EARLY PLOT TWIST: This is not a post on fitness where I talk about how I went from a skinny, scrawny, weak dude to a buff dude.
You'll find no meal plans or workout regimes here. Heck, I don't even count calories or eat clean, plus I drink a lot of beer.
This is a story of my fight with an autoimmune disease called hyperthyroidism.
In short, it was something that came out of nowhere. There's no known real cause or cure. The disease was making my thyroid gland send out way too much of the hormones it creates in our bodies. My body was essentially working against me.
The picture on the left was taken a couple of years ago when the symptoms hit me full-on.
I really, really thought that I was going to die.
Out of nowhere one fine day, I noticed my right shoulder started to hurt. I shrugged it off as an old injury I got as a Bboy.
Then I noticed my heart started beating really, really quick all the time, even when I was in bed.
Then I noticed I experienced random muscle spasms and weakness. I remember waking up and feeling sore all over.
Then my hands couldn't stop trembling.
Then I started having breathing difficulties. I remember walking home one day from a short walk and I literally had to sit down to regain my composure.
Then in just a month, I lost 7KG (15 lbs) from doing nothing! Everyone was asking what happened to me.
I've been generally fit my entire life. Can you imagine not being able to do a single chin-up when I could do like 10 anytime my entire life? I also lost all my moves in I learnt in my dance.
Finally, I went to see the doctor and got myself checked.
In just three days, I got the diagnosis.
Boom. "You've hyperthyroidism Alden."
The meds took its effects immediately. I felt instantly better.
In a few short weeks, I regained back some strength, my dance moves and also the weight I lost.
Second plot twist that got me really down and depressed...
After a month since the diagnosis, I went back for my followup with the doctor.
I thought I was cure. I thought everything would be okay.
Then he told me, "No. This disease is long-term. It'd be with you pretty much your entire life."
That hit me really hard.
I was only 28 back then and it got to me like, "Wow! I am not even fucking 30 yet and I have to pop a pill everyday like an old man!"
I felt really down, and scared for a while.
Life felt so unpredictable.
I am a good person. I always try to be. I didn't even do a thing and I got this shit with me!
I felt unmotivated to do anything. I was pissed, and tired.
Then one day I was like, "Ahh fuck it! Fuck luck!"
I was tired of feeling sorry for myself and also being pissed off with the unpredictability of the universe.
If I chose to be pissed off, I'd have had MANY other things to be angry about.
Did I mention that I essentially delayed getting my blood checked because I thought I couldn't breathe well due to the haze situation here in Singapore back then?
Did I mention that the first doctor I saw thought it was nothing and just prescribed me muscle relaxant?
Did I mention that on the day I got my diagnosis, the entire clinic screwed up my queue number and I effectively waited an extra 45 minutes in the waiting room, trembling and sweating away?
Did I mention that the doctor told me hyperthyroidism is more common in girls?!
All of that happened, for real.
But I just refused to let it get to me anymore.
Fuck luck. You can either give in to the world or universe and let it 'bestow' upon you every little thing, good or bad...
... Or you can just gather your balls, grab life by the balls, have faith in YOURSELF and start taking charge of every damn thing as you dust yourself off while the bad shit keeps trying to cling on to you.
It has been three years since my diagnosis.
I control my medication now. I take like two pills a month. My last visit had my doctor saying that I could get off the medication if I wanted.
I work out and dance more regularly now in a more focused manner, which is how I managed to get to where I am today.
And for whatever bad happens, it's like, meh, I've been through worse. I will easily move on.
Fuck luck.
Just keep on keeping on your own way and you'll always be moving forward.
Thanks for reading! Hope this helps.