Steven Fowler, MD
Episode 186

Narrator:

Welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira, with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, welcome friends to another episode of Story & Experience Podcast. I am delighted to be here at Adventist Health Castle. The sunshine is out. It is a beautiful day. I'm here in Hawaii at this beautiful facility with a guest that I think you already enjoy hearing from.

If you've never heard the podcast before, we have 100 questions about stories and experiences that shape this person into the leader that they are today. I'm going to ask the first 10, and then they're going to pick numbers and we'll see where the story goes.

So let's start with your name. Can you tell us your name? Does anybody ever mispronounce it?

Steven Fowler:

No, I don't think so. I have a very generic name.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Great. All right.

Steven Fowler:

Well, I'll correct that. So I'm Steven Fowler.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Brilliant.

Steven Fowler:

And sometimes people have called me Dr. Flower. I've heard that one before.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, once or twice. Flower is funny.

Steven Fowler:

And I've had Sowler.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, no.

Steven Fowler:

And it was a bovine pig reference, but most of the time Fowler. People have heard that name before.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right, so now what do you do for work?

Steven Fowler:

I am a general surgeon. And I basically do a ton of general surgery, trauma surgery, and then my main focus is foregut bariatric weight loss surgery.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really? Oh, fantastic man. Wow. You've been doing this long?

Steven Fowler:

I guess so. I think this is my 20th year at Castle.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Steven Fowler:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

20 years here?

Steven Fowler:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, okay. Now where were you born, Steven?

Steven Fowler:

Oh, just outside San Francisco in Marin County. A little town called Kentfield.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Nice, nice. And did you grow up there a little bit for a while?

Steven Fowler:

I was there until I was 18.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, okay. So as a child, what did you imagine you would you grow up to be?

Steven Fowler:

Oof. I had some older sisters and a brother, and I looked up to them a lot. And I remember a biologist was cool. So wildlife biology, I thought that was super neat. And then just like most kids, marine biologists. That was a draw there.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey.

Steven Fowler:

So that was initially what I was thinking of, but I never threw out astronaut, fireman.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Good for you. Good for you.

Steven Fowler:

The run-of-the-mill stuff, it was attractive.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Okay. So now how did you go from marine biologist, dreaming, and fireman, to becoming a doctor?

Steven Fowler:

So in high school I was good at biology. And then going off to college you have to pick a major. Or you did back then. I don't know if the kids nowadays do that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

They do. But they changed it a lot.

Steven Fowler:

And I go, "What's a cool sounding major?" And so biochemistry sounded cool. And so I'm like, "I have no idea what that is."

Japhet De Oliveira:

I think this sounds cool to everyone, but sure.

Steven Fowler:

So I went in as a biochemist and I excelled at that during undergrad.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really? Okay.

Steven Fowler:

And the whole idea was to become a PhD. I was into protein chemistry, drug design stuff. And my mentors said, "Hey, if you want to be a top dog in that field, having an MD-PhD is the way to go for growth, funding." Just basically becoming a leader in the field.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's 500 years of study though, Steven.

Steven Fowler:

Yes, it is.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's a long time.

Steven Fowler:

It's a long time.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Did you do that?

Steven Fowler:

So I went into med school with MD-PhD track, but so that did change. And basically, I started doing some clinical work, so hands-on patient contact. And I was like, "Bacteria is not for me. I think I want to go just MD." So I quickly dropped the biochem hard-science field and went into the field of medicine.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Was that a difficult decision to do?

Steven Fowler:

Yeah, I think so because in your mindset you're always preparing where you're going and so to do that track. And I remember the people who had accepted me to the medical school, they weren't very happy about me dropping out of the PhD portion. They're all excited about new fresh meat to do research and write papers for them and stuff.

And I remember speaking to family members and loved ones and I said, "Hey, I think I like surgery." And I had just done one rotation where I had my hands inside a person's belly doing an operation as a med student, rotating. And I was like, "This is the coolest thing since sliced bread."

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, that's fantastic. That's where the path took you?

Steven Fowler:

Yeah, that's where it went. I abandoned all sense of reason for a balanced lifestyle and just followed what sounded and felt really good.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, good for you. Good for you. So now are you an early riser on late night owl?

Steven Fowler:

I am tortured by my work, so now I'm an early riser. But I think inherently, I'm probably a late night kind of person.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, really? And what's early for you?

Steven Fowler:

Oh. I have a kid now.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So you never sleep.

Steven Fowler:

Basically, he tells me when wake up. But the alarm is 6:30 now. My friends would know that I always thought that was very uncivilized. I always liked starting to operate around-

Japhet De Oliveira:

You didn't know you have to get up so early.

Steven Fowler:

... at 8:30? Yeah, they make fun of that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, I'm sure. That's great.

When you get up in the morning, first thought that went through your mind today.

Steven Fowler:

What I got to do?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, yeah?

Steven Fowler:

I know that the dogs are like, "Take me outside." Go walk the dogs.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Kids and dogs. Okay.

Steven Fowler:

That's my job.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That is your job. And then do you have water, tea, coffee, liquid green smoothie. What's your first drink of the day?

Steven Fowler:

I am a heavy caffeine drinker.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Heavy caffeine drinker.

Steven Fowler:

So it's multiple cups of coffee a day.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really? And how do you like the coffee?

Steven Fowler:

At home? It's an espresso.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, yeah. Oh, nice.

Steven Fowler:

And then during the day I sip really bad cold coffee.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, that's terrible. Let me pray for you.

Steven Fowler:

I've got a very low bar for ...

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's tragic.

Steven Fowler:

This is what I got right here.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, I know.

Steven Fowler:

This is about four hours old.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, no.

Steven Fowler:

Nursing it to get through the day.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right, good luck with that.

If people had to describe your personality, would they say you are an introvert or an extrovert?

Steven Fowler:

My wife would say I'm an introvert. And then buddies and colleagues would say I'm extroverted.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And what would you say?

Steven Fowler:

I think I'm inherently probably more introverted.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Hey that's great. That's great.

Steven Fowler:

She calls me a loner sometimes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's okay. That's great.

Steven Fowler:

I'm like, "What the hell?" It's all good.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's good to be teased.

Leadership question. Last one in this block then I'm going to hand over to you to be able to pick a number, but it's a leadership question. Are you a backseat driver?

Steven Fowler:

I've thought about this. I am a scout.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, wow. This is great.

Steven Fowler:

I'm not the general and I'm not an infantry man.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You're not out in the front.

Steven Fowler:

And I'm not a spy, but I'm the guy, I'm the scout. So you give me a task and I go off and I take care of it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Aren't they the first one to get shot?

Steven Fowler:

They could be. Yeah, they could be.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I just want to say, I don't know if there's attractive option really. But you're out there to protect the entire team. Right? The platoon.

Steven Fowler:

I've just always been like that. With games, capture the flag kind of stuff, I was the guy that always went really far way around, and came back in through the backside for a surprise attack. Any reconnaissance and stuff, that was my character.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great, man. That's great. All right, Steven, where'd you want to go? What number?

Steven Fowler:

Let's start 50.

Japhet De Oliveira:

50, okay. 50, it is. It is here. Share about who's influenced you professionally.

Steven Fowler:

Influenced me professionally?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, yeah.

Steven Fowler:

So I had mentioned that I went into surgery. And it was never a dream of mine to become a surgeon or anything like that. In fact, my dad was a very hard-working municipal bond attorney and he was that 1950s generation.

I remember Saturdays we would go to his office and he would just let us loose, running around while he was doing work. So six days a week, bag lunch, come home at night, gone before we even woke up in the morning kind of thing.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So from a different era.

Steven Fowler:

Oof. A hard-working guy.

And I remember him telling me, "Son, in life there's workhorses and show horses. And you're going to have to choose which one you want to be." And I am like, "I am a show horse."

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's not the answer we expected.

Steven Fowler:

I do not want to work so hard, man. And Ironically, it's come full circle where I'm this surgeon and I work my butt off.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You're a workhorse. It did not work out.

Steven Fowler:

So I couldn't escape my genes I guess.

But speaking to surgery, I do remember this one moment where it was in third year of medical school. And these different specialists would come and talk and sell their specialty to woo students into possibly coming their track.

And there was a surgeon that came in, and I'd seen a lot of other docs come through. And he had this pressed white coat on and his skin was waxy, embalmed, almost scary looking. And his fingers were long and perfectly manicured. And he spoke with such eloquence and he was so just finished. And this guy just was very comfortable in his skin. And the amount of confidence he imbued.

Japhet De Oliveira:

The waxy skin.

Steven Fowler:

The waxy skin. Probably because he just never saw sunlight. He just operated all the time. But it was just such an impact, just how he presented himself. And I was like, "That is just the height of professionalism." And so I was very drawn to that.

And so I remember that was another factor besides touching a body and feeling the warmth of the anatomy. That that was something that picked me up. So it's not necessarily, I have this fifth grade teacher or something like that, but I remember some images of people in my life that drew me forward.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Does that doctor, the waxy one, know the influence he had?

Steven Fowler:

No way. No way. No, no, no. I didn't do research on him or anything like that. I remember I was very timid and shy. I could probably barely introduce myself. But this was back in the day of surgery where there was these giants and it was just very hierarchical.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's changed.

Steven Fowler:

It's a little bit different. Very different how we treat our colleagues today.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Good, good. All right. That was 50, where next?

Steven Fowler:

55.

Japhet De Oliveira:

55. All right. Oh, share about something that frightens you.

Steven Fowler:

The current political climate scares me.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, yeah. Not alone.

Steven Fowler:

I'm not a huge history person, but I am becoming to appreciate that as I get older. And I like stories. So history is such a story type of thing.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Isn't it?

Steven Fowler:

And as I get older, I appreciate what people have done. So history matters more to me as I get older. And I see a lot of comparisons to darker periods of history of human history and American history that is starting to emerge. So repeating, us making mistakes that we've done in the past.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Complex things.

Steven Fowler:

So that scares me a lot. And I think a lot about that because of we have kids. And so you're like, "Wow, this kid is going to be in an environment that I didn't have to deal with."

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's another world. It's another world.

Steven Fowler:

It's constantly changing, right? Constantly changing.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And it does absolutely very, very fast. Yeah. Good. Hey, thanks for sharing that. Next after 55?

Steven Fowler:

How about 59?

Japhet De Oliveira:

59.

Steven Fowler:

Be more cautious.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, it's good. It's good. Oh, this is good for you. In your opinion, what subject should be added to the school curriculum and where? What age would it be for?

Steven Fowler:

I am a big fan of kids getting better at socialization and how we treat each other.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes.

Steven Fowler:

So it would almost be a mandatory class in just basic therapy.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Words.

Steven Fowler:

If more people spoke with, "I feel this when you do this," versus the gut reaction of starting fights and being nasty and all that kind of stuff. I think that would be very helpful.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I like that.

Steven Fowler:

And I think that could be something that would be introduced in grade school early on.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I think everyone should go through that class.

Steven Fowler:

A little bit more of that learning versus learning at the hard way with relationships later on. Or hoping your parents will imbue that in you.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, I like that. That's good. Good. Thanks. All right, where next? That was 59.

Steven Fowler:

Let's go to 64.

Japhet De Oliveira:

64. When you look back in your life, could you tell us about one of these moments, which is like, "What was I thinking?"

Steven Fowler:

Okay, so what was I thinking? This is a little bit more current. So when I moved to Hawaii in 2004, I came here for a variety of different reasons. And one of them was the love of the water and I really got into spearfishing.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, wow.

Steven Fowler:

And I would spearfish a lot. And there was this place called Alan Davis that's out by the lighthouse near Makapu'u. And I would go out there after work, so I would catch it right around sunset time. And I'd go out spearfishing. And I would go spearfish alone. And one of the rules of safe spearfishing is always go with a buddy. And I couldn't be bothered to wait for somebody and it was in a rush, whatever. And so I would go spearfishing alone.

And this area, if you're a spear fisherman, it's a little rougher and a little sharky. And so a lot of people just won't go to that area. But the fish are good and it's just beautiful terrain. And I felt very comfortable in the water.

So I was spearfishing one day out there and going after a particular fish called a Mu. It's a delicious tasting fish. And they're very shy and it was a little deep. I remember I spent a lot of time down below and then when I came up, I almost had a shallow water blackout.

And I remember floating on the water and I couldn't move. And I was on my back and my head was up. And for about 10 or 15 seconds I couldn't move. And I think that I could have drowned. So what was I thinking? I was being very unsafe. But you're feeling invincible when you're in your mid-30s and height of peak performance with the athleticism, but just did not have a brain.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You call it shallow water blackout?

Steven Fowler:

Yeah. So if you're a diver, you start understanding these things of partial pressure and having, I guess your oxygen level deplete. And as you come up to a less pressure, then it gets magnified. And so you have these guys who are pros who've lost their lives because of this phenomenon.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh my goodness. Wow. Glad you made that. So now do you go with a buddy all the time?

Steven Fowler:

I'm a little slower and fatter and I can't go as deep. And yes, I have a wife who had some sense in me.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Good for you.

Steven Fowler:

And I think about that. So yes, I go with buddies now.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Steven Fowler:

And I have a boat too, so I'm like, "I won't do all the hard work of a shore dive."

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. Hey, that's good. All right, great. Where next?

Steven Fowler:

How about 68?

Japhet De Oliveira:

68. All right. If you could learn one new professional skill, what would it be?

Steven Fowler:

So working as a different profession you mean or just?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, maybe. Or a skill inside your current profession that you're like, "Oh, I'd love to do this in addition."

Steven Fowler:

I think that robotics is the wave of the future in my field of surgery. So I think it would be fun if I had another 20 years on the clock, go back, and get some kind of engineering degree and be a part of the research and development as robotic surgery advances.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes.

Steven Fowler:

It's going to be fascinating to see the incorporation of AI and improvements in mechanics with these robots of what they can do.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Do you imagine one day in the future, this is a bonus question, where the sci-fi movies, the robots will just do the surgery and we'll just watch?

Steven Fowler:

100%.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Steven Fowler:

100%. It's going to be interesting. You'll have overseers and reviewers and stuff like that. But as the algorithms and the teaching get better, I would not be surprised if surgeons, just like every other position, will become superfluous. And these machines may do a better job. Who knows?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wow. Right. It's going to be an interesting future. All right. Where next then?

Steven Fowler:

69.

Japhet De Oliveira:

69. All right. Tell us about one experience that you'd like to relive over and over again?

Steven Fowler:

Obviously, that would be a pleasurable experience.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You hope so. Although you are a scout, so I don't know. Fearful?

Steven Fowler:

I did a destination wedding with my wife. We went to the Philippines.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Nice.

Steven Fowler:

And I don't know what we were thinking, but we were just told our immediate family members, "Hey, we're going to the Philippines to get married. You have to come." So what an enormous ask on our part.

So we had our family, loved ones come, and we did a destination wedding at this surf resort called Cloud Nine that we had been to at one point. And so we just took over the resort and had, oh, I think there was about 20 of us.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Nice. Nice.

Steven Fowler:

And so our two families came together and became friends. And I remember just having a wonderful, gosh, four or five days there thinking this was the best time ever. So I could spend a lot more time reliving those.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's good.

Steven Fowler:

That destination wedding we had.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, what a beautiful memory.

Steven Fowler:

Yeah, it was great.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Beautiful. Great. All right. 69. So where next?

Steven Fowler:

How about 74?

Japhet De Oliveira:

74. Oh, Steven, what gives you hope?

Steven Fowler:

For humankind or myself to make it through the day?

Japhet De Oliveira:

I think we know what that is. It's the black coffee.

Steven Fowler:

Put a lot of hope in that cup.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So either one. I'm happy with either.

Steven Fowler:

I would say for hope in the human race. For me it's resiliency. So it's just amazing that we can get to so low and then for some reason we always seem to drag ourselves back out.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's true. That's true.

Steven Fowler:

So I have faith in resiliency. So that's a special human quality I have a lot of respect for nowadays.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, yeah. I'm with you. Bonus question, are people born resilient or do they cultivate it?

Steven Fowler:

That is an interesting question. It's a bigger question. And it makes me think about, I talk to my wife sometimes and she goes, "Oh, you're a surgeon. And that's something that I couldn't do."

And I'm like, "No way." And I go, "I know I'm not the smartest person in the class." I always did well. Actually, in high school I did okay. But it wasn't until later in life that I said, "Hey, I just need to do really well in my studies." And then I focused. And so I Intentionally worked very, very hard and that paid off to allow me to do what I get to do today.

So with working hard and getting a higher level of achievement, I thought, "Well, if anybody can do that." And I still believe in that. But she also comes back saying, "Yeah, but some people just can't work as hard as you do or just do it as long." I can just zone out on a task.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And get it done.

Steven Fowler:

And spend a huge amount of time on it versus somebody be like, "I'm done with this." So I'm very persistent and stubborn when I put my mind to it.

So I think that I have incredible faith in the power of intention and having a goal and working towards it. And regardless of who you are, if you don't give up and you persevere, eventually the stars will align and get you in that direction that you're looking for.

At the same time, I do surrender to the thought that we are made differently. And some people are just really good or better at certain things.

I remember one time I was in Boston and I was just walking down the street and there was a politician that walked by. And it was just a sighting, but his energy was fundamentally different than everybody else walking down the street.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Isn't that incredible?

Steven Fowler:

And he was just glowing with, I don't know what. And not super spiritual whatever, but his aura or his energy? You just knew this guy was a shaker and a mover. And I remember being a little bit starstruck. And not because he was attractive or anything like that, but just his energy he was giving off was something special.

Japhet De Oliveira:

There is something you can tell it about some people. They just have it.

Steven Fowler:

Yeah. And I wish I had more of that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Don't we all? All right. All right, where next now?

Steven Fowler:

I guess we can do 77.

Japhet De Oliveira:

77, right? Oh, share with us one of the most cup-filling experiences you've had.

Steven Fowler:

I got to say, this is a little boring, but having a kid is a big deal, man.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, it's pretty amazing. It's amazing.

Steven Fowler:

I got some buddies and colleagues who haven't had kids before and I was in that same boat for a long time. I'm a little bit late to the game with the family. But I remember, we're like, "Kids just slow you down." It's like, "God, you miss out on all that wonderful traveling and really rich art and entertainment and stuff like that that happens after the witching hour." But when we had our kids, that was very magical in terms of growth and emotional growth. And so that hit me pretty hard.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's the best. It's the best.

Steven Fowler:

Yeah. The hardest. The best.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes.

Steven Fowler:

The worst. But definitely the most fulfilling.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's true. That's true.

Steven Fowler:

I love it. It's awesome.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, that's good. Good. All right, where next?

Steven Fowler:

Let's do 79.

Japhet De Oliveira:

79.

Steven Fowler:

I'm a little timid to crack into the higher level.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh Steven, you're a scout.

Steven Fowler:

That's right.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Go for it.

Steven Fowler:

100.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. If you wouldn't mind, share a painful memory you just wish you could forget.

Steven Fowler:

Painful memory?

Professionally, I had one. So I do a lot of bariatric surgery, which is basically metabolic or weight loss surgery to improve people's health. And I remember, maybe the first third of my career of doing that, there was a gentleman I operated on. He was very high risk. I knew he was high risk. He knew it. His family knew it. And anyway, he passed away.

And so I remember it happened the day after surgery. And he presented to the emergency room in extremis and he passed away in the ER. And it was incredibly emotional. You do something long enough and you get good enough at it, that it starts to become a little bit more routine. And you start enjoying it and you joke about it, and it's all very easygoing. And then when you have such a jolt of a death of a patient? It is such a shock.

And I remember having a very hard time with that and that took me a long time to get over that. And it just doesn't end there. You have the service with the family. I remember I had a picture of him in my office for 10 years next to my other pictures, whatever.

And so he was a reminder to me that my cases almost always go really, really well. But just like anything in life, nothing is 100%. And so I had that very rare complication where I had a patient pass away and it was just a tremendous sense of impact of guilt and loss and hurt. And not wanting to ever feel that again.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That is actually one of the most difficult things that you in your world as a physician surgeon that you face. Right? It's a reality that every physician faces.

Steven Fowler:

We get death all the time in surgery. If it's trauma, people come into the ER when I'm on general surgery call. And they're just an hour away from passing away and sometimes there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, it's true.

Steven Fowler:

But that was an elective procedure, so he came to me saying, "Hey, I need to do this to change my life to get better on track, so I can enjoy the second half of my life and be around for my loved ones."

So it's a little bit different when it's an elective procedure and then you have that loss versus just someone coming in with a disaster abdominal complication that requires emergency. And then they end up passing away.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. They're part of you forever.

Steven Fowler:

Oh, yeah. So you remember those people very closely. So there's one or two or three of those people I can think of over my career that will, you said, be a part of you.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. Hey, thanks for sharing that.

Steven Fowler:

Sure, sure.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right, Steven, where next? We actually have time, can you believe, only for two more?

Steven Fowler:

All right.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No. Okay, go ahead.

Steven Fowler:

So let's go 85.

Japhet De Oliveira:

85. All right. Describe a role model you would like to be like.

Steven Fowler:

So I think of my kid a lot. And so I think about being a role model for him. So what do I want to impart upon that next generation? I want to impart the same brutal work ethic that my dad did on me.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Lesson learned, clearly.

Steven Fowler:

I love the fire of people going after something and working tirelessly on it. I have a lot of respect for that. And I think that's a trait that will take some people a long way to achieve their goals. So I want to impart upon that, even if it's not the easiest way to go.

I also want to portray a role model that is humble, is able to laugh at themselves. I hate the big ego. I see some of that in my line of work. And I just think it's so important to keep that in check and realize that regardless of who you are, you're just as important as anybody else walking down the street. And have the same goals and feelings and loves and stuff like that. So we're all on that same equal playing field of importance. So the humble factor is so important to me too.

So hard work, humble, and then humor. Those three things. If I could get those three things as a role model to pass on, that would be a complete job on my part.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well done. Well done. I like it. All right, last one, sir. Yeah, Doc, where are you going to go?

Steven Fowler:

I'm going to go 96.

Japhet De Oliveira:

96.

Steven Fowler:

As far as you're going to get me today. By the way, does everyone pick 100?

Japhet De Oliveira:

No.

Steven Fowler:

Am I just falling short here?

Japhet De Oliveira:

No. I should say yes. No, not everybody picks 100.

Steven Fowler:

Good. I'm going to keep that a mystery.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, so 96. Okay, well here we go. Tell us about the last time you cried.

Steven Fowler:

I cry a lot now and it's over the sappy movies.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah?

Steven Fowler:

Funny, because I never did that at all.

Japhet De Oliveira:

But now you do.

Steven Fowler:

Yeah. And so we'll be watching a movie at home, my kid and my wife and I, the stupid sappy Disney movie, full-blown. Just crying. Crying. And so I don't know what that trigger is or what has changed in my life to become very fragile in that point. But I was never really a crier and my wife would say I'm pretty hardcore emotionally type of thing.

Japhet De Oliveira:

This new chapter.

Steven Fowler:

I can take getting my arm cut off, no problem. But that sentimental is a huge tearjerker. So it wasn't a traumatic experience, it's just the sentimentality. Probably just tapping into that at this point in my life.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's good. Steven, thank you so much for sharing.

Steven Fowler:

We're done.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, it's incredible. No, it's great.

Steven Fowler:

Sweet.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Listen, I want to encourage people to do the same thing. I sit down with a friend, ask him good questions. Maybe have some cold coffee.

Steven Fowler:

Please, have some.

Japhet De Oliveira:

But do so, because as our conversation, I believe that we are transformed by each other. We listen to each other, we actually become better human beings for it. We learn. So I encourage people to do the same. Thank you for sharing so much.

Steven Fowler:

Cool. Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira:

God bless you. And we'll connect with everybody else again.

Narrator:

Thank you for joining us for The Story & Experience Podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your story and experience at adventistshealth.org/story.

The Story & Experience Podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health through the Office of Culture.