Overcoming adversity

By Wayne Joseph

There is a French proverb that goes, “Good fortune and bad are equally necessary to man, to fit him to meet the contingencies of this life.”

I’ve been a health advocate and runner/walker for most of my life. I have always believed in taking good care of my body to avoid problems associated with high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.

Until about two weeks ago I was logging 55 miles per week on the roads of East Hawaii, doing my daily jogs coupled with long walks.

My wife, Randee, a physical education teacher at Keaau Middle School, is the perfect mate for me. She, too, also logs many miles at home on her treadmill.

I’ve been able to avoid the trapping of high fat foods and for the most part limited my sweet intake.

During a recent MRI visit, following the one-year anniversary of my only episode of having seizures, it was discovered that I had a brain tumor.

Having an eternal caring and insistent wife, because I can be quite stubborn, I took the first available opening to go to Queen’s Medical Center and have brain surgery to remove the growth.

Now here is the tie-in to why it is important to stay healthy and fit:

What was to be a five-hour surgery lasted only 31/2 hours, record time they tell me for a man of 64.

What was to be five to seven days in the hospital ended up being just four days.

I was up and moving the day following surgery, taking baby steps at first around the hallways of the hospital.

The medical staff often remarked at how quickly I was recovering and the pain level was minimal and my attitude remained happy, cordial and at times even funny.

I credit all of these things to my overall health and fitness level that has served me well for many decades.

Exercise and diet are not the panacea for all that ails us, but both will contribute to a better attitude and a more resilient body.

Since being released from the hospital I am only walking about 30 miles per week. I need to take things slowly. There are still 14 staples on the right side of my head.

The brain seems to work fine. Four days after surgery I voluntarily wrote a 1,000-word story on high school wrestling. Of course, the Running with the Big Dog columns will continue as long as people out there are reading them and I do appreciate the community who takes the time to read over my stories.

The tumor was malignant and I am still waiting for the recommendations of a hematologist/oncologist.

Life is filled with adversity, and challenges will crop up when we least expect, but our attitude, spiritual beliefs and a healthy body will stand up to those challenges.

I’ve already been blessed, escaping death twice in my life.

When I was 9 years old I was fishing in a river bank with high walls when a flash flood roared through. Fortunately my older brother was with me, grabbed me and threw me up the side of the bank, saving my life.

Another episode happened when I was 17 when the cargo plane that I was in lost both its engines during a lightning storm. We were told to prepare for a crash landing as the plane nose dived, helplessly. My prayers were answered just seconds before plunging to the surface as one of the engines sputtered back on.

Death is not something that we have control over and is a process of the life experience.

We can only do as much as we can to keep the quality of life at a maximum by controlling what we eat and making sure that we have an ample supply of exercise to keep it moving.

My wife had to endure the burden of my experience, and it was difficult for her to see me is such disrepair. I am blessed to have someone that loves me so much that she would hold my hand, every step of the way.

I was told at the hospital to find myself a friend, a rock, which I could lean on to relieve the stress that my wife was going through. This was great advice!

That “rock” is former mayor Harry Kim, whom I speak to in my most terrifying moments. Kim was another blessing as he went through a similar experience when his son, Garrett, was diagnosed with cancer.

I promised Harry that through this experience I would offer myself to be someone else’s “rock” in their time of need.

If there is someone out there that feels alone, battling adversity, and needs someone just to talk with don’t hesitate to contact me.

You are not alone, there are many that are battling to fight this horrifying disease, called cancer.

Stay positive, enjoy each day, and if at all possible keep your body moving. Movement will make you feel better which will then lead to a feeling of well-being. And above all, keep the faith.

Helen Keller said it best, “Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another’s pain, life is not in vain.”

And someday should you happen to see a happy man with an incredible wife remember to smile, say “woof” and never shy away from “Running with the Big Dog.”

Email the Big Dog at waiakeabigdog@aol.com.