Good Question...

A few of my friends have asked how I found out I had this disease.

After high school, I've had an up and down battle with weight. Being 6'4" I could pack on a lot of extra pounds, like a typical American. Last January I started working out in earnest, first on the elliptical trainer in the basement, while watching movies, and eventually I moved outdoors to start running again (when I lived in Illinois I had a 2 year period where I ran all the time). I also stopped eating junk food. Over the course of months I lost 55 pounds, and I was running 10-15 miles a week. Just casual running, not anything fantastic.

Once I lost all that bubble wrap from around my midsection, I started feeling some pain. I thought it was a pulled muscle, or an ulcer. Finally after about 3 months of pain (and after I had to stop running because of the pain) I went to the doctor. She ordered a CT scan. The "death panel" at the insurance company denied coverage, so I was about to skip it. But the doctor insisted and argued with the insurance company. I got my CT scan. Luckily. The pain was either the tumor displacing organs or nerves, or the goo in my belly making things stick together (yes, that is gross).

Right now I feel pretty darn good, actually, besides some annoying lingering pain from my first surgery. And last night I went for my first run since July 26 (according to my Runkeeper app on my GPS enabled iPhone). I went for a very slow 2.5 mile run along the lake. Cardio-wise, I felt like I could have run farther, but my legs were tired. It's amazing how fast muscle disappears. I have not gained any weight back (in fact, I am now 60 pounds below my max) but I think I lost muscle mass and replaced it with some fat. So, back to exercising. I need to be in shape for the next surgery!