Growing from Adversity: What I Learned While Recovering From Lung Surgery

My wife and I had made a last-minute decision to go out for dinner. We had dressed up, driven down to a riverside dining precinct and somehow managed to secure a table for two on what looked like their busiest night. Afterwards, we planned to watch a movie and then take a late night stroll by the river. It was going to be a great night. But, just after the entre came out, I felt a sudden twinge of pain in my back as I leaned against my chair. A pain that was all too familiar.

“Oh no. Not again.” I pleaded inside my head. “Not now.”

I tried pretending as if the pain wasn’t there, squashing down the dread that had welled inside me, and hoping with every fibre of my body that it was nothing to worry about. Maybe it was just a muscular pain? But it wasn’t.

And that is how I ended up at the hospital emergency ward late on a Saturday night (as if I had nothing better to do) waiting for the official confirmation of what I already knew. My lung had collapsed. Again.

Less than three months earlier I had been in the exact same hospital, talking to the exact same emergency doctor, feeling the exact same symptoms. That time, my collapsed lung (pneumothorax for those playing at home) had been treated by inserting a pipe into my chest to drain the air and reinflate my lung. It succeeded, but the doctor warned me that I was now a 30% chance of suffering a recurrence, and if I did so that I would require surgery on my lung.

So as I sat in the emergency room for the second time in three months I felt deflated (literally and metaphorically). I knew that I had suffered another pneumothorax and I knew that meant that I was going to require lung surgery. I felt a level of sadness creep into my body that I had not felt in a long time.

###

The above story is all true. As I write this it just over three weeks since I had that surgery and my view on the world has certainly changed. The time spent recovering in hospital was a great time to think. I had many hours of silence and contemplation in which my mind could wander and explore possibilities about my life that I had previously ignored. As such, I learned a lot about myself and about life in general.

Here are the three biggest things I learned while I was recovering from lung surgery.

It is OK to be sad, but it is not OK to dwell on it

If you hadn’t already noticed, I’m a positive kind of person. I like to find the fun and happy side of every situation and I always try to maintain a positive outlook on life. Even when having surgery on a major internal organ...

Yes I had that initial jolt of sadness and negativity but I have since realised that feeling that is normal. It was a very negative situation and the natural response there is to feel those negative emotions. It is OK to feel sad about things.

Sadness is a good emotion to alert us that something is not right in our life, but it is only designed as an indicator for change. We are not supposed to dwell on it or use it as our main energy source in life. Sadness is there to show us that we don’t like something and that we need to do something about it.

Sometimes bad stuff just happens. It’s not the end of the world

When bad stuff happens we have a tendency to exaggerate just how bad it is. I didn’t like the fact that I had another collapsed lung but it certainly wasn’t the end of the world, or even the end of my life.

Bad things happen and sometimes we have no control over them. But that does not mean we should whinge and moan about them. Instead we can focus on what we can control and what positive changes we can make.

While I was in hospital a few friends came to see me, including a woman who works with kids that spend the majority of their time in hospital. She told me of this one kid, a small boy, who had a rare condition that affected his lungs and resulted in him constantly requiring a tube out the side of his chest. Here I was feeling annoyed about having the tube for 3 to 4 days and this poor kid had been in hospital for 3 to 4 months with it.

But you know what else that kid had? He still had fun. He played with the other kids, he ran around (with chest drain in hand), and he could still laugh and smile. He certainly didn’t enjoy having the chest tube in but he didn’t let it become a big deal either.

Bad stuff can happen just as randomly as good stuff. But one bad incident does not preclude us from future fun and happiness. One bad incident is not the end of the world.

Balance long-term gratification and instant gratification

Another insight I gained during my stay in hospital was the need to balance long-term satisfaction (or delayed gratification) with instant gratification. More importantly I realised the need for the attitude of being willing to sacrifice one for the other.

It is too easy to get caught up on only one form of gratification in our life without considering the other. Some people live their life just by focusing on what will make them happy in each instant. This can be a positive way to live in the short-term but with a complete lack of long-term thinking people in this category find it had to achieve big things in their life.

To achieve our goals and the success we dream of, we need to use delayed gratification. But living in a way where we focus completely on delayed gratification is not the answer either. We should not spend our time working so hard to achieve a future state of happiness that we miss out on opportunities to actually be happy now. There needs to be a balance.

My surgery is the perfect example of delayed gratification because it was always my choice to have it. I could have chosen to forgo the surgery and live with the constant possibility, and fear, that I would suffer a recurrence. Instead I chose to be proactive. I chose to experience some short-term pain and suffering (i.e. sacrifice my immediate happiness) in order to prevent it from happening again for the rest of my life. A few days of pain versus a lifetime of happiness…that’s the sacrifice and balance I’m talking about.

Sometimes the “quick win” of instant gratification can be what we need - living in the now, experiencing the injection of short-term happiness and the ability to forget about our worries and have fun. But at other times we need that long-term focus - the ability to delay our gratification, to push through short-term “suffering”, to work towards a greater goal, and achieve something that will ultimately provide much more happiness.

Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are. ~Arthur Golden,Memoirs of a Geisha

When experiencing adversity or hardship the key is to use it as a tool for reflection on our self. Adversity is the perfect excuse to think deeply about our life and create positive changes.

After all my thinking my head was hurting (maybe that was just the painkillers) but I felt good for it and I was back to my happy and positive self even in the face of adversity. I felt uplifted, having had the time to think about my life and coming to the conclusion that everything was still as good as I had thought. Except my lungs, but you can’t win them all.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Exercise Induced Headaches (EIH) Update

A while back now I posted an article about Exercise Induced Headaches (EIH). I have been suffering from them on and off for a few years now, mainly triggered by some form of over-exertion, and have never been able to find out exactly why they happen. It's a pain in the neck, literally. Since that EIH article I have been experimenting with myself and my headaches to try to get a handle on them and when I noticed that that article was one of my most popular (in terms of page views) I realised that there are many others in the same boat as me - suffering these headaches with no clear explanation as to why. I started to write an update to share my experiences but time ran away from me and the article never was published.

Until yesterday when one of my readers, Travis, reminded me that others are still struggling with EIH. So it is time to update my findings on Exercise Induced Headaches (EIH) in the hope that it can help others.

My Headaches Are Gone

Firstly, I have not suffered EIH since writing that article and taking a break from the gym. I am back working hard at the gym now, and have been for months, but I think I have learned a bit about my headaches and their causes. I feel that my workouts are better (and harder) now than they ever were (and I am leaner, fitter, and in better shape too) but I never have that feeling that I am straining so much that my head may explode. I'd say that's a good thing.

Before I share my tips for beating those nasty Exercise Induced Headaches let me just be clear again - I am not a doctor and this is not advice per se but just lessons I learned from my experiences. Use your discretion when applying to your own situation.

Lessons Learned For Beating EIH

In that first EIH article I hypothesized several theories for the causes behind my exercise headaches, one of which was about poor technique at the gym. I was on the right track there but not nearly in enough detail. Here are some of lessons I have learned over the past few months with my self-experimentation for EIH.

Focus on using the right muscles

When busting out weights at the gym I have learned that it is much better to focus on feeling that good, deep, burning pain in the right muscles rather than getting an extra rep/set out or upping the weights used. I was pushing myself to hit limits that my body could not match and instead of failing gracefully I was compensating with the rest of my body. I was using other muscles and incorrect technique to push myself to go just that little bit further and the result was an excess of tension in all the wrong places - back, neck, and shoulders.

Creating tension in those areas simply leads to headaches, and when all that blood is pumping through your body during exercises those headaches can feel like an explosion.

I'm not saying that pushing to failure is bad but what is important is how you define that failure.

Failure means failure to complete an exercise with perfect technique

Read that heading again. That is what failure means. Performing an exercise is all about getting the technique right and it does not matter if it is your 1st or 50th rep. Perfect technique should be maintained at all times. As soon as you cannot perform the exercise with that perfect technique then you have reached failure. There is no point swing your back and throwing your shoulders into the mix just to get an extra rep if the technique is poor.

A small number of perfect technique reps beats any number of mediocre technique reps any day of the week.

Breathing is important

Obviously breathing is important but I found that when I was pushing myself hard to find that extra rep I was often holding my breath. This is bad for many reasons, but it is the less-obvious ones that I want to focus on for the purpose of exercise induced headaches.

Holding your breath during exercise is heavily linked to tensing your neck. When we hold our breath normally nothing much changes in our body. But when we are under physical stress various parts of our body tense up in order to help out - mainly the abdominals and the neck. This is the way our body is designed to help us find that a short burst of extra strength when we really need it (i.e. life or death situations) but at the gym we misuse it - we lengthen the time these areas stay tensed when we hold our breath and the result is often dizziness, nausea, and headaches.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Workout time is for working out only

I was big on taking my iPod to the gym, hitting shuffle, tuning out everyone else as I pushed through my gym routine. Bad idea. Tuning out is exactly the wrong thing to do when working out as you need to be entirely focused on the task at hand. If you are not focused then it is more than likely that you will a) not use the correct muscle groups b) not use perfect technique and c) not remember to breath.

You need to see your workouts as a time for concentration. A time to be zen-like. Feel the energy of the barbell resonate with you....ok maybe not quite so airy fairy but seriously, cutting down on distractions helps. When you are working out you should devote yourself to the exercise you are performing at that time. Nothing else matters. No listening to music, no chatting during a set, and no perving at the oily man-mountain deadlifting 500kg in the corner. It's just about you and the exercise.

Be Headache Free

Take a moment to consider your own efforts at the gym, or in whatever arena you tend to suffer your headaches, and see if you can identify the causes. Hopefully you can find something useful out of my experiences and put those headaches away for ever. Good luck!

Image: Ambro

Fitness February and My 4 Hour Body

February is over. Time to assess how I fared in my self imposed Fitness February and do a 6 week wrap up of my experiences on The 4-Hour Body.

Fitness February Goals

Visit the Doctor - Done (barely). I was slack for this. I only ended up seeing the Doctor yesterday and even that was for another problem. I have been referred to a specialist though and through that I will get my blood taken and some test done to get a good snapshot of my health and fitness, which was the whole point.

Visit a Feldenkrais expert/Physio/Chiropractor - Not done. I have no excuse here apart from a lack of motivation. I really did want to go but it felt like other important things kept popping up and physio took a back seat. It is still on my to-do list though.

Trim Body Fat - Done. I definitely trimmed down over February, dropping several centimetres from my hips and waist. For more information scroll down to the 4 Hour Body section.

Build Muscle - Done. While losing a bit of fat I managed to gain weight still which was mostly muscle. I gained several centimetres, especially on my chest and my arms and shoulders are definitely more defined. See the 4 Hour Body section for more details.

Run better - Done. I only completed two full runs over 5kms but I also did several short practice sessions on the treadmill to work on my running style. My first run was on 18/02 for 5.38km in 34:03 which is an average pace of 6:20 minutes per kilometre. My second run was 5.47km in 30:41 which is an average of 5:37 minutes per kilometre, smashing my goal of wanting to run 5km in 30 minutes.

My 4 Hour Body Journey

I have had pretty good success with The 4-Hour Body concepts. I definitely lost weight on the Slow Carb Diet, and I have gained some muscle following the Occam’s Protocol after struggling early on but that was simply because I was not eating enough food.

My Measurement Changes

Left Bicep (cm): 32.5 >>> 32.5 (no change)
Right Bicep (cm): 33 >>> 33 (no change)
Chest (cm): 99.5 >>>102.5 (+3cm)
Waist (cm): 88.5 >>> 83cm (-5cm)
Hips (cm): 93 >>> 90.5 (-2cm)

Weight (kg): 84.3 >>> 82.9
Body Fat (%): 17.5 >>> 14.0

Note: I did not follow the supplement plan given for gaining mass with Occam’s Protocol. I went natural (except for some protein powder) so that means no Glutamine, NO-Xplode, PAGG etc. Which could well be the reason why my muscle gain was no where near the effects described in the book.

Strength Changes

Close Grip Pull Down(kg): 40 >>> 60 (+ 50%) Shoulder Press (kg): 20 >>> 35 (+ 75%) Bench Press (kg): 25 >>> 40 (+ 60%) Leg Press (kg): 90 >>> 130 ( +44%)

I made significant gains in strength across the board. All from only 11 short work outs! Impressive.

Before and After Photos

There is not too much noticeable difference here but I promise it is there. I thinned down quickly around my waist and hips (losing 3kg in under 2 weeks) and then slowly gained size, especially across my shoulders and chest. Sophie has commented several times on my changed size and shape so unless she is just fanning my ego it appears my results are noticeable to others.

Conclusions

A good February. I achieved most of my goals and am definitely feeling fitter, healthier and happier because of it. My 4 Hour Body experiment was an overall success even though I did not turn into the Hulk. I enjoyed only spending an hour at the gym every week and still getting results. Much better than slaving away at the gym for hours on end. Less effort, same results.

I am going to take a little break from the gym to rest a few niggles I have picked up along the way (mainly a tight back which I think was me trying to be a he-man with the kettlebells). After that I will re-start my bulking routine, probably changing up a few exercises. I am not a big fan of the close-grip pull down so that will be the first to go.

The diet will continue. I modified it heavily to increase my food intake for bulking and now it has become habit. Its not a diet anymore but just my lifestyle. I am also considering trialling the Paleo diet/lifestyle. Maybe that is another experiment I can run sometime in the near future.

Edit (27/4/11): I did indeed trial the paleo diet and I have just gone past the first month and I am loving it. The trial is over and it is now a lifestyle.

Exercise Induced Headaches (aka Exertion Headache)

Exercise Induced Headaches (EIH), also known as exertion headaches, are terrible pulsating headaches that appear very suddenly, most commonly during intense exercise (and during orgasm). The pain is so intense and they occur so abruptly that they have been given the nickname of "thunderclap headache". For me, the pain originates in my neck at the base of my skull and seems to pulsate to the beat of my heart. Sounds like fun doesn't it? Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I am not giving medical advice. I am a sufferer of EIH and am just collating my information. If you are suffering headaches then I always recommend visiting a doctor first.

What causes Exercise Induced Headaches?

Sadly, my research has failed to find a definitive answer as to what causes EIH. Some of the proposed reasons I have read include: pushing your body too hard, unlucky genetics for migraine sufferers, not warming up, dehydration, and poor technique during exercise. Let's look at each of these:

Proposed Theory 1: Pushing too hard?

I have recently started a high-intensity training program which involves me pushing myself to the point of failure in my weights routine. That is, I push until I could not go any further even if my life depended on it. But thousands (maybe millions) of people around the world follow this concept, including my most dedicated gym friends, without EIH.

Conclusion: Nope.

Proposed Theory 2: Unlucky genetics for migraine suffers?

The fact that the causes of migraines are still relatively unknown, or at least vary from person to person, causes immediate skepticism but I also have doubts based on my own migraine experiences. I contribute many migraines (mine included) to stress and anxiety and while some people may argue that pushing until muscle failure causes stress on the body I think it is a weak link at best.

Conclusion: Maybe.

Proposed Theory 3: Not warming-up enough?

My first occurrence of EIH was around 2007. It was during my gym routine (chest press to be precise) which started with 30 minutes cardio and stretching. Needless to say I was quite warm when it happened.

Conclusion: No, no, no.

Proposed Theory 4: Dehydration?

I drink lots of water. An average day for me is in the 2-3 litre range while at work, and then more when I exercise. During my first occurrence of EIH in 2007 I was drinking 1 litre of water throughout each workout. However the latest occurrence (Jan 2011) I may have been dehydrated so I wont completely rule this out yet.

Conclusion: Doubtful.

Proposed Theory 5: Poor technique during exercise?

I love my sports and exercise but I have not been much of a gym junkie. My first venture to the gym was 2006 and was mainly because I wasn't playing any sport at the time so I wanted to stay active and keep fit. Same again for 2010/11. So I am a relative muppet when it comes to weights. Sure I have done the research, read up on technique, and watched the pros, but is that enough? Probably not. Combining that with the fact that I have never had an EIH while playing sport makes me believe it is my poor technique at the gym that is the main culprit.

Another compelling argument for this is my lack of strength. I am naturally thin ("built for endurance" I was told in school) and my muscles are slow to develop, so when busting out weights at the gym I believe that my body compensates by using muscles other than the target areas to help.

Conclusion: Likely. 

Orgasm/Sex headaches: The end of the world.

The news for EIH sufferers gets worse - it can happen during orgasm. I could probably handle getting the odd EIH at the gym, but appearing in the bedroom is a no-no. Sex is a wonderful thing and to have it ruined by a such a suddenly severe pain in the back of the head is just not cool.

My conclusion is that while headaches do occur during orgasms they do not create EIH but will aggravate an existing condition.

Interestingly, I never have this problem unless I have recently suffered an EIH at the gym. Some people think it is the exertion involved in sex that causes the headache and in their case maybe they are right. But my conclusion is that while headaches do occur during orgasms they do not create EIH but will aggravate an existing condition. For me it can even happens when I "ride the unicycle" which is not a very intensive physical activity.

Even with my conclusion that sex was not the cause, it is the very occurrence of an orgasm headache which sealed the deal and made me go see a doctor.

What my Doctor Said

My doctor's explanation was pretty simple. He said that through the neck runs big blood vessels (and nerves) that connect to the brain, and during certain activities (i.e. exercise) we can strain these blood vessels just like we can strain our muscles. When we have a particularly large strain in our neck we will often get headaches, most notably when we have large quantities of blood pumping through the area at high speed. Doubly so when the area is under tension. Which sounds very much like what occurs during high-intensity exercise and orgasms.

It made sense to me, and just like when straining a muscle, the recommendation was simple - rest. He recommended two weeks complete rest (no gym, no sex) to let the blood vessel recover from the strain. I followed his advice and sure enough my headaches were gone, but so was my confidence at the gym.

How to Beat Exercise Induced Headaches

I am not going to let EIH win. I want to be able to push myself to failure at the gym (because that is when you get the biggest gain from your muscles) without fearing another explosion of pain in my head. So here is my laundry list of things to do in order to overcome EIH:

1. Visit a doctor, preferably a specialist;
2. Assess blood pressure and make adjustments if necessary;
3. Rest again before recommencing weights workout;
4. Daily neck relaxation exercises;
5. Practice correct breathing technique during exercise; and
6. Focus on only using target muscles and relaxing everything else.

I will provide a progress report in a few weeks. In meantime, if you are an EIH sufferer then my heart goes out to you and if you have any tips, tricks or information that you think helps then I would love to hear from you.

Update 15/06/11: I took a little longer than a "few weeks" but I did manage to write a progress report on my EIH and how I beat it. Check it out here.