Last Night A DJ (and Pitbull) Saved My Life

6 min readDec 5, 2020

Pitbull and Shanna

This is my wellness advice: When so much has been taken away from you, find someone or something that can give it back to you. You can heal by finding the influence you cannot give to yourself.

In my life, unexpectedly, I’ve been presented with various serious health challenges that forced me to redirect the life I’ve always envisioned. I do my best to fight and find the positive in the situation. I hate complaining.

I was bit by a mosquito that was carrying the West Nile Virus while I was traveling in the South of France. That was the defining moment that changed my life. I really can’t put into words what kind of damage that small insect created. Over the following nine long years of hell, I was eventually diagnosed with a very complicated thyroid/auto-immune disorder/mast cell issue. Long story short, my engine broke and I couldn’t crack a smile. This was the opposite of my personality — I need love and laughter in my life. I had no choice but to fight for my life and try and find a “new normal.”

During the time of having to sit home with an eye that was 4x enlarged, a heart that was beating too fast (122 bpm to be exact), a body with 50 lbs of extra thyroid weight that didn’t belong to me and wondering if I would be in chronic pain the rest of my life or if my life would be taken from me, a friend who produced VH1’s Behind The Music suggested watching Pitbull’s segment. I knew it was going to be a story of struggle to triumph via music. Music (next to chocolate) has always been my healing outlet. Anyone who knows me knows George Michael is my salvation — and if “Freedom” is my national anthem, Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything Tonight” is my pledge of allegiance. Point being — take life while you have it.

I’ve always enjoyed Pitbull’s music. It’s fun, upbeat, sexy, and Latin; everything that appeals to me. I knew very little about the artist behind the lyrics; the only thing I really knew about him was that he coined the term “dale,” and had around 15 names such as Mr. 305, Mr. Worldwide, Armando etc. While I watched the VH1 special, Pitbull’s will to survive and succeed rang loud and clear. You could see he was a good boy that wanted to do well, but had issues that faced him like coming from roots of a broken country, broken family, living in foster care, getting involved in selling drugs and losing his father too soon. All of that can turn a good little boy into a hard, bitter, cold and resentful man. That’s where the fork in the road hits. Sometimes we have to surrender and believe the universe is providing a path to create the best person we can be. I know this sounds crazy. Somehow pain can help define character and motivate to find better.

It’s obvious Pitbull is an old soul. His determination, attitude, and no bullshit take-on-life is refreshing. He keeps on moving forward like a Cuban bull in a china shop filled with florescent colored dishes. For me, watching that documentary turned the page from seeing a typical Miami t & a show, to seeing integrity behind the man and the brand. Over the years, Pitbull and his music became my anxiety drug, depression medication, visualization board, meditation and the only out for finding a smile again.

Along my painful journey, one of the consequences of a failed procedure and then a corrective surgery was that I lost my voice for 6 1/2 weeks after the surgery and couldn’t speak due to a paralyzed vocal cord. I didn’t know if my voice was ever going to come back. I had to find my inner peace to deter losing my sanity. I was constantly being tested.

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My sister, who would move mountains for me if she could, knew Pitbull was my go-to escape. She called our friend, DJ IRIE, who is friends with Pitbull, and asked if DJ IRIE could arrange an introduction to Pitbull on my birthday while he was on tour. I went to Pitbull’s show and waited in-line in 100-degree weather. I haven’t been in a fan line since I was 16, as I ended up working in the entertainment industry, but I was like “dale lets do it”. By the time I got to Pitbull, I just looked at him and smiled. I really didn’t say much because that moment (and what it encompassed) was a bit overwhelming for me. The memories of my personal hell literally felt like they were freezing over. His personality and positive energy is infectious. He’s what Pharrell sings about — he’s the “happy” the world is looking for.

DJ IRIE and crew

I now go see Pitbull when it’s time to get a boost of feel-good adrenaline, which is so essential in life. So yes, my sister, a DJ (IRIE), and Pitbull have saved my life, my sanity, and have helped me get my sexy back. Most importantly, they helped me find my smile again. Life sucks sometimes. That’s a fact. However, I always try to end my sentences with “it could be worse.” For the fifty things we can complain about, we have one hundred things that we can be grateful for. There are situations that everyone will face at some point that manifest physically, mentally, or spiritually; they are rarely expected, wanted, or welcomed. It is the way each of us chooses to handle our situations that become the words that compose the sentences of our life’s story.

Last Night A DJ (and Pitbull) Saved My Life

Written by Ivan