Training after leukaemia

[Neo]

Last week is was diagnosed with leukaemia (M3 APL). Wondering if there is anyone who has been in a similar position as I'm writing this on my hospital terminal wondering if I will be able to continue my life's interest after treatment??? Any docs out there (AndrewS, mate?) that know what the future holds for me?????

Thanking you all in advance :-)

[AndrewS]

Alasdair,

check your PMs.

I presume you're getting ATRA + an anthracycline, followed by consolidation therapy, or have you been enrolled in a clinical trial?

If you're getting standard therapy, and things go well, you're going to be sick as h*ll and very tired for the next year or two. I would train very softly, as you can tolerate (think very soft taiji), avoiding taking any impact, or stressing your CNS. Bleeding complications characterize both the disease and the cure in this case so avoiding impact is non-negotiable. Should you achieve complete remission, looking like cure, I would still avoid anything where you're taking any sort of impact to the head, as relapse could present as a CNS (central nervous system) bleed, but vigorous exercise shouldn't be contraindicated.

Anything I can do to help, let me know,

Andrew

[Neo]

thank you. :-)

couldn't find anything on the net so it's a real dilema as to what the future will be. Will check my PMs and thank you so much for the advice.

guess judo is out of the question then!!!!!

decided not to go on phase 111 trial which compared Spanish Approach to Medical Research Council Approach. In the end gut feeling decided.

will speak soon
Alasdair

[Mr Punch]

Stay strong.

Enjoy the chi kung for as long as it takes! :D

Who knows? Your chi should be tiptop after a year or so...!

[jari]

Alasdair,


Stay strong, brother!

I´ve been waiting for a kidney transplant for a year and a half, also been doing dialysis for two years. It has seriously changed my training from daily training to no training at all.


The support of my fellow Tang Lang family has helpped me a lot. Just going to the gwoon to check upon them is always a life-saver.

I´m very sceptic regarding the future, how to train with a transplant and so on.

I wish you the best of luck!! And keeping the training mental if nothing else.

Jari Vuorinen
Fen Lan Tang Lang Men
Helsinki, Finland
www.tanglang.fi (http://www.tanglang.fi)

[bodhitree]

Best of luck to you. I'm sure battling cancer will condition you to get through any challange life has to offer. Martial arts will be there when your feeling better.

[GLW]

You might also contact Helen Liang (you can see her ads and info in articles in Kung Fu magazine.

She was diagnosed with cancer (it may have be leukemia but I don't recall) and she did a lot of Qi Gong and other things and last I knew, was in remission.

If nothing else, she is a very upbeat and dedicated person so a dialog with her would be enlightening.

[stricker]

Alasdair,

My thoughts are with you, all the best and stay strong!

[Nick Forrer]

Alasdair,

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis Buddy

Wish you all the best for a speedy recovery

Stay positive and keep your self occupied

Lots of instructionals to watch and learn from even though you're not training:)

Best wishes

[Neo]

thank you all, I start chemo tomorrow and as I lay here not wanting today to end, your words of support are much appreciated:) :)

[_William_]

Alasdair, my best wishes on you. Keep your chin up, and believe in yourself!

[viper]

focus on beating this ur mental will be a big factor keep ur head up nva giv up ull be fine. it will b a big turning point in how u view life but ull b fine.

[wall]

Think 'Lance Armstrong' (relatively similar illness, and similar therapies) ... you can definitely come back training HARD once you are cured. In fact perhaps harder than before, given the mental toughness going through an illness must develop.

Spirits up, learn heaps of theory whilst you are unable to practice (books, instructional videos, etc) and perhaps do some daily stretching and qigong or other low-impact "maintenance" work so that once it's all over you can get back to training quickly and efficiently.

Sister in law had leukemia at 25, including a relapse and two periods of chemio, the second even stronger than the first ... today she's 34, fully cured (6 years of remission without any relapse), and competes in amateur ironman triatlons! She was just a recreational ciclist before!

Best of luck!

Wall

[Ernie]

Neo
in your mind ---make a choice ---simply LIVE !!! and accept not other possibilies
i will be looking forward to meeting you one day in the near future and you handing me my @ss

;)

[Neo]

In one word ''WOW''

feeling crap of sitting here and wired up to an intravenous. Like a physical chain. Hadn't been on forum for a couple of days so this has picked me up.

Wall, thanks for the recount, has lifted the spirits.

Jari, god willing you will get there and kick a**

thanks guys :)

[bodhitree]

when not training enough reading and staying up to date is great.

[dainos]

just dont give up man. be it least glad you werent 2 when this crap started going on. good luck

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

dude im really sorry i didn't see this sooner. im also surprised no one on here directed you to me.

i went through a bone marrow transplant in january of 2004 and here i am a year and a half later and i've never been in better shape. im lifting more than i ever have, training more than i ever have, whooping more ass than i ever have, getting beat up more than i ever have, and more importantly than all of that i'm actively being a better father, a better boyfriend, a better brother, uncle, and friend than i ever have.

they will tell you that you'll feel like **** for about a year. stay active and prove them wrong. at john hopkins they encouraged me to stay active even during the transplant. they had most people walk around the unit but i hit the treadmill and bike everyday. id do it for 10 - 12 minutes and i built myself up to what most people do to warm up, but by the time i left i was actually in better cardio shape than when i went in.

drink water. no seriously ... are you drinking some ... drink it. drink about a gallon a day (as your stomach can take it) and eat whatever you can. dont worry too much about what your eating .... if you get to the point that you can only stomach a certain tv dinner and sprite do it .... the nausea will pass then you can get back to salads and green tea and anything with tons of antioxidants.

play video games and read. read about taoisim or whatever your into spiritually. this will be a spiritual time for you ... take advantage of it. seriously .... people who have known me all my life are surprised at some of the things that come out of my mouth now.

it sucks that you cant train the way you want to, but right now you're busy training your character my man. im not talking out my ass either ... you are getting stronger in ways you cant imagine. when its said and done you will be a better person. hardship trains your very core in ways that only hardship can. you'll look at everything differently ... and you'll know that there is never a reason to ever take anything for granted. i had a rough 4 years of **** to deal with (i had to go through treatments twice as i dont think the doctors in my area were able to do what john hopkins did, but ill get into that more with you later if you want), but i wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. hell im almost a decent person now.

if it helps to have someone to talk to dont ****ing hesitate to IM me ... im available at work all day long. i had hodgekins lymphoma which is closely related to leukemia in treatment and the like ... or at least it is when the first 6mos chemo and radiation dont get rid of it such as in my case.

aim - PussDrippingAnus
icq - 85583679
yahoo - GunnedDownAtrocity

i also have an msn account if needed.

[stricker]

having been through some hardship myself in the past (nowhere near as hard as leukemia tho) that was a ****ing inspiring thing you wrote there gunneddownatrocity

and you aim name had me in stitches. you rock dude to cut that deep then crease me up in one go :D

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

lol thanks ... i like my aim name. i've always had a sick sense of humor and that came in handy during the whole cancer ordeal. my friends would sometimes call me powder because they would hear me say so much worse.

i guess thats another thing i could have mentioned neo .... never pass on an opportunity to laugh ... watch lots and lots of comedies. and always be the first to laugh at yourself. not only does it put others at ease but it really helps you feel better. when i had two central lines in my chest on either side i used to try to make them spin like tassles. it hurt a little and it didnt work so well, but the effort itself was pretty **** funny.

oh and if IM doesnt work out for you there's always my email gunneddownatrocity@gmail.com.

[AndrewS]

GDA,

beautifully put- one of the reasons I enjoy taking care of people- sometimes, in extremis, you see what a human *can* be.

Alasdair,

you're on my mind, if good will does anything you've got mine.

Andrew

[Neo]

GDA
thank you so much for sharing your experience, you have inspired me and humbled me.
just finished 1st cycle of chemo yesterday, still got hair on so far! had two infections, arm swelled up like a balloon and also developed clot. going down but still can't straighten arm. mouth infected so look like quasimodo! waiting for op to put chest line in then I too will have a couple of tassels to swing around!! first day temp has stayed down so things are doing okay.
cant write for long as stupid terminal wiped out what I wrote when it updates payment fter 12 mins!
so will sign off here, and say once again big thank you GDA for you message. and thank you andrew too.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

not a problem at all dude. like i said if you ever need someone to talk to im here.

keep us updated dude.