Thursday, December 11, 2008

The road less travelled

Since this will be my last post of the year, I figured I would make it one of gratitude.

TO YOU, AND YOU, AND ESPECIALLY TO YOU

I am so grateful to all of you who read my blog, those who have supported me through the toughest year of my life, and those who have encouraged me so much through your comments.

It is because of you that I write. Because of you, who have given me positive feedback, and who have articulated their appreciation for something that I have learned to love doing. Writing is very cathartic and is my friend

Those who have stood by me when I needed support through down times over the last eight months, those who have laughed with me, those who have cried with me,
those who have passed the word on.

It has been an honour for me to serve you, to....in some small way help you to take charge of your own lives....to make small changes which lead to big results, to give you the occasional " Aha " moment.

To have been able to bring you joy, and I hope I have, to have uplifted your spirits, to have made your heart soar high above where the eagles fly, to have strengthened your resolve, to have helped you kick start your journey.

In all of these things, if I have been in some small measure, a catalyst, I am grateful for in so doing, I have healed myself.

Below is a dedication to all you incredible shredders out there who with courage and true grit have chosen to follow the path of a man who is a magnificent example of what we are all striving to achieve Adam Waters.

As we shredders tramp this earth together
arms entwined, we carry those who stumble
and they us,
we band of brothers and sisters forever linked by one...
His leadership, resolute, unwavering,
Our eyes upward, our hearts beating
with mighty resolve, we hoist the steel
and run the road, fleet of foot
onward toward victory
with no thought of failure..
and, with a glance behind, we see
multitudes of those, our numbers growing
day by day,
as we, with him in front, encouraging us,
surging into our future
as we all choose ..
to take the road less travelled.

Have a wonderful holiday and look forward to spending 09 with all of you

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The road less travelled

The Phone Call that made my day

Hi Dr Smit How are you? Dougal Macdonald here. Oh yes hang on a minute let me get your file.
Hmmm, this is very good news. You DO NOT have a " superbug " or M.R.S.A otherwise known as a Medicillan resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection. What you have is a basic Staphylococcus aureus infection. Since it is not very resistant we can neutralise it with blah blah antibiotic. You do not have any presence of it in your nasal cavity.

So...there it is folks....it seems that we can take this one out fairly simply and it is really good news that I don't have the very resistant strain.

Another 14 days of antibiotics and I will be right as rain.

Boy am I looking forward to my vacation.

I am going to post for another couple of days and then vacation time. I will be back on the 12th January 09 or maybe a bit sooner.

I am not going to have connectivity and so will not blog over this period.

I hope you won't abandon me. I will be back with lot's of ineteresting things to say on health and fitness in 09 and of course you can follow my own road back to complete health strength and fitness.

I am sure that you are all looking forward to a break as well and a well earned rest from the stresses and strains of daily living.

Keep looking forward, don't look backward unless you want to go in that direction.

Friday, December 5, 2008

The road less travelled

Speaking to the experts

So, at 9.30am this morning I was sitting with Dr Smit a microbiologist who was giving me a lecture on Infections 101. Even the 101 version is really hard to comprehend.

Swabs were taken and results will be forthcoming by tuesday.

At least then, according to her information I will know exactly who my adversaries are and what it will take to remove them from the planet.

There is no guarantee though, that the infection will not return and maybe in a different guise.

It seems that we all, or most of us have a staphylococckyyee infection living in our noses, but we have not broken the barrier which allows it into our systems, which is why it stays in our nose. I have broken that barrier unfortunately, by having a 'full metal jacket' in my head. ( yes I know that's not how you spell staphylawhatever)

No that I have broken the barrier it seems I have unwittingly invited a whole host of nasties into my house to play, should they so choose.

The best I can do is eat clean, train carefully, take vitamins and keep my immune system as strong as possible.

I believe however, that since I happened to be sitting with Dr Smit this morning by way of an extraordinary set of circumstances, this will be somewhat of a breakthrough. How could it not.

If anybody ever had above average motivation to keep and stay fit and healthy, this has to be it for me.

Now please excuse me.....son, pass me that 4oolb barbell and ' get outta my way '

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The road less travelled

If you are one of those who believes that everything happens for a reason and nothing happens by accident then you are going to love this story.

This morning I was chatting to one of our clients in the gym about my continuous infections. Now this fellow knows a bit about infections since his sister, who was a quadraplegic suffered for a long time with them.

What you need, he said, is to speak to a pathologist. Pathologists are experts in identifying bacterial infectious strains and analysing what antibiotic works and which ones are ineffective because of resistance.

I don't suppose you know one, I said. As it happens I do and she just happens to be the head of the biggest laboratory in South Africa.

I don't suppose I could chat with her, after all I'm certain that she is very busy.

Two minutes later I was explaining my situation to her on the phone. She promised to help me get to the bottom of my quest for a killer antibiotic to destroy my infection.

Now it would help if she knew me don't you think..after all why should she help someone she had never met, after a two minute telephone conversation.

By the way, she said, on the way out of the conversation, what happened to you.

Broke my neck in a surfing accident at St Francis Bay (St Francis Bay is a 12 hour drive from where we both live in Johannesburg), in April of this year I said....silence on the other end....you've got to be kidding she said, I know who you are, I was actually on the beach at the time waiting for my son who was also surfing, I saw your accident happen. I was the one who went to find the emergency ambulance for you. I actually spoke to you while you were lying on the sand. How are you?

Well, now I think I have a good chance of getting the expert help I need.....don't you. Pure luck, I don't think so.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

The road less travelled

As we head towards the holidays we are probably worrying about how to stay clean with all the fantastic food around. Making it, eating it, buying it, looking at it...how on earth do we stay on track.

Well, if you are working at a lifestyle and not a diet here's a revolutionary idea for you. The question is - How do I stay away from eating food I'm not supposed to eat. My answer is.......shhh!..... DON'T.

Excuse me.... before you have a coughing fit and swallow your dentures, my rationale is this.

If you have commited to sensible eating for the rest of your life, call that 100%. All the holidays for the rest of your life, which hopefully are a plenty, but if you stack them up against the days that you'll still be sucking air on this planet probably amount to 1%...OK call it 5%, let's be generous.

Eat well for 95% of the year and have a little fall down for the other 5% how much damage do you think you are doing. Right...not a lot.

Personally, I think that most of us have such a long ingrained history of improper eating habits that trying to stay clean is all the time is counter productive...I think you would binge much more if you think you can do the 100% rather than just backing off a little during holidays when family and friends are eating food that you love.

Now slow down there cowboy, I don't mean demolishing the cake trolley before anybody else gets there....I'm talking about eating moderate plates of the same food that everyone else is eating.

Much easier to stay with the program I think...especially for mothers preparing Christmas dinner. Gotta be tough if you are preparing a slap up dinner with all them fixins, and you are planning to eat tuna and green salad.

I mean there are some that CAN do this but your name is NOT Carlos DeJesus, so don't even try.

Take a load of guilt off, relax and enjoy the festive season like everyone else.

However, a word of caution....THE FESTIVE SEASON DOES NOT RUN TO EASTER.

A final word over this time. Let's remember the real reason for Christmas and be thankful.

Monday, December 1, 2008

The road less travelled

No Night of the the Long Knives....not today anyway.

It seems....according to the culture results that there is no infection. What does that mean?
Well, my neurosurgeon will not be sharpening the steak knives today.

I don't understand how there can be no infection, knowing the way I'm feeling, but the concensus is that Carl will not operate for now. There is a new antibioitic irrigation system that works on an outpatient basis and for now we will wait to see how the next few days pan out.

Bottom line...we will wait for a few days and then re assess. So, another chapter closes.. Hopefully not a short chapter.

A big thank you to everyone for your concern and prayers, you're all very special people to me and I appreciate all of you popping in to see how I'm doing. THANK YOU.