Arnold Classic Europe Champion opens up about cancer battle.
IFBB Elite Pro‘s highest ranking bodybuilder, Mika Sihvonen, has revealed to the bodybuilding and fitness world that he has been battling cancer.
Unfortunately, Mika was given the bad news that he had Malignant Tongue Cancer, which he immediately removed. The operation was not without complication, as Mika lost a large amount of blood after the operation.
The result of the operation was that Mika lost a large part of his tongue, and he must go on a liquid diet for one to two months.
Mika always revealed that he might have some speech problems, but will get back to normal in due time.
Thankfully, Mika found out about the cancer at the right time, as tests resulted that he is cancer free.
Will Mika compete again?
In his social media post, Mika did not give any indication if he will be competing in 2023. As it looks, he will need to full recover, and this will derail his bodybuilding career for the time being.
Mika is a multiple IFBB Elite Pro World Champion, and he is also the reigning Arnold Classic Europe champion.
Mika managed to win Arnold Classic Europe title in 2022, after years of placing second to the former IFBB Elite Pro athlete, Michal Krizo.
This was a special victory for Mika, after suffering a devastating leg injury, but he managed to recover, and fight his way back to the top.
Many argued that Mika should have defeated Michal on numerous occasions, as his balance of size and condition, looked incredible on stage, always pushing Krizo to the edge.
For the time being, Mika will definitely be missed from the competitive stage, but we can guarantee, that he will still contribute to the sport.
We at Evolutionofbodybuilding.net wish Mika a speedy recovery, and hope to see him on the bodybuilding stage very soon, doing what he loves.
Mika Sihvonen’s experience in detail
This text has been translated to English
“2 weeks ago I got a phone call telling me I have malignant tongue cancer. A couple of days after the call I went to several different descriptions, after which we were left waiting for an answer, has the cancer spread elsewhere in the body as well?”
“Mentally it must have been the toughest 5 days waiting for an answer with @mariannika_ about whether the cancer has spread. During the 5 days my thoughts were wandering from everywhere and at the 4th day when I still didn’t hear anything I started to think and be afraid of death quite concretely. 5 days later the doctor called about the pictures and said good news that according to this information, the cancer had not spread and, based on the current information, cancer would be overcome with surgery.”
“I got the surgery quickly on Friday and initially at least one night in the ward. Surgery went well according to the doctor but I started leaking the next day around half like niagara falls and blood came out like a water tap tried to stop the leak but it didn’t work I had already lost a lot of blood and started shaking and my consciousness was blurry so they decided to take me back for surgery to the hall where I was put to sleep again, gave a blood transfusion and sewed more stitches to my tongue.”
“At night my tongue was still leaking a bit and after the second night the situation is already better, just a little blood between the lap / drool, which is normal. Today I got permission to go home to recover at my own request.”
“They cut out the cancerous area of my tongue and a big chunk on my right side, it’s really painful and swallowing is really challenging. Can’t and shouldn’t actually eat anything yet, only in liquid form and sauces for the next 1-2 months. The surgery can also affect your speech but it usually returns to normal or near normal. I’ll probably lose the right side of my tongue but apparently you learn to live with it.”
“Thank you dear @mariannika_ for being and having been by my side in good and bad times.”
“I think we’ll get through this too and the best news was that the cancer hadn’t had the time to spread and we’re still alive.” – Mika Sihvonen.
Competition History
—— IFBB AMATEUR ——
2017 Finnish Open 2nd
2017 Diamond Cup Portugal -80kg 1st
2017 Olympia Amateur -80kg 1st
2017 Arnold Classic Europe -80kg 1st
2017 Finnish Championships + Overall 1st
2017 Ben Weider Cup + Overall 1st
2017 Diamond Cup Rome -80kg 1st
2017 IFBB World Elite Ranking World Best Amateur Bodybuilder 1st
—— IFBB ELITE PRO ——
2018 Arnold Classic Europe Pro Open 5th
2018 Nordic Pro -90kg + Open Overall 1st
2018 IFBB Elite Pro World Champ -90kg 1st
2019 Arnold Classic Europe Pro Open 2nd
2019 Nordic Pro Open 1st
2019 IFBB Elite Pro World Champ Open 3rd
2019 IFBB Elite Pro World Champ -90kg 1st
2020 Arnold Classic Europe Pro Open 2nd
2020 IFBB Elite Pro World Champ Open 2nd
2021 Arnold Classic Europe Pro Open 2nd
2021 IFBB Elite Pro World Champ Open 2nd
2022 IFBB Elite Pro World Champ Open (Arnold Classic Europe)
Viewer discretion was advised – Some photos are graphic
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