Hi there,I did an interview yesterday at 5 AM my time for a PSA with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. Video call with an agency in New York. I wasn’t at my sharpest. It went fine, but something sat with me afterward. I realized I don’t have a clean way to tell my story yet. There’s a lot happening. Playing pro pickleball with an ostomy, living abroad, dealing with ongoing health stuff, trying to grow the sport in the Philippines, working on a bunch of different projects.But when someone asks...
2 days ago • 1 min read
Hey there friend,Just wrapped a weekend of catching up. When I’m traveling and meeting people in person, I try to stay present - which means email piles up, messages go unanswered, and content creation falls off. Worth it to be there with people, but it creates a backlog that needs dealing with.We had a super typhoon roll through Manila over the weekend. They forecasted it pretty hard, but the track stayed north and there’s apparently a mountain range that shields the city a bit. Northern...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Hi there,I almost didn’t go to China. Getting to the airport felt impossible. The pain made the thought of a long flight and meetings feel like too much.There’s this thing that happens when I’m struggling physically. I want to be alone. It feels easier to manage everything myself, to not have to explain how I’m doing or put on any kind of face. Isolation is the easiest thing for me to do. But I also know it’s not the healthiest thing for me to do. It’s a weird contradiction that I haven’t...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Hi there,I’m in Shenzhen right now for meetings with Ramsports, my primary sponsor where I work as a strategic adviser. Big projects cooking that I can’t talk about yet, but exciting stuff. First time at their facility here. I almost didn’t make this trip. The morning I was supposed to fly out from Manila, the pain was really bad. I felt so poor that day I almost cancelled everything. But I’m glad I came. I think I was going a little crazy by myself in that condo. Being around people, getting...
9 days ago • 2 min read
Hi there,I got on court the other day and my hamstring got tight. Really tight. My right leg is still weak and that's my own fault. I haven't been doing the rehab I know I need to be doing. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm being disciplined about it, because I'm not. Part of the reason is the pain is back. The fistula stuff. And honestly, I hate even talking about it. I hate sharing that update because it feels like I'm always just sharing negative news. Another day, same pain, same...
11 days ago • 1 min read
Hi there,I saw something this week that made me stop scrolling. Researchers at McMaster University just announced a new antibiotic specifically for IBD. It targets the bad bacteria without destroying your entire microbiome. They used AI to figure out how it works in six months instead of two years. Human trials expected within a few years. Here's what got me though. Most Crohn's research focuses on inflammation in the intestines. Which matters. But about 30% of us end up with fistulas,...
14 days ago • 1 min read
Hi there,I’ve hit my morning routine three days in a row now. Read a chapter, journal, do my stretches and band work. It’s not a massive streak, but it feels good to string together a few days of doing what I said I’d do. I’m back on court too. Tomorrow marks four weeks post-op, 28 days exactly. Started with dinks, moved to midcourt and baseline today, hit some transition balls and drops. I’m barely moving, but I’m moving a bit more than yesterday. The knee didn’t swell as much today either,...
16 days ago • 1 min read
Hey friend,I got back on the court last week for the first time since knee surgery. Migo, my co-host on Asia Pickleball Insider came out and basically played human ball machine for me. Just feeding me dinks so I could get some reps, see how the knee felt, get my feet underneath me again. Twenty minutes total. Didn't push it. The knee got a little tight and swollen toward the end, but it didn't hurt. It felt good to be out there. And yeah, there's the obvious lesson about gratitude. You don't...
18 days ago • 1 min read
Hey friend,It’s been a heavy week. I know that’s not the ideal start for a Feel Good Friday, but hang with me. There’s some good in here. I met with two new doctors in Manila, Dr. Sollano and Dr. Chang. One’s a GI, the other’s a colorectal surgeon. I saw them separately this time, but they share an office and work together one day a week at the IBD center. Next visit, I’ll sit down with both of them to go over a pelvic MRI that I need to get and figure out a plan. That alone makes a...
21 days ago • 1 min read