Some things have changed A LOT

Wow has it been that long. A lot of things have changed since the last time I put anything up on here. At the beginning of April 2015 I went into hospital for a few tests and my whole life changed. Within a couple of hours I was told that I had Multiple Myeloma a Non Curable but very manageable Bone Cancer. Shock and disbelief would be an understatement. I had a reasonable sized tumor on my C5 Lumbar bone in my neck that was within a couple of millimeters of my spinal cord and if it hadn't been found then would have probably turned me into a tetraplegic (not able to move or feel anything from my neck down). That was on a Friday and early the next day I was (a) put into a Aspen CTO Collar and (b) lined up with radiation therapy for 5 days to kill the tumor. They also found that there was a sizable tumour in the top of my femur on both sides with the left hand side being the worse. Another 5 shots of radiation to that side as well. What was mean't to be a couple of days in hospital for some tests with me being home in time to eat lots of Easter eggs turned out to be 3 weeks before they semi-reluctantly let me go home. At this stage I was on weekly bortizimb injections to get the myeloma under control. It was working.

In the middle of August I was prepped for a Blood Cell Stem Cell harvest and setup for a transfusion in September. The harvest takes 5hrs per time and the bigger you are the harder it is to get everything they want. I was told it could take 2-3 goes to get all the cells they wanted. A 4% return and they can do a transfusion, 6% but preferably 8% for 2 if need be. As at the time I was weighing about 128kg their reasoning was that being bigger it was harder to find all the good cells they wanted, However I told them you get one shot and never backed down from that (Imagine trying to find 10 tennis balls in 1 acre, reasonably easy, now try and find them in 100 acre's, I'm the 100 acres). My number after the first harvest was 10.3%. Told them they had one shot. One of the needles they use for the harvest is the size of a small nail and I HATE needles. In the middle of September I got a PICC Line put into my arm and across my shoulder/trap area and to the top of my superior venus which is above your heart and a few days later the good stem cells were reintroduced into me. Everything went well and I was released a couple of days later. Blood test every second day for a week and I was responding well and within 48hrs of not having to go in again when I got 2 viruses in my PICC line and I ended up in hospital again for 7 days of isolation. Luckily I have the athlete's mentality and was taking my temperature 4 times a day instead of 2 as it was this that alerted me to something was wrong and on the first night my temperature got to 39.9 degrees which was causing a lot of concern to everybody because over 40 and you can do some serious damage to your body. After 8 weeks of recovery and more blood tests I was able to go back to work for the first time in about 8mths. This felt so good. The best news came on the 11th of December 2015 being told that the Myeloma was in remission and that I could go back to having a normal life.

The only thing holding me back fully is that the hole where the tumour was in my C5 lumbar bone has not regrown as much as hoped, the hope now is that the new stem cells will encourage new bone cell growth and over the next 3-4 mths there will be some reasonable bone regrowth. Technically I should be wearing the Aspen collar all the time but my wife and I feel that if we are in a situation that we can control then we will take it off so while I am not at work it is generally off. There is quite a bit of "use it or lose it" thinking in this decision that has been made by myself and a number of close friends that I value their opinions. I am aware of what is happening to me and if I really needed to I would put it back on for safety. Do I feel it is dangerous, no more than walking across the road or driving a car, yep I could get hit by a bus or have a accident but that could happen even with the collar on. Sometimes you just have to take a calculated risk.

To that end I am going back into the gym to start lifting weights again, however I am going right back to the start and only using light weights and starting with a powerbuilding/bodybuilding plan to pay my dues and to build some muscle mass that I have lost over the last few months. Reps of 6-12 per set depending on what I am doing at that stage and sets of 3 or 4 per exercise. This will last for at least 9 months and if I am really lucky by the end of this year I would like to be back to 90% of my best lifts. All things going to plan my first competition back would not be until March/April 2017. If Louie Simmons of Westside fame can come back from 2 broken backs I can come back from this. The first few cycles (I like to use 3 weeks as a cycle time frame) will be more bodybuilding style with sets of 10 reps and 3 or 4 sets then after that I will probably do a couple of cycles of more of a powerbuilder style which would mean 6-8 reps per set and 3 sets per exercise. I am also going to be changing the main exercise each week in a style similar to a westside powerlifting program. This should stop boredom and adaptation and allow us to keep making gains throughout the year. I have all the equipment to do this so why should it sit around gathering dust just cause I am not doing an out "n" out powerlifting program. After the initial period I would then mix up what I was doing during each cycle eg 2 cycles of bodybuilding then maybe one of powerbuilding and another of bodybuilding then 3 cycles of powerbuilding. I will decide these closer to the time. I am wanting to be able to record total volume for individual exercises and a continuous count of volume over the year. I know there are going to be some good times and some bad times however I look at these as challenges I have to overcome.

I am excited by the upcoming challenges I have in front of me and just don't see why I should go and sit in a corner waiting to die just because I have myeloma. I still have goals and dreams to achieve both in and out of the gym. I have always been interested in health and fitness from a very early age and don't see why I should give up now. I need to be as fit and strong as possible to take on the bad days, health wise, when they arrive. I look forward to keeping you up to date with how I am going and to come back to the top in my sport. If I inspire other people to do the same then so much the better. KRO Powerlifting is on the road back.