Killing Chonk with CrossFit Benchmarks

Last Updated: 01/08/23

My name is Spurge, 33-year-old typical guy from the UK. On the afternoon of August 13th 2022, my 20-week pregnant wife and I were readying for an evening out when I had a seizure with no other warning signs. After a long night in Hospital, and a couple of scans the following day I was told I have a brain tumour, which I've called 'Chonk', I have been documenting my recovery journey on youtube and Instagram @KillingChonk. Upon Further investigation and biopsy, it turned out Chonk is a grade 3 anaplastic (Fast growing & malignant) Oligodendroglioma. With good treatment outcomes this gives me a roughly 30% chance of 20 more years but sadly it will eventually get me.

At the end of September 22, I had an awake craniotomy where a large section of the tumour was removed with a 4-night stay in Hull Royal infirmary Wards 4 and 40. During this time I could barely feed myself or go to the toilet unassisted.

Unfortunately not all of the tumour could be removed before the motor function in my left hand and face started to fail. Thankfully daily physio work quickly corrected this, after a few more assessments, the physiotherapists decided I was safe to begin physical rehab building towards lifting weights and raised intensity of my usual CrossFit workouts. Long and slow road to recovery planned but I'm well on the way and will get there in time for the workouts in August.

With the help of the teams detailed below and my continued physical recovery going well, to mark the 1 year anniversary of my diagnosis and survival, me and many members of the CossFit gym me and my friends at CrossFit YO4 will be completing some Benchmark workouts and a Hero workout based on my treatment plan (more on this below).

The current plan is to do this on the weekend of the 2023 CrossFit Games, Saturday 5th August, by which point I'll be at least 1 awake craniotomy, 1 cycle of radiotherapy (33 Sessions) into my treatment and will be about to begin my 4th cycle of chemotherapy at the time of the event.

In CrossFit, Benchmark workouts are given girls names similar to storms, they are designed to be a complete test of their own and repeatable at a later date to compare how your fitness has progressed. Hence... benchmark, and giving them a name. We have chosen, Grace, Jackie and Annie, all to be completed as fast as possible.

Grace - 30 Clean and Jerks

Jackie - 1000m Row, 50 Thrusters, 30 Pull ups

Annie - 50-40-30-20-10 reps of Double Unders, Sit ups

The Martin, work out will be a longer team workout to be revealed on the day.

Once our baby boy arrived safely at the end of November, I was passed into the care of the oncology team who put me forward for radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy.

The radiotherapy began a week after the birth of our son, December 5th every weekday through to January 19th, following this there was a short break before the chemo could begin w/c 20th Feb 23.

There have been many teams of people (listed with details below) from multiple services and charities looking after me and helping guide us through this difficult time. My hope is to raise money to fund those crucial charitable services, without which we would have been very lost. I would also hope to raise enough to have some left to give the people who've cared for me along the way, some much-needed R&R or something to make their working days easier.

The NHS is a poorly managed and brutal place to work, with inadequate pay and poor working conditions. I'd really hope to be able to give my caregivers each a family day out or something that would make their job just a little bit easier. They work tirelessly in a largely thankless job in our broken NHS system that doesn't financially value them appropriately.

Where the donations will go

WISHH Neuro-oncology nurse specialist team (Charity No. 1162414) - this is a team of specialist nurses, physios, Occupational therapists and a few other specialties who are essentially an open access information source for patients like me. At any time I can email or call them to ask questions about my diagnosis, or treatment. They have also helped secure me urgent appointments when treatment has taken a bad turn and I need a medication adjustment. All vital while I've been trying to manage my treatment around learning how to dad. This service is not standard within the NHS and relies on charitable donations to maintain the service.

P.A.U.L for Brain Recovery (Charity No. 1164620) - This is a local charity (Hull) that aids in bridging the gaps the NHS cannot provide for, focussed on people who've suffered an acquired brain injury. They've provided me with a Personal Trainer who helped build my strength and fitness back to allow me to go back to my usual CrossFit Affiliate. They also provided useful information on diet planning and how I can adapt to cope with the sensory overload caused by my condition.

Radiotherapy and Oncology Team at the Queens Centre, Cottingham - This is the team of therapeutic radiographers, assistants, nurses and other caregivers who have been delivering my radiotherapy treatment and will be delivering my chemotherapy when it starts.

Neuro Surgical Team @ Hull Royal Infirmary - This includes the surgical team who did my surgery and the subsequent care I received post-surgery on Wards 4 & 40.

I can't thank any of them enough for the help they have provided in such a difficult time of our lives. They are all so dedicated to their work and deliver my treatments and care so compassionately that I wish I could give each of them a fully paid 2-week holiday. However, there are a lot of people to include, so something meaningful for each of them will require a huge fundraising effort.

Our target is to raise £10,000 split amongst the teams and charities above.

Thank you for your support.

Follow the journey here