Health Features

West Vancouver fitness trainer Martin Bolduc will never forget the time he went from one of the happiest moments of his life to sheer despair in the space of a couple of hours. In April 2007, Bolduc’s wife, Nancy, was six months pregnant with their first child. They were in the doctor’s office, anxiously waiting to learn the results of a prenatal test.

Bolduc’s eyes lit up as he recalled the moment when the doctor said his wife would be having a boy. “You’re on the roof—‘I’ve got a son, my first child,’ ” Bolduc told the Georgia Straight in an interview in a small office at Fitness World in North Vancouver.

The upbeat Montrealer, who has retained a Québécois accent, then cast his eyes downward as he carried on with his tale. He explained that two hours later, he went to a different medical appointment at the B.C. Cancer Agency. This was to hear the results of biopsies following the discovery of a lump on the right side of his neck.

Bolduc, who had never smoked and was in outstanding health, was shocked to hear that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer. He was only 41 years old. When asked to describe how he felt when he got the news, he replied, “You just hit the ground.”

He had to cancel a trip to China that he and his wife planned to take in advance of the baby’s birth. The next step was to prepare for surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, starting with the extraction of his wisdom teeth to enhance the effectiveness of his cancer treatments.

Bolduc said he was fortunate that his cancer had been diagnosed early, and that he had a capable oncologist, John Hay. However, he also recalled being told by B.C. Cancer Agency staff that radiation and chemotherapy would be painful. “I was more afraid about the side effects than the cancer, because in my mind—I think I have a strong mind—I had no doubt that I will get over that. Not even a small doubt,” he said.

The staff weren’t kidding about the pain. After a couple of weeks, the only way he could swallow small pills was if they were crushed and topped with a bit of honey. Even then, he said, it was excruciating. Bolduc also said that during this period, he was only able to consume two ounces of water a day. For nutrition, he drank one protein shake.

“You can’t eat because it’s so painful,” he recalled. “Your throat is so inflamed.”

His weight started plummeting. Prior to his diagnosis, Bolduc carried 180 pounds on his fit, five-foot-seven frame. Within a few weeks, he dropped to 140 pounds. Without any food, his muscles withered away.

He said that the radiation destroyed his salivary glands. To this day, Bolduc carries a bottle of water with him everywhere because his mouth is always dry.

Two weeks after completing his cancer treatments and despite his frail health, Bolduc was back in the gym. “I was not able to eat at that time still,” he said. “My mom said, ‘You’re crazy.’ ”

But Bolduc had a big incentive for resuming his workout regimen. When he finished treatment, his wife was eight months pregnant. He said that his greatest goal at the time was to have enough strength to hold his son just after he was born. There was very little time for him to achieve his dream.

Bolduc worked as a server in Montreal before moving to Bermuda in 2002 to work in the hospitality industry. That’s where he became interested in training with weights. The next year, he moved to the Cayman Islands, and he entered a competition put on by the North American Natural Bodybuilding Federation. He came second in his category.

But he said that the first time he got on the treadmill after his cancer treatments, he could only last 10 or 12 minutes. And that was with no incline on the machine. In the past, Bolduc said, he would routinely bench-press 85-pound dumbbells. But he recalled that in his postcancer state, he started shaking when he tried to lift less than a quarter of that.

“In 2005, I finished sixth in the world championships in the Natural Bodybuilding Federation,” he said. “To see me with a 20-pound dumbbell—I was a little frustrated.”

Bolduc persevered. Three times a week, he would spend 30 to 45 minutes in the gym building up his strength and endurance, all in anticipation of his son’s birth. To maximize the efficiency, he would do split workouts, combining exercises for the chest and triceps or back and biceps. He also exercised his shoulders and legs together.

When his son, Kayden, was born on August 25, Bolduc was thrilled to be healthy enough to hold him in his arms. He conceded, however, that his health slid for a while after his son’s birth. After three-and-a-half months of surviving on a liquid diet, he went on an eating binge after he was able to swallow solid food. Five months after Kayden’s birth, he was up to 178 pounds.

“Believe me, it wasn’t muscle,” Bolduc quipped, pulling out a picture of himself at the time. It showed a fair amount of flab. He said he was carrying 13.9 percent body fat on his frame.

That’s when he really got to work. This time, he had a new motivation: Labrada Nutrition’s New Years 2008 Lean Body Challenge, sponsored by a company headed by former Mr. Universe Lee Labrada.

Bolduc told his wife that if he could win the Labrada competition, they could go on a cruise. “It was only five months after my treatment,” he said. “They told me the contest finished in March.”

By March 29 of this year, he weighed 152 pounds, with just 5.9 percent body fat. He looked like he had been bodybuilding for years. In May, Bolduc learned that he had won the competition, which means he will get a chance to train with the former Mr. Universe himself when Bolduc visits the company office next February.

Bolduc is one of many people with cancer who face some difficult choices after their medical treatment ends. Should they rest and recuperate, or should they head back to the gym? Each person makes their own decision, ideally based on advice from their medical practitioners.

Ron Zalko, owner of Ron Zalko Sport Club in Kitsilano, told the Straight in a phone interview that several former cancer patients work out at his gym. Zalko added that he thinks it’s very important to be in shape when you go through cancer treatment, not only because you’ll be physically stronger, but also because being fit can enhance one’s mental health as well.

“I really believe that if you eat well—eat those greens and the fruits, like the berries and all that—and if you work out on a regular basis, you can beat the disease,” he said. “There’s no question about it.”

One of the regulars at Zalko’s gym, lawyer Murray Shapiro, will never forget his close encounter with death in 2001. He said he spent 27 hours in surgery to remove a grapefruit-sized tumour at the base of his spine.

He spent the next 17 days in a coma, and remained in hospital for six months. Shapiro said he still recalls his surgeon, Marcel Dvorak, telling him that he was as sick as a person could be without dying.

The next year, Shapiro was back in hospital after suffering a ruptured bowel. It was his second close encounter with the Grim Reaper. “I looked death in the face twice,” he said.

Shapiro was once a competitive basketball player, and he participated in the Maccabiah Games in 1969 and 1973. However, he said that after his second operation, he couldn’t even climb the stairs to Zalko’s facility.

He emphasized that he could only resume exercising in July 2002 because Zalko was kind enough to give him an elevator pass so he could make it into the gym. Since then, he said, he has been exercising almost every day to maintain his health.

“At the end of the day, it’s a question of attitude,” Shapiro said. He added that he couldn’t have done this without the support of doctors, friends, and family. When asked if he had any advice for newly diagnosed cancer patients, Shapiro replied, “Share it with family and friends. I made the mistake of not doing it until the very end.”

Zalko said that he has been inspired to see Shapiro not give up. “He does his weights, he looks great,” Zalko said.

The same can be said for Bolduc as well. One of his colleagues, kinesiologist Alfred Ball, told the Straight in a phone interview that Bolduc is a great example for others. “He had a previous level of fitness, which I think was very important for his treatment and for his recovery,” Ball said.

Ball, founder of Life Moves Health and Rehabilitation, said that for people in treatment, it’s advisable to try to maintain “physical and emotional stores” by doing some light to moderate activity, including strength training.

“If you’re past your treatment and you’re past your remission, then it’s time for you to start to rebuild the energy stores, rebuild your strength, and rebuild your cardiorespiratory [system],” he said. “If there’s surgery involved, such as with breast cancer, then flexibility is important as well, and [that can involve] working on the tissue surrounding any areas where you had surgery.”

In the meantime, Bolduc is writing a book about fitness, which he hopes will be available this fall on his Web site ( www.bolducfitness.net/ ).

During the interview, Bolduc said his fitness program has four “wheels”: strength training, cardiovascular exercise, proper nutrition, and rest. “If you’ve got just three wheels, you’ll get there, but it will take longer and be chaotic,” he said. “Rest is the fourth wheel, and it’s very, very important.”

With that, Bolduc jumped up from behind his desk and walked briskly out the door to have his photograph taken. To the untrained eye, there was no evidence that this energetic man had recently had cancer. The only giveaway might have been the omnipresent water bottle.