They Call Me Galvez

Holy Smokes!  Why didn’t I see this before!  I have absolutely NO TRUNK ROTATION WHEN WALKING!  I have a hard time controlling my trunk when doing sit-ups with rotation, indicating weak or under stimulated  obliques.  I have been focusing so hard on movement in the saggital plane that I have neglected the  slight movement/trunk control in horizontal (transverse) plane.  Guess what I’m gonna be working on…  it is a VERY slight movement when walking, but has been totally neglected in me!  hmmm… what is a fun way to stimulate rotation… GOLF!!!  hmmm… actually, gotta think of a better activity that promotes LE /trunk rotation with a stable upper body… kicking something perhaps…

I’ve always stuck out.  Growing up, I was always the smallest kid in class.  I was also one of the only a handful of Filipino-American students growing up in Ann Arbor, Michigan from kindergarden through high school.  When I got to college, I joined an Asian Interest fraternity, but I didn’t know how to use chopsticks.  (After enduring meals of ridicule, I learned to use them so that I could efficiently grab food when eating with my new brothers.)  After college I moved to Los Angeles, but I was the guy from Michigan trying to get into grad school while the rest of my friends were busy starting their careers.  In grad school, I turned into the nerd who would type out all his notes the night after a lecture.  After grad school, I was a wide-eyed newbie physical therapist trying to figure out how to be a professional in an exciting new city.  When I got diagnosed with a meningioma brain tumor, I suddenly morphed into a confused 30-year-old guy in a world of 50-60 year-old women survivors. I still didn’t fit in.  I’m used to being different. I’ve learned that different is cool!  I’m really proud of  a new brain tumor movement that we’ve created, “Hawktober”.  A mohawk definitely sticks out in a crowd!  It’s OK to be a little different! It brings attention to you or what you are doing.

“Hawktober”, spearheaded by my brain tumor buddy Matt Cotcher, is a month long awareness campaign where ANYONE can sport a mohawk to show support for a person dealing with a brain tumor.  Any man, woman, or child can donate their head in the month of “Hawktober” to show support for someone dealing with a brain tumor.  All they have to do is “ROCK DA HAWK!”  Matt created “Mohawk Monday” at Floyd’s 99 Barbershop in Austin, Texas. There is also a Floyd’s 99 Barbershop in San Diego so we will be recreating the event in San Diego on Monday 10/17!!! Swing by!  Rock your Hawk with us to show your support for pediatric, young adult, and adult brain tumor patients!  As young adult brain tumor survivors turned brain tumor “thrivers”, Matt and I feel that the plight of ALL brain tumor patients is not addressed enough in society.  We wanted to create something that would bring attention to brain tumors AND unite everyone against a common enemy! Enter the Rock Da Hawk campaign in “Hawktober.”  BRAIN TUMOR PATIENTS WILL NOW BE NOTICED!

The mohawk is a symbol of the mighty Native American tribe, the Iroquois.  It is also a symbol of revolution in punk rock subculture. Every brain tumor patient enters a personal battle with a horrible disease that they are unprepared to fight.  Hawktober is a revolutionary new campaign to rally support for people battling a brain tumor.

There are three choices to take when facing a brain tumor:

1. dive – succumb to the disease
2. survive – weather the storm of an intimidating diagnosis
3. thrive – become proactive in the fight against this disease through supporting research and promoting awareness

I have been hit pretty hard by brain tumors, but I chose to thrive.  I lost my identity as: a former athlete, physical therapist, and independent young adult.  More troubling is the fact that I’ve lost many new friends to brain tumors.  This makes me very angry.  Rock Da Hawk in Hawtober is a way to fight back against the disease that took away so much from me personally.  In the past 6 years, I have lost almost everything, picked myself up, recreated myself, and have dedicated my life to “kicking mAss”!

Hawktober is an awareness and support campaign designed to bring more attention to the unique issues faced by brain tumor patients. Please join me in fighting these horrible diseases by:

• creating your own fundraising page,
• donating your head for the month of october with a mohawk,
• taking a picture with your hawk and use it as your profile picture here on Stay Classy, facebook, google+, twitter
• making a dontation, and
• forwarding this page to your personal contacts.

*here is a collection of men, women, and children that “Rock da Hawk” with style!

Together we can go on the offensive and fight these horrible diseases. ARE YOU READY TO JOIN THE MOVEMENT!!! AWARENESS IS ONLY THE FIRST STEP IN THE WAR ON BRAIN TUMORS!

CLICK HERE TO CREATE YOUR OWN TEAM AND ROCK A HAWK TO SUPPORT BRAIN TUMOR PATIENTS THROUGH MASS KICKERS FOUNDATION!

*COME CELEBRATE LIFE WITH ME ON 10-25 @SEAU’S THE RESTAURANT. IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT,  PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION TO SUPPORT ME THROUGH MASS KICKERS FOUNDATION