After notifying everyone we could think of, and the initial shock kind of worn off, now was time for action. By action I mean we didn’t really know what the hell to do. I guess the first thing that we did was change my diet, not that I had terrible eating habits before that. We never had pop in the house, unless for company, my real vices were chips and beer and boy I love both and while I still have a beer every so often, it’s not like before. At first I strictly stuck with the Mediterranean diet, all fresh, no packaged food and the old school sit at the table supper and take your time eating. No more sitting in front of the TV and powering down my food as fast as possible, more of a lifestyle change as well. With a fresh fear of death lingering over me the change was easy and I was razor focused and watched everything I ate, at the same time introducing a new fitness routine, involving long runs, swims and body weight exercises.
For the first few weeks it all went pretty well, I had a few melt downs at 10 p.m. when starving and failing to find something to hit the spot and watching my boys dive into the snack drawer to feast on a bag of chips……I believe “F*CK SAKES” came out of my mouth in a few instant’s. Pardon the language, but that’s what really happened and how I felt. So, besides a few of those moments things went fairly well, had my first shot, which I have already mentioned and yes, for the first 5 months it was only 1 needle or 30mg every 28 days.
Now those of you who know me, know I’ve never been a heavy guy. Before surgery I would hover around 205 lbs and at 6’3″ tall it was a good weight. After the surgery and with my new diet and exercise routine, my weight fell to 165lbs, now some of that is caused by the bowel surgery and the cancer itself, but all the calories I was burning I needed to replace and although I ate all the time I couldn’t gain a pound and after I ran my six hour relay for life charity event, I weighed in at 160, way to light.
The past year I’ve fiddled with my eating patterns, trying to gain a bit of weight, while trying to ward of any more bowel obstructions, it’s a tough and frustrating ordeal. We still eat mainly fresh foods, lots of veggies, fruit, lean meats and whole grains. The food (or drug) I try to avoid most is refined sugar and for the most part that has become easy, until I started planning my backcountry meals this year, chocolate bars are a quick and easy source of energy for when your on the go and tearing through calories. I’ll talk about what I’ve substituted in place of candy bars and my homemade dehydrated meals in my posts about my trips.
As I sit here now I usually weigh in around 170lbs, so I’ve started to come to terms that this is where I’m going to sit and although sometimes I feel like I’m staring at a skeleton I’m learning to come to terms with it. I’ll always be pretty thin. I’m some of you are thinking look at this guy complaining about being thin, what an ass. Well, my fear is that when or if I start getting sicker, there won’t be enough of me to fight it and remain strong while I waste away….it’s a tough thought. It could be years and years away, but I think we’ve all seen someone we know have their life slowly sucked out them from this disease. I promise I won’t let it be me, but I do fear it.
Sorry for the short post, hope you got something out of it. By the time your reading this I should be at my second campsite of on trip on Frank Lake. I hope everyone has a good Canada Day, takes a moment to reflect on your lives and to think if your getting the most out of it. I’m sure trying…..Love to all
Cancer Won't Run My Life 
Hope your weather will be good. Enjoy the minutes. 🦓🤗
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