← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Running for Resilience: Lou Fragoso’s Mission to Honor Children's Strength
00:16:53
Loading summary
Transcript14 lines
- [00:00]
A
Welcome, everyone, to the Beckers Healthcare podcast series. I'm Mariah Muhammad, writer and moderator with Eccers Healthcare, and I'm thrilled to have with me today Lou Fugoso, president and CEO of Manning Family Children's in New Orleans. Lou, welcome to the podcast. We're very excited to have you join us today, especially for the first time. To get us started, would you mind please introducing yourself and telling us a bit about your background?
- [00:20]
B
Yeah. Hi. It's a pleasure to be here with you, Mariah. My name is Lou Frigoso, president CEO for Manning Family Children's. Been here in New Orleans for the last six and a half years. Originally born and raised on the south side of Chicago, had the really honor of being at Lurie Children's in Chicago, and then was recruited to Houston, where I was at Texas Children's for about six years and now been here for the last six and a half and it's been amazing.
- [00:49]
A
Wonderful. Thank you so much for giving us that background. So, Lou, for those who aren't familiar, The Leadfield Trail 100 is considered one of the most demanding ultramarathons in the country. Country. Can you start by describing what the race is and why you chose to take it on not just once, but for the third time now?
- [01:08]
B
Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. The way. When you put it that way, you're right. Why am I attempting this a third time? But the Leadville 100 trail race, it is one of the oldest and most iconic and toughest ultramarathons in the country. Started over 40 years ago, I think it's the second oldest ultramarathon in the country. And it starts in the highest city in North America, which is Leadville, Colorado, which is at 10,200ft. And the race traverses 100 miles across the Colorado Rockies. And so it is an incredibly intense race. All 100 miles needs to be completed in under 30 hours. And the race takes place between essentially 10,000ft and 13,000ft.
- [01:55]
A
Wonderful. Thank you so much for giving us that information. Definitely does sound demanding. And I'm sure for you this isn't just about a medal or finishing the race, but obviously about the. The kids you serve. Can you talk about the moment that clicked for you and how it changed your mindset going into the race?
- [02:13]
B
Yeah, well, I think when you kind of started us off yourself, this is my third attempt, so I've attempted this two other times and just to give a little background. So the race, like I said, has to be completed in a certain time frame, and there's time cutoffs along the route. The first year I did it, two years ago, I missed the time cutoff, I think mile 45 by about a minute. And then last year I attempted it again. I missed the time cutoff at the 100k mark. So that's about mile 62. And now this year will be my third attempt. And so now your question is, how does this all get connected to our mission here at the hospital? So here's how the story goes, and my staff will tell you this. I get a lot of ideas while I'm out running and training. It's where I get some of my best ideas. And so I signed up again, and this will be my third year doing it. And I was on a long run. I think I was on a 26 mile training run. And it was one of those days. You know, it's just. You weren't feeling it and that happens. It was a particularly rough day. It was hot, you know, here in New Orleans and humid. And I was just struggling. I was on the struggle bus. I was in the pain cave. And I was like, thinking to myself, like, why am. Like, seriously, why am I doing this Again? Those doubts kind of started creeping in. But often while I'm running, I'm also thinking you get a lot of time to yourself. You're processing. And I think a lot about work. And one of the things I started thinking about during that run, in those moments when I was doubting and thinking to myself, like, do I really want to do this again? I started thinking about our kids here at the hospital and what they go through. And it really clicked for me is like, our kids every day face their own mountains. Like, every day I see it, and they are battling some of the toughest diseases, toughest diagnosis, whether it's cancer, whether it's sickle cell, whether it's depression, anxiety, whether it's spina bifida. Like, I see it every day. They battle and these kids are here. Sometimes it's a week, a month, two months, six months, a year. We've had, you know, one of our kiddos that's been here, you know, 500 days. And then it hit me. I was like, these kids have no quit in them. Like, they are battling every day, fighting through and pushing through and overcoming, and they. They never give up. And that just kind of hit me. It's like, there's like, that's it right there, right? Like, you can't give up. There is in. And it's kind of this message that I just, in terms of how I live My life, but it really just connected to personal and professional, is, you know, you gotta finish what you started. And I think about that with our kids and what they push through and this transformative process that they're going through while they're here, pushing through the next chemo session, pushing through the next bone marrow transplant, the next surgery, the next needle stick. And on the other end of that, and our physicians often call it this rebirth, a second birthday. They're transformed, and they have this new life and their future ahead of them. All of that clicked for me in terms of I shouldn't be thinking, shouldn't have any of these doubts about not wanting to do this, about complaining, about having some sort of excuse, because our kids certainly don't. And they push through and they overcome, and they're the inspiration and they're the motivation. And I called Kristen Robinson, our vice president of marketing. I said, kristen, I got a great idea. I'm like, I want to run this race in honor of our kids and have every mile named after one of our kids so we can share their stories of struggle and strength and courage and resilience and how they face their mountains every day and overcome, and also honor the teams that help them through that. We have some of the most amazing people that help our kids fight and battle every day. And so that's kind of where all this kind of connected is a way to share the amazing stories that are our kids. And, yeah, so we've had a lot of fun with that. 100 miles, 100 kids, one mission. Their stories are amazing. The teams that serve them are amazing. And it's basically about, there's no quit in our kids. They never give up their stories of overcoming and strength. So that's how it all came together.
- [06:43]
A
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Definitely inspiring. And as you stated, each mile of the race is dedicated to a patient at your system. And answer this a little bit. But how do those stories stay with you during the race? And how do they influence your leadership when you're back at the hospital?
- [06:59]
B
Yeah, I mean, so just even to connect it, I mean, Brian Morello, for example, one of our kiddos, he's 15 years old. Spina bifida. That kid's had more surgeries than birthdays. When he was born, you know, they said he'd have no quality of life, that he'd never get out of his bed. And this kid now, despite having more surgeries than birthdays, he's an athlete. He is basketball. He's been racing. So me and Brian, two years ago, decided to do our first 10K together here at the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans. And two years ago, you know, it was his first 10k, and he finished it in about an hour. And this last year, like, he came in at, like, 44 minutes. And so now he has aspirations of going into the Paralympics, you know, in his future years and competing in the Olympics. And that's exactly. Like, this is a kid that literally, potentially has every excuse in the world to not continue to push and fight, and he doesn't. He wears a hat that says, embrace the suck. And he is going to meet me at mile 99 and pace me in for the last mile, because he is our kid that we have named Mile 100 after Brian Ro. He's like, Mr. Liu, I want to head out there. He goes, I want to pace you in for the last mile. I'm like, all right. And so, you know, that just gives you an idea of their strength and the inspiration that they provide. You know, there's. We got another one of our kids, this kid, his name is Drew. He's a swimmer. He's his kids in high school. And, like, this is just the most amazing story. So this kid, he broke his hip, right? And he was at the hospital needing rehab, but he's a swimmer. And his team had made it to state for the swim finals, but they wouldn't be able to compete if he wasn't there to compete. And so he decided that he was going to compete in the state finals in the swim meet with a broken hip, so his team lowered him into the pool so he could swim. He did his backstroke competition, finished. They had to pick him up out of the pool, and they won state with him swimming with a broken hip. And then he doubles down, and there's one of our little patients, Blakely, who he learns has cancer, who. She lives in his neighborhood, and he then decides to fundraise for her by getting a swim team together. And they called it laps for Blakely. Here's one of our patients who showed the strength and the resilience to support his team fight through the pain of a broken hip. And then the character to say, you know what? Now I'm going to fundraise for another patient because she has cancer. And I want to raise awareness to her story. It just like, it doesn't end. And when you think back to how we run this hospital, I mean, this is about helping kids. Bottom line, it is about supporting the teams that do that and the strength and the resilience that it takes to put the team Together and the crew together to support our K. So it's. We see it every day, their inspiration of never giving up. And so we can't ever give up because of what we see from our kids.
- [10:24]
A
Yeah. Yeah. That is all definitely so inspiring, and thank you for sharing those heartfelt stories. And you describe the race as a transformative process that really strips you down and brings clarity. Could you say what you've learned most about yourself and your leadership throughout these past attempts, and what do you hope to carry forward this time?
- [10:46]
B
Yeah, I think, you know what I tell people, and they say, like, what do you go through? It's just about every emotion, right? It's 100 miles. It's 30 hours. That transformative process, when you're pushing through 100 miles in the mountains, I mean, so the climbs are incredibly steep. The air is incredibly thin. You're pushing through hours into the night. Exhaustion, fatigue, nausea, all of that. But what I also tell people is they're the other side of it, where you have this amazing group of people that are supporting you, so you have a sense of community, you have a sense of gratitude. You also have this amazing sense of presence. And a lot of people talk about, you know, needing to be present, and it's become very cliche when people tell you, you know, you need to be present in the moment. When you go through an experience like this, that's what you have. You end up with this absolute sense of clarity in the moment, because what you can only do is focus literally on the next step. There becomes a point of exhaustion and absolute fatigue and where it's no longer physical as much as it is mental, because you're battling this notion of wanting to quit and all of the doubts. And so you're very much in that moment of you're. Your only thought is of this very next step. And I think that is incredibly powerful because in. In the world that we live today, with all of the distractions and almost a constant level of engagement, to have a moment where all of that disappears and you are literally truly focused on the. The very next. That. That moment and the very next step, it's just wonderful. You know, you're suffering, but there's also this level of clarity that you achieve where you really get to see who you are and what you're made of in these moments where it's incredibly difficult and what it matters to you. And I think, you know, back to all of, you know, connecting this all back to mission and what our. What I see, our kids, that's what I See, from our kids, right? You know, all of those things I talked about suffering and pushing through the dark and pushing through doubt. Our kids do that every day. And they're not just doing it for 30 hours. You know, they're doing it for months at a time, years at a time. And I think, again, that perspective of knowing that there's literally thousands of inspirational stories of these kids pushing and persevering and the strength and courage of what they're doing and facing and the teams that help them do that, you know, that's what I think about when I'm out there. And anytime doubt starts to seep in, it's like, no, there is no doubt right now. There's a kid, his name is Daniel, and he's 22 years old, and he is our hospital, and he has sickle cell disease. And if you've ever heard or know anything about sickle cell disease, you know it's an incredibly painful disease when pain episodes are described as like shards of glass running through your veins. Well, this kid has it. But he also has a dream to become a pilot. And he hasn't let his disease stop him from wanting to become a pilot. He has completed all of the qualifications to become a commercial pilot. And one of the things that I'm just so incredibly proud of him and what we do at this hospital is but his sickle cell disease is preventing him from becoming a pilot because of the disease and the pain episodes. But the FAA told him if you are get cured of sickle cell, then you can become a pilot. And so he's completed all of his requirements. And now here at our hospital, we are only one of a handful of children's hospitals in the country that now can offer a cure for sickle cell disease. That just happened last year. Medical history was made, and Daniel is here at 22, and he's going to be cured of sickle cell disease. We're going to cure him of this horrible disease that he has struggled throughout his life with. But that hasn't stopped him from wanting to become a pilot. And at the end of this, he's going to be cured of sickle cell disease and going to become able to become a pilot, and that's all going to happen here. Those are the stories that you think about of kids still pushing, having every excuse to not do something, and they still push past those excuses. They are stronger than their excuses, and they push through, and then we're here to help them get over that mountain. It's just, you know, I can go on and on with stories of inspiration and how that's connecting me to wanting to make sure I do this. And not for the finish line, not for a medal, but now to share their stories, all 100 miles, all 100 of our kids, to share their amazing stories of just what they do and what they overcome and their strength. So it's. It's pretty amazing. I'm blessed to get to do what I do every day. I'm blessed to see the teams that offer this support, incredible care. It's just. It's amazing. And we live in the best city. I say all the time, there's no better place in New Orleans, no greater cause than Manning Family Children's.
- [15:43]
A
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That's definitely so amazing. And thank you so much for sharing all of that. Well, before I let you go, what message do you hope your patients, staff, and the broader healthcare community take from this journey?
- [15:57]
B
You know, it's what, the same message that our kids tell us every day. Never give up. Bottom line, never give up. Keep pushing. Be stronger than your excuses, overcome. And it's just, that's the main message. You don't learn anything from quitting. And, you know, you finish what you started and you get to the finish line, whatever that is, and never give up. Our kids stories are one of overcoming positivity, of strength, of courage, of resilience, and they never, ever give up.
- [16:36]
A
Amazing. Amazing. Thank you so much for those final thoughts. It's definitely been a very informative discussion. So again, I want to thank you so much for coming on back to self care, especially for the first time, and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
- [16:48]
B
Great. Thanks so much, Mariah.