My Ultimatum

[Javajunk-e]

Hey guys and gals, 
I just wanted to introduce myself, this is my ultimatum. My whole adult life I have struggled to eat right and exercise on a regular basis. I knew that it was important, but never really got traction where I felt I was truly "in shape."
In December 2014, I started feeling really anxious and tired all the time. (I was, and still am, a stay at home dad, when I was not doing the normal stuff, shopping, cleaning, cooking, I was studying to finish my degree.) I continued to feel anxious and at points felt like I was going to pass out. I went to my doctor, who gave me some blood tests and told me that I should see someone about my anxiety, which I promptly did. A couple months later, even though I was seeing a counselor and exercising about 4 days a week, I continued to feel awful. I went back to the doctor several different times and he told me to continue doing what I was doing and he gave me more blood tests. Then, my wife lost her job and in order to bring in some money I went to work construction with a close friend.  I spent my days being very active and lost a about 30 lbs. in the course of a couple months and felt a little better, but still felt weak. Come June, 2015, I came down with a fever and began to feel very weak. A couple days of this went on, until one day I was at work and literally could not push a drill through a piece of wood, something was definitely wrong. Again, I went to walk in to get checked out, only this time the doctor that I saw, told me that she didn't like what she saw from my blood tests and referred me to an oncologist. Long story short, I spent the next month and a half being probed and prodded as the doctors were trying to find what was wrong. After many tests and surgery to remove my spleen, which was 3 times the normal size, I was diagnosed with stage 4, non-hodgkins lymphoma. The cancer had spread to my liver, spleen and my bone marrow. I spent about 6 weeks in the hospital and had gone from being 205 lbs. to 155 lbs., in that time, I couldn't even walk without a walker. Throughout the next 5 months I had chemo treatment every 3 weeks and began to regain my strength.
 Fast forward to present day, I am in remission with no sign of cancer. I have gained all my weight back and then some. However, I have a large hernia, that makes me look pregnant. This is a result from my incision from my previous surgery not healing properly, which means I am going to gave to go under the knife again to have it repaired. At my consultation with the surgeon, he informed me that this surgery will be a full "open" surgery, they will have to open me back up and remove a part of my muscle from my side and place it over my hole. He said, in order to have a successful surgery and increase my success in recovery I need to train as if I was training to climb Mount Whitney. In case you don't know Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the contiguous U.S., this is a very tall order (no pun intended.)
My ultimatum, I need to change my life! I need to change my nutrition and my workout habits so they are sustainable for the rest of my life. This change isn't just for the surgery but for the pure fact that CANCER SUCKS and I need to do everything in my power to take care of myself for prevention and for my family. I found this site as a result of researching the Paleo diet and am looking for accountability to make permanent life changes.
So far, in the last 2 weeks I have changed my diet to Paleo (I miss cheese) and have started weight training in my garage, as I have lost a lot of muscle mass in the last year.
If you have made it this far down, I want to thank-you for reading my long drawn out introduction and look forward to  improving my overall health. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

[Grymm]

Wow, that's an intense journey you're in the middle of.  Welcome aboard!  With the hernia, do you have specific limitations on things not to do?  I'd imagine intense stress on the abdominal wall wouldn't be a great idea.  When you work out, what do you gravitate toward?  

[Javajunk-e]

Hey Grymm,

My doctors say to not worry about further injury to my hernia, however, I am trying to avoid doing sit-ups as when I do a sit up my innards bulge out, so for now I am concentrating on my chest, arms and legs.  In the past I have gravitated towards weight lifting, swimming, surfing, hiking, I hate to run, so instead I strap on my rollerblades and go for a good hard skate.  For right now, I have begun lifting weights just to regain muscle that I have lost over the last 9 months due to inactivity.  I plan to add some cardio in 2 weeks after I have gained some strength back.

[Steaky]

Welcome to the rebellion. Some journey you're on! Congrats on the remission, that's a huge positive for you. 

Las for your training, I would recommend speaking to a few of the Assassins and Rangers as some of them are into mountain and rock climbing, so could give you advice on suitable training programs. As for gaining strength, the Warriors are the people to approach. 

All are very friendly and helpful around here. So make yourself comfortable and settle in. Good luck with it all and fingers crossed the surgery is the last you need. 

[KerryG]

Congrats on remission! Your introduction is literally the first I read after signing up. At first I was reading along thinking we both struggle with anxiety, but clearly you have been through so much and are a true fighter. Hope this helps you out and thank you for sharing your story. 

[Javajunk-e]

Hey KerryG,

Thanks for the well wishes! As for the anxiety, I have become really good at using positive mental imagery and breathing techniques. Both takes only a few minutes and works wonders.

[Shakeel_R]

First of all, thank you for sharing. It takes a lot of courage to do so. Second of all, you'll manage. From what I have read, you are actually a mentally strong person. And you got the strongest motivation ever, family. 

 

So any thing I can help with, ask!