By Henri Schmidt, CEO & Founder of Vbtec/Visionbody, Muscle Expert and Cancer Survivor
Everything changed for me just before Christmas 2023 when I was diagnosed with head and neck cancer.
Like anyone receiving that kind of news, I was shocked, scared, and desperate to understand what came next. I trusted my medical team and began the treatment they recommended. What followed were three months of chemotherapy and forty rounds of radiation to my face and neck.
The treatment was incredibly difficult. The radiation severely affected my mouth and throat. Eating became painful. Drinking became difficult. Even swallowing was a challenge.
Over the following months, I lost 65 kilograms and with that weight, much of my strength.
I was alive, but barely.
The First Victory, and the Next Challenge
After weeks of fear and exhaustion, I finally received encouraging news. My scans showed no evidence of the head and neck cancer that had started this journey.
For the first time, I allowed myself to feel hopeful.
That hope was short-lived.
A few months later, in June 2024, new scans revealed four tumors in my lungs. I remember staring at the images, struggling to process what I was hearing. Just as I thought I could begin rebuilding my life, another chapter of the journey was beginning.
Cancer has a way of making you feel like the ground beneath your feet disappears. I had to learn how to keep moving even when I no longer knew what the future would look like.
Taking Back a Sense of Control
Throughout my treatment, I looked for ways to maintain as much strength and normality as possible alongside the medical care I was receiving.
As someone who has spent most of his life studying muscle science and human performance, it was natural for me to pay close attention to my nutrition, physical activity, and recovery. I experimented with different approaches to eating, adjusted my routines many times, and continued looking for practical ways to stay active, even when my energy was limited.
These were deeply personal decisions shaped by my own experience, my background, and conversations with my healthcare team. They should not be interpreted as recommendations for anyone else living with cancer.
For me, maintaining some form of routine became just as important as maintaining my physical strength.
Disclaimer: I am sharing my personal experience, not medical advice. My story should not be interpreted as evidence that nutrition, fasting, EMS, supplements, or other lifestyle practices can treat or cure cancer. Anyone living with cancer should make decisions about treatment, nutrition, and exercise together with their oncologist and healthcare team
The Battle With Bone Metastases
As my treatment continued, there were moments that brought hope.
After one round of scans, I received encouraging news about my lungs. It was an emotional moment, one I will never forget. For the first time in a long while, I felt like I could breathe a little easier, both physically and emotionally.
But cancer has a way of reminding you that the journey is rarely straightforward.
Not long afterward, I learned that the disease had spread to my bones. My care team found four tumors along my spine. Hearing that news was devastating. After everything I had already been through, it felt as though I was being asked to begin the fight all over again.
The fear was still there. The physical toll of treatment was impossible to ignore. But something inside me had changed. I no longer wanted to spend my energy focusing only on what I couldn't control. Instead, I focused on the things I still could.
I continued following the treatment plan recommended by my medical team. I also continued the personal routines that helped me stay active and maintain my physical strength whenever I felt able, including using my Visionbody EMS system for gentle training.
There were encouraging moments, followed by new setbacks. Some scans brought relief, while others reminded me that my cancer journey was still unfolding. That uncertainty became one of the hardest parts of living with the disease.
What changed wasn't the uncertainty. It was my mindset.
I stopped measuring every day only by scan results and started measuring it by whether I had found the strength to keep moving forward. That shift gave me a sense of purpose, even when the future remained unknown.
Learning to Live With Uncertainty
My journey did not follow a straight line.
There were moments when scans brought encouraging news, followed by times when new challenges appeared. Every appointment came with hope, uncertainty, and the understanding that cancer rarely follows the path we wish it would.
What I learned was that I could not control every medical outcome.
What I could control was how I approached each day.
I could continue caring for myself.
I could continue moving when I was able.
I could continue choosing habits that helped me feel physically and mentally stronger, while continuing to follow the treatment plan recommended by my medical team.
That mindset became incredibly important to me.
The People Who Carried Me Forward
No one fights cancer alone.
If there is one person who carried me through this journey, it is my wife and partner, Krisztina.
She stood beside me through every treatment, every difficult night, every moment of fear, and every setback. When I felt exhausted, she gave me strength. When I doubted myself, she reminded me why I had to keep going.
Her love and support became my anchor throughout this experience.
Looking back, I honestly cannot imagine walking this road without her.
What Strength Means to Me Today
Cancer completely changed the way I think about strength.
Years ago, strength meant performance.
Today, strength means resilience.
It means getting out of bed on difficult mornings.
It means continuing to care for yourself when fear tells you to give up.
It means preserving your independence, your mobility, and your quality of life for as long as possible.
For me, maintaining muscle became part of that mindset. Not because I believed muscle could cure disease, but because staying as physically capable as I could helped me face each day with greater confidence and hope.
Why I Continue Building Visionbody
When I founded Visionbody in 2014, my goal was to create a new generation of wireless EMS technology that would help people stay active more easily.
Years later, I found myself using that same technology during the most difficult period of my own life.
That experience gave my work an entirely different meaning.
Today, my mission is not to tell people I have found answers to cancer.
My mission is to help more people understand the importance of preserving strength, staying active whenever possible, and making movement part of a healthier life.
Whether someone is rebuilding after illness, recovering from a setback, growing older, or simply trying to stay strong, I believe movement matters.
That belief has only become stronger throughout my own journey.
The Fight Continues
I am still living with uncertainty.
Cancer has taught me that progress is rarely a straight line, and that every day is something to be grateful for.
It has also reminded me that hope is built through small decisions repeated over time.
For me, those decisions include staying active, taking care of my body as best I can, continuing to build Visionbody, and spending time with the people I love.
If my story offers anything to someone else facing a difficult diagnosis, I hope it is this:
You are stronger than you think.
Lean on the people who love you.
Work closely with your medical team.
Keep hope alive.
And never underestimate the value of preserving your strength, one day at a time.
Henri Schmidt
Disclaimer: I wrote this article to share my personal experience as a former athlete, fitness specialist, EMS innovator, and person living with cancer. My experiences should not be interpreted as medical advice or as evidence that nutrition, fasting, EMS, supplements, or other lifestyle practices can treat or cure cancer. If you have cancer or another medical condition, always speak with your oncologist and other qualified healthcare professionals before making decisions about your treatment, diet, exercise, or health routine.
