Advice From A Veteran
When it comes to cancer, I’m a veteran now. Everything actually happens pretty darn fast and it’s hard to believe sometimes. I came out of my 2016/early 2017 colon cancer journey with one for sure goal in mind and that’s to serve my friends, family, and clients with great passion and love in my heart. I’ve always felt like my clients were extended family and there’s nothing I’ve ever done in my life as far as work is concerned that makes me happier than when I’m able to help clients. I’m reaching out to you with this blog post of sort to serve you as graciously direct as possible.
Proactive colonoscopy screening saved my life. There was cancer growing in my body and the fact that I started getting colonoscopy screens at the age of 35 (due to family history – mom and dad had pre cancerous polyps removed in their early 50’s) saved my life. It’s recommended to start when you’re 50 but I made the decision to start early. At 35 I was clear, at 40 I had a polyp that pathology found to be non cancerous (it would have eventually became cancerous). At 45, they found a polyp and it was cancerous. The polyp was removed and I had a successful robotic surgery where they removed 8″ of my large intesting (4″ above and 4″ below where the polyp was. They also removed 37 lymph nodes (2 of which were cancerous). This may sound dramatic but we actually found everything pretty early. Had I decided to wait until 50 to get my first colonoscopy, I probably wouldn’t have made it to 50. Like most cancer screening, getting a colonoscopy is relatively easy and I recommend starting at 40 vs waiting until you’re 50. If you have any questions about my journey and/or what getting a colonoscopy entails, please reach out and I’d be happy to discuss.
Post colon cancer journey, I was obviously a little more focused cancer screening in other areas. Recently I went in to see the dermatologist and she removed a mole on my stomach that looked a little strange. She wasn’t that concerned but wanted to go ahead and remove it for a biopsy. Today I got a call saying it was pre cancerous and in the “moderate” states. I’ll be going back in early May to have surgery to have a larger area removed to put me in the safe zone. I’m chalking this up as another cancer screen that was life saving. After four scars from the robotic surgery, two chemo port scars, and now this in May, the stomach area is starting to look like a war zone but that doesn’t bother me at all. Guys like scars right! You might ask, “why two chemo port scars?” Well, here’s the deal with that. My oncologist strongly recommended fitness training during chemo but I don’t think she realized the level of fitness training I do. During one of my good weeks, I was bombing down a trail and took a pretty good spill. I didn’t think much of it but when I for my next chemo infusion, the port wouldn’t receive chemo. Radiology injected me with dye and found that I had really jacked up the port. Had surgery to have it removed and a new one installed on the other side. Funny story follows with my oncologist. She asked, “what happened”. I explain what happened out on the trail and ask me, “so what type of training have you been doing during your first 8 chemo sessions. I tell her, “I’ve been running about 40-50 miles during my good week, lifting weights 2-3 times a week, coaching my fitness boot camps and HS/Collegiate athletes, and coaching my OCR class. She looks at me with that deer in the headlights look and says, “we need to bring it down a notch!” She did follow that up with, “I’m guessing that’s why your lab numbers have looked so good every other week.
If you aren’t already, please make sure you start getting regular cancer screens. Use me as the example of the person you know who saved his life because of cancer screening. You all mean the world to me and I want to serve you any way I can. I thank you for trusting me with your OCR fitness training and please let me now help you with your health in other ways. Much love from Austin TX 🙂
