Perilous Ascent: Redefining Resilience Through Chronic Pain with Nancy Deyo

About this episode

Nancy Deyo shares her journey of living with chronic pain and the profound changes it brought to her life.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 25% of U.S. adults—roughly 60 million Americans—live with chronic pain, while approximately 8.5% experience high-impact chronic pain that significantly limits their daily life or ability to work. Chronic pain is one of the most misunderstood health challenges in modern society, often forcing people to navigate invisible suffering, medical uncertainty, and profound personal transformation. In this deeply honest and inspiring episode, former Silicon Valley CEO and Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute Fellow Nancy Deyo shares her extraordinary story of survival, identity loss, and rebuilding after a medical crisis on Mount Kilimanjaro changed the course of her life. What began as an ambitious climb turned into a fifteen-year journey marked by misdiagnosis, persistent pain, opioid dependence, and the collapse of the high-performance mindset that once fueled her success. Nancy opens up about the emotional and psychological realities of chronic illness, including what happens when discipline, endurance, and “pushing through” are no longer enough. Unable to sit because of debilitating pain, she attended graduate…

People in this episode

Host: Kevin McShan

Guest: Nancy Deyo

Topics covered

• chronic pain
• resilience
• personal transformation
• medical crisis
• mental health

Keywords

• chronic pain
• resilience
• mental health
• medical crisis
• personal transformation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Places: Mount Kilimanjaro

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