“I didn’t want ever to be in the situation, either in the gym or in any part of my day, when I would feel something and blame Addison’s for it. I refused to use it as an excuse.”
Now aged 27, Gafuik reveals on his Facebook page that he started gymnastics pretty early on. As a toddler in Calgary, Nathan “exhibited a natural inclination toward climbing, running, jumping, and swinging. His grandmother registered him in a community gymnastics program for his fourth birthday and he started competitive gymnastics at five years old."
The energetic five-year-old became one of Canada’s top young gymnasts, training intensively and competing at ever-higher levels. Aged 18, he went to the Athens Olympics as an alternate for the men’s gymnastics team. Four years later, in Beijing aged 22, he achieved 17th overall place. Many international gymnasts retire by the age of 25. Not Nathan Gafuik. At London 2012 aged 27, he was Canada’s sole representative in the artistic gymnastics. He had gained that place in prior competitions with his own compatriots. His career now spans three Olympic Games, with additional gold-medal successes in the Commonwealth Games and World Championships.
A history of childhood illness
The threat of endocrine disease had always shadowed Nathan’s gymnastic aspirations, at times bringing him close to abandoning it. His family were aware of minor health problems from infancy; by the age of five he had been tested twice for diabetes because he was undersized and drank so much water. Soon he was missing school on a regular basis, with nothing identifiably wrong – but clearly too unwell for school. By the age of 10, he began feeling sick and was unable to eat during and after competitions. At 13, he was seriously ill during the week-long nationals competitions – yet still managed to come second in his category. In his early teens, his energy levels dropped dramatically. He had stopped growing and gaining strength in the same way as other boys his age. His Addison’s was diagnosed at 15.
I was lucky enough to meet Nathan Gafuik during the Olympics, over some soft drinks in the quietest corner of a cafeteria next door to the Olympic Park, to talk about how he has managed the challenge of Addison’s while meeting the massive demands of training and competing.
We started where so many discussions between those who have Addison’s begin: what was his diagnosis like?
The relief of diagnosis
"Really it was a relief. The national team coach had said because of my size, and the time it took me to recover, I couldn’t be included in the national team. I had been ready to quit gymnastics. I had always been used to winning everything and destroying the competition. But then, the other boys had caught me up and passed me. Things hadn’t been right for a while. I was nauseous after competitions, having two or three days off school and seeing separate specialists. My mum was urging them to look at the whole picture but no-one was putting it all together.
“Then I had an Addisonian crisis just after Christmas, when I was 15. I was deathly ill and lost 10 pounds in four days. Finally, on my second visit to ER, a doctor said they’d figured it out. At the time they said, "take your steroids and life will be as normal". It took a while for me to discover how much of a challenge it was going to become. It’s so intertwined with absolutely everything you do in your life,” he commented.
The path to recovery
Gafuik knew he was talented and was determined to develop into the athlete that he wanted to be. Immediately after his diagnosis, he let his mother become the expert on Addison’s and concentrated on getting back into training and competing, knowing that if she noticed something was affecting him, she would help him get back on track.
This was part of Gafuik’s personal strategy to stop Addison’s from getting him down. “I didn’t want ever to be in the situation, either in the gym or in any part of my day, when I would feel something and blame Addison’s for it. I refused to use it as an excuse,” he explained.
It was at the age of 20 that he came under the supervision of New Zealand-born endocrinologist Stuart Ross, who was himself a former world-class runner. Ross brought a real understanding of the physical and psychological demands of training and competing to Gafuik’s treatment. He changed the timing of the prednisolone, to better suit his training schedule and to respond to some of his issues with energy and insomnia. Nathan still maintains the same regular training schedule: Monday to Friday, 8.30-10am and 1.30-5pm; 12-3pm on Sundays.
“We had the medications all worked out and then we noticed that emotions – and how you handle them – play a major role. If I start to feel tired and tell myself that I’m tired, then I’m going to be tired. So Ross told me to work on having positive thoughts, particularly on stressful days, because those thoughts get your brain working differently and then positive chemicals start flowing and you can pull yourself round that way.
“Also we’re finding all the time that I need to be on top of what I’m eating and how I’m sleeping. I need to always be conscious of what’s going on, so that when I notice something I can handle it before things get out of control.
"For example if I notice I’m tired or headachy at the morning training session, I’ll go home and eat a really healthy meal with lots of vitamins and drink lots of fluids.” He pauses and laughs. “I’ll also drink lots of coffee because I enjoy it, and it gives me a boost. Then I feel I’m good to go, and can get back to the afternoon session in the gym feeling decent.”
Mental discipline and self-awareness
This approach of mental strength combined with physical vigilance means that, apart from illness, Gafuik only varies his twice-daily prednisolone on competition days. Then, he doubles his normal prednisolone dose, spreading out the extra to keep him on the level. If a competition is at 5pm, he’ll take his normal 5mg dose in the morning, then an extra 2.5 at noon, and the same at 2pm and 4pm and then again at 6pm during the competition, ending with his usual 5mg at night.
Ross and Gafuik refined this system, which covers the physical strain and the mental stress of competing, to avoid the trap of too high a dose. Any excess steroid could potentially weaken Gafuik’s muscles – just when he needs to perform at his peak.
On the subject of muscles, Gafuik ruefully indicates his upper arms which, he says, only a week after he has ceased training for the Olympics, have lost muscle bulk faster than would be the case for someone without Addison’s.
“No matter how hard I train and condition, I can never put on, and keep, my muscles as others do.”
As well as being an all-around finalist at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Nathan Gafuik won a gold medal in the team event, with silver medals for all-around and on vault, at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. He also gained a bronze all-around and a gold medal on the high bar, at the 2007 Pacific Alliance. These are outstanding competitive achievements for any gymnast. To have succeeded like this with Addison’s is breathtakingly exceptional, in a way which, perhaps, only those of us who also live with the condition can truly appreciate.
Finding the techniques for self-control
Based on this experience, does he have any advice for others, in particular to those recently diagnosed with Addison’s? True to form, his answer is both realistic and positive:
“Addison’s has different effects on different people. The part we’re missing intertwines with everything in the body, so first find out how it affects you and then find the techniques to control it.”
So what has been his proudest moment to date?
“There’ve been some good ones. One of my most favourite moments was in 2006 in the Team Final of the World Championships. I was one of the three, that went up on the vault, and Kyle Shewfelt, who got a gold medallist in Athens in 2004 was another. I went first, and I stuck (landed standing up with both feet together) perfectly – which doesn’t happen very often on vaults. The next guy stuck it and then Kyle finished off, all three of us in a row, which was huge and everyone was going crazy!”
Setbacks and determination
This past year has been hard for Nathan. In June 2012, two months before coming to London, Nathan had surgery for a thumb injury sustained at the World Cup in Slovenia. The delicate tissue repair involved after the surgery meant he was told it would be six to eight weeks before he could start putting any strain on that hand during training. A less determined person might have given up, but Nathan dedicated himself to a complete recovery.
He saw physiotherapists and chiropractors, as well as undergoing demanding massage therapy. And he applied three to four hours of laser treatment to himself every day. “I tried to stay off extra meds as much as possible but I did have some issues with appetite during that period and I was sleeping 10-12 hours a day. Six days before the competition, I had to prove myself fit to compete – and succeeded – but it was all a crazy experience.”
When the London Olympic competition began, Gafuik had a fall on the high bar in the qualifying round and was immediately eliminated, to his own huge disappointment. Despite being only one of many athletes similarly eliminated, it was a devastatingly frustrating outcome, which again has required all his self-discipline and resilience. Inevitably, his limited opportunity to participate in the London competitions fails to reflect his high standard and extraordinary preparation.
What next? After London, he plans to “head for the couch”, and do nothing at all for a month. This will be the longest holiday he’s ever taken. Then it’s back to the gym and training. “I want to peak at the World Championships in Antwerp in September 2013, and I’m going to take a smart approach to getting ready for that one.”
Hugely talented, very smart and astonishingly resilient, Nathan Gafuik deserves our recognition, much applause, and our heartfelt thanks for demonstrating that so much is possible when living with Addison’s. He may be too modest to accept the idea of being a role model, but by his career he demonstrates that, with good medical support and the right balance of daily medication, coupled with a positive mind-set, self-awareness and physical discipline, a diagnosis of Addison’s need not prevent us from achieving our goals.
Jane Hodgkin
This article was first published in the September 2012 edition of the ADSHG newsletter.
ADSHG members can read further articles about Nathan's career and how he manages Addison's on a day-to-day basis in the Living Well section of our website and in back issues of our newsletter:
- Glasgow Commonwealth Games: Nathan Gafuik diary exclusive
- Nathan Gafuik: my approach to diet and exercise
- Nathan Gafuik: travelling the world
- Nathan Gafuik: crisis in Moscow
- Nathan’s website has details about his life and ambitions:
- You can follow Nathan on Twitter
The ADSHG online shop stocks a number of products that highlight both contemporary and historical famous names who have Addison's. These include our Famous lives tea towel and bookmark.
Watch Nathan's gymnastics routines
Watch Nathan Gafuik performing his high bar routine at the 2012 Canadian Gymnastics Championships:
At the Gymnix World Cup in 2010:
At the Beijing Olympics in 2008:
