EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,010 words- 0:00 – 3:55
Renner’s recovery mindset: willpower, family, and refusing a “new normal”
- NANarrator
(drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast. Check it out.
- JRJoe Rogan
The Joe Rogan Experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music) What's happening, man?
- JRJeremy Renner
What's going on?
- JRJoe Rogan
It's great to see you.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, good to be seen. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) Boy, what a journey you've been on.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oof.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, it's been a-
- JRJoe Rogan
I started listening to your audiobook. It was giving me anxiety.
- JRJeremy Renner
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
It gets better, right? (laughs) It takes a minute, but it, there's, there's a relief for the reader.
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, the relief is-
- JRJeremy Renner
For the listener.
- JRJoe Rogan
... seeing you healthy-
- JRJeremy Renner
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
... walking around.
- JRJeremy Renner
Well, the relief is also, we kinda know the end of the story, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- JRJeremy Renner
Before you go into it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
So then you can really kinda dive into the actual detailed narrative that I, I put out. Um-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
There's no other way to do it. But, um, but yeah, it's, it's tough for... I mean, it's like I was... Like, my own... My sister, it took her a while to read, and anybody that was kind of involved in the incident, takes a minute. You know, it's... Look, it took, took me a long time to kinda get through it. Right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
It took s- It's anxious for me too. (laughs) So.
- JRJoe Rogan
So how long was the actual recov- Because you don't even walk with a limp. You're, you're walking-
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah. It's quite... There's, there's, there's a lot... S- some things are pretty miraculous. Some things can be explained. Some t- And I tried to figure it out as I was writing the book, you know. A lot of people ask questions. I asked myself questions. Um, some things, uh, were on my own will. Some things were of, uh, otherworldly of some sort. Um, but yeah, I was given, you know... I was supposed to walk with a limp, because pretty much a lot of titanium, and then was certainly not running, and I'm doing far beyond all those things. S- Don't know exactly why. I can pontificate on why, and, you know...
- 3:55 – 5:35
New Year’s Day 2023: Tahoe storm, snowed-in family, and the decision to clear the driveway
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow. So let's bring back to the day of the accident. What... When exactly was it?
- JRJeremy Renner
It was New Year's Day.
- JRJoe Rogan
New Year's Day.
- JRJeremy Renner
New Year's Day, 2023. Yeah. And I host my family at my house up there, uh, like 25 people every, post-Christmas to New Year's, all the time. Friend- family friends, whoever, um, just kind of come up and we can celebrate the, the holidays together. Go skiing, all these type of things. But we had a big kind of Snowmageddon-type snow event that, you know, shut down the mountain that I live on at the top of, uh, uh, Lake Tahoe, about 8,000 feet elevation, and we got just tons and tons of snow. But it happens often. Maybe not that intense of a storm. But so much so where we were cut off from anywhere else. We're snowed in. Fine, I'm prepared for that stuff. Um, three days without power. Prepared for it. It's fine, we can have fun. Uh, it's actually a relief. All the cell phones go off. All the iPads go away and computers, and everybody's just playing card games with headlamps on. And I mean, it's a riot. So we had a, a good time. You know, s- food supply was still good. But, you know, it's, you know, it's New Year's Day and we're getting a break in the weather, so I decided I need to clear the roads and see, come out for air, essentially. And, um, and in doing so, that's when the accident sort of transpired. It's... And it's not... It's more of a routine type of thing to have a half-mile-long driveway up there. And I have to maintain it myself, so I have a snow cat and a bunch of other snow removal-type equipment. There was a bunch of vehicles, snowmobiles even, things that got stuck in the driveway, 'cause it, it was a lot of extra snow and it was very, some of it was very light, and then it got very icy and hard, so you're sinking down like three or four feet into it and
- 5:35 – 7:15
The snowcat and the split-second mistake that led to the crush injury
- JRJeremy Renner
it was a hot mess. So had to try to dig all that stuff out using the snow cat, pulling this stuff out. This thing, a snow cat, to describe it in words is pretty difficult, but it's like a tank. Um, it's probably, I don't know, 12 feet wide, the tracks on each side. So it, so it spins like a tank, like a skid steer.
- JRJoe Rogan
There it is.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, there we go. So that's, that's, that's a small, tiny version of one. Um, but yeah, it's something kind of, like out of Star Wars, you know. But this minor or metal track, it's more like that one right there.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, you've got-
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... one like that?
- JRJeremy Renner
That, That's it. That's exactly like the one I have.
- JRJoe Rogan
(sighs)
- JRJeremy Renner
So, it's about like 16,000 pounds or so. And it's, it's very nimble on the snow. (laughs) On the snow.
- JRJoe Rogan
Just to see it physic ... Put it back up. To see it physically and to know that that's what ran over your leg?
- JRJeremy Renner
Oh, my whole body.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, God.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah. It was, uh ... So you have to step on the tracks, you see, to get into the cab to operate it. So stepping on the tracks is, is a normal thing to do, you just don't do it while the thing's ... you're operating it, right? You're in the thing-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
... you drive it and it's just easy to thumb, go forward, r- reverse, and then you're neutral and that's it. It's really easy to operate. Um, but it was just ... Uh, the accident happened because you have to get in and out on the, off on those tracks, and I hit the, the thumb thing and, uh, it threw me off and I was going towards my nephew, so I had to jump back on and try to stop it from killing him, because it was going to crush him between the truck and the-
- JRJoe Rogan
Whoa.
- JRJeremy Renner
And that big blade that I have. You see that thing?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
It's a few thousand pounds, that thing. It's gnarly. But ... So, my instinct was to jump back on it and try to stop it. Um, you know, obviously it didn't work out, and it got ran over and, and, uh, there you go.
- 7:15 – 10:17
Awake under the tracks: full-body runover, 38 broken bones, and surviving the unsurvivable
- JRJoe Rogan
What... How much of your body did it run over?
- JRJeremy Renner
The entire ... All of it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh my God.
- JRJeremy Renner
I was ... Because I went ... If I had ... If I had ... The tracks were here to jump in the cab, I leaped, leapt up and over to try to grab onto it and got sucked under the whole thing, so the wh- so the, so the whole length of it just kind of ... And it ... So there's like a set of wheels that turn these tracks, you see. And there's like six wheels, so it, so it undulates, so when I felt ... All the undulate ... The first one was the worst, like the pressure and the skull crush and all that stuff, and then it releases, because then the undulation of the tire and the, the track. And you're awake for that. Just like by the sixth undulation it's just like, "All right, all right, just kind of finish already." And you're just like, y- y- then well it's like, you know, you're like you're drowning and being struck by lightning and bleeding out. It's all the things all at once, man. It's like an immense pressure and a movable object and, you know, my skull kind of lost out but still survived and, um ...
- JRJoe Rogan
Your skull got-
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... run over?
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, it, it's like, you know ... Yeah, it's everything. It's like, it's 38 broken bones and eyeballs out.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh my God.
- JRJeremy Renner
And it's, uh-
- JRJoe Rogan
Shout out to medical science.
- JRJeremy Renner
I know, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
I mean ...
- JRJeremy Renner
And, yeah, I mean, all the doctors were like, "Dude, I don't know how your eye's still operating, or still working," but I think because I was on ice, because I did see it and I'm like, "Well, maybe I'm going to put this eye on ice," and just kind of rolled into it. (laughs) Because I saw my eye with my other eye, right? And I'm like, "Well I better keep that thing ..." Because I'm on like an icy asphalt driveway that's off of my driveway, right? The top of the road. So it, it wasn't really great for impact or getting ran over. I wish I was on a snow pack, would have been maybe a little bit easier, would push me into snow, right? But it wasn't. So I just kind of rolled onto it, just like maybe I could kind of put the eye on ice until I could figure out how to breathe, and so-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh my God.
- JRJeremy Renner
You know, I had to sort of laugh at it because it's weird to sort of think about that, you know. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JRJeremy Renner
So-
- JRJoe Rogan
38 bones?
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was like the re- a lot of ribs and all my, my spiral fracture and my legs, all my joints were broken, all my, my ankles, my knees, my ... None, none of my spine and I only got a laceration in my liver from like one of the ribs breaking in a couple of spots and I went down and just kind of stabbed it, but it didn't really mess it up too bad, so that's okay. But all my organs, my brain ... I don't think there's any brain damage. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
I'll use that excuse later, I guess.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
You know, uh, yeah, and my spine. That, that's the miracle. It's like, how did I break 14 ribs, right, and I cracked my skull and every arm and leg and finger and thing, but my spine was spared.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh my God.
- JRJeremy Renner
And all my organs were spared, and my brain. It's like, it's kind of almost no harm, no foul at the end of the day, even though there's, you know, probably 20% titanium in my body at this point, but ...
- 10:17 – 13:33
Trauma surgery and “carpentry”: plates, titanium, and the doctor who specialized in crush injuries
- JRJoe Rogan
So how many pieces of titanium are in you?
- JRJeremy Renner
Well, the guy that invented this procedure w- worked at the hospital in Reno because there's a lot of crushing injuries that happen, because of all the ski resorts and mines that are in the area. So I got really lucky to get this doctor. Uh, but it took four doctors to get to this guy, so, so says my family. I was out in a coma. And, but they, once they found this guy was on vacation, the mayor of Reno actually called him and said, "You've got to get back and help my friend out." And so he rushed out and he's just like, this is what he does for a living, he's like, "Oh, this is easy. I can't wait to do this for this guy," duh duh duh, you know. So it relieved all my family, there was s- such relief because they were like, "Oh, he's going to lose his eye, we're going to cut off his leg." I mean, all this-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh my God.
- JRJeremy Renner
... kind of tragic sort of prognosis, whatever you want to call it, right? So this guy comes in, says, "No, no, it's fine, we're going to hammer this thing in, we're going to do this, we're going to do his face plate, do the thing, we're going to do this." And just lucky that n- the orbital bone that broke and the cheekbone that broke, they only wanted to do that because, um, because my face as, as an actor made them want to save my cheekbone, I guess. I ... Not that I cared about it, but ... Um, but yeah, he fixed up my, my, all my ribs and they used like, like this mesh and this, he has this sort of weird way to kind of handle ... If you fix one or two of the ribs that are all broken, the rest will kind of fall into place, the bone, the body's pretty miraculous, just give it a little direction and then it heals on itself and you'll grow the bone. So, um, it's not as much titanium in my ribs as one might think for all those breaks. It's only ... You know what I mean? (laughs) It's, it looks like rebar, right? You get a scan, like my, a lot of my body's like-
- JRJoe Rogan
Do you have an X-ray of your body?
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, somewhere. Yeah, yeah, somewhere.
- JRJoe Rogan
Is it online anywhere?
- JRJeremy Renner
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Where we could see it?
- JRJeremy Renner
I don't know. I could-
- JRJoe Rogan
Do you have it on your phone or anything?
- JRJeremy Renner
I, I don't think so. I could, I could ask my sister for it. She's got all the-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, I'm not showing everybody that thing. (laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
(laughs) ... it, it's, it's pretty c- it's pretty, um, remedial looking, you know? It looks like, you know, like I had a hammer a- and a two by four and some nails, and that's what this looks like. It looks, it's very like, "Is there... Why is there a nail and two screws and..." You know, it's, uh, it's f- carpentry 101, you know?
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
There's nothing like, you know... I think the guy that... because I had like screws in my skull and my, my jaw, because that broke in three spots.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh.
- JRJeremy Renner
And they, the guy took it out with a, it's something that he got from Home Depot. It, they literally, it's like a, some, you know, just, he just took it out. I'm like, "Dude, it's squeaking like it's in wood. Uh, did you numb it or something?" (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
I almost knocked this guy out.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
It was just like (squeaking) It was unbelievable. Unbelievable. And I was always, I was always kind of half in the, the bag mentally, just kind of... Because it takes so much mental, um, to deal with, like, pain management, and, uh, it's emotionally exhausting to deal with, like, so many different things in your body. So, I'm always kind of half paying attention to things. You know, my, uh, it's... I'm much sharper mentally now because I don't have to mitigate so much inflammation, pain, and all that all the time. So I can kind of be here and laugh with you. Uh, but back then when this guy was... I (laughs) I almost socked this guy so hard, dude.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- 13:33 – 17:16
Removing skull screws: pain, sensory horror, and the mental exhaustion of recovery
- JRJeremy Renner
Um, but, uh, yeah. Glad, that was... I was really happy to, um... That was a great milestone for me to get these screws out of my skull.
- JRJoe Rogan
Jesus.
- JRJeremy Renner
But, um, that was, uh, that was worse than getting ran over by the snow cat dude.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
In terms of pain or just discomfort?
- JRJeremy Renner
Well, no. Uh, uh, it wasn't so much the pain, uh, uh, it's the haunting images of feeling my, um, gums wrap around this screw as he's... And he's pulling out, and it's a lot longer than I thought it was (laughs) . And then there's three more to go. Uh, it was more the, the visual is, in my mind, um, kind of what makes it terrible. You know, the visual, because I'm a pretty visual guy. And so, I don't think anything, um, hurts me so much in a physical way, but the visual is a pretty haunting image.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JRJeremy Renner
And the sounds, dude. It vibrates your skull as he's taking it out.
- JRJoe Rogan
Ugh.
- JRJeremy Renner
And it's like, "Uh." (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
This is what horror films are made of, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Is-
- JRJeremy Renner
It's like Saw or something.
- JRJoe Rogan
Is that the only thing that they had to take out? Is the screws that were in your head, or did they-
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... take them out of your body as well?
- JRJeremy Renner
No, no, they have to leave those in for the most part, because why risk infection and open you up to, for something?
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
But, um, yeah. So all that, all the rest of the stuff stays in until those screws come loose. At some point, uh, they will.
- JRJoe Rogan
They start backing out, right?
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Okay.
- JRJeremy Renner
Uh, you'd think he'd put in a locking screw, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Uh...
- JRJeremy Renner
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
I've had friends that have had broken arms and it starts poking out of the bone.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah. It does too now.
- JRJoe Rogan
And they have to get another operation and get it removed.
- 17:16 – 18:15
Relearning movement: early PT, milestones, and relentless daily goals
- JRJoe Rogan
So, when you have so many broken bones and so many broken joints, what is the recovery like? Like, how do they even get you moving again?
- JRJeremy Renner
Day by day.
- JRJoe Rogan
Day by day?
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, instantly. As soon as I got home from the hospital, um, yeah, it was a PT there, and working to just move, keep things moving. You have to. Otherwise you lose it. You'll lock up or you'll lose it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Because seeing you walk around today in the studio, I would have no idea.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
You look totally normal.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's great. It's, it takes a lot of work, and it, and it's still working. Look, I was just having to stretch in your studio. You know, I have to, I have to, I have to move quite a bit so I don't lock up. After, after a good night's sleep, it's like, "Eh, you could be a little stiff in the morning," and I have to do some stretches and things like that. But I think if I didn't get in the accident, I'm 54, I'd probably have to do it anyway.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
So, um...... feels good to have to be f- to force the stretching, I think.
- 18:15 – 24:26
Sponsor break (AG1) and return to recovery specifics
- JRJoe Rogan
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- JRJeremy Renner
... just day by day, so you're completely bedridden initially and, and-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
... how long does it take before you can sit up?
- JRJoe Rogan
(inhales deeply) I don't know. (sighs) I don't know. It's pretty t- it moved pretty quick. The, the, the r- randomly with the punctured lung and the, all this broke, the shoulder, the f- collar bone dislocation, all this stuff, that healed pretty quickly. But that doesn't require gravity and all th- uh, force under your legs, like, your legs have to take, right? So those, that took a little bit longer, and the legs both a- ankles, right? That's, those are under trauma and, and plates in those. Um, you know, this is all a pipe- (laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
Essentially, pipe, piece of rebar, my, my whole lower leg. So that took a little bit longer, but the, the ribs, ironically, it was only painful for, I, I feel like a couple weeks. I also had these, like, plastic suitcases for my lungs, 'cause they had to let it bleed out and this (metal clang) stuff was going in. I don't know what goop was in that thing (laughs) -
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
... but I had to carry those things around for a while. Once I got rid of those, I was kinda sitting up a bit more, and, um, I felt good once I was kinda sitting up. But there's still, as you can imagine, so much trauma, so many places, but I think the longest it was, was really getting up to, to stand up, to walk, to, to get all your joints to work properly again, to relearn to walk, relearn to move, 'cause you really kinda have to. There's a lot of atrophy, as you can imagine, that happens. But I was standing up, um, and moving around. Uh, I got into a chair probably, you know, by the, by, by February, after, like, three weeks.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JRJeremy Renner
And, um, the more I could move, the faster you heal, you're getting more blood flow, you're getting, you're getting your body to work better. Um, helped with my, my attitude, uh, and will to get out and sit up. You know, all the things, each of these things are like milestones, and I would just like, "Yeah," and then move forward to the next thing, and set a goal for myself. Even if it was just, like, to sit up and, like, turn, or, uh, I didn't, I didn't have to set such big, to reach too far to keep my confidence high. So, 'cause I keep reaching these goals and just kept going and going and going, and then I find, I'd find mis- again, it's 24 hours a day, so-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
... what do I have to do today? Well, I don't even have to ask, uh, (laughs) just gotta get better. And, you know, it just kept going, and w- whatever thing, and there's so many things to attack to get better, it's like I never got bored. I always had all these bands and stuff. I was in a m- I remember being in a wheelchair and I'd wrap it around, like, this desk, and I'd be, and I'd just be doing, is it, like, a leg press? You know, all these, like, interesting ways to, like, to try to strengthen my, my, my body and get better. Whatever wasn't, uh, you know, I'd... Anything that would work, I would do it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JRJeremy Renner
I'd say no to nothing, say yes to everything, and, "Let's try it, let's do it." Took i- took in everything, took in everything.
- JRJoe Rogan
You know, they, they say that is one of the more difficult things with stroke victims, is the will to do the exercises to force yourself to recover.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
'Cause so many people just, they, they've never done that before, they've never pushed themselves before, they don't, and they, there's this tendency to just kinda give up, some people have.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah. Yeah. That's, it's part of the reason why I wrote the book, 'cause maybe people c- 'cause it's a lonely place when, where people are struggling in, in recovery. And when it's a lifetime recovery too, you know? Um, I hope they can find something they can grab onto, like, "If this guy can get over this, I can get out of my own way here, and maybe not, maybe think of it a little differently." The only thing we have control of ever in life in perpetuity is our perspective. So, you know, what's my- I could easily just go be victimized and, you know-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
... cry about it and, like, "Oh, my career is over," and that. I mean, it's not, it's not even part of the narrative, it's part of the, it's not even in the conversation. It's like, "I'm getting better every day for the rest of my life." That's it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JRJeremy Renner
There's only one way to go.
- JRJoe Rogan
(exhales)
- JRJeremy Renner
What's the alternative, Joe? Right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
What is the alternative? I kept, I keep saying that to my- what's the alternative? I'm not gonna stumble around through life.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
I wasn't brought back here to s- just to suffer. That's not happening. I'd say, "Unplug the machine. I'm done. I'm outta here." It's way better than being dead.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
You know what I mean? I'm not gonna come back and, and, and just waddle w- my, and limp my way through life. It's not gonna happen.
- 24:26 – 34:14
Painkillers and withdrawal: getting off OxyContin/gabapentin, cold-turkey consequences
- JRJeremy Renner
That was one of, again, one of the harder things worse than the accident as well is getting off OxyContin.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, yeah?
- JRJeremy Renner
And I got off pretty quickly and that's gnarly stuff, man. I'm glad it, it was there for, you know, the pain for me, but like I wanted to get off it as soon as possible so... Because it's highly, highly addictive. And coming off that stuff was gnarly.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's so hard. And you have a really strong will and some people don't.
- JRJeremy Renner
I know.
- JRJoe Rogan
And they put all-
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... people on that stuff.
- JRJeremy Renner
It's crazy, dude.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
It is really... Ironically, I was supposed to be doing a, a, uh, a movie about (laughs) the, the Sacra family.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It da- but it was supposed to happen like literally that, that April or just that, that spring. Um, obviously that got canceled 'cause I had to (laughs) take OxyContin to kinda get by. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
But then I had to get off that stuff real quick, you know. It was really interesting too how people treated that drug, you know. Everyone like was monitoring, counting the pills, if it was a half a thing or this or that. Like we, like everyone was on it. Like, "Dude, what? You treat me like I'm some sort of drug addict. Don't give me this stuff. I don't want it." Jesus Christ, it's terrible.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JRJeremy Renner
Um, but it's a pretty powerful, powerful stuff. And I don't, I don't ever blame sort of the drug, I just think sort of how maybe it's, it's free to use and it's, it's even supported in school systems and, you know, they got-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
... that, that family kinda got away with a lot of stuff to promote that stuff.
- JRJoe Rogan
To put it mildly.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a whole another...
- JRJoe Rogan
You've seen Peter Berg's, uh, thing on Netflix, Painkiller? Have you seen that?
- JRJeremy Renner
Uh...
- JRJoe Rogan
It's a docudrama, documentary of the Sacra family.
- JRJeremy Renner
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Matthew Broderick.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yep, yep. It's gnarly, man.
- JRJoe Rogan
Gnarly.
- JRJeremy Renner
Gnarly.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. Tha- that's an evil family.
- 34:14 – 38:27
Biohacking the comeback: peptides, blood panels, hyperbaric oxygen, red light, and hormones
- JRJoe Rogan
What peptides were you on?
- JRJeremy Renner
Oh, man. Uh, if I look back, I don't know, I was getting three, three, um, mLs, so it's three loads and they were all mixed up, uh, as you would. Um, uh, probably the sa-... A lot of the same ones that I'm on now that I continue and I rotate in and out of different ones for-
- JRJoe Rogan
BBC 157.
- JRJeremy Renner
BBC 157.
- JRJoe Rogan
TV500.
- JRJeremy Renner
T- tiamycin. Yeah, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Tiamycin, yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
All those. Yeah, yeah. AOD and AMOD-c. And, uh, I had to do a lot of blood work 'cause g-... My hemoglobin was at two.
- JRJoe Rogan
Whoa.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah. That was what it was going back to work.
- JRJoe Rogan
Whoa.
- JRJeremy Renner
Back to Mayor Kingstown. Crazy.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah. Uh, it's like a blood of a dead man, essentially. I just got no energy. So then I started really working with, um, uh, my blood panels. Big, giant, wide, 16 vial blood panels. And that started to be my new course of recovery of, of a cellular way, in a blood way. And that's where I really started to get strong. I was moving around, I was mobile, all the bones are healed by this time. It's like a year has gone by. But now I started working on cellular and blood health and that's when I... that's when I got to, like, my skin started to look great and, you know, 'cause your blood is... It tells you what your body is producing and not producing, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
So that was a great report card or barometer of where I was at, why I'm not, you know, where my mitochondrial levels were at or anything was at. So, um, it was really, really great part of my recovery. And that's what I'll continue to do and still continue to do today.
- JRJoe Rogan
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- JRJoe Rogan
Did you use a hyperbaric chamber?
- JRJeremy Renner
Oh, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... that, that help, must've helped-
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... a lot.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah. What it did for me, uh, uh, it's not something... I don't think there's many things in my recovery that you do that feel good. It just doesn't make you feel as shitty.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right. (laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
(laughs) Right?
- JRJoe Rogan
It's like you're building a mountain one layer of pain at a time.
- JRJeremy Renner
(laughs) Yeah. Yeah. So, but hyperbaric is great. It, it helps with lactic acid when you're working out. As you know, it's all the oxygen you, you put in your body. It's, it's a great necessity. It's, uh... Again, another one of those things that are even age-reversing. It's, uh, it's gonna... Also, uh, disease preventative.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
It's amazing, this thing. And it's... And I got one that was, um... You can sit in and do multiple things. I can not just... I can't just sit there for an hour and a half in, in the chamber and, like (laughs) I'll go crazy. Uh, I have a busy brain, you know, and, uh, so I get a computer, whatever, email. Whatever I can do as a... To kinda continue to do it, to make it a part of my life.
- 38:27 – 51:13
Living again: walking milestones, Tahoe cold plunge, and the long-term reality of titanium
- JRJoe Rogan
And so, uh, from... So a year later, you're walking around.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, for... Yeah, by... I was walking by... My daughter's birthday was March 28th, so I guess a few months later, I was walking, but it was assisted, very assisted week walking with cane or a walker. Um-
- JRJoe Rogan
So that had to be amazing.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, yeah. And then I was... By, by the summertime, I stopped doing recovery, the intense 24-hour-a-day recovery. I would do, like, a 12-hour-a-day recovery and then go walk in the sand in Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is the world big- world's biggest cold plunge. It's a freezing-ass lake, so I just go dip my legs in that lake, walk in the sand. It's great for instability in your ankles, your joints, your hips, and I would just do that kind of stuff. Even ride a jet ski. I was riding a jet ski in June.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, taking it easy and not doing anything nuts, but just like, you know, just ki- just living life.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
You know how good that is for your mental acuity?
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
Your, (laughs) your spirit, your emotional body, and all that stuff? So I was out in the sunshine getting vitamin D. I was in, you know, nature. I was with friends. I could do life stuff, like I'm-
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JRJeremy Renner
I'm back in life stuff, you know? Now, that's a great confidence builder.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
So I kept trying to do those things. And then, of course, I have to go back into all the recovery stuff and, you know, that I always do, but just happy I can do it. It's crazy.
- JRJoe Rogan
What does the cold water feel like with, like... I mean, you have a rod through your, your tibia.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah, the cold water isn't... It's... That's not the issue. It's when it's cold weather.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
Like, like anybody, it's, it's you're... It... You're stiffer, your, your blood slows, and all that stuff. So it doesn't help with... I need circulation in my joints. Tendons don't get a lot of blood flow. I really gotta work at getting blood flow in these joints. Otherwise, they'll stiffen, and it... I'm just slower going. My... Everything just feels a little bit more robotic.
- JRJoe Rogan
What did they have to do-
- JRJeremy Renner
But I think that's, uh, it... Before injury, it's that for anybody, right? And also, elevation. I mean-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
... 8,000 feet elevation in Tahoe, so all those things aren't really kind of helping to my (laughs) recovery, but my body will respond in those oxygen-depleted environments and all that stuff. So maybe it did help, maybe it didn't, I don't know, but I did most of my initial recovery in LA, and then when I could, I got out to Tahoe to be in my sort of happy place in, in nature.
- JRJoe Rogan
Did they have to reconstruct your knees? Did you...
- JRJeremy Renner
No, no, n- none of that. They, they, they suppo-... Uh, there was cracks in my ankles, and, uh, my foot spun around a handful of times. There was a spiral fracture in my, my leg. So they had to hit a rod down into my knee, and they had to screw it, screw it, you know, put plates and all that stuff. So I had to ensure I just moved those things. So I don't know, there's not... Wasn't full, like, reconstruction, like, people get a new knee or a new hip. It was just a lot of breaks. My pelvic bone broke in three spots, my hips, like all... You know, but, uh, you don't fix that. Uh, you... They even said, um, "You broke your asshole." I'm like, "That...
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JRJeremy Renner
"Is that what you say as a doctor? Is that how you say it? Come on." (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) That's hilarious.
- JRJeremy Renner
I think, I think there's another word for everything (laughs) . I think he was trying-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh my god.
- JRJeremy Renner
... to make me laugh, and I did. (laughs)
- 51:13 – 1:10:15
Perspective after near-death: stripping away noise, suffering as a teacher, and community as medicine
- JRJoe Rogan
Dude. Does this... I mean, it must forever change your perspective on life because you've crossed back.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah. Yeah. Well, it just made it easier. It's, it's, it's ripped away all the white noise, things I gave credence to or things I gave value to. It's fucking meaningless.
- JRJoe Rogan
Bullshit.
- JRJeremy Renner
Bullshit.
- JRJoe Rogan
All the bullshit.
- JRJeremy Renner
The bullshit is gone.
- JRJoe Rogan
Means nothing. Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
And I just don't... Sadly, I'm in a, a spinning rock with, you know, people and capitalism and stuff it with, things just-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
I just don't, I just feel like I belong, but I do.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
I just, it's... A lot of times I just don't feel like I fit into, um, a certain... how things, how things work or seem to work down here. Or yeah, I just, I just, I just don't do things that I, I don't give, give value to. I only do things that are valuable in my life. That's it. That is it. I do nothing else.
- JRJoe Rogan
It is amazing how much time and energy people put into things that ultimately at the end of the life, they're not valuable.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
They don't mean anything.
- JRJeremy Renner
Yeah. And-
- JRJoe Rogan
And they occupy most of your thinking.
- JRJeremy Renner
Y- that's right. Or even your time-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
Or your, like your career.
- JRJoe Rogan
Uh-huh.
- JRJeremy Renner
Right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
People do careers that they fucking hate.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JRJeremy Renner
Or they're in a marriage, they fucking despise. Da, da, da. You know, all this stuff-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. Yup.
- JRJeremy Renner
... they're spending too much time doing what?
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JRJeremy Renner
Why? Why? Why? Because of fear.
Episode duration: 2:12:25
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Transcript of episode 7Ei_oa-vaJA
