The Chronically Fit Show - more than just a passion project.

In 2017 the average life expectancy in the UK was 81.3 years old. That’s a number I’d always roughly taken for granted, until 2020 threw me a whole new set of concerns.

Being told you have a chronic disease is an odd moment. I’ve always felt pretty indestructible; in over a decade of working I’ve had barely 10 days off sick. I was that annoying kid at school who got awards for never missing a day, ever. I’ve never broken a bone and I’ve always enjoyed playing sports and felt active. At the reasonably young age of the 35, the last thing I expected to hear from a doctor was “if you respond to the treatment, most of my patients can expect a normal life expectancy.”

But that’s exactly what happened earlier this year. After numerous (ongoing) blood tests, an MRI scan and a liver biopsy, I was told I had Autoimmune Hepatitis. AIH is a genetic disease that causes your white blood cells to attack your liver, leading to cirrhosis and liver failure. It affects between 10 and 17 people per 100,000 in Europe, overwhelmingly women, so around 10,000 in the UK. It’s life-long, and frankly… I’d never heard of it.

The first thing I wanted to know was “Is this going to stop me running?”. It might seem trivial but being active forms a big part of my identity. I didn’t want the disease to take aspects of what I love doing away from me. My doctor, who has been brilliant throughout, replied, “Are you planning on an Ironman?”. Whilst I’m not it caused more questions; exercise is good, but too much can cause inflammation and lead to a flare of the disease. But how much is too much? I run trail half-marathons and marathons. They’re not easy on your joints! It's caused plenty of strained conversations with me wife.

Finding motivation

So I went looking for inspiration and encouragement. The internet and illness generally don’t mix well and I read plenty there that scared me. It took a bit of hunting around but sure enough I started to find stories of elite athletes with chronic illnesses. I then started to find and follow instagram accounts of people thriving despite (on the face-of-it) awful medical situations. The fact others had posted positive accounts of their experiences was comforting and I started to follow and comment, ensuring that they knew their posts weren’t disappearing into the ether and had helped me. 

However something struck me as I scrolled through posts and started to engage with the community I was discovering. The voices were almost exclusively female. I’m not sure why this surprised me, I know the stats around male suicide, which can largely be attributed to the lack of willingness of men to show vulnerability. Somehow I thought this might be different. AIH has happened to me; it’s not something I’ve caught and my own choices haven’t had any impact on why exactly it is happening to me. Because of the lack of male voices, I was encouraged to speak out. I felt it was important to add my voice to others for the next person to come along and receive a diagnosis they don’t understand, even if it does make me feel exposed to other people’s attitudes and opinion.

So what’s the plan?

I’m not great on Instagram. My posts have never had too much thought, all a bit spur of the moment ‘look, a pretty view!’. If I was going to help others I needed a platform that I know I can exploit to get the message out, and that’s led me to The Chronically Fit Show. Yes, it’s another podcast in a rising flood of them, but actually in some areas the medium is still only just starting to take off. I had a look on the Google podcast app and searched for ‘chronic’. There is lot’s of content, but again mainly female advocates and not much about having a condition, and still pushing yourself physically despite it.

In the coming weeks I’ll be publishing interviews with elite sports persons, and people like me (enthusiastic amateurs) so that it feels accessible to all. We’ve got gold medallists and world-record holders lined up with conditions including AIH, Stargardt’s Disease, Cerebral Palsy, Gullain-Barre Syndrome, Type 1 Diabetes; they are all utterly incredible people who equally don’t always understand the condition they have and are on a constant journey. I’m also keen to make sure the podcast carries a practical element to it, so I’ll be joined by regular expert co-hosts, a medical and a fitness professional to answer listener questions and offer advice.

So why post this now? I suspect there many many people on LinkedIn suffering from a chronic condition who might find this interesting. I want to ensure the podcast is a door for something bigger, and because of that I’ve created a Discord server where people can join and share their stories, or additional content that may help others. 

If you’ve got Instagram I’d love you to follow @thechronicallyfitshow too. It’s a little quiet over there right now, but it won’t be for long. Our guests are going to be showing a very vulnerable side of themselves, and I hope that their inspiring message can reach as many people as possible. Plus as it was put to me, if these people can achieve what they achieve, what excuse does anyone else have?! With that in mind I’m entering a triathlon next year...

The Chronically Fit Show on Discord - https://discord.gg/9Yp8ea