Monday, April 30, 2012

Morning WOD 4-29

Warm-up:
20 min

Metcon:
500m Row
50 Push-ups (chest to floor and full ext. at the top)
50 Kneeling Jump Squats (Start from standing position and drop to kneeling one knee at a time)

250m Row
25 Push-ups
25 Kneeling Jump Squats

150m Row
15 Push-ups
15 Kneeling Jump Squats

Total time:
Me: 14:14
Jason Ritchie:12:29

Sunday, April 29, 2012

The first colonoscopy

So let's talk about my first colonoscopy and how I was scared shitless about getting this exam. At this point I was still not used to getting poked and prodded like a lab rat.

Started out as a normal visit to my doctors office, just a normal check up that I was used to, everything was going good till the end when he told me I was going to have to get a colonoscopy. Never heard of that exam before so I asked what did it involve, as he explained to me what it was I think my mouth hit the floor. My response was you are going stick it where and do what, the kicker was that he was going to sedate me. Really like there was another option for them doing this procedure on me. So before I left we scheduled the test at the local hospital for a couple weeks.

Didn't think much about it over the next week or so, test was scheduled for Friday morning and started getting nervous that Monday. I think I had to fast for two day's before the test. So of course Tuesday night I shoveld as much food into my body knowing that I cannot eat nothing but jell-o and clear liquids for the next two days. Figuered if I could get through the next two days the test wouldn't be so bad, not that easy. So I tried to just sleep those two day's or watch TV, but it seemed like every damn commericial was for food that I was craving. Made it through day one, now came the hard part. That evening I had to start my prep for my procedure on Friday morning and knew it was not going to be fun. Was already pretty cranky and moody from not eating and spent most of the day dreaming about what I was going to eat after my procedure. So six o'clock rolls around and I need to start my prep. They gave me golytely to drink as my prep, well how bad could this be. Had on hour to drink one gallon of it, my mom said tht it would taste like sprite, took her word for it since she was a nurse at the time. Well I found out real quick with the first sip that it didn't taste like sprite at all, it was more like drinking thick salt water. To get my test done I had to drink all of it in that hour. Tried drinking some more and it was not happing, started to gag on every sip and I think I was puking it back up. At one point I starteded to cry, knowing how hard this was going to be. Well 20 minutes later and not even 8oz down the hatch, the fighting started with the parent's. I wasn't going to drink it and they would have to find another prep for me to due the exam. There point was that it was already scheduled and I had to drink it. Well I made up my mind, was not going to drink it. I ran out of the house and took off on my bike, my thinking was if I wait long enough to go back home it will be to late for the prep to work. So headed over to the park in tears and scared, sat there for a couple hrs, luckly enough the little league kids were playing baseball so I just sat on the bleachers and watched a couple of games. Eventually want home, parent's not to thrilled about the whole situation but finally understood. So was able to get out of the exam for now.

The joy of not having the exam did not last long, my doctor reschedule for the following Friday and gave me another option for prep. So pretty much went through the whole routine of fasting again, but this time I was only going to have to drink 10oz of fluids, the kicker here was also I would also have two water enima's the night before the test. So went through the fasting again and back at the hard part again of drinking some nasty ass shit again to clean me out. This time they gave me a bottle of fleet phos soda to drink, my dad said to keep it in the fridge because it would taste better that way. Still nervous about drinking it and how it would taste, well it was time to suck it down. Was not happy about th situation but had to due it, was told again it would taste like sprite. Ok it was only 10oz, I can do this, first chug went down and really hated they way it tasted and started gaging again. Knowing once again this was not going to be easy, I decided to drink it like shots and chase it down with a glass of water to get the taste out of my mouth quickly. Managed to drink it all in about a half hour. Not out of the woods yet because I still had to get the enima's, at least my mom was doing it but still nervous and awkard at the same time. So couple hours later it was time, never having one before we want up to the bathroom and got into position on the floor next to the toilet. Need not go into detail's but the experience was not fun at all.

My exam was scedule for early Friday morning, wake up cranky, hungry and tired, it was go time. Had to be there a couple hrs early for paper work and get me set up. All I could think about was what I was going to eat in a couple hours. Eventually get called back to get ready for the exam, the nurse tells me to strip down and put on the gown and to lay on the bed. So I sit in the bed for about 45 minutes as the check my breathing, blood pressure and hook up oxygen and the IV and  for the meds to knock me out. Finally it is time to get the procedure down, get carted of to a small dark room with a punch of monitors, my doctor explains what he is going to due and then I agree and sign my consent. The only good part was when they started pumping the drugs into me, not going to lie, still like that feeling. Next thing I know I wake up in the recovery room with my parent's bed side and the doctor explaining that everything went well and looked good. I was still feeling pretty bad from the meds but I wantd out of there to get food.

Was finally discharged after an hour or so, first stop was going to be a resturant to get me some breakfast. Well that was after we pulled over a couple times on the side of the road due to me getting sick. Parents thought it would be a good idea to go home and sleep it off before I tried to stuff myself with food, my answer was hell no take me now. Well should of listened because after the first two bites of my pancakes I was running to the bathroom again. Food was going to have to wait, went home and slept it off for a could four hours.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

WOD 4-23

Still feeling a little sluggish during my WOD's but think I am at the end of having Mono. Cannot complain though, have set 5 new PR's in the last month.
Complete the following for time:

9   Box Jumps 37" (Stacked tires)
15 Ring Dips
15 Hang Power Snatch 95#
30 Double Unders
15 Box Jumps 37"
21 Ring Dips
21 Hang Power Snatch 95#
60 Double Unders
9   Box Jumps 37"
15 Ring Dips
15 Hang Power Snatch
30 Double Unders

My Time: 15:50 (65lbs Power Snatch)
Jason Ritchie: 12:12
Mark Langkos: 16:33

 I need to vent a bit so bear with me. So sick and tired of people telling me they do not have time to train or eat healthy. Most my friends have kids a full time job and obligations outside of work and they all fit in at least an  hour a day to get in a workout. I choose to get up at 4:30am everyday to get to the box by 6:00 and get in my workout, I also plan ahead with my meals for the week. Sunday is when I cook all my food for the week. If you want to get healthy you have to put in the time. Belive me it is all worth it, you will have more energy, feel confident and for the woman you eventually get to by new clothes in a smaller size. So stop making excuses and get out there and do something.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

How it all Started

Thank you all who read my first post, appreciate the positive feed back. So today I will talk about how it all started, it's been a long time so might not remember all the details.

The story begins at the end of the summer of 1992 right before my senior year of high school. Started having severe stomach pains and all the good stuff that comes with that, need not to go into detail's.This went on for a couple weeks on and off, so finally decided to go into the family doctor and explained my constant stomach aches, nausea and fatigue. Of course he had no idea of what was wrong with me, everyday I was sick it seemed like. Some day's I would have a fever and be burning up and other day's I had the chill's and could not get warm or just sleep all day. It was a coin toss on how I would wake up and feel everyday. Senior year was supposed to be fun, but I was missing out because I always felt like shit. I slowly started losing weight because I was unable to keep most meals down.

So finally went to a gastro internal specialist, and the process of eliminating the symptons begun. Started off with multiple blood test, not fun at all since I was deathly scared of needles at that point in my life. Still no luck on figuring out what was wrong with me. Now it was time for the fun part, in the next few months I had numerous CT Scans, Ultra Sounds, Upper GI series, and Colonoscopy which all included drinking barium or some other nasty crap before them. It was a challenge just to drink the medication and hold it down long enough for the tests.

I would say six months into it my doctor finally figured out what was wrong. I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. Crohn's disease is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It usually affects the intestines, but may occur anywhere from the mouth to the end of the rectum. Was finally happy to have a answer and may be able to start feeling better. It was pure hell for that time period. I had gone from 130 pounds done to 100 pounds, scary thin.

So I was on the road to recovery. Was prescribed several medications that I had to take daily trhoughout the day. Also he suggested I change my diet and stay away from greasy food, nuts, popcorn, spicy food and anything that was not easily digestive. Pretty much it was trial and error for me but eventually figured it out except for the fast food, I was a teenager and still going to eat it. I new if I would eat something bad for me that I was going to pay the price, eventually learned to deal with it. My doctor also prescribe Prednisone, which is a form of steriod to get my weight back up. It worked well and had the munchies all the time, pretty much ate everything in the house all day long. Once my weight was at a normal level he weened me off of it, parents were happy since there grocery bill was going to be cheaper now.

So next post I think I will talk about getting my first colonscopy.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

So a good friend of mine told me I should start this to motivate others. I am not the best at writing so what I am thinking will go into this. Plan on starting with how I found out that I had cancer and then go back and tell stories of how it started, plus I will post my WOD's, and articles regarding CrossFit.

November 2, 2009 will be a day I always will remember. It was the scariest day and one of joy at the same time. Had surgery scheduled for that morning to remove my colon due to a blockage that was not there 3 months ago. So my biggest fear of having this surgery was ending up with a colostomy bag at such a young age. Had a 95% chance of no bag, after about six hrs of surgery I awoke and was happy that my surgeon was able to leave about 4" of my colon and tie everything back together so I could live a normal life. Spent seven days in the hospital and highly medicated for the pain, ended up with 32 staples in my stomach and the funny part is that they cut around my belly button.

Eventually they made me get out of bed and try to walk down the hallway and back. Not has easy has I thought, did not know until I stood up with some assistance that my right leg was completely numb due to the epidural not being in the right spot, which also explained why I was still in so much pain. Walking was going to have to wait till the next day. With help I was able to start to slowly walk down the hallway, not fun at all but if I was going to get discharged I had to do it at least twice a day.

So by day five they allowed me to eat solid food. The worst part about this was that the nurse brought me up some yogurt and soup which I was so hungry that I starting eating right away. Unfortantly about two minutes later she came back in and took my food right away from me and said I wasn't allowed solid food till the morning. If I could of stood up out of that bed I would of kicked her ass, not fun to get teased with  food after nothing for five days.

So finally got the patholgy results and ended up that the blockage was stage two cancer. I was not over all the bullshit yet, never that lucky. Next step was to recover and then start 6 months of chemo.