This month's newsletter is our first feature of a CWSS client, with others to follow periodically. We begin with Celeste Morris who we find incredibly inspiring and believe you will also.
Celeste first heard about SuperSlow when she met a CWSS trainer at a party in September 2007. She started at CWSS the following week.
Q. Celeste, when you completed the standard Medical History form at CWSS, you failed to list any recent surgeries or medications you were on, but of course that was not the case. Why?
I thought you'd make me get a doctor's note because I'd had a bi-lateral lung transplant in 2002. I was diagnosed in 1989 with an inherited and rare form of emphysema. After the transplant, I had been doing fine for the past five years, feeling good and even playing a little tennis. Even though I had 97% lung function then, I thought you'd think I might be risky to take on.
Q. Do you recall what you thought of the rigorous workout during your first six months?
I really liked it and could tell my muscles were responding. It was the first time in my life I had done strength training. I knew I needed to because a common side effect of being on prednisone (taken to prevent the body's rejection of her new lungs) is that it accelerates muscle atrophy. Without it, muscles will waste away. Strength training with this kind of intensity seemed to be a good antidote.
Q. You became ill in February 2008. What happened?
My body began to reject the transplanted lungs, which is unusual after six years. I was re-listed for a second transplant in July 2008. Still, the doctors do not know what caused the rejection or why. It was too risky because of scar tissue to have a bi-lateral transplant a second time, so I received only one lung in August 2008.
Q. You returned to CWSS to work out in February 2009, six months later, then with one lung and taking on what some would say is a very hard way to strength train. How did that feel?
My body was so weak, I had lost so much weight and muscle tissue, and I had no endurance to even climb the stairs. Actually, my pulmonary output was at 38 percent. I had to stop in-between exercises, rest, drink water and I could hardly breathe during the exercises. At one point, I thought I may even have to do the workout with an oxygen tank, but thankfully I worked through on my own, increasing pulmonary output with each workout.
Q. When you were struggling then to get up the stairs, not to mention to get through your workout? Did you ever think maybe you were no longer someone who could do high-intensity training?
I definitely had my doubts but I really did try to think positive and not give up.
Q. Looking back now, how did you do it?
I was determined and I knew I had to keep going. I was not going to let the immuno-suppression drugs (their side effects) get me down. Because I'm on prednisone for life, I have to work to maintain muscle mass and hopefully even make strength gains with slow weight increases.
Q. What is your day job?
I'm now a patient coordinator for a non-profit called AlphaNet Inc. We are a disease management company and we manage patients with a Alpha-1 related COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease); I work with about 135 patients regularly to educate and help monitor their disease. Three of them are transplant recipients and three are on a waiting list. A big part of what I tell them is the importance of exercise. We have studies and comparisons that show if patients do exercise, their lung function can increase 3-5 percent in 12 weeks of regular pulmonary re-hab, which is supervised. By Phase 3 they are on their own to exercise, some do, and some find it overwhelming. I try to use my own personal experience to encourage and show them how it can be done and how it makes a huge difference in managing your condition.
Q. Any final thoughts?
My goal is to stay well and feel as strong as I can. If I can just keep at the same strength levels I am today, I'd feel great about that, so when I hear my weights increase, I really feel proud of myself.
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compiled by Denise Morton, CWSS Partner and Celeste's trainer. It's important to note Celeste does our standard routines with no modifications.
