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RadThad
02-25-10, 11:53 am
I know I don't post here much but I do check in often. This is the first time I'm attempting to put the journey of the past few years of my life down on paper. I'll try to make this as compact as possible because if you guys are anything like me, long winded life stories aren't the best reading material.

For a little background info when I was about 11 years old I was diagnosed with allergy related asthma. No big deal since it's a pretty common condition with adolescents. But people would constantly either poke fun or ask in concern if I was okay since I was breathing real heavy at times and when I slept it sounded as if I was going to suffocate. I'm not a person who complains or whines about every little ailment, even at a young age. I hated going to the doctors and I just wanted to be left alone so sometimes I would just shrug off some pretty uncomfortable breathing situations. The medications I was on would only work periodically if at all. I didn’t really say anything though because I figured there was nothing else they could do. So I just kept pushing through. I played baseball my whole life and was a pretty good player despite being hindered by this condition. I remember times where my esophagus was throbbing because I was gasping so hard for breath. I just wanted to perform like anyone else so I was determined to let nothing stop me.
After I hit my growth spurt I thinned out quite a bit. People would remark sometimes at how thin I was. I mean I wasn’t unhealthy skinny, but I just had a solid lean body type for being almost 6 feet tall. I remember my senior year of high school (June 2007) I weighed 149 lbs. I was fed up with being small so I started lifting. I didn’t know much about dieting or proper routines but that would eventually come. So about spring time of 2008 I hadn’t really gained much weight at all and it really became depressing. And to make matters worse I had developed a bad cough from being sick so I really just started to wither away. I clearly remember one day going into the bathroom, stepping on the scale and reading the number 136. I was devastated. After I recovered I was determined to do everything in my power to start getting huge (it was at this time I was introduced to the wonderful world of Animal). I lifted and ate pretty consistently all the way until this past November. I made some progress. I weighed around 174 lbs. I had settled in my mind that I just had really fast metabolism and needed to compensate for that. Like if I didn’t lift for a couple weeks I would start losing mass. So I fine with that, just eat and lift. But what I wasn’t fine with was my breathing. I was hoping to have outgrown the condition but I instead found it getting worse, and I was really becoming frustrated and depressed because it was just an awful feeling. My muscles yearned for more weight and more abuse, but I couldn’t give it to them. I couldn’t get them oxygen fast enough. Sometimes I would wake up in the morning and my head would feel like it was going to explode (I later found out this was because my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen through the night). I just wanted to feel what it’s like to breathe easy. I would have given almost anything for that feeling.

So when this past fall came around I made a decision. I was going to seek a new specialist and go to any and every doctor appointment or test I had to in order to figure out a solution. Well to make long story short, I told the doctor for the first time how I really felt both mentally and physically. I told him it felt like someone was always trying to strangle my throat. He said, “Well asthma is a condition of the lungs.” My lungs and chest felt 100%. But I still couldn’t breathe right. So the doctor ordered a CAT scan. It showed there was a large growth in my trachea. To spare you all of my initial emotions and the drama I went through, it wasn’t cancer and it was operable. But it was an extremely rare growth that needed immediate surgery.

My surgeon was Dr. John Cooper who was the first surgeon to successfully complete a single and double lung transplant. I couldn’t be in better hands. I thank God everyday for this miracle and appreciate truly amazing human beings like Dr. Copper.
As soon as I awoke from my surgery I noticed a tremendous difference. It felt like I was a new human being. My prayers were answered. Everything was so much better. Talking, walking, eating, sleeping, just everything. Especially sleeping. I never realized how poor rest I was getting, but now I am recovering lightning fast it seems. And I have never enjoyed lifting so much in life. It’s just awesome and I wanted to share this with you guys. Yesterday I weighed in at 205 lbs and all my 32” pants still fit around the waist (the pant legs are real tight though :) )!!! I wish I could give you percent body fat numbers but I don’t have them yet.

If you would have told me three years ago that I would be a solid 200 lbs and could run a mile no sweat I would have laughed at you. But it came true. Never give up brothers, no matter what your situation is. And for your own benefit, always tell the doc everything no matter how much you hate being there. Tell them how you really feel. I know we’re all tough guys but don’t be dumb. I don’t know if my condition would have been treated any earlier if I was more talkative, but don’t take that risk!!!

Before Surgery:
http://i49.tinypic.com/2qw05f4.jpg
Breathing Test Performance: 80%

After Surgery:
http://i46.tinypic.com/2hxyo0n.jpg
Breathing Test Performance: 135%

fenix237
02-28-10, 9:49 pm
that's an awesome story bro! you gotta feel like a new man. good job on hitting 200 too! going from 137 to 205, you had to fell like you doubled in size. from the looks of those pics, it seems hard to believe you could breathe much at all. good to hear a positive outcome from a health scare

TheGreatWhite
03-02-10, 2:03 am
Great post my friend! It's nice to see people like you who don't let anything get in the way of their goals. Keep eating and lifting big and your gains will continue to come!

jandirigma
03-06-10, 6:33 pm
I can relate with you bro, great post! It's fellas like you that get my butt off the couch and into the gym. In my case I had asthma growing up and I nearly died at two months of age due to multiple sicknesses and a case one out of a million kids get; I was born with a twisted intestine, so a huge part of it had to be snipped off.