BIG MAN, BIGGER HEART

By Peter Vuono


    Mother Teresa once said that there are three routes to follow in how we should treat others.
She said,"The first is to be kind, the second is to be kind and the third is to be kind". Brockton Special Ed. teacher, Carl Yancey was an avid proponent of this credo. Carl, who on Sept. 28th was hit and killed by a hit and run driver had all the attributes to be a man who was feared. He was big, and tall with an imposing stature. However Carl decided to listen to the scriptures and entered the narrow gate. Unlike so many others who are led astray, Carl was kind, gregarious and caring. He had a knack of making both his students and his customers at his second job smile.  Rather than becoming an entity to be feared he became an ordained minister and was an example to all. He was a bulwark of living for others.
    Just as importantly, Carl taught in  a Brockton Public School which catered to some of the most needy Special Children. He used his imposing figure coupled with his ebullent personality to assist, teach, mold and inspire. He was a flag ship of the golden rule.
   So, today as I drove down the highway and had the temerity to ask God, why the good die young, like Carl, the Lord was patient with me and answered my question. I now knew why Carl passed so early with the words of Jesus ringing in my ears-"As long as you did it for these, the least of my brethren, you did it for me". Carl has received the reward that the rest of us so anxiously wait for.

OF MIGHT AND MORALS

By Peter Vuono

     Most of us would agree that nowadays more than ever both Hollywood and pro sports are devoid of the type of male role models which were seen so prevalently in the 1960's. This is a shame because I firmly believe that these men help to shape and mold the character of many of the young men who watch their work. One such person who had a great impact on me sadly passed away Sept 9th from ALS. This was character actor, Denny Miller.
     Miller, who was from Indiana moved to California in the 1950's to play basketball for UCLA. His dad was a Physical Education instructor at the same school. Miller, who was tall, blond and handsome worked for the Bekins Furniture Company as a mover to help make ends meet at home. He was discovered by a casting agent and without any acting experience, portrayed the first blond Tarzan in 1959 opposite Joanna Barnes in Tarzan, the Ape Man.He would go on to do over 200 television appearances and 14 years as the Gorton's Fisherman.
    Denny portrayed many tough guys but also many roles of character and strength. I believe that 3 in particular have affected my life for the better. In an episode of Gilligan's Island, Miller, who switched from basketball to bodybuilding did such a good and unique posing routine it caught the attention of Muscular Development Magazine and made him the subject of their Muscles in the Movies column. When I saw him pose way back in the 60's, I knew I wanted arms like his.
    More importantly, some of his roles are indelible in my mind for moral reasons and I do believe had much to do in molding my young personality. Miller was exceptional in portraying different types of people who are disabled.
     In 1971 in an episode of Gunsmoke he portrayed a deaf mountain man who risked his life to save kids who had fallen into a well. The role, however, which I have thought about for much of my life was his portrayal of a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair in the 1981 Incredible Hulk episode- "The Harder They Fall". I'll NEVER forget the line Miller spoke in the episode to Bill Bixby when he stated," This wheelchair doesn't mean my life ends; it just changes".
   I don't pretend to have the same type of serious disability but when poor health befell me, I thought of Denny Miller's role and realized that I should adapt and change rather than quit and give up. This is the kind of role model we children of the 60's were fortunate enough to have and it is just as  unfortunate that today's youth haven't this luxury.
   In Miller's Gunsmoke episode entitled "Lijah", he was seriously injured in rescuing the children from the well. I remember the final line he delivered when he told them."Don't worry, I'm not going to die". His words were prophetic because although Denny is gone his influence of strength, courage and wholesomeness has remained in the personalities of all those that he has inspired. Denny Miller will always remain a beacon of might and morals.

TESTOSTERONE DREAMING -

By Peter Vuono

   The following piece of my personal medical history is being published to help men everywhere who encounter the same problem. If you haven't yet, you will and I urge you to see an endocrinologist or at the very least, speak to me.

   My whole life, I wanted to be strong. When I was finally turned on to weight training and specifically, powerlifting, I decided to compete in contests starting in 1973 and I continued up to 1996. At some of those early meets, I had a buddy lift whose name was Paul. He was in his mid fifties and had an enormous deadlift of about 550 at 165 bodyweight! What always stymied the younger crowd, however was why was it that Paul ALWAYS did 550 and never improved. When I went back to powerlifting in 2004 at age 51, I would soon find out the answer!
   I deadlifted 500 at age 51 and at  a bodyweight of 189. I was happy as I won the Master's Division,and the Best Lifter award for Masters(over 40). However, I thought about why it was that I was nowhere near the 567 that I did at age 35 at only a 178 bodyweight. I went to the laboratory to find out, in addition I read EVERY book I could find on steroids, testosterone and hormonal replacement. I had a few articles published and went through(at this writing),  5 endocrinologists. I became a 21st century Ponce deLeon!
   What happened to me was exactly what happened to Paul and every other man on the planet since time began. At first it would be called aging but the name would evolve to Manpause, Andropause, and hypogonadism. A rose, however, by any other name, is still a rose.
   Men lose one to two percent of all testosterone per year each year after the age of 30! Through blood tests two levels are checked. First the total testosterone and next the free testosterone. Your body uses a very small amount of all the testosterone you have due to a hormone known as sex hormone binding globulin(SHBG).The SHBG binds to testosterone and every bit that is bound to it CANNOT be used by the body. Every year more and more SHBG binds to testosterone in your blood to a point where not enough is made. The symptoms are legion. They include, depression, low libido, ED, loss of strength , loss of muscle mass, indecisiveness,loss of energy  and loss of height!
  Total levels of testosterone run from 300 ng/dl  to 1100 ng/dl. Mine was in the low 300's and I had EVERY one of the above mentioned symptoms except ED. It was time to do something.
   The first endocrinologist I saw asked me to take the precurser DHEA, which is a weak androgen. It's supposed to precurse into testosterone in the blood and increase testosterone levels BUT, I explained to my doctor that there was documented research showing that DHEA CAN bind to testosterone recepters in the cells and PREVENT testosterone from binding with it's own receptors. He disagreed  with me and my DHEA level went up 600 percent and my testosterone fell to about 251! I was put on Androgel.
  In six days, too much of the Androgel converted into dihydrotestosterone which is found abundantly in the prostate. I incurred benign prostate hyperplasia(BPH), which is akin to a yeast infection on steroids! I went off the drug and went on a regimen of lycopene, saw pallmetto and stinging nettles herbs and I was relieved of the symptoms. The NEXT endocrinologist had NO idea for an alternative . I then turned to brilliant endocrinologist, Dr. Andre Guay.
  Dr. Guay put me on Clomid, which is a fertility drug which I have been on for 4 years. I won't bore you with the chemistry but generally, it caused the pituitary to excrete more gonadotropins which, in turn will produce MORE estrogen in women and MORE testosterone in men. My testosterone levels went up to 400 ng/dl and eventually to 613! Then tragedy struck. I incurred a heart attack and a quadruple bypass.
  For unknown reasons, my levels started to fall. In 2013 they were 430 and in 2014-348. Dr Guay suspected that I was no longer responding to the drug. He suggested a weight loss(which does raise testosterone levels) and the posibility of Depo-testosterone injection. However he retired!
  World renown Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Harrison"Skip" Pope who is seen in the movie "Bigger, Stronger, Faster" directed me to his colleague at Harvard, Dr. Shalender Bhasin who is regarded as the world's foremost authority. With Dr. Bhasin, I also consulted with his very astute colleague, Dr. Anna Ross.
   Much to my disappointment, Dr. Bhasin said that there was research which cited that cardiac events DO occur in elderly men on testosterone replacement and that there were also studies stating the opposite! He said it was a VERY gray area where he could not at this time make a recommendation. This tale is not yet over. I was asked to go off Clomid to get my own system(HPTA) working again and levels would be checked. If I  descend to, say 100 ng/dl a plan would be put into effect. The future is unsure for me as it is for you. However, I learned that I cannot reanimate myself, I can't turn back the clock, or get my strength back as ancient Samson did. I have come to the realization that I must accept my body and all it's intricacies as God had made it and not be so desirous of the fountain of youth. As the Greek philosopher Epicurus once said,"Him who a little will not content, nothing will content".