By Phillip Tomlinson
Martial Arts Instructor and Nutritionist

 

So, how’re you doing?

Yes, a real question from one friend to another.

And his answer couldn’t have been more revealing.

More on that later.

That’s because I‘m interested in knowing this:

How are you doing? Yes, you.

And since I’d rather not think of the alternative, I am assuming you’re well and that a big part of your wellness is the by-product of a great nutrition and workout program.

As for that first question from one friend to another?

Well, his reply took an interestingly unexpected turn, leading straight to the doctor’s office.

It had only been twenty eight days since he spent almost a week at the Hospital for Special Surgery and it was time for his follow-up.

In those four weeks, he endured a powerful cocktail of painkillers, taken every four hours — day and night.

Back at the hospital, the surgeon Dr. Edwin Su looked over the x-rays, taken only a few minutes before, and nodded with satisfaction.

“Everything looks good,” he said.

And then came that familiar question:

“So, how are you doing?”

“Well, doc, I can do this,” he answered squatting into a sumo stance inches from the ground, “and this,” following up with a half lotus.

“That’s crazy!” Su blurted out incredulously. “That’s crazy! Ninety-nine percent of patients can’t do that for five or six months! Obviously. You’re in very good shape.”

And then pointing his phone with camera at the ready asked, “Can you please do that again.”

Then came the all important question: “Do you know what we did to you?” he asked, still taken aback at what he had just seen.

If ever a question deserves an answer this does.

In an operation that took some three hours, Su and his team cut into ligaments, tendons and other tissues of both hips before snapping the head of each femur out of its socket.

Resting each leg on the patient’s shoulder, they cleaned up the injured hips, repaired them and re-attached the legs.

I still cringe every time I think of what I was able to endure but I also know that good eating habits and a regular workout program is responsible in a big way in getting me this far.

So, how are you doing?