When I left off last week, I told the story of being on a painkiller narcotic (percocet) and quitting it cold turkey. I had no idea that it would put me right into the worst depression of my life! I am generally a very happy person. How was this happening to me? The Doctors decided to put me on an antidepressant which promptly added a quick 30 lbs to my body.
I thought that if you had cancer, you lost weight. I had no idea that some of the drugs that I would have to endure would have quite the opposite effect. The good news was that I was healthy again… The bad news was that I once again had a weight problem. This is the second time that this occurred. The first time was due to my chemotherapy. I was constantly starving. It took a long time to work off that weight.
I was thinking, “How could I workout with a partial lung and a steel arm.” Back when I was in fantastic shape, I did crossfit on a regular basis. There was no way that I could do that now… What I really needed was a “crossfit light” — similar ideas but at a slower pace so that I could participate.
A girl at our office had just worked out for about 1.5 years at a place called Orange Theory and had lost 125 lbs. I wonder if I could do that exercise? I had not exercised in quite some time as I had surgery on my arm (and now had a metal arm) and a chunk of my lung was missing. Prior to my cancer, I was in unbelievable shape as I was participating in lots of triathlons and had just completed my first marathon when I found out that I had lung cancer.
I was a bit nervous mainly because I did not know how my body would respond. I am not anywhere close to the athlete that I used to be; however, I am now a regular at Orange Theory as I workout 4-5x per week. I started right around Christmas and have been religious in getting back into “shape”.
It is not easy as I sometimes struggle to breathe. Sometimes I wish that everyone at Orange Theory had to wear a snorkel and exercise — then they would know how I felt. Furthermore, I have a “steel arm”. They put a rod through my bone from my shoulder to my elbow; thus, push-ups are a challenge. However, this exercise has given my mental state an incredible lift. I am completely off the antidepressants and I am losing about a pound a week. It is not easy, but if I can keep this up for a full year, I will be right “back to normal” — my new normal. While my new normal is nowhere close to my old normal, I am still very thankful as it sure beats the alternative.
I give Orange Theory a lot of credit — I think it is totally responsible for getting me in decent enough shape that a few weeks ago I was able to complete my first “Fight for Air Climb”. This was a climb up the Sales Force Tower in Indianapolis — just under fifty flights of stairs. I will admit there were moments where I was incredibly winded and had to take a small break. However, I was able to complete the exercise and I raised the most amount of money for an individual. Sometimes, one has to celebrate “the new normal”. I am very happy to have participated and cannot wait to climb again next year and to try to beat my time. These are just small steps in the big comeback!!