Some conversations stop you in your tracks—in the very best way. This Wellness Wednesday on The Debbie Nigro Show, I met a man whose story is the definition of still in the game.
Meet B.J. Odom—radio veteran, comedian, podcaster, author, and a living, breathing miracle. B.J. has survived two transplants (a heart and a kidney), multiple surgeries, radiation treatments, and a lifetime of medical curveballs that started before he was even two years old. Doctors once told his parents he likely wouldn’t live past his teens. He’s now 70 years young… and funnier than ever.
His memoir, More Parts Than a Chicken Nugget, is exactly what the title promises—honest, heartfelt, humorous, and full of perspective. From growing up as a farm boy in Indiana, to a decades-long career in radio and comedy, to navigating life with transplanted organs and relentless optimism, B.J.’s story is all about resilience, second chances, and the power of attitude.
And trust me—this man’s attitude could light up a hospital wing. B.J. turns hospital beds into comedy stages, cracks jokes with nurses, and truly believes that positivity plays a role in survival. (I couldn’t agree more.) We even bonded over finding laughter during our own cancer journeys—proof that sometimes humor really is medicine.
B.J. also hosts a powerful podcast called The Gift of Life, where he gives voice to organ donors, recipients, and donor families—sharing deeply personal stories that remind us how one decision can save lives. No two stories are the same, but every one is meaningful.
With the holidays upon us, B.J. shared why his book makes such a great gift: it’s a feel-good story for people who may need hope, perspective, or just a reminder that the human spirit is incredibly strong—even when the body’s been through a lot.
Bottom line?
B.J. Odom is living proof that attitude matters, laughter heals, and life—no matter how complicated—can still be rich, joyful, and full of purpose.
Listen to the full conversation on the podcast, and if you’re looking for an inspiring read (or a meaningful gift), check out More Parts Than a Chicken Nugget. You’ll laugh, you might cry, and you’ll definitely walk away grateful for every heartbeat. If you’d rather read than listen the transcript of the audio is below.
“Keeping the “Live” in Alive!”—always. 🙂
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
0:00:00
(Speaker 9)
And now, back to the Debbie Nigro Show.
0:00:45
(Speaker 2)
You know, waking up in the morning, can’t take it for granted, especially if you’ve been through what my next guest has been through. Oh my goodness, what a guy, what a guy, what an attitude. And you know I’m all about attitude, right, and good energy, and I’m a firm believer that your cells know what your brain is thinking, that you can change your cells by having the power of positive thinking, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So this is my Wellness Wednesday Show. keeping the live in alive. And you’re about to meet a really interesting guy, great personality, terrific talent and a survivor of two Transplants.
0:01:20
(Speaker 2)
Yeah, no small potatoes there, right? And he’s got a book out called More Parts Than a Chicken Nugget. Say hello to B . J. Odom.
0:01:28
(Speaker 1)
Hey, B . J.
0:01:30
(Speaker 5)
, welcome.
0:01:31
(Speaker 2)
Hey, Debbie, thanks so much for having me on the show. Yes, I’m still in the game. I love having you today. What good timing. I was introduced to B . J.
0:01:42
(Speaker 8)
by or found out about him through Jeff Weber, who is a mutual friend, a radio business guy.
0:01:47
(Speaker 1)
And B . J. , you’ve been in the radio business, right? I’ve been in the radio business for probably close to 50 years and got out of it last year. And now, you know, I also did some standup comedy, traveled for a while. that.
0:02:01
(Speaker 1)
And I never had a real job.
0:02:02
(Speaker 2)
So that’s the only thing that I have to my credit.
0:02:05
(Speaker 1)
I’ve never had a real job. Where were you broadcasting from? We’re here in the Florida area.
0:02:13
(Speaker 2)
I started out though in Indiana, a very small farm town, Rensselaer. That’s where I got my radio start back in 1974. That’s a good start. And you’ve been talking for a long time. Maybe it’s talking that keeps people alive. I don’t know.
0:02:29
(Speaker 2)
I don’t know. I’m also blessed by the fact that I’ve been through some stuff and still here. And just in our brief chat together, I can just feel your energy and your positivity.
0:02:41
(Speaker 1)
Tell everybody about the book, More Hearts Than a Chicken Nugget, and what you’re doing with your podcast called The Gift of Life. Go ahead. Yeah, it’s a memoir.
0:02:51
(Speaker 2)
And it started out, you know, at 22 months old, when I had my first open heart surgery, thought I was a blue baby.
0:02:57
(Speaker 1)
Yeah, at 22 months old. Oh, geez. Yeah, then the doctors after that thought I was a blue baby, but I wasn’t. And they told my parents I would probably live to see my early to mid teens at the most. And in 1968, an experimental surgery that was just getting started, transposition of the great arteries.
0:03:22
(Speaker 2)
I had that where my heart ran completely backwards. And so that pretty much tells you how I’ve been most of my life. Oh, wow. You started off with a little bit of a, you know, a challenge to overcome from the get go. So this just keeps going on with you and you’re still here. You’ve had two transplants, a heart transplant and a kidney transplant.
0:03:46
(Speaker 1)
And yet, and you’re going through, you said, as soon as you get off the radio with me, you’re going for radiation for something near your ear. Is that correct? Right. I had some skin cancer that they’ve operated on twice and they just couldn’t, you know, seem to get it, I guess.
0:04:01
(Speaker 2)
So they said they were either going to have to try radiation or cut my ear off. And since I wear glasses, I said, let’s go for the radiation. Let’s go for the radiation. I just had this skin cancer by the ear thing. And Fortunately, they were able to get it, what they call the Mohs surgery. You know what that is, right?
0:04:19
(Speaker 2)
They go in and take as much as they can until they go down all the way. And then what the woman said when I went for a skin checkup, and I’m sure you got the same answer when you went for a skin checkup. She goes, didn’t you see this?
0:04:29
(Speaker 1)
No, I did not see this because who could see behind their head like that? Did you see yours? Something was wrong with my ear, but like I said, they’ve done two surgeries on it already, the Mohs surgeries. And then it came up again and they said, like, yeah, we’ll have to whack your ear off or we could try radiation. So I went to my transplant team and they said, if they want to do radiation, go for it. And so that’s what we’re doing right now.
0:04:55
(Speaker 2)
And I’m starting with 30 treatments. I’m down to seven more. Oh, go baby. All right. You sounded very peppy for somebody who’s been through that much. It’s a lot, you know, until the cumulative effect of all the, you know, the moments there and the stress and the constantly going, I get it.
0:05:10
(Speaker 2)
But let’s talk about the upside of you being here. Thank you, God, right? Terrific.
0:05:15
(Speaker 7)
You’re still rocking.
0:05:17
(Speaker 1)
And let’s talk about this podcast you decided to do called The Gift of Life, which I imagine is to keep the word out there about the importance of organ donation. Yes? Yes, it is. And because, you know, like one night I was watching, I don’t know, one of the late night shows and I saw someone talking about how they had MS and they were doing a podcast on MS and I go, wow, I’m doing a podcast already. Why aren’t I doing a podcast about organ donation and transplant? So basically what I do each week is let transplant
0:05:49
(Speaker 1)
ease or whatever you want to call them, tell their stories in their own words. And I’ve had everything from donor mothers to people that have donated organs to also, you know, the recipients. And so they all tell their story.
0:06:06
(Speaker 4)
And I’ve noticed after I think we’re on like episode 88 now, each story is totally different.
0:06:13
(Speaker 2)
And I’m finding no two stories are the same. Wow, wow.
0:06:18
(Speaker 1)
So the book, More Parts Than a Chicken Nugget, I’m looking at your Facebook page and there is Shaq, Shaquille O ‘Neal holding your book and your family calls him Uncle Shaq. What’s that about? Well, my son kind of followed my footsteps into broadcasting and then he got into the world of internet radio and, you know, podcasting. And so he opened a company.
0:06:43
(Speaker 2)
First, he started with his very first Oh.
0:07:15
(Speaker 6)
like to get involved in this and they started their own company and they’ve had it going now for almost 15 years.
0:07:21
(Speaker 2)
Oh, that is incredible story. Wow. My boyfriend wants to do this. That’s very great. Great, great, great, great. Yours is a story of survival, of second chances, of resilience, and of attitude, right?
0:07:38
(Speaker 2)
And what do you want to say?
0:07:41
(Speaker 1)
Because I already know, I feel you, I feel your energy. What do you want to say to people listening about the power of a positive attitude when it comes to dealing with life -altering medical scenarios like you have? I’m going to tell you, I think it’s everything. I always go in and I look at my hospital bed saying, here’s another day at the office. And instead of being one of those people that grump and be gravelly with the with the nurses, I try to make them laugh. Like I said, I turned my hospital bed into a comedy stage.
0:08:14
(Speaker 2)
And basically, some of the doctors aren’t real keen on me being so funny. But others, you know, are but the nurses all love me and they even fight over who’s gonna have to take care of me the next day. So there’s a positive. Obviously, it’s not simple to be festive when you’re struggling. like you have been and like many people do and like I’ve been there myself and I’m just I told you privately and I’ll say it again on the air when I was at Memorial Sloan -Kettering initially for the ovarian cancer episode I was taking the hardest core chemo they give there I was also doing something very similar you know cracking jokes and making you know finding the light in the dark and I naturally love to laugh so I was trying to you know obviously nervous laughter but nonetheless I was being funny and I heard the nurses saying over her them she ain’t going down This one ain’t going down. We’ve seen this before.
0:09:02
(Speaker 2)
They’ve seen this before.
0:09:04
(Speaker 1)
So I’m just saying out loud to my audience and to you, because you already know, people have seen this before where attitude, and BJ is kind of going along with me, could in fact be everything when it comes to surviving and then thriving through difficult medical challenges. So I wanted to put that out there because I think it’s not researched enough.
0:09:29
(Speaker 2)
And I think you’re 100 % correct, because I think if I went in there with a woe is me attitude and felt sorry for myself and was grumpy, I think the. would have been a totally different story and you probably wouldn’t be talking to me today.
0:09:45
(Speaker 1)
Yeah, I know. So what’s it feel like to have another person’s heart inside you? You know, that’s kind of a hard question. You know, to me, it feels like me. But when I talk to donors on my podcast or recipients, and they’ve met their donors, and they’ve also, like, maybe let the mother of the child that they lost hear their heartbeat inside them. They both have this adrenaline rush and this experience that is unbelievable.
0:10:22
(Speaker 1)
Now, I have never experienced that. I’ve never got to meet my donor families. I’ve had, you know, the kidney was a deceased donor, the heart was a deceased donor, and I got the heart first. And then because of the medicines that are so rigid on your body, took out my kidneys. But yeah, I’ve never had a chance to meet either family. And I feel bad about that.
0:10:44
(Speaker 2)
I would probably love the opportunity to meet them and let them share hearing their loved one’s heartbeat inside me. It would just be an awesome feeling.
0:10:54
(Speaker 1)
Do you know who it is? Do you know who they are?
0:10:56
(Speaker 2)
No, but I was in Tampa, at Tampa General Hospital. I have a comedy friend that was reading the newspaper, heard of a story where someone had passed away, donated their organs, and it was the very same day I got my transplant, and they kind of explained to me it was a young gentleman, and this guy was a young gentleman riding a motorcycle, so I kind of feel like this is the person, but I’m not 100 % positive. You know, you brought up something bizarre, and I’m going to talk to it, because it’s not like people haven’t heard this said before.
0:11:33
(Speaker 1)
You’re in Florida, right?
0:11:34
(Speaker 2)
You’re in Orlando? Yeah, I’m about five minutes from the Magic Kingdom. Okay. That’s, you know, how Shaquille O ‘Neal was in the area, blah, blah, blah. But the motorcycle thing, I have a very dear friend who is waiting for a heart transplant and big guy. And I was like, oh boy, we got how, you know, and you don’t want to wish ill on somebody else so that somebody lives, you know, it’s, it’s like an emotional challenge to figure out, you know, how you’re supposed to feel, because in order to get a new heart, somebody has to give one up, right?
0:12:06
(Speaker 2)
So there’s never, there’s always a positive and negative.
0:12:08
(Speaker 1)
But something to the effect was mentioned, and I’m not the person who said it, that Florida, they called it when something with donor season with the motorcycle speed up, because a lot of motorcycle accidents. What’s that about? You’ve heard that commentary before? Well, I will tell you this, that I got mine in March and another sad thing to hear, but it’s true. They go, when I was at my worst in March, they said, well, at least we’re looking for your heart at a good time. It is spring break.
0:12:39
(Speaker 2)
And I’m thinking about that. Oh my gosh. You know, it’s, it’s sad to think about, but spring break is one of those times where, you know, those college kids and everybody else gets a little crazy. And, uh, yeah it’s a reality holidays like fourth of july and new year’s eve those are also it’s a reality yeah they actually call it in some areas donor seasons you know and that’s so yeah another word to the wise if you’re somebody uh you know on who doesn’t want to end up being the one to donate you know watch what you’re doing and take your time and don’t be stupid out there right if you’re driving a vehicle my goodness so okay so christmas people thinking of what to give to people, friends, family.
0:13:23
(Speaker 1)
Why would your book be a good gift for the person who has everything, more parts than a chicken nugget? Why does your book such a good gift? Well, I think, you know, people are all struggling right now. You know, the world is not a great place, and it’s a good, feel -good story. And, you know, that’s what you need around the holidays sometimes is that feel -good story.
0:13:44
(Speaker 1)
And like I said, it takes me from being a small little farm boy in Indiana to finding out I had heart problems.
0:13:51
(Speaker 5)
It was my it explains how I got into radio.
0:13:55
(Speaker 1)
It’s a memoir. So as it goes, you know, through my life up till I’m 70. And it’s kind of funny.
0:14:00
(Speaker 2)
The doctors told my parents I wouldn’t, you know, live to see the 1970s. And here I lived all the way to be 70 years old. That’s how old I am right now. Yeah, body parts and attitude.
0:14:12
(Speaker 1)
body parts and attitude BJ Odom what a pleasure to meet you today on the show thank you so much for taking my taking up my invitation I will post everything about you and the book and I’ll make it into a nice blog and podcast will go up on everything and I love your your energy your story of survival second chances and the family that held you together more parts than a chicken nugget is the name of the book BJ Odom along with Christina Metcalf and also he’s got a podcast out there it’s the gift of life podcast which addresses the entire world of organ donation and encourages you to consider that to save somebody else.
0:14:48
(Speaker 4)
Have a wonderful rest of your day.
0:14:50
(Speaker 3)
Okay, you got this. I think and thank you so much and I appreciate it all.
0:14:55
(Speaker 2)
All right. Ciao, baby. Happy holidays.
