From Sick To Fit
In 2008 I was lying on my deathbed, beaten down and devastated by a terminal illness. Surrounded by family and a disease I had never even heard of, my unfulfilled dreams and discouraged thoughts led me to one crucial question: If I die today, what is going to die with me?
I was only 32 years old when I was diagnosed with Morbus Wegner. Up until that point I was a successful financial advisor and I had played semi-professional basketball for half of my life. I never smoked, took drugs and alcohol was a one glass thing on New Years Eve. I believed to have been living a “healthy” lifestyle.
So why was I lying there 26 pounds lighter than two weeks ago? It wasn’t until later in my journey where I would understand that the why didn’t matter, as it would have only held me back.
Within one year of the diagnosis my muscles began deteriorating and my kidneys alongside my upper respiratory tract began failing. I was exhausted from no sleep as I suffered from extreme night sweats and I developed a life threatening vascular inflammation. Basketball was taken away from my life and I felt life had beaten me to a corner and I became numb.
Numb to pain, numb to everything going on around me. I watched as the doctors panicked, trying to diagnose my symptoms and find a cure. My family broke down in tears confirming my thoughts that this might be the last moment we share together. Strangely enough though, I felt no fear. My feelings were peaceful and free. So free, that I was ready to let my life go. And there it was again, the crucial question to myself: If I die today, what is going to die with me?
It was then I heard a faded sound from far, far away: It was my wife fighting for my life with the doctors in charge. Her fighting for my life made me realize of all the people who loved me dearly and were willing to fight for me. And then I knew: This was my reason to
not give up on my dreams and existence. I couldn’t keep lying down. I couldn’t keep being passive. No. I would find away to get back up, no matter how hard it would be. It was time I accepted my destiny, tackle it, and fight my way back to life.