Lets start by saying I am not medically qualified, I am not offering medical advice, I am just sharing my personal expereince and what works for me. Always see someone who knows what they are talkning about before making medical decisions. Regular readers will know I've had a few medical challenges in the last few years. Back in 2011, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I've always tried to look after myself, I played football until I was 60, I had to give up when my ankle gave up the ghost and I couldn't run on it. I hate not playing, and this lead to a gain in weight. Last year, my blood sugar levels were diagnosed as pre diabetic and rising. My weight had ballooned to a pound short of eighteen stone. I'd been drinking too much, not exercising and eating too many curries.
In some ways both my cancer diagnosis and this latest news had a positive effect on my life. In both cases, I took a long, hard look at my lifestyle and in both cases I made adjustments. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I read up on cancer and discovered an 'anti cancer diet'. Did this work? Well having been diagnosed at age 49 in 2011, I managed to put off having a radical prostatectomy until 2023. Was this down to the diet? I have no idea, but I do know it gave me a positive mental attitude and made me feel as if I was in charge of the process to some degree. I based my lifestyle changes on a book called Anti Cancer: A new way of life, which is brilliant. It has a lot of lifestyle changes and I took many on board.
In 2023, when I had my prostate removed, to some extent, I slipped back into pre cancer bad habits. This combined with not being able to exercise for a while after the operation, no football as an incentive to get fit and a general mental malaise lead to the weight gain and loss of fitness. The kick up the backside in November was necessary. Since then I've been going to the gym 3-4 times a week, and doinga 20+4 diet 2-3 days a week. My weight has dropped to 16 st 2lbs. For the first time since I stopped working in cenrtal London in early 2017, I started seriously rowing, doing 10km rows. I got my time down to 46,18, which is not bad ( I used to do it in 36.30 in my late forties, but that took three years to achieve). All was going swimmingly. Then the week before last, I woke up and when I tried to walk to the loo, my knee nearly gave way below me. I was in agony. I could hardly walk. In all the years of playing football, I'd never had such a pain in my knee. I started icing it, putting anti inflammatory gels on and resting it. This was most unwelcome, as I felt I was just making progress at the gym. After a couple of days, it eased slightly. I got back to the gym, doing light cycling. It hurt but was managable. I felt very frustrated. It wasn't clearing up properly. What could I do?
Good question? I was at a bit of a loss. I also noticed that my wrists, especially my right wrist which I broke playing football when I was 25 were very sore. Playing guitar was irritating them, which was really annoying. Given that I play in a band, this was truly worrying. After a light session in the gym, I was sitting in the sauna feeling a deep sense of woe. I was thinking back to 2011 and the despair I felt when I was diagnosed with cancer. If I can't exercise and I can't play guitar, I won't get better and I won't enjoy life. What is the point? Then I recalled the Anti Cancer diet. One of David Servan-Schreiber, the author's key points was that inflammation drives cancer growth, therefore taking natural anti inflammatories would slow the growth of cancer. It is worth noting that the book does not advocate miracle cures. It is simply about making your body and mind as resiliant as possible, so that working with your medical team, you are in the best position to deal with your cancer. The book talks about the 'bell curve' of life expectancy and how you want to be on the right hand side of this. It explains that if you are given six months to live by the doctor, that is the average time someone in your position will live. Some will live three months, some will live two years. What you want to do is be on the two years side of the bell curve and taking positive action is the one thing you personally can do. In my case, this was dropping dairy, drinking pomegranite juice and taking turmeric, as well as ditching processed foods. In the case of turmeric, it is a powerful anti inflammatory agent.
So I sat there and thought "I really should get back on the turmeric, if these pains are caused by inflammation, then maybe it will help". So last week, we got some turmeric tablets and I started back taking them. To my amazement, within a couple of days, the pain in my knee and wrists had abated. It is still there, but it is a dull ache, which is manageable. Yesterday, I was back in the gym on the rowing machine. I did a 10km row for the first time since my knee blew up. I did a very moderately paced row at 54.45 mins deliberately, as I wanted to 'test the waters'. This morning, there was no reaction.
I'm not going to recommend any brands, it may all be a total coincidence, but for the first time in a few weeks, I am feeling positive. It isn't a 'miracle cure', but I can get on with things. Given that I've got a gig with the band on Saturday night at The Builders Arms in Barnet, this has to be a very good thing!
I'm actually really looking forward to this gig. The band are doing two sets, for the first time for several decades. It gives us a chance do stuff we don't normally play. There will be two rather special, for different reasons, songs played. The first will be a tribute to Rick Buckler, drummer of The Jam, who recently passed away. We are not a covers band, but Graham Ramsay, our drummer was keen to pay tribute to the guy who got him into music and drumming. It's not Ska, but I am sure that our loyal fans and the punters in the pub will forgive us! The second, is a reworking of one of the songs that The False Dots played at our first gig. It is called "The Electric Ballroom" and is based on our song Reality Ballroom, but updated. It is the story of a rather unfortunate incident at the venue, back in 1978, when The Fall played at the venue. Our esteemed trumpet player, Tom Hammond will sing both of these numbers.
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