Road to Recovery - 4 Months Off TRT

In this video I talk openly about what I feel like being off TRT 100% for 4 months. As many of you know I had major heart issues that I became aware of in early January 2023 resulting in my having to have open heart surgery to replace my Aortic Valve and a portion of the artery above it. This was a result of a genetic defect I was born with.

Because of this I stopped all hormone therapy 100% and at the moment I am getting blood work to check on my Testosterone levels to see where they are at after several years of being on TRT. As expected my Testosterone is not very high now being off TRT but surprisingly better than I thought it would be. I will being getting my Testosterone checked out again in a couple of weeks to see where I am at and then have a discussion with my doctor to see what may be the best course of action moving forward...

I also talk a lot in this video about how I am personally feeling and how this is effecting me now that my testosterone is very low as compared to when I was on TRT. 

 

Road to Recovery - 2 Months Post Operation

In this video I take a ride on my EUC and talk about how things are going now that I am 2 month post operation. All in all I am feeling good, and as you can see in this video I am back to riding my EUC (Electric Unicycle). I am being pretty careful on it not trying to do anything crazy!

Life is a bit more complicated these days with all kinds of appointments and tests and calls related to my Heart condition which can make other things I want to get to a bit harder like getting my weight training in. At least at this point I need to limit my weight training a bit but I want to get more consistent with it for sure.

I also talk about TRT and how it relates to my Heart condition and what I am going through since TRT and the Heart and how it can be related good and bad benefits to the Heart so it really needs to be monitored properly by a knowledgeable doctor. I also talk about one of the drugs I am on called Entresto and my concerns with it. One concern which is the cost, I feel because of its high cost and profitability, how it is promoted over other less expensive drugs that may be as effective but less profitable for "Big Pharma" at the end of the day...

Road to Recovery - 7 Weeks Post Operation

In this video I talk about my visit to LifeLabs where I had to get my weekly INR bloodwork done to check out my blood clotting numbers (was a tad high). I also had to get an ECG done along with a Holter device put on so they can monitor my heart for a 20 hour period and see what's going on. All this is for my doctor at Saint Paul's Hospital as I have an appointment next week to go over how I am doing now. Hopefully we can make some medication adjustments as I feel I am taking a bit too much which is slowing down my heart and lowering my blood pressure a bit too much.

The medication doses I am on where set when I left the hospital and I was in AFIB with a very elevated heart rate. I have been out of AFIB and in Sinus heart rhythm now for at least a month and I can feel the low blood pressure especially when I get up from sitting down, I need to watch it or I could pass out! I get that the doctors want my heart to be resting and healing as much as possible but the lower heart rate (resting in the 50's) and low blood pressure (sometimes as low as 100 over 60) makes life a bit more challenging.

Every day I see progress and less pain in my chest (my sternum), but I still need to be careful not to overdo it in the gym or I could injure my sternum and set myself back a few weeks. Even this week I feel a lot more confident weight training and even added in some really light flies using cables for my chest. I look forward to being able to train harder as I do feel a lot less gassed out now and really the only thing holding me back is my ribs (sternum) healing fully and of course my week muscles :)

Road to Recovery - Back to the Gym

Today was a long awaited day for me, I was not sure exactly when it was going to happen as it was really based on how I was feeling and healing after my Open Heart Valve Surgery. In terms of my Sternum being healed it is mostly healed now but not completely and it does still feel a bit tender so I was very careful today when doing my workout. I kept things light and stayed away from doing any chest exercises as they will tend to open up the chest which I need to avoid right now.

That said, I was able to do mostly everything else and hit legs, shoulders, back, arms and abs today. Again I kept things light and focuses on high volume so lots of reps mainly just trying to get a pump and burn. I am sure after almost 2 month off from the gym, I will feel it and be sore tomorrow. If I am not super sore, I will hit the gym again and do another full body workout tomorrow but I have a feeling I may need to take a day off...

I can say in terms of cardio and feeling short or out of breath, I felt amazing! I did not gas out at all and was surpriesed at what it felt like to actually have my muscels tire out before I gassed out, this has not happened to me for a while and it made me feel almost super human!

Life is slowly getting back to some kind of normal which is awesome, I still need to be careful not to overdo things as I tend to push myself a bit hard at times, that is my biggest challenge right now, holding back!

Get Fit Over 40 Update Video - Battle Scars

My latest update showing off my Open Heart Valve Surgery battle scars, after all this is who I am now. I talk about how I am feeling, what I am able to do now about 5 weeks post operation and what my expectations are moving forward in terms of activity and fitness expectations.

This is for sure not the end of my fitness journey but perhaps just the beginning and maybe even most important challenge of my life. I am not sure what to expect but I do know I will give it my all and there will be no excuses along the way.