Power Through the Pain
Reviewed by Poonam Sachdev on February 19, 2022
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
DON MARKHAM: I have an eye condition
called uveitis.
They've become light sensitive.
Everything blurs out.
And then I lost flexibility
in my left knee.
The pain moved into my hips
and to my lower back.
And now it's moving up my spine.
The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. I ended up talking to a rheumatologist, which is my saving grace. And I was finally diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis.
I started weightlifting in my 20s. It's almost incredible when you -- if you've ever done a powerlifting meet, when I go up there to lift, it's just that time period is almost like a mental relief. As you walk out onto the platform and you look at the judges, everything else tunes out.
I feel nothing. I just feel just the lift. So for me, it's mentally freeing.
[CHEERING]
I started noticing signs of ankylosing spondylitis. I remember, as a young child, crying and my mom wrapping my joints up with hot towels, trying to soothe or ease the pain. have an issue with it.
In my late 20s, I started getting knee complications. And then in my 30s, I started getting massive hip pain and lower back pain, sciatic nerve pain. I really thought it was just due to sports injury.
Around 40, I got a massive flare. It hurt to walk. It hurt to lay. Hurt to turn to my side. I went through months of being in a flare of misdiagnosis and doctors not knowing.
A walk from my bed to the bathroom, which was 15 feet, took 10 minutes. There's no relief. Pain pills aren't doing anything for me. The best way I can explain it is if somebody had a hot knife, just sticking it in my back the entire time. I mean, I completely was just withering away. I got to the point where I actually had suicidal thoughts.
And I was finally diagnosed about six months later. My rheumatologist -- he took and he did -- not only did he do x-ray exams on me, he did a blood test for a gene. I myself, in particular, did have the gene.
They X-rayed my pelvis. And they X-rayed my lumbar. And they could see the damage within my spine and within my hips.
For me, when after I got diagnosed, the doctor started getting me on treatment. I went to a biological medication. And the biological medication for me did wonders. Within two weeks, I was back into doing four workouts.
For me, to be able to get back in the gym, it was almost heaven sent. It was my conquering condition. I went in with the mindset that not only did I want to compete, but I want to break records.
I broke the national record for bench press for a Masters Pure, over 40, which is anybody over 40 years old, completely drug free. I found out that, having a workout routine of any kind, it helps me not only cope with it mentally but physically as well.
One of the things I wanted to do myself was try to help as many people deal with their condition as I can through social media and through support groups. There's a lot of people I've talked to that have the disease. And people are starting to work out. They're starting to see a lot of relief.
For the patients out there that have the disease and you are in a downward state, there is a way to beat or a way to conquer. It's physical and mental but more mental. And the other side of it is remembering we're not helpless.
I went from the bottom to where I couldn't move. I'm now onto a place to where I have a fully functional life. I go to work like normal. I can spend time my family. If you stay positive and look for the good parts of it, you can beat the disease.
The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. I ended up talking to a rheumatologist, which is my saving grace. And I was finally diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis.
I started weightlifting in my 20s. It's almost incredible when you -- if you've ever done a powerlifting meet, when I go up there to lift, it's just that time period is almost like a mental relief. As you walk out onto the platform and you look at the judges, everything else tunes out.
I feel nothing. I just feel just the lift. So for me, it's mentally freeing.
[CHEERING]
I started noticing signs of ankylosing spondylitis. I remember, as a young child, crying and my mom wrapping my joints up with hot towels, trying to soothe or ease the pain. have an issue with it.
In my late 20s, I started getting knee complications. And then in my 30s, I started getting massive hip pain and lower back pain, sciatic nerve pain. I really thought it was just due to sports injury.
Around 40, I got a massive flare. It hurt to walk. It hurt to lay. Hurt to turn to my side. I went through months of being in a flare of misdiagnosis and doctors not knowing.
A walk from my bed to the bathroom, which was 15 feet, took 10 minutes. There's no relief. Pain pills aren't doing anything for me. The best way I can explain it is if somebody had a hot knife, just sticking it in my back the entire time. I mean, I completely was just withering away. I got to the point where I actually had suicidal thoughts.
And I was finally diagnosed about six months later. My rheumatologist -- he took and he did -- not only did he do x-ray exams on me, he did a blood test for a gene. I myself, in particular, did have the gene.
They X-rayed my pelvis. And they X-rayed my lumbar. And they could see the damage within my spine and within my hips.
For me, when after I got diagnosed, the doctor started getting me on treatment. I went to a biological medication. And the biological medication for me did wonders. Within two weeks, I was back into doing four workouts.
For me, to be able to get back in the gym, it was almost heaven sent. It was my conquering condition. I went in with the mindset that not only did I want to compete, but I want to break records.
I broke the national record for bench press for a Masters Pure, over 40, which is anybody over 40 years old, completely drug free. I found out that, having a workout routine of any kind, it helps me not only cope with it mentally but physically as well.
One of the things I wanted to do myself was try to help as many people deal with their condition as I can through social media and through support groups. There's a lot of people I've talked to that have the disease. And people are starting to work out. They're starting to see a lot of relief.
For the patients out there that have the disease and you are in a downward state, there is a way to beat or a way to conquer. It's physical and mental but more mental. And the other side of it is remembering we're not helpless.
I went from the bottom to where I couldn't move. I'm now onto a place to where I have a fully functional life. I go to work like normal. I can spend time my family. If you stay positive and look for the good parts of it, you can beat the disease.
