*treadmill
*super series shoulder warm-up

Bench

  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 185 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 275 x 3
  • 315 x 1
  • 365 x 1
  • 405 x 1
  • 455 x 1 - 3  board - added Jack shirt
  • 495 x 1 - 2 board
  • 545 x 1 - 1 board
  • 585 x 1 - touch
  • 605 x 1 - 4 board
  • 645 x 1 - 4 board

I'm happy that I was able to stick with Marshall's program today. It was up in the air as I began warming up, but the time off seemed to help...the weight loss did not. haha

 

As some of you know I was in the hospital for a few days and thought I'd share what happened for those that were concerned...

Last Friday I woke up at 4 am with some stomach pain and attributed it to being hungry since I didn't have much for dinner. So I got up and ate something and went back to bed. Later on when I got up to go to work I found the pain hadn't subsided, but had started to get worse. I went ahead and went to work with my wife and later took her to the airport since she was flying out of town for the weekend. By the time I had gotten home the pain had increased even more and was now my entire abdomen and all I was able to do was sit propped up on the couch. Standing up hurt because it stretched my abdomen out and any kind of pressure on my belly was painful. By the evening I had come to grips with the pain and was able to stand and make dinner for my girls and get them off to bed; I was able to eat for the first time too. An hour or so later I went to bed, but had a horrible time sleeping since it hurt to lay on my sides, back or belly. I told myself that if I was in this much pain in the morning then I'd have to go to the hospital.

Saturday morning came around and the pain had not subsided at all. I asked my MIL to come watch the girls for me and I drove myself to the ER. They took me right in and set me up with a CT scan and blood work. They found that my Lipase (Enzyme from your Pancreas)  count was well over 1000 when a normal count is between 10-140 for someone my age. Apparently I had Pancreatitis and my Appendix was enlarged too and I was going to need to be admitted to the hospital. I was transported to Florida Hospital South where I spent the next 3.5 days hooked up to an IV, getting antibiotics and a few doses of morphine for the pain. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything and got to meet surgeons, GI specialist and a couple of MD's as they poked and pressed on my belly to see how much pain I was in. One surgeon had pinpoint accuracy (sniper) and seemed to press right on my pancreas making me wince and pull away from her. The possibility of surgery was there and wasn't ruled out until I was given and ultrasound and MRI to make sure my gallbladder, pancreas and appendix were all good. Finally on Tuesday morning my Lipase count had dropped to 115 so I was allowed a clear liquid diet and had the most amazing chicken broth on the face of the planet as well as a superb strawberry jello. When we found that my pain didn't come back I was allowed to have a normal diet so I ate a sandwich, mashed potatoes and rice. Again no pain so all the doctors agreed I was good to go and discharged me that evening. I had my wife take me to IHOP for dinner with the girls where I had pancakes and dry toast...still no pain.

I've spent the last couple of days catching up on my sleep since you don't really get to sleep much in hospitals and It didn't help I had a neighbor down the hall that began screaming out every 35-45 minutes as well as working on changing up my diet. The plan is to try and do the meet on September 3rd still and is why I trained today to gauge whether I was capable of doing so. The real test will be on Sunday when I'm supposed to do my squat opener. I'm going to have to change up my diet and lifestyle a little bit, but it's well worth it. I don't want my kids to have to come see me in the hospital and start crying because of me having to be there ever again.

I'd like to mention that the doctors and nurses at Florida South were top notch and absolutely amazing. My nurses were Su, Cynthia, Gene, Katie and Shelley and did a superb job. Shelley was my overnight nurse and was my favorite...an absolute sweetheart.

To everyone that reached out to me...Thank you from the bottom of my heart. The support and concern from everyone was overwhelming and I consider myself to be a lucky man to have such friends and family.

A special thanks to Neal Cotton for coming to the ER to sit with me after he found out I was there. He didn't have to do it, but I can't thank him enough for doing so. Also to Sam Wahnish for taking time out of his busy day at work to visit me at the hospital and keep me company for a bit. Love you guys.