Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Well, back from the Doctor. Good news and bad news. The bone scans showed no spread of the cancer to my bones. And my contrast CT of the prostate seems to be looking OK. That is wonderful news. But I have enlarged lymph nodes in my lung area that my Doctor is very concerned about. He says this is very unusual as prostate cancer usually spreads to the bones and lymph nodes around the prostate gland and not just to other areas first. So the question is the swollen lymph nodes in my lung area cancer or due to some other causes such as some type of infection? My Doctor has referred me to a Pulmonologist for follow up. He may need to take a biopsy. I can only hope it turns out to be some type of infection and not lung cancer. I have never been a smoker but my Dad and my late wife were big smokers and I was exposed to second hand smoke. The question is still why had my PSA been raising if my prostate cancer seems otherwise seem to be under control? So I'm setting here with mixed emotions with some questions answered but others posing other areas of great concern.

_________________
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, the shock from the news I received from my Doctor has somewhat worn off. I was exhausted when I went to bed last night and I sleep like a rock all night. And I woke up with my determination to fight for my health back. I can't and won't give up! So down to my gym this morning to ride my bike and to just play around with the weight as it strikes me. Today would normally be a dynamic method leg day. We will see how it goes. Also will continue to drink my green smoothies and eat clean, and as simple, and raw as I can today. And drink lots of my iced unsweetened green tea with lemon.

_________________
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.

Hello!
Have you looked into the macrobiotic diet? There is a lady in the Cleveland area that I have contact with, if you'd like her information.

You can find her story online if you search for Janet Vitt-Sommer.

Actually my current diet is closely related to the Macrobiotic diet. Some differences but still lots of good organic whole plant food. But I will check it out some more. Thanks for the information! I try to be open system and take everything in, weight the pro and cons, and incorporate what appears to hold up from my research on the web. And I truly consider the experiences of others. Thanks again!

_________________
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.

She is a wonderful woman. She was taken off of chemo and sent home. Her friends and family made food for her and nursed her back to health. Since then, she has dedicated her life to helping (and cooking for) others.

Her phone number is 330.467.6739
She might not know me by name (Korrin), but she definitely knows my friend Zach (who I dated for 5 years, including while his father had pancreatic cancer).

This is actually why I went vegan in the first place.
Anyway, she is VERY approachable and even an informational phone call is always welcomed.

I will never take chemotherapy. I know two friends who has prostate cancer who took chemo and it killed them. They went down so fast right from the start and never recovered. I did take radiation and I am taking a hormone depletion therapy (depletes my testosterone) but that's it!

Korrin, I may give Janet a call. I did see a short video of her but I couldn't pull up the rest of it. And I read a short discretion of her experience that she wrote. Very impressive and inspirational. Thanks for the wonderful info!

_________________
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 got in a 20 minute bike ride this morning and then decided to do my usual Friday dynamic (speed) box squats after all. Glad I did. After warm-ups, I did 8 sets of 2s off a parallel box with a 45 sec rest in-between with 225 pounds with a set of two chains hanging off each side. I sat down on the box for about a second each rep and then exploded (relatively speaking) off the box. After I was done I waited about three minutes and did a few singles of 275, 315, and 375 (all with the chains also). Felt real good. It helped blow off some steam and stress and I felt real good afterwards. I was pleasantly tired. I went up stairs and had a banana and strawberry smoothie with raw sprout protein (Garden of Life's RAW protein power), some ice and a tablespoon of natural peanut butter. Come what may, I'm going to be OK. That all there is to it. I see the Pulmonologist at 9:30 am on Monday. I'm going in with a positive attitude. Damn the torpedoes!

_________________
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.

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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.

Sitting here writhing this while drinking my green smoothie. I needed it bad this morning. Need to flush out the several diet pops I drank last night. I very seldom drink any pop, diet or otherwise. But my wife Rita and I went to watch my youngest son, Larry Jr. play last night and the bar did not have unsweetened iced tea, my usual drink. I love watching my son perform. I am my son's biggest fan. He is the lead singer for a rock & blues band called Wrong Sauce (WrongSause.com). Everyone who hears him sing are very impressed so it's not just me! He loves it that Rita, his step-mother, enjoys his music so much also, and always comes with me to see him!

Anyways I need to flush out the diet pop today. I will be drinking lots of filtered water today beside my smoothie. Here the recipe of my favorite green smoothie. I got it from Dr. Oz of all people. I modified it for my own needs.
Two cored apples.
1/3 of a large cucumber.
Hand full of parsley.
Two hand fills of baby spinach.
One scoop of green power (I use the Garden of Life's Perfect Food)
One scoop of raw sprout protein power (Garden of Life's RAW)
One square inch of chopped fresh ginger.
Scoop of crush ice made of filtered water.
All mixed in my blender.

It's not the most tasty drink I have ever had but it's not so bad either. I do feel great when I drink it, mostly every day, knowing I'm putting healing nutrition into my body! I'm going for a long walk later today when it warms up. Then I can wear just a tee shirt and shorts so I can take in more sun light. Good for my vitamin D levels!

_________________
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.

So my Doctor's appointment was cancelled this morning due to an emergency on his caseload and rescheduled to 1:00 PM this afternoon. My wife has taken off this morning to go with me . She had rescheduled several important meetings at work to this afternoon so she could be with me. OK that didn't work out. So she is calling people on her job to shuffle the meetings back to this morning. Both of us are trying to keep a sense of humor about this but POOP! I was also going to take her Dad to his Doctor's appointment this afternoon so that had to be cancelled too. Double POOP! Taking deep breaths and telling my self this is a great opportunity to practice patients and relaxation in a time of stress. Oh, well. So it goes!

_________________
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.

My best to you! I have so much respect for what you are doing.

Sorry to hear about your Dr's appt. Things like that are very frustrating.

fyi, my dad also has prostate cancer. They found it very early and used the radiation seeds. The closest to vegan he gets (so far) is not eating any red meat.... earth or smart balance and drinking soy (he may have switched to almond?) milk. I'll take whatever I can get.

Well my appointment with my new Doctor a Pulmonolgist went very well. They gave me a breath test that was very standard before I saw the Doctor to measure my lung capacity. He told me that the scans showed some enlargement of the lymph nodes in the canter of my chest, but no mass. I'm scheduled to have an outpatient procedure however in a hospital setting on Thursday. They will run a scope down my nose into the chest area while also performing some kind of sonogram so they can see right where the lymph nodes are. Then a needle from the scope with take a sample for a biopsy. I will return to the Doctor's office next Tuesday for the results. I also see a new cancer Doctor on Wednesday for a second opinion. Busy guy! I went to Columbus today for my nutritional IV. I talked to another friend of mine who also has prostate cancer. We are always comparing notes, getting ideas from each other, and giving each other lots of support! That is so important to have a friend who is also going throughout what I am going through and really understands the issues and concerns.

_________________
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 to hear things went well with the Pulmonolgist, and hope the results of the lymph node biopsy goes well.

Keep up with the positivity mate, you're a continuing inspiration!

Admire your courage- positive attitude helps fight the battles! Still glad to see that you are utilizing nutrition to heal!

Thanks everyone for the support! It's deeply appreciated!

Well I went to my new cancer Doctor today to get a second opinion. And that he did. I liked him but not what he was saying. He is of the strong opinion that with my PSA going up, my having a 9 on the Gleason Scale out of a 10, and the enlarged lymph nodes in my chest, that it is the prostate cancer spreading. He is glad that I'm going to get my biopsy test on the lymph nodes and he thinks they will come back positive for more cancer. You don't know how much I hope he is wrong but this guy is the local "Pro From Dover" in this area.

By the way my procedure's date was changed from tomorrow to the 9th and I will get the results on the 14th. That is going to seem like an eternity before I know! My new cancer Doctor said there are two things he would do if the biopsy came back positive. One is a new immunity boosting drug (Proverge) that increases the chances of survival by about 25%. I may consider this but I want to know more about it. The second thing he said he would suggest is a new chemotherapy for prostate cancer (Toxatere). The red flags went up on that one. I told him I would go the training class on the chemotherapy to learn more about it but as of now I doubt I would take it. That so contrary to everything I believe in and that I think will eventually save me. So much stress. I'm doing my best to manage it the best I can. I'm sitting here drinking my green smoothie and trying to trust that no matter all the worry, things will unfold as they will. I can only do the best I can and pray!

_________________
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.