A friend of mine recently completed stem cell treatment after beating non-hodgkins lymphoma.

One of the main issues he faced was that part of his lower spine was being eaten away and plates were immediately attached for stabilization. He's recently put on a good bit of weight, not as much as he used to have, but I'm willing to bet he's at or just under 220lbs. When I match up what I'm seeing in him compared to the information put out in the blue book and here on the boards, it seems like he's returning to normal. He definitely looks like he's been through hell, but he looks healthier than he has in months and has already returned to work as a salesman for a industrial hardware store that services numerous companies in the area.

He recently expressed to me that he wants to come to the gym with me and wants help with barbell training. I just finished perusing through Paul's board from 2019-2020 (that guy was a tough mfer!!!) and that actually gave me hope that my friend could potentially get under a bar. It looks especially good when you take his age (28) into account. However, I did just come upon a post here where someone asked if Rip would ever coach someone with bone cancer and it was met with a pretty hard 'no'; that's giving me pause in my friend's situation. His spine was taking a beating from his bout with cancer and now the doctors think it's safe to remove those plates.

If someone like that were to walk into WFAC and ask to be trained, would they be accepted or turned away? The fact that the doctor is making the call to remove the plates seems like a good sign with the expected recovery time from that procedure being only 1 week. I'd like to help my friend, but I don't want to screw it (or him) up by getting him to load his spine when he really shouldn't be. If I were in his position, I'd want to get under the bar and get after it while being cautious and doing my best to be aware of my back's condition.