Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

268 this morning. I actually gained some weight. May be only water weight but at least I'm not currently free falling like I was. My stomach is not completely OK but I am at least able to eat fairly decent amounts once again as long as they are small meals 4-5 times a day. Eating clean and bland for now. Also taking my probiotics and enzymes which seem to help.

I have not written about this but I lost a very good friend last week that effected me greatly. His names was Joe and I met him at chlelation therapy about two years ago. He also had prostate cancer and was fighting it using natural alternative medicine methods. He was a friend, a mentor, and a real inspiration. I learned a lot from Joe. We were always sharing ideas, resources, and encouraging each other. He was making excellent progress and his success helped give me courage and hope. Then this past Tuesday he died at a restaurant from a massive heart attack. I may be wrong about this but I don't think he had any history of heart problems. This was a total shock to all of us who knew Joe. It's just one of those things that just doesn't make any sense. He was trim, very active, ate very clean, and looked very healthy! He was only 61 years old. I went to his memorial service on Saturday in Columbus and the large church was almost completely full with friends and family paying their last respects. He was truly a very loved and respected man. A true gentleman who brought so much grace and love into this world. I will miss him greatly. RIP Joe!

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Sorry to hear of the lose of your friend.

Yeah, it is weird sometimes who have heart attacks. I think there is much more the medical field does not know or understand about cardiovasular problems.

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http://www.the-phytoathlete.com/

Thanks for your kind words PhytoAthlete. I think there is a lot the entire medical field doesn't know about most diseases. They do more to treat symptoms but seem to do poorly with causes!

Busy past two days. My weight has stabilized around 265-268 for the time being. I would like it to hold for another week or so then I would like to slowly lose weight again in a more healthy manner. We will see. Friday my brother-in-law flew up from Florida to pick up his Dad, Lester. He will take Lester down to live with him on a permeant basis.Lester is 93 years old and has recovered very well from his closely operation. He is able to walk OK again and is doing very well. But his early Alzheimer's is progressing. He is unable to care for his closely bag and changing it. My brother-in-law is a nurse and will take good care of him. He works out of his home 4 days a week and will have another care taker with Lester on the fifth day of the week. WE had a big family get together on Friday evening for the grandsons and their families to say goodbye to Lester. We had over 25 people in our home for the party. I was not able to prepare my usual big vegan feast I usually put on when we have there get togethers. My wife picked up some food to bring in and it worked out OK. But I miss doing it all my self. I have everyone usually looking forward to my "tree hugger" food. I'm slowly converting people to consider going vegan. Oh, well.

Saturday we drove Wayne and Lester to the airport and then I took Rita out to dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory. They have a few meals there I can eat and it worked out good. Rita was very upset to see her Father leave and she is a fried she may never see him again alive. But I think we will. Rita said now she can focus her full attention to taking care of me. That kinda of scares me for some reason. LOL Anyways, life goes on and I do need to keep my focus on getting better.

This Wednesday I go to a speech therapist to help me with swallowing and speaking. My Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctor, who still believes my throat problems are caused by my prostate cancer,is considering performing an operation on one of my vocal cords that is paralyzed. He want to inject some fluid into the vocal cord so it will meet the other vocal cord half way as they close to help me swallow. Always something. But first he want to see if the speech therapist can help me. I hope so.

I have been walking more. Almost every day I am able to take a nice walk and I love it. Getting out in the sun and recharging my Vit. D levels is a big part of my self care for my Prostate Cancer.

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

267 again this morning. I appear to have stabilized my weight for the time being. I am thankful. I just was losing way to fast for a few weeks and my entire family was concerned. My stomach has almost completely stetted down. I think eating very bland small meals and taking my probiotics and enzymes really helped. Today I plan on going on a long walk in the sun this morning. And doing a very light leg workout later this afternoon. I need to slowly build up my strength once again. When I weight myself in the morning I go down into my basement gym and use my medical scale. Then I walk back up the stairs. Currently just that effort leaves me breathless for a little while. I used to run stadium stairs with lots of endurance. I need to build up my endurance to a more acceptable level once again. I will not go gently into the night. I will continue to fight for my life. I have promises to keep.

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Hey there-thought I'd check in to see how your week went. I'm still following along with your journey. I read a book the other day called, "From Hormone Hell to Hormone Well". I thought of you in as far as the hormones related to cancer as well as the excessive hormones in our lives each day that we don't think about! I read the book to help with my worsening PMS and other issues related to estrogen dominance!! A few docs only want to throw anti-depressants at the symptoms.... I'm against that! I'd rather find the root of the problem and treat if possible! Anyway, enough about me-it was a great eye-opening read about hormones!
Hope your doing well!! I too love daily sunshine for vit D!

I am so happy to see that you are so motivated and keeping a positive attitude, Iron Smith. I wish you the best of luck with your speech therapist and doctors.

Thanks for the support everyone. It does help to know others are following my posts and that they may be gaining something from my experience and struggles. If it help others face similar adversities or deal with reaching their own goals, then it all worth it!

Well, I saw my speech therapist this past Wednesday and I really liked her. Very knowledgable and informative. She is submitting a treatment plan to my insurance company and I should start two times a week starting this week. That's the good news. The bad news is that my voice is completely gone today. I can't talk above a low whisper and get out of breath even as I try that. So I have just tried to rest my voice all day today. I hope this is just temporary. I have promised my wife that I will not try to talk until I see my speech therapist next. Very hard for a guy who loves to talk with all my friends and family.

My weight has remained stable. One more week at the mid 260's and then I will start to try to slowly reduce my weight once again. I really want to get below 200 and see how I feel then. I get up out of chairs much more easily and so up and down stairs easily now even though I do get out of breath at the present time. Just no pain in my left knee with the ruptured meniscus. Also easer to put on my socks and shoes, etc.

I have talked to my chelation/nutritional therapist about getting high dosage Vitamin C IV three times a week to help fight my cancer. I'll find out Tuesday the cost and decide if I can fit it into my budget. All this alternative medicine approach is very expensive as most of it is not covered by insurance. That plus always buying organic vegetables and fruit when ever I can all adds up.

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Well, I weighted in at 263 this morning. Down another two pounds. I was planning on trying to keep my weight stable for another week until I started to try losing weight again, but here we are again. While I do want to lose at least another 63 pounds to get under 200, I just want to be sure I don't lose too fast. I would lose too much muscle mass instead of mostly fat if I lose too fast. I want to be able to do sensible exercise training along the way. If I lose too fast, I feel too weak and exhausted most of the time.

The good news is that I started my high dose Vit. C IV yesterday. I will be building up my dosage over a few weeks time. The ultimate goal is to reach 75 grams of C IV three times a week. This is part of my alternative medicine treatment to fight my prostate cancer. If I was to try to take that much Vit. C orally, my system could not handle it. For one thing, I would get a terrible case of diarrhea. Not good. This much Vit C must be closely medically monitored and not done by anyone except a trained nutritional IV therapist under a Doctor's supervision. Do not try this at home! I'm very hopeful about this treatment that goes along with several other interventions. I'm not saying everyone who has cancer should do this, I'm only sharing what I personally have decided to do under the medical supervision with a Doctor trained in alternative medicine. Everyone need to do their own research on what is available out there and take responsibility for their own decisions. There are no guarantee that what I'm doing will work but it is only my personal belief that it will for me! I pray I am correct!

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

262. Too fast of a loss once again! On the positive side, I had my second high Vit C IV treatment today. Next week the therapist will increase the level once again and see how I am responding to it. There is a safety protocol that she and my Doctor are following even though it is 99% of the time a very safe procedure. But better safe than sorry! This should help jack up my immune system and help my body fight the cancer. Everything I am doing is along the same lines. Eating clean fresh unprocessed vegan organic foods, 50-80 % raw. That and reducing all chemicals, preservatives, pollutants, empty nutrition junk food, etc. Just cleaning up my environment, and cutting out all the stuff I can that is damaging to my body. Everyday I seem to learn something to fine tune my approach. But trying not to obsess about this. Need to relax, have fun, and celebrate life to the fullest no matter how much time I may or may not have in my future!

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

I weighted in at 256 this morning. I'm still losing weight way too fast. My appetite is very poor and I have a very upset stomach all the time with diarrhea. I have no idea if this is caused by my cancer or my paralyzed vocal cord and all the coughing I have. I'm getting very poor sleep and I am exhausted and weak. I went for an upper body contrast CT scan this afternoon to help determine what may be going on. I hated to have another exposure to radiation but it was necessary at this time. My speech therapist has been very good with me. She has explained why I have many of the symptoms that I have including shortness of breath and problems swallowing. Also she explained why I had problems squatting a few weeks ago when I had more energy. With my paralyzed vocal cord, I am unable to hold my breath. I just couldn't build up any compression in my abs as I tried to press my stomach against my lifting belt to keep my middle rigid as I squatted. I felt very unsteady under the bar. Not very safe at all. Who would know the vocal cords effects so many other body parts? It even effects trying to defecate if there is any blockage. Good thing I eat so much vegetables and fruit to keep regular!

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Hey there- been looking for your update. It sounds like its been a rough week for you- lack of appetite and sleep on the ol body is no good my friend! I hope you get the answers through the scan to further help you in planning your care.
So your vocal cord or cords are paralyzed? Do they know the cause? (maybe you've mentioned it previously and I don't remember?). Those vocal cords play a huge function in the larynx and yes, can affect the body's function. It can be the little parts that "just work" involuntarily in our bodies that when malfunction causes all kinds of ruckus! ( I'm dealing with a patella/femoral joint malfunction myself!).
Glad to hear your therapist is helping you and that you like her!
I'll pray for you! Take care - rest when you can !

Well, I'm down to 250. Must too fast weight loss. I don't like this at all. My stomach is always upset and appetite is very poor. What I do eat, I try to make as nutritious as I can. Organic and bland with no processed food at all.
My right vocal cord is paralyzed and it is very easy to gag on food and liquids. I have to be very careful and eat very small bites and sip my fluids sitting straight up turning my head to the left as instructed by my speech therapist.

But the thing that bothers me the most is that I lose my breath so early now. Just walking up a flight of starers and I have to sit down trying to get my breathing under control for 5-10 minutes. Going down to my cellar gym to weigh myself has become very difficult. My step son brought up my medical scale and put it in my back hallway so it would be easier and safer for me. I was getting dizzy too after climbing the stairs.

I've had two contrast cat scan in the past several days. The first was ordered by my ENT Doctor as he was so concerned about my breathing problems. That one came back with indication that the tumor in my lung area is growing and is pressing against my heart. There was also evidence that I may have fluid around my heart that is constricting the heart beats. He referred me back to my GP and to arrange I see both a cardiologist and a lung doctor. Well I saw the cardiologist on Friday. He has me take a echocardiography and the test came back negative about the fluid around my heart. He ordered the second contrast cat scam this time to look at the blood vessels in my chest area to see if there is any indication of swelling or bleeding in that area. I haven't received the results from that test but at least the Doctor didn't call me to go back to the hospital for any emergency care so no news is good news.

Tomorrow I see the Lung Doctor. He is part of the same medical practice as my cardiologist and my Urologist so I should get some more up to date results during that appointment. I hope. My GP said that the Lung Doctor may order a portable oxygen machine for when I go out of my home. I can only hope that it all is not as serious as all of this appears so far. The hill just keeps getting steeper and steeper. AS anxious as this all gets me at times, I still am keeping up my hope and I will never give up my fight.

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Well, today was at least a little better news. I stayed at 250 which is good. I saw my lung Doctor and he reviewed the results of my two CAT scans, my echocardiography, and also had me do two tests in his office: a reading of my oxygen levels while sitting and as I walked for about four minutes. It was 97% while sitting and dipped to about 91% while walking but didn't go below that as I continued to walk. The Doctor was pleased with that. He then had me do a breathing force test before and after a breathing treatment. The results were both within normal limits. My lungs appear to be functioning normally. So I basically received over all results within normal limits from both my Cardiologist and Lung Doctor. So apparently my breathing problems go back to my paralyzed vocal cord and inability to maintain air pressure within my lungs due to lack of proper seal as I move around, if that makes sense. I see my ENT Doctor tomorrow. Hopefully he will then agree to do the operation to inflate the paralyzed vocal core so it will better meet up with the active one as needed.

My stomach is settling down somewhat. My GP suggested I take some OTC antacids to help settle my stomach down. It seems to be helping. My appetite is still very poor but at least I can get a little more food in my body to slow down my weight loss. And so it goes!

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

I stayed at 250 for three days now. That's good. I saw my ENT Doc today and he has scheduled me for my vocal cord procedure on the 19th. I will be put under and he will be able to get a better picture on my vocal cords. Depending on what he sees, he will then possible proceed to injecting the paralyzed cord with a fluid to plump it up to better match the more active cord. I should then be better able to talk and swallow at least somewhat better. I will also most likely have better breath control. It won't completely back to normal but still a good improvement. Just the relief of getting through all the testing the past several days and eliminating the possibility of some very serious problems, has lifted a lot of pressure off me. And now I know the next step and how it should help me function much better. I had a little more energy this afternoon. It's amazing how much stress drains so much energy out of you. Part of my overall self care is to reduce stress and not deplete my immune system. Easier said than done sometimes!

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Lawrence M. Smith ACSW, LISW-S
Mental Health Clinician & Administrator
AKA as IronSmith (Pen name when I wrote articles in old PowerMag magazine)
Held Drug Free Powerlifting State, National, & World Records in the Federations NASA, AAPF, ADFPA, & Amateur IPA.

Glad you're keeping strong man. Keep fighting. I'll be dedicating my deadlift pulls to you today.