They Call Me Galvez

We’ve learned that tumor/cancer survivorship needs a little more “attitude”, AKA “thrivership.”  mAss Kickers Foundation (MKF) was born out of the necessity to supply those affected by tumors/cancer with that attitude.  MKF has grown leaps and bounds since we were created, but we still want the newly diagnosed tumor/cancer patient to feel a little less scared after hearing difficult news.  One of the first things a newly diagnosed tumor/cancer patient loses is confidence.  To make up for that loss, we figured out that Attitude = Confidence.  More importantly, we learned that an individual’s confidence can be strengthened though UNITY.  We decided a Charity Kickball Tournament would be a fun way to support newly diagnosed patients.  We will be hosting this event at Liberty Station in San Diego, CA on 5-19-12 from 8:30AM-4PM.   Registration is at 8:30.  Games start at 9:30 with round robin play to determine seeding. Championship bracket play begins after lunch.  This will be the inaugural event, so we need your support to ensure it’s success. 

Please consider a tax-deductible donation in order to support our efforts to assist everyone affected by a new tumor/cancer diagnosis.
FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO SUPPORT THE MKF KICKBALL TOURNAMENT,
CLICK HERE!

ANNOUNCEMENT:
++All teams will break for lunch between 12:30-1:30PM. Our featured food truck My Urban Eats will be stationed in the parking lot from between 11:30-1:30PM to serve hungry players and participants.

++Urban Eats is a community oriented Gourmet Food Truck focused on “Fresh Affordable Fare”. Urban Eats delivers honest food at a good value, utilizing local ingredients and enterprising healthy consumption.

If you can’t make a donation at this point, help us reach our goal by sharing this page on Facebook and Twitter!  Please send a personal e-mail sharing this page to the friends who maybe be interested in supporting our cause. Thanks so much for your generosity!

About mAss Kickers Foundation

mAss Kickers Foundation takes pride in providing tumor/cancer patients & their loved ones with a “puglistic” attitude to fight this intimidating diagnosis! Together, we can build a strong support group and defeat these horrible diseases. We call it ”Tumor/Cancer Thrivership with Attitude.”

Had another eye open session of physical therapy this afternoon. I’m not spending enough time on my L Leg in the gait cycle, always resulting in a quick R step.  I have a tendency to rush the through the step, neglecting the weight bearing through the L knee (Stiffler should be gone and I should be spending more time on a bent knee.)  I have a tendency to rush through everything, so we are working on slowing everything down and spending more time on the L leg… L leg placement is still a little bit hard to control, but I can feel a difference already! (Need to focus on preventing L foot IR)  L hip control definitely is being addressed more.  We revisited lateral weight shifting in sitting.  Lateral weight shifting in my hips is definitely lacking and has not been addressed in a while.  I typically walk with a wide base of support.  I just need to keep it narrow! I guess I can refocus on it now!  Narrowing my base of support when walking is something I can work on!  This is something that I’ve been told numerous times, but now I have a strategy to practice it!

Yesterday, San Diego lost one of our brightest stars,  Junior Seau represented all that is good about San Diego:  a successful professional football career, hometown pride, a unique Pacific Islander background, a charitable soul, and a friendly persona.  The surprising news hit me like a ton of bricks!  I ran into Junior twice at his restaurant last year!  (I like to think he recognized me the second time.  hahaha!)  Both times he was very friendly and seemed to genuinely enjoy talking to everyone.  I met him for the first time on my birthday at Raw Mana Sushi for Aloha Wednesday night at his Restaurant (which conveniently is a short scooter ride from my place.)  The second time I met him was at a celebration the day he was inducted into the San Diego Chargers Ring of Honor.  I ran into him in the upstairs portion of his Restaurant.  I wanted to personally thank him for hosting such a unique event before I left.  I had not seen a large showcase of Asian Pacific Islander talent since my days in college.  Since I use a mobility scooter to get around, I needed to take the elevator to get back downstairs.  He stepped away from his table and actually rode with me in the elevator and walked me all the way to the entrance. I couldn’t believe a millionaire/ former NFL All-pro football player escorted me on my way out!  Such a cool thing to do!  I’ll never forget the way he treated me like family.   I’m still shocked at the news of his passing.  Junior, your family and friends are in my prayers through this difficult time.  I really hope more research is done to figure out how this could have happened to someone with such a big heart.  The brain is very complicated.  I hope that this at least puts the spotlight on post traumatic brain injury issues.  I’ll never forget the way you treated the little dude in the scooter.  I still look up to you, only now I’ll be looking up at the sky.  Rest In Peace Kuya.

Dude!  I’m a HUGE FAN of 90′s cheesy songs!  HAHAHA!  It is only fitting that I integrate it into my personal rehab.  (btw “Lisa Turtle” from Saved by the Bell is in this video!)   Today in therapy, we refocused on increasing the weight bearing on my L leg (“Stifler”.)  This time we focused on spending more time on the L stance leg  and not take a quick R step vs what I should be doing… a controlled R step.  The L stance leg appears to be the limiting factor in my gait cycle.  I realize now there needs there needs to be:

1. more L hip lateral control/ (slight) hip adduction lateral movement,
2. narrower base of support/ foot placement
3. more bend in the L knee in the stance phase (no more “Stifler”), and
4. longer weight bearing/stance time on the L LE  with bent knee.

I can feel myself slowly recognizing how to walk again.  I have a tendency to speed everything up, so I’m definitely going to try to slow my gait cycle down!   Things might get interesting the next few weeks!

Had a great session in Physical Therapy today!  We realized today that  I’m not spending enough time on my L LE  in the stance phase of gait.  My L LE has not been bearing much weight when ambulating.  Consequently, my L hip does not shift correctly laterally to the L.  The movement is very slight.  This is something that can be addressed through practice.  Practicing to walk with out an assistive device seems much more productive than before!  We are focusing on loading the L hip when walking instead of my typical quick R foot placement with little L LE weight bearing!  This pretty much makes the reciprocal movements of both legs feel more natural.  I can’t believe that I never really thought much about lateral hip movement/weight bearing because it is such a minimal movement in normal gait!  It made a HUGE difference.  I suspected something was up with my hips: Hip Control 2/7/12, The Hippy hippy shake 1/12/12, Rehab update 11/16/11, Hip Strategy 5/17/11.  I have so much going on that is hard to focus on just one aspect of my gait cycle. Everything points back to the Hip, Knee, and Ankle strategies.  It is starting to make more sense to work on the proximal joints then worry about the distal joints later.  I do have better control of the distal joints than one year ago, so Hip Strategy is now the top priority.   Things are going to get interesting…

Yesterday, I tried tandem paragliding for the first time.  I have done some pretty crazy stuff since getting diagnosed with a very dangerous brain tumor.  I’ve written 2 books, started a nonprofit organization, traveled the United States speaking about “tumor thrivership”, walked 5Ks, attempted surfing multiple times, tried white water kayaking, and now I can add tandem paragliding to that list.  I’ve always enjoyed challenging myself and pushing my limits.  I like to think that I have stepped up to ALL the challenges that the brain tumor set up for me.   Now it’s my turn to show that tumor “Who’s the Boss.”  Paragliding was never even a thought in my mind, but when the opportunity arose… I was one of the first people eager to try it!  The people at Torrey Pines Gliderport have been very supportive of the plight of  survivors.  By offering FREE flights for the survivors, it gave us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the world from a unique and different perspective.  Being in the air was a calming escape from all the worries beneath us.  The silence in the sky was disturbed by only the wind in the sails (and in my flight, probably the annoying/geeky questions I kept asking the pilot. hee hee)  I wish I could have stayed in the air longer, but it was a well needed escape from my reality.  I’m sure some of the other riders felt the same way.  Here are some of their experiences.  We recorded them right after their flight!  I think the next session is in June.  I encourage all survivors to partake in this unique experience.  This is a great opportunity to experience life in a new way!  Consider it your “initiation” into becoming a “mAss Kicker!”  HAHAHA!

1. in high school i was a champion athlete with aspirations to wrestle in college.
2. in college i discovered my filipino-american roots, joined an asian american fraternity, and joined an a capella singing group.
3. i went to grad school and i became a book nerd.
4. after grad school, i became a CA licensed physical therapist and a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
5. i then became a young adult brain tumor patient/survivor.
6. 2 years later, i became an author traveling the country speaking at health care education programs and hospitals.
7. i am now becoming a nonprofit executive.

it should be interesting to see what happens next!

there were different catalysts for each transformation:

• discovered beer
• wanted to directly help people and become a physical therapist
• needed to become a professional
• got diagnosed with a golf-ball sized brain tumor
• realized there is a need to educate healthcare professionals about brain tumor survivorship
• realized newly diagnosed tumor/cancer patients and ALL our loved ones need to UNITE and FIGHT these horrible diseases…

It has been a busy few weeks!  I went to MI and Canada last weekend.  I flew into Michigan for my cousin’s wedding in Toronto.  I had a very busy trip.  While in Michigan, I set up dinner with my old fraternity (Lambda Phi Epsilon), dinner with my old a capella group (58 Greene), and dessert with the Filipino American Student Association.  I also had a meeting at Google Ann Arbor.  To top it off I did a lecture at my old Physical Therapy School, University of Michigan-Flint.  I’m proud to announce that I have been asked to be a speaker at the Hooding Ceremony for the 2012 Doctor of Physical Therapy Class!  From Flint, my brother and I drove to Toronto for my Cousin’s wedding.  That same weekend mAss Kickers Foundation was represented at the OMG! Cancer Summit for Young Adults in Las Vegas and Cancer Treatment Centers of America Blogger Retreat in Arizona.  Things are getting very busy!  That meningioma brain tumor hit me pretty hard.  It knocked me down, but it didn’t knock me out.  HEY TUMORS and CANCER!  I’m building up my counter-attack.  Prepare for a STRONG RESPONSE!!! hee hee hee… Anyways, It was great to see my family in Toronto!  We don’t see each other too much, but when we do, it’s always a good time!  I’m finally getting caught up on stuff!  Next up finishing my taxes…

Found this old letter I wrote to my brain tumor… makes me smirk… it took away almost everything from me.  But it recreated me and I was reborn.

Sup Brain Tumor

My name is Eric. I’m a 34 year old guy originally from Michigan. We met in Sept 2005. I had just turned 30 and everything was going as planned both professionally and personally.  We had a 1.2 in 100,000 chance of meeting. Because of you everything changed. My balance and coordination are all messed up now. The life I wanted was ruined!  You scared the hell out of me, my parents, my family, and my friends. I was forced to reinvent myself while I continue to get back on track! “F” you. Actually, thanks for making me stronger, smarter, and more focused. You picked the wrong guy to mess with. There are a bunch of smart people doing research to fight you. It’s only a matter of time before someone finds a cure to fight you. Your days are numbered.

Sincerely,

Eric AKA “Galvez”

Please read the old comments to get you fired up!  Leave your own comment!

For all you patients with tumors or loved ones of patients with tumors this is your chance to “vent”. Leave a comment. We will not edit anything, but we do have one rule: PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING RACIALLY, CULTURALLY, SEXUALLY, OR RELGIUOSLY DEROGATORY WORDS! Remember anyone can read this. Thanks.  WARNING:  CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!

  I’m finding that things are just now starting to be addressed that were not before, probably because I was not ready.  The biggest issue we are focusing on now is stance on the L LE.  We’ve been so busy addressing placement, that we’ve neglected the stance leg.  The proprioception in my left knee is probably impaired so that decreases my stance time on my L LE.  I have a neoprene knee brace I can start wearing to give me a little sensory input to the knee.  To recap, I have toe socks and a knee brace to address proprioception in my L LE.  Now, I gotta figure out how to address the L hip proprioception.  I am starting to retrain my L LE to bear more weight, but I’ve already built up some “bad” habits from the past few years.  “Increasing Awareness” is literally my full time job now through mAss Kickers Foundation (TUMORS SUCK!) and through my personal physical rehabilitation (Increasing Proprioception)!