I first met him in 1987. I had moved out to a small town to run a boat manufacturing plant, part of our family business. He had recently started working in our warehouse supplying materials to the plant floor. He was a young guy, lean with long hair and a scruffy beard. Friendly as could be. And a great worker.

Over the next year and a half, he worked his way out of the warehouse and became our quality control manager. He kept excelling at his job. When we closed the plant, he was the only employee we valued enough to bring back to our head office. He continued to excel and perform for the next ten years or so until we sold the business.

The Anti-Aging Lifestyle Saves a Life

We became friends over those years. I learned about his upbringing and the challenges he endured. He was a recovered alcoholic. He had run with the wrong crowd and had been an IV drug user. He was on a collision course with disaster but was one of the few who turned his life around. Married, kids, wonderful father.

He moved down east and we lost touch with each other. In the last month or so we have reconnected. His story to catch me up on his life is amazing. I’ll let him tell it.

“I have always kept relatively fit and been somewhat conscious of my weight and what I eat — but have also experienced my fair share of peaks and valleys. I think it was my own little health scare a few years back that helped to wake me up.

In my early 40’s, I was likely in the best shape of my life at that time. I ran and worked out every day, and trained in kung fu 3 or 4 times a week. I looked good and felt even better.

Then a couple of things happened that derailed me a bit. First, my brother-in-law was killed on his way to work early one morning. A fishing party from Minnesota had been driving all night and the driver fell asleep and hit him head on. My brother-in-law was the only casualty — the guys from the USA all walked away. That really shook me up. Earl was a great guy, terrific father, and had taken me in when I was in trouble. Really showed me how fragile life was and how quickly it can all be taken away.

A month later I got a call from my best friend’s sister from Toronto — to tell me that her brother was dead. This guy was a screen writer and being in that industry he had trouble staying away from the vices that had plagued our younger years. His parents asked me to come and do the eulogy so I flew back to Toronto for a few days and stayed with them.

When I went to his viewing, he looked terrible. Aside from being dead, the years had not been good to him and his parents told me he was suffering from the effects of Hepatitis C and his liver was barely functioning. Throughout the night I saw some other old acquaintances — and as I asked about many of my old cohorts, I was disturbed to hear that many had died. Either from liver failure or suicide — and all struggled and suffered with HepC and many had tried treatment but were not successful. 

When I came back to Winnipeg I struggled with that. I was an intravenous drug uses for many years with these people — but I felt great. I figured that the virus had hit the group after I left and cleaned up. 

After a couple of weeks I couldn’t shake the feeling so I went and got tested. To my surprise I too tested positive and was told that my liver function tests were alarming. I made an appointment with a viral doctor and got on a waiting list for Interferon. It took a few months but I finally got selected. I asked this specialist to retest me because I felt great and did not have any of the signs that I had heard about — and if I was infected, we were talking close to 24 years ago. He tested me again and I again came back positive — and my viral counts were very high and my liver function showed me as near critical.

I asked him how this was possible, and he said simple — my total and complete abstinence from all drugs and alcohol, and my healthy lifestyle. Issue was that though my body had done a great job so far at keeping the symptoms at bay, I apparently was on the cusp of losing that battle. 

He recommended I agree to start on a 6 month interferon and ribavirin program. He also suggested I put on a couple of pounds because I would need it. So I likely put on about 5 pounds ahead of starting. The treatment was rough — physically and mentally. Even though it was only 6 months — I almost didn’t complete the last 2 months because of my physical and mental state at the time. 

I did complete the program but it took its toll. I lost 35 pounds, some hair, and mostly my ability to socialize or be around people. I gave up shaving and caring about myself. My eating and fitness had taken a huge hit as well since near the end I was sleeping most of the time and drinking Ensure to survive. 

It took me a bit of time to get back to “normal”. Since there are no guarantees and the success rate is actually quite low, I tried to stay optimistic. I was tested at the end of the program, then 30 days later. Then again at 6 months, 1 year and then at 2 years. Thankfully each test came back that my virus count was undetectable and my liver function was normal. 

After my 2 year result, the doctor shook my hand and said to not bother coming back because I had essentially just won the lottery and was considered to have graduated the program and was healthy and disease free. I made a joke about needing the money, and he flatly said, this result and recovery is worth more than any amount of money. He wished me well and told me to not waste the second lease I was given – and that without question I owed it all to clean living and healthy lifestyle choices (FYI — next summer I will celebrate my 30th year of being drug free).

Fast forward to now — have picked up the pace a bit and am even more committed to a long, healthy life. I still run and go to the gym, but the biggest change I have made is through nutrition (including supplements). 

I no longer go through the cycle of slowly adding weight and then starving it back off, or running an extra few miles to counteract a couple of bad meal choices. I now eat very heartily — but simply make better choices.

Because I work out, I eat a high protein diet, and greatly reduce my sugars and sodium.  I do track my intake and calories — but for a different reason. I am usually calorie low for the day and find I need to add a couple of extra meals in.

I am ok with not using salt, but sugar was my hard one. I used to drink a lot of pop and eat a lot of candies. I gave up all sweetened drinks including pop and packaged juice, but when tracking my sugar intake I struggle with fresh fruit. I found I was substituting my sugar craving by eating extra fruits, especially the sweeter ones. Now I generally buy blackberries and raspberries to sweeten my smoothies. I also still eat grapefruit and bananas but for the other benefits. I also gave up beef and pork but still enjoy fish and poultry. The hardest thing was for me to eat more vegetables.

I tell everyone how my lifestyle choices are what saved my life. People who know me today see the guy who enjoys being active, loves to run and cares about what he puts into his body. A world away from my old life of poisoning and punishing my body. An old friend of mine once commented that I was the only person they had met who had reincarnated within their own lifetime.“

Wow! What a testimonial to the power of the human body to heal itself when it’s fuelled by good lifestyle choices and habits. I can’t thank him enough for sharing this inspirational story of strength, determination, and courage. I am so proud to count him as a friend.