How I Beat 3 Chronic Diseases, At Least For Now

Article1: “Top 10 Takeaways From My 3 Chronic Diseases”

“Take control of your health and wellbeing, slow down your struggles, accelerate your recovery and develop an active, healthy and sustainable lifestyle”

This is the 1st article in my new series called “How I Beat 3 Chronic Diseases; For Now At Least”. There is an accompanying short video which sets out 5 of the 10 takeaways which you can find here.

Introduction

Three years ago, as a health and wellbeing author, speaker, coach and consultant, I was invincible or at least I thought I was! Until a routine blood test changed the course of my life. I was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer, heart disease and autoimmune condition in very quick succession, all within 12 months.

My experience during this time has changed my life and especially my perspective on health, lifestyle and wellbeing. On the receiving end of 3 chronic diseases, I started a new phase in my life where I learnt to practice what I preached and then some.

This triple whammy of chronic illness has provided me with a new perspective on what my business name “Your New Lifestyle Mission” means. They say every cloud has a silver lining and armed with my new experience, which in truth I could have done without, I feel I’m stronger, more self aware but also more vulnerable than ever before. 

I believe my experience will make me a better coach, a more empathetic speaker and I’m ready to help you, whether you’re living with chronic illness such as cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune disease, or not. My goal is to enable you “take control of your health and wellbeing, slow down your struggles, accelerate your recovery and develop an active, healthy and sustainable lifestyle”.

I’ve learnt much during the last few years and it was often challenging because science and medicine is complicated. Therefore, another goal of mine is to explain relevant, technical, medical or scientific topics in a way, which is easier to understand.

My Journey So Far

Before I can talk about the future, I’d like to spend a short time looking back to describe what happened to me and most important of all the lessons I’ve learnt, which I hope will help others. 

I returned to Ireland after 14 years in the USA, in September 2016. Health wise I felt very well though in hindsight in my last few years there, I often felt stressed and could feel my anxiety build, whenever I felt under a lot of pressure. Earlier around 2010, I was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate which is not unusual for a man in his fifties but it annoyed me because I felt my lifestyle didn’t deserve this. However, at least I felt it was under control. 

There was an element of destiny about all this as Tom Keane, professor of urology at Medical University of South Carolina [MUSC] walked into the Mount Pleasant TrySports one day in 2004, as I was about to close the store. We immediately recognised each other from school at Belvedere College, some 35 years earlier. I chose Tom to help me with my first experience of chronic disease and the first time that medication became a part of my life. To be fair, Tamsulosin [Flomax] one tablet a day did the trick. I had annual checkups with Tom during the rest of my time in the USA.

Prostate Cancer

I returned to Ireland in September 2016, but it was not until the middle of 2018 that I needed to visit a GP [General Practitioner]; I had to get a Yellow Fever jab to climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. While at the GP, I got a routine blood test which includes PSA.

Your PSA [Prostate Specific Antigen] score is a key prostate cancer marker and I was conscious that nearly 3 years had passed since my last blood test. The general threshold for concern is a score of 4 or above, though this is age related. In 2015 my last PSA score was 2.6, well below that marker. So you can imagine my shock when my score had jumped to 6.5. What I didn’t know at that point was the acceleration of my PSA score over that 3 year period. This is another important marker for cancer and I had the answer to that question in my next blood test, when it rose to over 9. 

In my 2nd article, “10 Top Takeaways From My Prostate Cancer” I’ll reveal my cancer story for the first time. This is a must read for men, though I think there’ll be some important lessons for women too.

Heart Disease

Heart disease has been prominent in my life. My dad died from a massive heart attack at the relatively young age of 47, back in 1975. I was only 20 at the time. Conscious of the risks of heart disease, I sought to be as healthy as I could be through exercise; rugby in my twenties, running in my thirties, triathlon in my forties and fifties, back to running and now walking in my sixties.

Back in Ireland, a good friend introduced me to David Bobbett [Irish Heart Disease Awareness] who introduced me to Ivor Cummins [The Fat Emperor]. A key message which resonated from David and Ivor is the need to know if you have heart disease and they encouraged me to get a Coronary Artery Calcification Scan.

CAC measures your true level of heart disease; like a CT scan it takes cross-sectional images of the arteries that supply blood to the heart, to check and measure the buildup of calcified plaque. 

Similar to my PSA above, I was shocked as my CAC Score was in the moderately high category between mild and high. Given how fit and active I was, I didn’t see this coming. I now have to live with heart disease with significant calcification of my coronary arteries on top of my prostate cancer. 

In my 3rd article, “My Top 10 Takeaways From My Heart Disease” I’ll tell my heart disease story for the first time and it includes another significant shock and thus is a must read for everyone.

Autoimmune Disease

A side affect of my cancer treatment was peripheral neuropathy, which causes damage to the nerves and often causes weakness, numbness and pain, usually in the hands and feet. It developed in my hands and feet with stiff joints, at night, my main symptom. My oncologist referred me to a rheumatologist, who after tests confirmed an autoimmune condition, possibly rheumatoid arthritis, to add to my collection. 

I’ll tell my autoimmune story, “Top 10 Takeaways From My Autoimmune Disease” in my 4th article. It’s a real eye opener for everyone!

Top 10 Takeaways From My 3 Chronic Diseases

I’ve learnt so much on this journey, probably something new every day. Here’s my top 10 takeaways:

1. My routine blood test in 2018 was at least two years too late. There’s nothing I can do about that now but I urge you not to make the same mistake.
2. Disease prevention is ongoing. Avoid disease if you can, but if not then prevention is just as important during treatment and recovery
3. Treat the person [you] and the disease. This means customised to your needs. 
4. Take control of your health and wellbeing. Ultimately you’re the only person with a comprehensive insight into your holistic health and life.
5. Taking control means taking action; in my case, taking responsibility for lifestyle interventions which have transformed my life.
6. Knowledge gives you the power to take control and appropriate action.
7. Find the root cause of your disease. It’s not always easy and you’re unlikely to be 100% certain but it’s crucial in taking the right actions.
8. Sustainable nutrition is a vital common denominator in prevention, during treatment and recovery.
9. Exercise and moving throughout the day is also crucial for both your physical and mental health.
10. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; it provides a short-cut to effective results.

Important Note: I strongly recommend that you continue to work with your medical professionals, as I do with my cardiologist, oncologist and urologist.

I hope you found this article both interesting and helpful. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. If you could, like and share it; that would be brilliant too. Why not connect with me or follow me and look out for article 2 coming very soon.

Message me or email me at [email protected]. Thank You. Jim