ABOUT ADRENAL INSUFFICIENT WARRIOR ATHLETE AND BRIAN HACKER
The Beginning
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Adrenal Insufficient Warrior Athlete began as Tri-ing By 50 in the summer of 2016 when I had a talk with my wife, Merrill, about running, finishing Marine Corps Marathon (picture to the left), living with Adrenal Insufficiency and approaching 50-years of age. From that moment I knew that I AM AI. So, what did I do? I went back to the beginning. By beginning I mean the summer of 1968 when I was born and then 14 days later.
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Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) was where I ended up after my pediatrician did not know what was wrong with me. Thankfully, I had a doctor who was in one of her first days of residency, Dr. Ann Kershnar, and diagnosed me with Salt-Wasting Adrenal Insufficient (SWAI). After Dr. Kershnar, my doctor was Thomas Roe, MD.
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What is SWAI? My adrenal glands do not produce the naturally occuring hormone cortisol, which is released when the body is under stress. The salt-wasting aspect is extremely dangerous because my body is unable to retain enough sodium. I take medicine, hydrocortisone, to replace the cortisol.
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While growing up I had many visits to CHLA which involved blood tests to make sure all my levels were appropriate and many changes of medications. As a child I participated in sports: soccer and baseball. In junior high and high school I was in marching band and orchestra. Marching band was more strenuous than most people realized. After parades and field shows I ate salty foods.
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Growing older with AI was taken for granted. I saw an endocrinologist for a while. Then a general doctor tried monitoring my numbers. Somehow this worked. Finally, two years ago, I went to my newest endocrinologist, Dr. Adam Spitz with Novant Health Endocrinology. He helped me through marathon training and the Marine Corp Marathon. There was a mistake made in the planning, but we know for the future what to do when I finish an endurance race.
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Fast forward to the summer of 2016. I reached out to co-director, Dr. Mitchell Geffner, co-director with Dr. Mimi Kim, of the Endocrinology Clinic at CHLA and the executive director, Dina Matos, of the CARES Foundation. CARES Foundation leads in the effort to improve the lives of the Adrenal Insufficient community and seeks to advance quality health care through support, advocacy, education and research.
2016 to present
The reply and conversation I had with Dr. Geffner was more than I could have ever expected. He invited me out to a camp the AI Clinic was going to hosting at The Painted Turtle Camp for families with children that have AI. It was a amazing! It was the first time I had met another person with AI. That person I met was Ryan Hendler, a 20-something just living life as any "normal" person would be. Then I met the families, specifically the Perrucci family. For them to meet a grown up with AI brought the hope they needed for their child's future.
So began the thrust for Tri-ing By 50. Hello Kitty has become my training and racing partner. She provides the conversation starter, "Why do you have Hello Kitty?" I have had this conversation many times during races.
September 2017 was the pinnacle of training and awareness building. I competed in IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta. This was a race of swimming 1.2 miles, riding a bike 56 miles and running 13.1.miles. I was successful with the swim down the Savannah River. Unfortunately, some lack of training and my body not being up to par prevented me from getting past the halfway point of the bike ride. I took a DNF (Did Not Finish) and quit the race. I had disappointment, but no frustration. This was the safest choice. What was successful about the race? I had numerous people ask me about Hello Kitty and what AI is? It prompted this Facebook post. I was beyond happy.
To follow along with my crazy life, follow this link to my blog.
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What is happening in 2019? It has been a busy year so far. The Races & Appearances page will have all that I have done. There will be links to blog posts. I have a couple of ideas for ending the season and what I would like to do in 2020. There are also "bucket list" races listed.