Stillwater to have Stillwater Medical mm-hmm. And have the professionals here and, the services here that, You know. You need to go, far away to do that. So, encourage everyone to take advantage of that if they're here or wherever they are, you know, their local.

medical professionals.

Host: Yeah. And preventive care is such an important thing, you know, that's one of the reasons why as a health system we prioritize that. the heart screenings that you mentioned are only $50 all year round. So yeah, it'd be easy to take advantage and to follow that challenge. Yeah. But just by getting a heart screening So, it

Chad Weiberg: super, super easy. So it's kind of one of those ills. I don't know why. Put it off as long as I did. I'm just very glad it didn't put it off any longer.

Host: Well, we're grateful for that too. Thank you, Chad. Being, being here today. Thank

Chad Weiberg: you. Appreciate it.