Montezuma’s revenge saved my life. That is where my journey writing this book began. My family and I had traveled with some friends to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, to relax and enjoy some time in the sun.

One afternoon, our group stopped at a local restaurant to enjoy some fresh Mexican papaya. What we did not know at the time was that these papayas contained a small protozoon calledCyclospora cayetanensis. It is still hard to believe something so small could wreak such havoc. When the discomfort persisted, even after we returned home, I knew I had to call my doctor. Almost immediately, my doctor referred me to a gastroenterologist to determine whether something more than Montezuma’s revenge was going on.

The gastroenterologist at Austin Gastroenterology performed a colonoscopy to identify any contributing factors to my intestinal woes. Initially, everything seemed positive. We even laughed together about the small note my wife had written for him on my backside that read, “Be gentle!” He reassured me that everything looked clean. There were no polyps or other signs of colon cancer. He did find some minor inflammation on the walls of my intestines and had taken a few biopsies to double-check it with the lab, but he did not seem worried about it, so I left believing it was all good news.

About three weeks later, the doctor called me to deliver the news. I was still under the impression that everything was fine, but I knew something was off when he started the conversation with, “Sit down.” I had just returned home from picking up our youngest son from preschool when he told me, “You have pulled the golden lottery ticket. You have lymphoma!”

I have been in the healthcare industry for over fifteen years. Never once did I associate a cancer diagnosis in the lymphatic system with good news. My previous company was the largest transcription vendor providing services to US Oncology in the state of Texas. I had been around oncologists far too long to think any cancer diagnosis was a good thing.

My personal health journey has been focused on weightlifting since I was fourteen years old. In my late teens, I became a bodybuilder, and that passion for strength and conditioning continued all the way into my forties. I have been a bodybuilder, a runner, and a cyclist, having completed my first Olympic-distance triathlon at thirty years old. At the time of the cancer diagnosis, I had been a vegetarian for several years, given up alcohol, and never smoked a cigarette in my life. I was doing all the right things with diet and exercise.

This was why this diagnosis was good news. Little did I know I had been preparing for cancer my whole life. The strength and conditioning regimen I had been using in my forties, coupled with catching the cancer before it tore through my body, allowed me to survive treatment. My mindset was not just surviving but thriving, and I used the FitFAB Workout regimen to do just that.

Hearing the diagnosis was scary and shocking, but the most terrifying part was breaking the news to my wife, Tina. I knew I had to tell her right away, so I hung up the phone and walked to her office.

I knocked on the door, sat down