My Journey Of Losing My Stomach Due To Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer Syndrome
I registered for the 2020 Charleston Marathon! This will be my first Marathon without a stomach (2nd overall).
I’m excited about this race because I’m going to join another stomachless friend who has the CDH1 Gene Mutation and had a total gastrectomy 10 years ago and he will be racing with me.
Keep looking for updates. More exciting news coming soon!
I know, I know. 2,500 ft elevation – who cares? Considering I have done almost all my training in zero elevation in Charleston, SC, it was great to get a bit of elevation into the mix without completely failing. I was impressed the added elevation didn’t hurt my performance too much. I stopped a few times for water breaks and I ran through town a bit so I had to stop for cars. That made my time a bit slower overall.
If you visit Tucson, AZ and want to run/bike – I highly recommend visiting “The Loop”. It’s beautiful, paved, clean, and safe. Pictures below!
This triathlon was hard. It started with a swim against the current in the ocean. I survived the sharks and jellyfish (didn’t see either but thought about them both the entire time). My bike split was a new personal record (PR) with 25 miles at 22.15 mph. However, the run was very hard. My calf was extremely tight and I thought I was going to have to walk the 6.1 miles. It finally loosened up and I finished strong on the last 2.5 miles.
I’m happy with the effort overall and it earned a 2nd place finish in my age group. First time being on the podium after racing this race 3 times prior.
I’m thinking of a half marathon or full marathon in December/January. Stay tuned!
NEW PERSONAL RECORD (PR) 5K TIME
I had the pleasure of running the 2019 Turtle Trek 5K which raised $70,000 for Sea Turtle protection courtesy of the South Carolina Aquarium. What an incredible fundraising success story!
The 5K included a flat beach run in the hard sand and it was a simple out and back course. There was about a 10-15 mile per hour headwind on the way out, but a nice tailwind on the way in. It was hot, but that’s expected this time of year in Charleston, SC.
I hit a new PR! I placed 1st in my age group (out of 29), 8th overall (out of 421) with a time of 20:31.8 which was a 6:37 pace. If you’re a runner, then you might not be impressed. But for me, this was a big deal! This is my fastest time since High School.
The sad part of the story is that I was sore for 4 days following the race. Like, super sore.
I’m still not sure if this has to do with having less muscle mass, or nutrition. I hope to figure that out soon. Success story either way in my opinion.
This is a big update for me. It’s been about two months since I have had sugar issues! In the past, if I consumed too much sugar, my blood sugar levels would go to 280 and I would get super sleepy but have a heart rate of 110 which is high for just sitting at my desk. Especially since my normal resting heart rate is in the mid-40’s. Then – 30-45 minutes later, my blood sugar would be in the 60’s which causes dizziness, sweating, unclear thinking, hunger, and more. Neither are fun but low blood sugar can be dangerous. Thankfully, my pancreas does work – it’s just still adjusting to my body receiving raw food straight to my small intestines. For 32 years of my life, my small intestines received food after the stomach perfectly broke it down. That changed abruptly after surgery (that last sentence was written by captain obvious).
Good News:
It appears my pancreas is figuring things out! To test the power of my pancreas and my body learning how to process food, I decided to have some Pad Thai. Pad Thai has a boatload of rice noodles. Rice Noodles are very high in carbs and often compared to sugar. But – Pad Thai is also fantastic and delicious. I specifically order it Thai Hot – which is so hot it often causes hiccups or a mild sweat. It’s so good.
I’m happy to report I have tried Pad Thai twice in the last week with no sugar issues. (insert Fortnite Dance in celebration).
New milestone! It’s been 19 months and I’m very thankful for the progress that my body continues to make.
Can we meet up at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tuscon?
No Stomach For Cancer is partnering with the University of Arizona to host a fall Spotlight on Stomach Cancer. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2019, 08:00AM – 02:00PM with reception starting at 5:30pm. I hope to see you there!
Please register and preview agenda here: https://www.nostomachforcancer.org/news/events-calendar/icalrepeat.detail/2019/10/26/53/-/spotlight-on-stomach-cancer
Things continue to improve. It’s been weeks since I have had a sugar crash and can’t remember the last time I had a bad reflux issue (sometimes I’ll have a small issue where I just have to drink some water in the middle of the night or eat a rice cake but it’s generally manageable within 15 minutes and I’m back to sleep).
My fitness continues to improve also. In fact, I had another record-breaking triathlon season. Breaking my prior personal best, twice. I shaved 2 minutes off my entire time. I finished 2nd overall in the 30-34 age group series. And I missed 1st place by 9 points of out 30,000 points for the series. It equates to a 3-second miss. Yes – if I was 3 seconds faster I would have gotten 1st. HA! Talk about a close season! I finished 9th out of all age group racers (170 or so). I’m excited about that and it has me motivated to keep improving.
I’ll do an Olympic Triathlon again in September and hopefully a half/full marathon in Dec/Jan. We’ll see. Stay tuned!
I was recently in Dallas/Fort Worth for work and was able to run 5 miles after a few meetings. Nothing too special as I love going on runs when I travel. However – it was 112 degrees out. Seriously.
I had a camelback type thing (backpack with built in water that holds 50 ounces). I felt that I had plenty of water, even with the heat.
Well – the run was fun. It was indeed hot. And I drank the whole 50 ounces in about 45 minutes. I couldn’t believe it (since I don’t have a stomach, I don’t have the space to chug water). I suspect it was a mixture of how much I was sweating and with a higher heart rate, it’s easier to consume food/drinks.
Anyways – just another cool story that things become pretty normal over time. It’s been 18 months since my TG. If I don’t overeat and I get enough sleep – my energy levels are similar to before. Thanks for reading a feel free to tweet me any questions!
Had a great race on Sunday for the first sprint triathlon in 2019! Snagged Second Place and it was a tough one!
If you are reading this, you are probably thinking, “How did you get nutrition during the race”? Great question! I feel like I got lucky. What worked for me, doesn’t mean it will work for you. But – It might!
Prerace:
I treated my days as normal before the race. I did take one GU Hydration Drink Tabs with a G2 Gatorade two days before the race and the day before, I took two GU Hydration Drink Tabs with two G2 Gatorades. I sipped on these between meals. The evening meal before the race was pad thai – not spicy. I did spike my sugar a bit (expected with me) and caught it on the way down at 58, and then ate a few gummy packs to bring it back up. But – no major issues.
Pre-race: wake at 4:00 – 3 oz of Espresso
Eat a “One Protein Bar” at around 5am (takes about 45 min)
7am: start sipping on First Endurance EFS: Lemon Lime and water (two separate bottles)
7:55am: last sip of water. Race Time!
On the Bike about 42 min later. I have water up front with one GU Hydration Drink Tab, 4 GU Energy Gel (tri-berry) mixed with water on the frame, and Hammer Perpetuem on the back.
I sipped all these every few minutes, mixing it up as I went. I grabbed water at the water stations and refilled my front water container and dropped one more GU Hydration Drink Tab at around mile 45. I also had a bag of ruffles that I started eating around mile 30 because sipping sugary drinks becomes boring. Dang – those chips taste amazing.
In transition from the bike to the run (T2), I put an ice filled water bottle (smart water bottle) down the back of my tri-suit – and took a bottle of Hammer Perpetuem on my fanny pack and 2 extra GU Hydration Drink Tab in my pack. Those were extra should it get hot. Well – it got very hot. 91+ degrees. The ice melted around mile 5, then I drank that. And I popped those extra GU Hydration Drink Tabs with water at mile 5 and 9 and got more GU Gels from the volunteers on the race to mix with water when I refilled the water.
I really expected to blow up or cramp or “fail” or something during the run. But – this plan worked very well. I walked the transitions when I needed to refill, but beyond that – I had a great race and didn’t have major issues. It was hard – but it was so rewarding! Thank you, for everyone who cheered me on along the way and tracked me live. I felt like I was getting energized by the support!
Love ya’ll. Would love to do a full IRONMAN soon. But the primary challenge is scheduling the training around family, work, etc.
Tweet me at @GoWithoutYoGut if you want me to blog about specific topics.