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You Gotta be kidding me?!?!
Told you a bit back that I had to go to the kidney doc. My creatinine had been running high for a good while. My GP, who had to recently get one of his own kidneys taken out because of a tumor, wasted no time referring me out. I am sure he flipped his freak out button when he saw that my numbers were high because of his experience. This week was my follow up with the kidney doctor. My doctor is a cool cat from Ireland. Somehow we end up with mostly the cool docs. My cancer doc is the only one who is quiet with not much conversation (bedside manner). He is tall, very thin, pasty and from Indiana so being born in that state, we give him a pass.
Last visit to the kidney doc, we get the blood, urine and ultrasound done. He says if you hear from me before the follow up, it is not good news in a joking manner. Good news is they did not call me. The ultrasound nurse who is used to bad looking innards said my kidneys looked great. At least I know my kidneys are good looking from the outside. That or she was flirting with me some. That tends to happen a lot now when I go to doctors offices. Well that is what the wife says…
The follow up visit was late in the day and I was probablly the last one for the day. My doctors name is Niall McLaughlin. He is pleasant so even when you are getting the bad news, it does not sound as awful. Since I didn’t hear from them I just presumed the chemo had done the damage and there wasn’t much to worry about. Apparently with Cisplatin, my chemotherapy drug, with one round you are okay, twice maybe some issues and the third round is the punch in the face the kidneys may or may not handle. Well no handle-ly com padres.
But to preface the bad news, he went though it all and explained it thoroughly. It really sounded like I was gonna make it out unscathed. All my numbers where good, no protein leakage, nothing seemingly bad. He rolled over to the table with his laptop to show me the numbers as he explained them. I was listening intently going okay, this is not so bad. He says the the words,”chronic kidney disease” and I don’t think it really sunk in till he said I have in the vicinity of 44% function left. Whatttttttt?????.
Normally , when I get bad news like this, the ache in the pit of my gut begins and the adrenalin cranks off. My heart beat becomes a hammer beating against a piece of metal. But this time, the volume was way down, almost like, hey we are suppose to react here….but we aren’t. I kept hearing that my head but my nervous needle didn’t flinch much so I finally ask him to repeat the chronic kidney disease part and mostly importantly the 44% part. He did, It still sounds not so bad the way he says it. He does say you get to live which is the good part referencing the cancer being dealt with. He goes on to explain that everyone loses about 1% kidney function a year naturally so I get that as I reference the 1% loss a year quite frequently talking about testosterone with guys . But I am still stuck on the 44% part. I don’t like flunking out on anything. ‘Dem kidney sure are pretty boy, but like my strength levels now, weak as a kitten (in my eyes, pretty normal strength for a regular Joe)
He goes on to explain that I could go another 30 plus years with no problems as long as I take care of myself or we could face other issues. With this we just don’t know except to monitor it and keep a eye on it. Obviously my first question is can I still drink beer? He says more then me? I explain I now like 2 to 3 a night. This is a new thing so it will probably fade out anyway but he says 2 is cool 3 might be a little much. Three it is! I did tell him I take off a couple days a week. I guess you can call it a beer deload.
We have so much going on, I still don’t think I have processed it. That or it really is not phasing me. The Buddha says, “Where there is a birth , there is a death and I am no exception.” Maybe this rings in my ears or maybe it is beyond my control except in just taking care of myself as much as possible. I certainly don’t feel sorry for myself nor do I expect anyone else too. If the current reality changes then it is something to deal with then. But for now, I am happy to be alive and enjoying the gift of life daily. Breathe deep and take it it. Nothing is as it seems….
November 8th:
* Lots of activations and some BT work on the gut and pec/bicycle/tricycle areas
* Reverse Hypers 4×12
* Body masters squat using the sand dune. This is way tougher then I thought. Worked up to 5×3 reps
* Two laps prowler. Two laps walk, Breathing work
* One lap lunge 8:39mins. Told the wife I did the lap in under 10 mins last time and she did not believe me and I didn’t time it so timed this one. It is early in the day and I am paying for that…
November 7th:
* Prowler 1 lap nonstop, had to take a break to talk with a dude, then did another one nonstop. This was a unexpected first for me. A little Fay Boy Slim and working the breathing seemed to align the stars today.
* Brisk walk 2 laps with David Weck’s pulsars working on getting the hang of them. He was a presenter at Don’s first body tempering certification. I had been following him for a bit and his ideas for running have intrigued to the point of getting them. So now, like anything new I encounter that I feel has a positive benefit, I have to flush it out. Not interested in much running for myself but definately other training applications.
November 6th:
* Activations
* MAG close grip pulldowns 12×10
* Sand dune pushups 12×10, Then did some plyo push ups off knees 5×10
* Two laps prowler followed by 2 laps brisk walk. Two more laps after meal
* Breathing work 4 rounds
November 5th:
* Activations
* Two laps prowler with two laps brisk walk
* Breathing work 4 rounds
November 4th:
* Reverse hypers 4×12
* Work 1 lap prowler, 1 lap lunge, 1 walk, 1 lap prowler , 1 lap walk
* Breathing work
November 3rd:
* Activations and BT work on the pecs/bis/tris
* Planks and Bird Dogs
* Lat saw pulldowns 20xreps
* Neutral grip/lat bar 10×8
* Rhino bar press 10×10, 6×8,3×3, 1×8, drop set 1×15
* 1 lap prowler with 45lbs, 2 laps brisk walkx2
* 4 rounds of wim hoff breathing
November 2nd:
* Activations
* 1 lap prowler , 2 laps brisk walkx2 rounds
* 4 rounds Wim Hoff breathing and 2 energy breathing rounds
— end the article —
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