Not New... But Feel It

Ow do,

I used to post quite frequently on a few forums, but life got in the way and then health took a nose-dive, so it all went out of the window and I feel like its right to do a bit of an intro - plus I'd be keen on hearing from anyone with anything resembling similar experiences!

I used to be a typical gym rat i suppose, trained fairly heavily, managed macros (ish lol) and ran blast/cruise cycles.. or at least said I did while really taking far too much gear.. but such is life. It all came to a resounding halt in summer 2019 though when I was diagnosed with pretty advanced cancer - it started in my bowel, had spread to my liver and surrounding tissue, so at the point of diagnosis, none of it was operable... safe to say that put an end to everything and statistically, i was toast (research gave me around a 15% change of survival).

But I'm still here! It took 6 months of the most brutal treatment imaginable and three rounds of surgery to get there, but ive been tumour free for 16 months now and finally have the courage to look forwards and try to rebuild a bit of 'me' i suppose. I'll never be like i used to be - wouldn't want to be tbh, but I do want to look after myself, to get a bit of shape back and to look like i train.. so here I am again! I'll most likely start a journal and I'd love to hear from anyone who returned to the gym after major surgery in regards to stuff to watch out for on anything to do to assist rehab. I woke up from liver surgery with 56 staples in a lovely 'L' shape across my stomach and have scarring from a temporary ileostomy, so im conscious that things probably wont move like they used to.

Anyway, thats me for now, I've rejoined the gym today, ordered some new shorts and headphones and I'll be practicing my best 'get off my fkin weights' face over the weekend haha.

Andy

Think I remember your username bud, stoked you've pulled through.
One great big f*ck you to cancer.
Smash it in the gym

Remmber your name aswell thats fuckin horrifc what you been through but made up to postivity

get it done mate!

Hey buddy, sorry to hear what you went thru but pleased to hear you made it out the other side and are back online. Sounds horrific tho.

There are definitely one or two post surgery stories to be told from others round here

Welcome back mate. Remenber you from somewhere but not sure where.

Sorry to hear about the cancer but good to hear of your success. All the best with getting back into shape

Deffo remember the name. Nice to have you on ugm. Keep up the positivity.

Yeah of course I remember you,fcukin hell mate you've been through the mill that's horrendous tbh,glad to hear your on the mend and getting things back.... awesome mate

I remember the name too mate, maybe from back on MT ?

That’s a fair old bit you’ve been through, has to be said, and great news that there’s such a positive outlook now, sounds like it was touch and go for a fair bit of it, genuinely hope it stays that way for you.

Not sure whether any surgery I’ve had would relate to you or help, only one of any great significance was an ACL reconstruction, with stuff like that though, I’d always recommend working each leg separately, it’s amazing how easy it is to over compensate, without even realising it, until one limb is far bigger than the other and really noticeable.

I don’t think that helps, but wish you all the best mate .

@mick_the_brick has had some pretty serious surgery’s. Always a good source of info.

Cheers gents, definitely a few names I remember there too!

it was quite touch and go for a while to be fair, but as odd as it sounds, I think that’s helped me in every day life though, it made me see what’s important and led to a lot of working on myself in other ways.

Never thought I’d be stepping foot back in the gym if I’m honest, heading for my first session in the morning and kinda shitting it, but grateful to be able to at the same time.

it’s going to be interesting to see how it goes, I keep reminding myself to go easy, but don’t really know what easy consists of yet.

Welcome back @andyboro Sorry to hear about your recent health issues...Glad that you're back on the road to recovery buddy

andyboro said:

Never thought I’d be stepping foot back in the gym if I’m honest, heading for my first session in the morning and kinda shitting it, but grateful to be able to at the same time.

it’s going to be interesting to see how it goes, I keep reminding myself to go easy, but don’t really know what easy consists of yet.

Click to expand...

Just start off nice and light and keep it simple, don't get bogged down with what you use to lift etc that leads nowhere good,treat it as a complete restart and enjoy it no matter what.

I have had a good few comebacks over the years and you will be surprised at how quick you start to progress.

Hey mate. I remember you.

sorry to hear of your health issues. Wish you nothing but a speedy recovery.

Hello!

Username definitely rings a bell.

Good to see you here. So sorry to hear about the health issues, must have been rough.

Good luck with getting back at it!

Now there's a name i haven't heard since.......