Prostate cancer and gym rats

 

Greg Ellifritz, whom we've met in these pages on several previous occasions, has had bad news:  his prostate cancer has returned, albeit in what appears to be a very small area and not immediately threatening.  He and his doctors will be watching the thing to see what further treatments may be necessary and/or appropriate.

However, he made an interesting discovery during the investigative process, one that surprised me.  I thought that gym rats among my readers might find it interesting.

Interestingly enough, the first MRI I had on Tuesday showed some suspicious lesions on my hip bones. The doc initially thought the cancer had spread.

I did a second followup MRI (it was a long day) an hour after the first one. The doc now thinks that the marks on my hips are bone bruises caused by heavy squats and deadlifts. I don’t have any hip pain, but there is some temporary minor damage to my pelvis that shows up on MRI from my weight lifting. Something for you gym bros to remember if you ever get an MRI (or two).

There's more at the link.

I no longer lift weights except in a small way at home (my spine has deteriorated to the point that using a barbell is seriously painful;  I limit myself to dumbbells now).  However, my wife lifts the heavy stuff, and I have several friends who are active at Mark Rippetoe's gymnasium not too far from our home.  I'll be passing this information along to them.  If you lift weights, you might want to make a note of it, in case you ever find similar MRI results that require explanation.

Peter