Thread by @Roger_Target

BIG THREAD:
Kenta Kobashi, named by fans "Iron Man", who has returned from injuries of any severity talks about how he faced and defeated kidney cancer.
#noah_ghc #ajpw @TheFourPillars1 @Hi5ame @PuroresuFlow @MonthlyPuroresu @MadKing1981 @vintagepuro @ClassicsPuro83

When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer 14 years ago on June 24, 2006, I was very ignorant about the disease.

At the time, the image of cancer was "incurable. I thought that it was a disease that affects the elderly and causes them to die. It was hard for me to accept the fact that I, a 39-year-old man who had just a few days before won the championship belt, was suffering from cancer.

"I have cancer? Cancer can be in the kidneys?"

If this were a relatively well-known cancer such as stomach or lung cancer, I might have felt a little better about it, but kidney cancer accounts for only 1% of all cancers. However, kidney cancer is a rare cancer that affects only 1% of all cancers, or about 6 in 100000 people.

I will say this again and again because it is important, but you should get screenings and make efforts for early detection. And if you do get it, it is important to get the correct treatment as early as possible.

Nowadays, it is a disease that anyone can get, so even if you have cancer, I hope that you will face it without pessimism - as I have done, I hope that you will not waste your life and your life, and will return to society strongly.

When returning to society after a major illness, some people may feel that they "don't belong" due to the care and discretion of those around them.
"I feel like I don't belong here. I don't feel I am needed."

I had been rejected once at the application screening stage, so I was not someone who was needed by the wrestling world. I managed to get an interview with Giant Baba and was given permission to join the company, and on June 20, 1987, I officially joined All Japan Pro Wrestling.

Before entering the dojo, which was then located in Tokyo, I went to the All Japan office to say hello, and was suddenly taken to another room by reporters from Nikkan Sports and Weekly Gong. As one would expect from a new All Japan disciple, the media attention was different.

I was interviewed about various things and had my upper body stripped naked and photographed, but as I was being interviewed, I noticed that the reporters had a "Huh?". I was a little bothered by the "What?" expressions on the faces of the reporters as they talked to me.

"You must be new apprentice, Kobashi-san. Sorry about the other day. I mistook you for another student(Akira Taue) and and by company rules I can't write an article about you. Do your best to make your debut soon. We'll write an article about you then."

Akira Taue, who had "joined" rather than "entered", was written about before he joined, but I, just a new apprentice, wasn't. There is a clear difference between "those who entered because they were wanted" and "those who were admitted even though they weren't wanted".

I devoted myself to training, but even though Taue-san, who came from sumo background, was able to get one-on-one instruction from Baba on dropkicks, I was their training ground. I'm just one new apprentice who got in anyway, even though I wasn't needed.

Of course, I felt frustrated, but as I was being dropkicked by Taue-san, I changed my mind and thought, "This is also a practice of ukemi(selling)!", and became a training ground.

After that, I thought that the only way I could beat those who had made their mark in other martial arts was through the amount of practice I had, so I woke up in the morning, practiced, did joint training, ate chanko, took a short nap, practiced again and again. Every day.

Some seniors looked at the amount of practice I did and treated me like a freak, but I didn't mind at all. I was not doing it for others, but for myself, so I did not care what people said about me and spent my days for the future.

My efforts paid off. Right after my debut, I won the championship belt with Misawa. It may be hard to make a place for yourself, but just do your best. In the end, it comes back to you, so I think it's "How much you do on your own".

After I was able to walk again, I went to the hospital to buy sports newspapers. However, even though I had changed my mind the day before the surgery from "I will return to wrestling" to "I will live first", what hit me after the surgery was a sense of anxiety, despair and fear.

I thought, "Although I am alive, what am I going to do with my life now that I can no longer wrestle?". In my despair, I sometimes left the TV on in my hospital room all day long and just zoned out...

I was told to spend my 40s, the most active and productive years of a man's life, doing nothing. When I was finally discharged from the hospital, all I had was the same... anxiety, despair, and fear as I had after the surgery, or even more than then.

The fall from being crowned champion was so great that I could not feel very positive about it. Before that, anxiety and fear came over me.

Looking back now, I have very little memory of what happened after I left the hospital. I learned firsthand that when you have a major illness like cancer, you can become mentally ill, or mentally ill.

I really understand that people who have a major illness also lose their energy. For about two weeks after I was discharged from the hospital, I stayed indoors and did not go out once.

I think I just sighed from the time the sun rose to the time it set. For some reason, I would wake up early in the morning and just let the time pass and see the sunset, and then it would get hard again.
"What am I going to do... what is going to happen now?"

I was already feeling like I was going to fall out of my hair, my anxiety was gnawing at me, and I felt like I was going to be crushed by a sense of hopelessness. Even in the house, the only time I walked was to go to the bathroom.

The doctor instructed me to drink 1.5 to 2 liters of water a day and to go to the bathroom as much as possible. I think I just went to the bathroom, rehydrated, ate, and then just sat on the couch and zoned out.

One day, about two weeks later, I left the house for the first time in a while to get some fresh air. I suddenly decided to go shopping at a nearby convenience store, but I was too wobbly to walk.

It was only 200 to 300 meters from my house, but I was having palpitations, shortness of breath, and dizziness, and my head was dizzy and I couldn't walk properly. Moreover, it was already a hot day in August, so sweat was pouring out of me.

The harsh reality that I could no longer even go to convenience stores gave me a sense of crisis as I was sinking into the darkness of despair.

I'm like, "This is really bad. What's going to happen to me?"

The next day, I went to the pool at the gym. From then on, I went about five days a week and continued walking in the water for one to two hours. Because of my appointment with the doctor, I did not go to a gym with weight training or other equipment, but only walked in the pool.

There was no feeling there that this was the first step in my return to wrestling. My doctor said: "If you don't do this, you will be ruined, mentally and physically. You would be finished as a person."

I think it was this sense of crisis that made me go to the pool. After all, I was bedridden in the hospital, and even after being discharged from the hospital, I did nothing but sit on the couch at home, so it was natural that my muscles were weak.

I tried to go at times when there were as few people as possible, but I was still sometimes approached by people. I was not doing anything wrong, so I was proud and natural there, but if I am honest, it was painful to be seen by people. My body had lost its tension.

As a professional wrestler, I did not want people to see my body like that, but I continued to go to the pool.

I can say this now, but that action at that time was a big first step for me. If I had not thought "let's go to the convenience store" at that time, or if the convenience store was too far or too close, I would not have realized it.

I am sure that there are hints and triggers for everyone to get back on their feet in the most casual of places. It depends on whether or not you are able to notice them.

Now I am living well like this. But that is something I could not have known 12 years ago, and I am here today as a result of living each moment to the fullest.

If I don't live today to the fullest, there will be no next day. The accumulation of these experiences is the FUTURE. Perhaps I can live 10 years even if I live my life as Kenta Kobashi. With this thought in mind, I didn't waste every day and gave it my all and I was able to live

行くぞ! Thank you to everyone who has read to this point. If you want to read the whole book, I recommend purchasing it - amazon.co.jp/%E3%81%8C%E3%8…