HELP ME GET IN TOUCH WITH DDP!

Friends! Blog Readers! Random people on the internet! Welcome!

This is my 2nd post in less than a month! I feel like if I keep this pace up, this might become a regular thing again! Today I want to talk about DDPYoga, and also ask for your help, oh friends of mine.

So, really short summary. DDPYoga has changed my life in only 35 days, and basically I'm trying to get in touch with the man behind it all, Diamond Dallas Page to thank him, and also to talk to him about my condition and limitations, and see if he has any any advice for me, or if he's interested in my condition and my story at all. I'm having trouble with this though. I found an email address and sent the email that I will copy into this post, but it's been a week and I haven't heard back, so it's time for plan B. So please friends, tweet this, or facebook share, or whatever else the kids do these days, send this blog post to DDP for me, and let's see if we can't get his attention!

DDP's twitter: https://twitter.com/RealDDP & https://twitter.com/DDPYoga
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DDPYOGA/

Thanks so much, and if you have any interest, definitely check out DDPYoga. It will change your life.

The rest of this post is the email I sent to DDP.


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Hi,
My name is David Grimson. I'm 30, a musician, and I live in Ballarat, Victoria, in Australia. I'm trying to get in contact with Diamond Dallas Page. I apologise if this isn't the right place to write to, but I couldn't find any other email addresses for DDP himself. If there's any way whoever receives this could pass it along to him, I would be hugely grateful, because I feel like I have a unique story and would love Dallas to hear it.

So, here's a little background about myself. I've been a larger guy my whole life. I played sport as a kid, but I always had issues with fitness. I went to a small country-town high school, where there was a lot of emphasis placed on sports, and by that time, I had found myself less and less able to play any of the sports I enjoyed as a kid. I was told by teachers I was lazy, yelled at for only being able to run two laps of a basketball court without stopping, and left behind during running events. After high school, I gained weight. I had more issues with people thinking I was lazy, and after a heated argument with a member of a band I was in, I went to a doctor to see if something was wrong. After about a year, I was given a blanket diagnosis.

 I have a Glycogen Storage Disease. I'm 99% sure you won't have heard of it. My body can't process carbohydrates, and in turn cannot store the glycogen that comes from processing carbs. I tell people that I'm always "running on empty", because my body has no fuel reserves. I rely on a high protein/high fat/low carb diet. I also have to be careful of "overdoing it", over-exerting myself when I've run out of anything for my muscles to use as energy. They begin to use themselves, "eat" themselves if you will, and that can lead to all kinds of complications, the most dangerous being Rhabdomyolysis, which can leave me hospitalised, or worse, with kidney failure.

I tire out extremely quickly unless it's something I've conditioned my body to do. Some days, I can't walk the 10 metres from my bedroom to my bathroom without being in severe pain. I walk on a treadmill ok, but if i'm out in the world, I tire out within a few hundred metres. When I play live shows (as I said, I'm a musician) it takes me two days to recover, even if it's just a sit down, acoustic show. The standing up for hours and long car trips don't help either.  I'm constantly in pain, and I have to rely on other people to help me with so many things. I also rely a lot on pain medication, but unfortunately even the strongest thing we have available in australia doesn't stop my pain. And it's far too addictive for me to use it regularly. Codiene and Ibuprofen are my friends, but even that isn't something I like taking often. Even as I sit here now typing this to you, it would be quicker to tell you what doesn't hurt, rather than everything that's screaming at me in pain right now.

 There are at least 12 different "strains" of Glycogen Storage Disease (the most common being McArdles, and Pompeii's diseaases), but after 10 years of testing, re-testing, muscle biopsies, even genetic testing, no one can tell me which of these strains I have. I like to think I have my own strain, and that I should be allowed to name it. It's important to have goals.

I've been seeing specialists for 12 years to try and figure this out. And I've heard it all. I've been told to eat "the right carbs". I've been told to drink sugary drinks before exercise. I've been told to "get the double quarter pounder when I go to McDonalds". Funnily enough, that last one works. I've seen doctors in my hometown, and Melbourne, and in 2006, I flew to New York to see a specialist, who basically saved my life. He got me on the right diet for my body, and started me on an exercise program, which was designed only to condition my body so that it could function somewhat normally. He told me that I should only walk on a treadmill every second or third day, and no faster than about 1 mph. He also told me that was the only exercise I'd ever be able to do.

And I believed him. Even after I decided to challenge myself to walk every day, and gradually get faster. I believed him. Even up until recently. I'm closing in on 1700 days walking on my treadmill in a row. And I still believed I would never be able to do anything else. Whenever I tried to do anything else, I failed. Spectacularly. Dangerously.

The first time I tried DDP Yoga was last year. I did it for 5 minutes, and I just about passed out. And I thought I would never be able to do it. I would find myself drawn back to people's stories. I watched Arthur's video regularly. I'm subscribed to Boogie2988 on youtube, and watched the videos you did with him. And then I saw Jared's video. It was yet another jolt of motivation, but I still wasn't ready. See, since october last year I've lost about 10 kilos (22 pounds), and I feel like hitting that 10 kilo mark got me to where I needed to be, to know I could do that, made me feel like maybe I could give this yoga thing another go. I'd been talking about starting it all last year to friends and family, but never actually took that step.

35 days ago, I tried DDP Yoga for the 2nd time. It was so hard. That first day, I just went through the diamond dozen, to see what I could do, and see what would be too hard. Similar to what Jared said in his video, I also had a huge problem getting down to, and up from the ground. I'm right around 6ft 3, so it's a ways down for me! But I did every move. And then I passed out. But I promised myself I would do this every day, as long as it didn't affect my health.

And now, 35 days later, I haven't broken my promise yet. I do either Energy, or Stand Up, every night. Even when I have a gig. I've gone from resting and pausing the videos, and collapsing unable to move afterwards, to, over the last few days, going through the entire energy workout without stopping. I'm modifying most positions, especially the broken tables and lunges, but I'm doing everything. I'm doing everything my doctors told me I wouldn't be able to do. I feel stronger than I ever have, and my scales might not be moving because i'm building muscle, but I see a difference in my body already. Last week I was even able to lift the speaker cabinet section of my guitar amp out of the trunk of my car and up to my house, something that I've never been able to do. That was huge for me.

I feel like I need to say, I haven't bought DDPyoga. Yet. I got copies of the videos so that I could try it, because I was almost convinced my body wouldn't be able to handle it. I also don't work because of my condition, so money is fairly tight, and exchange rates are brutal at the moment. But, I'm saving up. And I will be buying everything as soon as I can, because now I know it works.

But, why am I writing this? Why are you reading this? Or hopefully reading this i guess! Well, I thought you would be interested in my story for one. It's definitely unique. But I would also be hugely grateful for any advice, both with diet (I have to eat "animal" protein because of the amino acids) and exercise, because I want to keep losing weight. I'm at around 133kg right now, or 293 pounds. I also want to lose the pain meds, if I can.

I saw your announcements that you'll be coming to Melbourne in April. I would LOVE to come and meet you, but, as I said, I don't work, and I can't afford it. I also am incredibly shy (even though I'm a musician and play shows), and have a lot of social anxiety, so the idea of a public yoga workout terrifies me. I know you're also doing a screening of The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts as well, but it's another thing I'm not sure I could get to. I live about 90 minutes away from Melbourne, and driving that far by myself, along with being out for a night, and then having to drive home again, it could be too much.
Again though, it's something I would love to do, and wish so badly that I could. I haven't mentioned this, but I am a massive wrestling fan. I started watching WCW in the 90's, and since then, have watched as much as I can of everything. Jake is one of my all time favourites, and to know, and to see how far he's come, is incredible, as it is with Scott Hall too.

So I'm writing to tell you my story and see if there's any advice you have, or any way I might be able to meet you while you're in Australia, if only to say thank you for showing me that I could be more than I believed for so long. I may only be about a month in, but I'm committed, and I'm not stopping. I shared a video of you doing a psycho push up on my instagram. My goal is to eventually be able to do that. For now I'd settle for one regular push up though.

But, just in case, I'll say it now. Thank you DDP for inspiring me to try, even when I'd failed previously, and for giving me hope. I really hope you get this email, and that you're interested in my story. Also I apologise again for sending this to the wrong place if I did!


Hopefully I'll hear from you soon,
Thank you again. And also thank you in advance to whoever passed this along!
David Grimson

*Edit* I forgot to add my contact information. DDP if you do read this, and do want to get in touch with me (even if it's just to say you read this) my twitter is @davidgrimson37 and my email address is dgrimson37@gmail.com
I would love to hear from you.
Thank you again.