We recently had the chance to connect with Marcos & Theodora Pestana and have shared our conversation below.
Marcos & Theodora , a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
For us the answer has and will remain the same DANCE! Dance is our happy place and happy distraction where we can set all our troubles to the side. When we move to the music, we are fully present in the moment no matter what life throws at us before and after. We’ve danced at socials, conventions, classes, at home and even in the hospital! When we hold each other and move as one, we connect back to ourselves as individuals and to each other as a couple through the connection dance creates between us. Dance is what made us fall in love and forever holds a special place in our hearts! We can take dance along with us wherever we go from a ballroom to the floor of the icu! We often say “all we need is music, a floor and each other!”
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Our platform Pestana Life shares pieces of our lives as a married dance couple dealing with chronic illness and all it brings. We share our passion and joy of dance particularly bachata which is our favorite to dance together. We show how our connection to dancing looks when battling through health setbacks. We also share the joy we experience dancing on the good days we refer to as days of “I can.” We create content from both ends of the spectrum in hopes to encourage others to stay connected to their passions if also facing hardship.
We strive to spread awareness, education and advocacy for the chronic illness, IBD and ostomate communities alike. We show both the patient and spouse/caregiver perspectives with our experiences navigating through life with chronic illness and having an ostomy.
Something new we’ve incorporated is we recently introduced our German Shepherd Moose to the platform. Moose shares the same diagnosis as his momma, Theodora both having IBD. We have had so much fun sharing our GSD with IBD on Pestana Life!
The goal has been and will remain the same – to help others not suffer in silence and know they are not alone. In the times of technology we’re in, if someone is facing a new challenge in life, or, if health related, a new diagnosis, what’s the first thing one usually does? Grab their device and search. Search for answers, for content of someone with similar experiences and for any information we can obtain to try and better understand what’s happening to us or someone we care for. Our platform is there for exactly this! To be a light in someone’s darkness and to share on topics such as having a ostomy that until recently haven’t always been openly talked about. We’re here to help change the narrative through sharing pieces of our life in those respects and hope our journey can uplift others!
Perhaps something medically challenging we entered into someone else won’t have to go through alone because we provided a resource to them via our platform. Perhaps someone out there has lost hope and feels defeated and seeing us remain positive and keep the faith through so many things that could easily rob us of that will give them the strength they need to keep fighting too. Use our pain for a purpose that’s the goal!
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
We’d have to say it’s the many moments we have had and will continue to experience in facing the never ending battle against chronic, incurable disease. When you literally stare death in the face and live to tell the tale, it changes you. You learn to appreciate the beautiful things life brings all around you and how to focus on what truly matters. Exactly because of the immense suffering and pain we’ve endured (and inevitably will continue to) is how and why we know to feel such immense joy and happiness which we express through dance! We stay strong in our faith and strive to keep positive despite all the obstacles we endure. No matter how many times we fall, we always get back up!
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
We couldn’t keep going through all these difficult times experiencing these catastrophic moments that we ourselves can’t even process to not do something more with that. To have lived through these big things many never see in an entire lifetime and to just sit with them and be done, wasn’t an option. It would be giving away more power to the monster that is illness and letting the hard times win us over. We had to use these struggles for more than just surviving them and sitting around waiting for the next bad thing to happen to us. So, we created our platform Pestana Life and began to use “the pain for a purpose!” It doesn’t change our reality nor the hardship we continue to face, but it does give us a purpose through the pain we endure when we can create something meaningful out of some of the hardest times in our lives.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
Theodora’s response: I have been blessed with an amazing group of friends within the chronic illness community for IBD. My very illness had led me to connect with 4 very special women who were walking through health journeys very similar to my own. We initially connected because of our shared diagnosis. Throughout the years something much more beautiful has grown from that initial commonality and that is our friendship!
These women amaze me every day. They carry so much because of their health challenges and yet they are always right there to lend an ear or cheer the others on night or day. There is no judgement, just support. Each giving with their whole hearts even when dealing with pain and symptoms from illness themselves. Giving and receiving of support and encouragement to be a lifeline and comfort to one another so we know we are not alone in this fight has been such a gift!
They each model compassion, love, endurance and kindness in all they are and I am in awe of their character every single day!
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
That “it’s easy”. “It”being our life. Be it the energy you see us give on the dance floor or those magical moments of “I can” where it seems life is easy breezy. Often well meaning people mistake our positive attitudes, resilience and unwavering faith to mean we don’t struggle. We absolutely do! We are but human. We have fear, pain, worry, exhaustion-all the things!
When we seem the most “together” and full of life enjoying dancing or share upbeat content, reality is we have usually just came out of something very difficult like a long hospitalization or flare of symptoms that kept us down for a time. Or, it can be we are about to go through something very difficult like an impending surgery and are unsure of the outcomes.
The struggle is real! But those struggles are what motivate us to live each beautiful moment life gifts us. It’s the celebrating life and joy of overcoming whatever trials we have that allows us to exude such happiness when we dance. It’s what drives us to get back up and keep going each time we are knocked down. Having our platform allows us to leave a legacy of love and endurance amidst great suffering which we hope will inspire others!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @pestanalife
- Facebook: Pestana Life/La Vida Pestaña
- Youtube: Pestana Life
- Other: Tik Tok: @Pestanalife
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
