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IronSmith's Vegan Diet & Exercise Log to Defeat Cancer


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LMNgetfit - my thoughts and concerns as well. The more I get into the finical structure and politics of Big Pharmacy Business, the more I understand what a strangle hold they have over Oncologists and what they can and can not do! I'm usually not a cynic but this is really horrifying!

 

My lovely wife and most avid supporter Rita asked me a very important question as we drove home from the education session today. She supports my decision no matter what. However she asked me am I painting myself into a corner with my current negative opinion about chemotherapy? If I change my mind will it be hard for me to then back track and reverse my course? And my answer is no! I would not have any problem at all saying I changed my mind and then freely expressing why! I have not soften my current stance one bit at all so far, but if I did, I would feel OK saying so. I'm taking in all and any information at all, pro or con. I'm trying to make sure its from the most reliable sources. Time will tell as to my final decision but no matter what it may be, it is my decision and my decision alone. I am responsible for myself. I love my family and friends so much, and I do not take this decision lightly. I want to be around for years to come to celebrate life with them! So please give me any support or corrective criticism/feedback as you may see fit, but in the finial analysis, respect my final decisions. And that it is the best decisions I or any one who is in my position may make! And I promise you I will do my homework to fully understand all sides of the chemotherapy issues that can be currently comprehended!

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So it goes. I see the new Oncologist this afternoon. He took some blood tests the first time I saw him. So I should get the results today. This included a new PSA. I can only pray that it didn't continue to rise since the last one. We will be talking to him about the results of my recent biopsy that I had done by the Pulmonary Doctor, that is, he found cancer in my lymph nodes in the center of my chest. Also that the lab results determined that they were a spreading of the prostate cancer and not a new cancer. I'm sure he will want to suggest that I start one or both of the new drugs we talked about before, that is the immune booster Provenge and the chemotherapy Taxotere. I am considering the Provenge but right now I'm saying a hell no to the Taxotere. Needless to say I have been looking up everything I can find on the internet about both drugs, pro and con, to fully understand them as possible. I have a lot of hard questions I am going to be asking about them. This is so stressful. I'm doing my relaxation exercises today, riding my bike, and I plan on taking a short walk in the sun just before I leave for the appointment this PM. Also taking my veggie smoothies and a big dark green salad before I leave too. So it goes!

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Went to see my new Oncologist yesterday afternoon. My PSA rose again to 19.2. The Doctor discussed several treatment options. I choose to start one of them in a few weeks, Provenge, an immunity booster specially designed for prostate cancer. In the mean while, Rita my wife and I are going to take a road trip to Florida to visit with her brother and his family. We plan on making several stops along the way and try to forget my health concerns and enjoy our selves. So I will most likely be off line for awhile. Time to smell the roses!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Back from our two week road trip. Wonderful trip. Our first stop was in Nashville and we spend the day on Music Row. Lots of fun, good eating (vegan), and shopping. Got lots of walking in. We drove to Gatlingburg the next day. What a beautiful place. We drove to the highest place in the Smokey Mountains. What a magnificent view! Walked quite a lot that day up and down paths in the woods, etc. Had a great vegan pizza at the Mellow Mushroom in Pigeon Forge in the next town. From there we drove to Florida in the Tampa/ClearWater area to visit with Rita's brother and family for a few days. Went down to St. John's Pass on the ocean/boardwalk. Lots of walking in the sun there too! Next Rita and I drove to New Orleans and spent a day in the French Quarter. Had a great time walking up and down Bourbon Street. Had a great vegan meal at the Gumbo Cafe on St. Peter's Street. Lots of shopping. Next we headed to Memphis and toured Elvis's Graceland. That was more fun and interesting than I would have thought. I had been a big Elvis fan in his early Sun Studio days before he sold out to Hollywood. We drove home from there to our home in Springfield Ohio. I was never so happy to crawl into my own bed and get the best night sleep I have had i two weeks. This was one of the best times I have had in my life.

 

Rita and I had so much fun and seen things and did things we have always dreamed about. Eating healthy on our trip was not as difficult as I imagined it would be. I had two ice chest full of cut up vegetables, a loaf of sprouted bread, cashews nut butter and good strawberry preserves, a couple cations of soy milk, and I took my blender to have the occasional green smoothie. I took my containers of RAW spouts protein power and my green food power too to add to my smoothies. The times we choose to eat at restaurants, we goggled vegan friendly places and for the most part was not disappointed! The good news is with all the walking and eating sensible, I actually lost four pounds on my vacation. That really surprised me as in the past vacations were a weight gaining experience! So I'm down to 294. My weight loss is very slow but I am still moving in the right direction. Last February I was at 365-370 so it has slowly been coming off. The one negative is that since my last hormone depletion shot (my third one that I get every three months)I have felt much weaker in the past few weeks. I didn't get to weight train during my vacation and I am really looking forward to starting again in a day or two. Where I really noticed my weakness was going up stairs. It was a struggle at times. Not good! Reducing my Testosterone levels is part of my Prostate Cancer treatment as it reduces the size of the prostate and supposedly the rate of cancer growth.

 

While I was on vacation, I thought hard and long about what my next steps will be as far as cooperating with conventual medicine approach for my cancer. My new Ontologist wants me to first take Provenge that is supports radically change my immune system. While improving my immune system is my main goal, I'm not convince that taking that drug is the right way to go. Research demonstrated that the Provenge does not reduce the size of the prostate and cancer and does not slow down the rise in the PSA rate. But it is suppose to add 3-4 months on to your life accordingly to the one research study they did. But I have read a criticism to that study that faults the way they designed the experiment and control groups. At this point I think the scientific support for that approach is very weak and the long term effects of premaritally changing your immune system are unknown. I am leaning towards continuing improving my own natural immune system by diet, exercise, and 30 minutes of sun light a day as my main approach. The radiation treatment I took last year did deplete my immune system and I have been trying to repair it ever since. So much for the traditional medical approach! I really am starting to regret having done the radiation treatment but I made the best decision I could make at that time.

 

The other treatment approach my Ontologist wants me to do consider is the chemotherapy. I have listened to him and his nurse who present an education session to Rita and myself. I have read lots of pro's and con's on the internet. I have tried to keep an open mind but in the finial analysis, my decision is no. I won't do it. I'm going to continue the natural approach. I pray to God I am right!

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Carpe Diem! Today was a much better day in the gym than I thought it would be. I have felt weaker the past few weeks since my last hormone depletion shot. More so than the first two times I received them. I have felt this mostly when climbing stairs. While on vacation, there were a few times I didn't know if i was going to be able to make it to the top! Not a good feeling. Anyways, I did my squat workout today and fully expected to have a big weight decrease. Well I did have a loss but not as much as I at first expected considering I did not have a chance to lift any weights during my two week road trip, and all the turmoil with my medical appointments/results before I left. So here how my workout went:

Parallel box squats with two sets of chains on the bar:

71 (bar weight plus variable chain weight) X 10 reps.

121 X 8 reps.

161 X 6 reps.

211 X 3 reps.

261 X 1 rep.

311 X 1 rep.

341 X 1 rep. (Felt pretty good but I decided to stop here and not risk any injuries.)

 

Other assorted low back exercises, knee rehab, ab exercises and some calf raises.

 

I'm tired but feel good. With proper nutrition, good rest, etc. I think I will up over 400 again real soon!

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Good to see you back on here IronSmith, sounds like you had a good vacation trip.

 

I know you have done a lot of research on cancer treatments. And I was just wondering,(I do not know the answer to this question) in your research, have you come across any studies on exercising while fighting cancer?

 

Certainly exercise is good for us all, but it does put the body under a certain amount of stress and oxidative damage. So I was wondering, at some point or exercise level, does it become counter productive to the body especially while fighting something such as cancer?

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I have read several studies that all report positive results from exercise with cancer. The longevity rates, quality of life, etc are always much higher for those who exercise with cancer. It also improves the immune system, and causes more oxygen to past through the body which kills cancer cells (They thrive in low oxygen areas of the body). There must of course be reasonable moderation. I try to guard against over training. Thats no good for anyone. So I try to build my strength and endurance slowly and not over do it. But I try not to baby myself either.

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A friend of mine was part of a study during her breast cancer treatment studying the effects of exercise during cancer treatment. The results showed that exercise has a very positive impact on patients during cancer treatment. I am also happy to report that my friend is in remission, and is also a vegan. Her story and your story, IronSmith are very inspirational to me! It's amazing how much a healthy vegan diet and physical activity can fight disease!

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I will be complying a list of web links about cancer and the positive effects of exercise.I hope to post it in a few days.

 

Anyways today I rode my recumbent bike for 20 minutes. I felt very good and rested. Bests I have felt since my tiredness that I felt upon returning from our road trip. In general I had felt good since I got back but just had some sense of tiredness I couldn't shake for several days. That may have contributed to my feeling of "weakness" I posted about in other blog entries. I have got back into my routine of specialized green smoothies, my supplements, great nights sleep, and I went to Columbus yesterday for my nutritional I.V. treatment. I think all of this has helped me bounce back!

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Qoute from you last link:

 

"Finally, recent research has suggested that regular exercise may be one of the best natural antioxidants. Regular exercise causes many changes in your body that help reduce circulating levels of reactive oxygen inflammation. Beyond burning calories, endurance type exercises, such as walking, running, cycling, and swimming, are particularly effective at increasing the body’s natural levels of antioxidants, eliminating inflammatory molecules that drive cancer."

 

That is interesting, I had never read that before(besides what you and others said here). I had heard that exercise actually put a certain amount of oxidative stress on to the body, from the damage of muscle tissue during exercise.

 

But I see it specifically says certain endurance exercises. I wonder if other types of exercise could cause oxidative stress?

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Rode my bike yesterday for 20 minutes and did my Dynamic Squat workout today. Feel great. After a warm up I did speed squats exploding off the parallel box with 8 sets of two reps with a 30-45 second rest in-between with a bar weight of 225 plus 56 pounds of chain weight at the top. I love speed squats. I really love speed squats doing a 40-50% of my estimated current maximum effort squat. They build up explosiveness/power, rev up my metabolism, and give me a chance to really focus on proper form. Always have got so much benefit from them. I also did some good mornings, knee rehab, and some ab work. Great workout. My energy and strength seems to be bouncing back. I just need to be sure I don't over do it in my enthusiasm! Don't want to over train as it take so long to recover when I do!

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Thanks for the support!

 

Today and tomorrow I am referring at the NASA USA Nationals Powerlifting Meet. Fun to see lots of old friends and meet some new ones. We had a 148 lb. 71 year old man lift today and he set the Squat, Bench Press World Records and he may also have set the Deadlift WR too but I had to leave before his flight came up. Had to leave early to go to my Granddaughters H.S. Graduation Party. Good times! Keep me motivated and hopeful!

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Well, the big guys lift today. Should be lots of iron being taken for a ride today. The NASA USA Nationals is the biggest NASA National meet in eastern USA and brings out some of the best drug free lifters from this part of the country. There were many State, American, and World Records set yesterday and I expect the same today. Always one of most exciting and fun meet of the year to referee! Afterwards Rita & I drive to Columbus to spend the evening with my two sons and their families. My family is having a Father's Day party for me a week early. Also we will be celebrating my youngest grandson's birthday. Nothing like family. Not much time to exercise yesterday and today but good medicine for me anyways! I love my family on both Rita's side and my side very much!

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Two of my old training partners are coming over this afternoon to visit. Kirk and Rick. Both were two of my eight national champions who training at my gym, The Iron Smith Gym. They were part of my Anvils Drug Free Powerlifting Team. Its going to be so good to see them. Both are still training but neither have competed in several years. I may try to rekindle the fire in there souls. Might be just the thing to get my own competitive juices going. With my hormone depletion therapy, I could never reach the weights I use to lift but so what? Just to have fun and be the best I can be now. But I would have to lift with my head and not my ego. I'm very careful these days to avoid over training! We will see!

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Had a great visit with two of old training partners today. Great getting an update on their current training and future meets coming up. I was thrilled to learn they were both going to compete July 15 in an World Natural Powerlifting Federation meet here in the WNPF NATIONAL TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS- Youngstown, Ohio. I told them I would love to go with them and act as their meet coach like old times. We will leave Saturday and stay over night in a hotel and they compete on Sunday. Should be lots of fun. I also promised I will try to drive to Columbus every other week to work out with them. Should be a very big motivation for all of us!

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Weighted in at 290 this morning. Down from my top of 365 a year or so ago. Slow but sure! Going down in my basement gym in a few minutes to ride my incumbent bike and then come up and drink my green smoothie. Then drive to Columbus for my weekly nutritional I.V. Doing what I can. I am so determined to beat this cancer that I look forward to every day to make more progress! And all the family and friends activities the past two weeks is such a blessing. Starting next Wednesday I will drive to Columbus every week to spend the day with my grandsons. I will watch them as both their parents are at work. My daughter-in-law has other arrangements other week days but Wednesdays are going to be my day to be with them. I've done this the past three summers and means so much to me. Love those two guys so much!

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Went down to Pat Flocks' "Underground Gym" in downtown Springfield, Ohio this afternoon to coach a new powerlifter (only two meets) on his bench and how to bring up his triceps. It a wonder many lifters make any progress at all due to poor form and inadequate cycle planning. In about 20 minutes I brought up this guy's bench by 15 pounds without any real gain in strength. Within a few weeks I will bet he will gain another 25 pounds with just the few changes we made. I was afraid to throw too much at him to soon as it might overwhelming him. But I will check on him in about a month to see how he's doing! I always find paying back to the sport always give me more energy for my own training.

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Monday was max effort squats and back exercises

Tuesday I rode my bike.

Wednesday was maximum effort bench.

Thursday was bike day again.

Today was speed squats and back exercises.

Tomorrow I will take a long walk and do speed benches on Sunday.

 

That is a typical week of training.

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