LuFisto Breaks Down Her Medical History, Was Told Major Company Wouldn’t Sign Her Over Concerns

– LuFisto says that she’s been told by an acquaintance who works for one of the big wrestling companies that her medical history is why they won’t consider signing her, so she’s decided to clear the matter up. The independent wrestling veteran shared a lengthy post on Facebook in which she discussed said history.

In the post, she notes that she had a back injury in January 2007 following “the King of the Death Matches 2006 and several very intense matches.” That injury put her in the hospital and she said “Is this retirement? I don’t know, but I’m on indefinite hiatus” in a post on her website. However, she did not retire and was back in the ring in July after her back turned out to be fine.

She goes on to say that she was hospitalized in May of 2010 over concerns she suffered a heart attack or stroke. A heart attack was quickly ruled out but doctors weren’t certain the issue so she had a CT scan and several vials of blood taken. She notes that she discussed the incident in an interview during a tryout for Tough Enough and believes that people thought she had a full stroke due to the incident, but had none of the scars on her brain that come with a full-on stroke and was cleared a month later. The issue was later revealed in 2011 to be an atrial septal defect, a congenital issue which she had fixed.

She goes on to discuss how in 2018 she was found to have cancer in her cervix that did not need radiation or chemotherapy, and had most of her cervix removed and her last cancer test was negative. Finally, last year she thought it would be her final year due to arthrosis in her knee but she lost 30 pounds and got shots in her knee. The shots helped her and she has been cleared by her doctor.

She adds, “However, I worked real hard in the past months. Can we embrace that I’m still here, having the best matches of my career instead of seeing a weakness here? Can we see strength instead? Can we see the years passed as experience that can be shared with the next generation? I think I have proven time and time again that I’m one tough cookie and that nothing can hold me down. I am dedicated, I am perseverant and hard working… And you know what on top of this, I believe I’m a decent human being which is a good thing, right?”

The full post is below:

This is a very long read but it is necessary. So please, bare with me here…

A few days ago, I was informed by an acquaintance working for “one of the big ones” that my medical history was the reason why they wouldn’t even think about signing me. Actually, they didn’t know exactly what was my medical history which was a problem…

Why wouldn’t they just ask? Well, I have no idea…

However, when you browse the Internet, there is so much sh**… I learn things myself!! Heart attack? Wait! What? I thought I had explained my struggles of the past pretty well but apparently, I failed… Or is it that people are really into sensationalism these days so they report stories to capture the attention of their readers without even verifying the facts? Yes sometimes, I believe so.

Since I’ve always been an open book (too much apparently), maybe it is time to make things VERY clear. Let me break down the rumors and inaccurate information on the worldwide web!!

Therefore, here’s the premiere of LuFisto: The Medical!!

2007: Back Injury

“LuFisto retired in 2007. That’s why she had to forfeit the CZW IronMan Championship”

Following the King of the Death Matches 2006 and several very intense matches, my back just had enough. After one match in January 2007. I ended up at the hospital where I was told if I didn’t stop, I would develop several herniated disks (L4-CL and S1). Therefore, I stopped for a while. I wrote on my website:

“Is this retirement? I don’t know, but I’m on indefinite hiatus”.

My back turned out to be fine by July and I was back in the ring! So no, I didn’t retire in 2007. I gave back the championship simply because I could not defend it and didn’t know when I would be able to.

2010: Stroke and Heart Attack?

I know exactly where this one came from and a big part of it is my fault. In May 2010, I ended up in the hospital again because there was definitely something wrong. I couldn’t feel my arm and my face was numb. First thought as I get there, heart attack or stroke.

Heart attack is quickly dismissed but for the rest, I needed more tests. So I got a CT Scan, plus they emptied my body of half of my blood as they took 21 tubes of the red substance (yes, I counted them). As I was laying there, all I could think about was “Oh my God, I won’t be able to wrestle again. It’s all over”.

When I applied for “Tough Enough” (I had an interview but wasn’t chosen because I was too experienced, the lady told me), I talked about that precise episode because I thought it represented well how much I love wrestling and how it is such an important part of me… And well, that’s where I fucked up.

That’s probably why people think I had a full-on stroke with the brain scars and whatnot. It was also used in some promotions as part of promos and angles which, of course, didn’t help either. Actually, with absolutely no scars on my brain, I was cleared to wrestle a month later…

I repeat… NO SCARS… CLEARED!! I even have a letter from the doctor for everyone who needs to see it!

The minute you have a scar on your brain, it is too dangerous to participate in any contact sports or activities. Yes, I LOVE wrestling, but I’m not stupid. If this would have been the case, I was stopping immediately. Dying was not an option…

I would only know months later what had happened, after going through more tests…

2011: Heart Surgery

Atrial septal defect… A heart defect that is present at birth (congenital).

That was the answer to all the questions about what had happened. I wrote a whole piece about it on my website back then but no one mentions it when talking about what happened… And well, Tough Enough, angles and gimmicks, I presume…

What is ASD? It’s when the wall (septum) separating the upper chamber into a left and right atrium of the heart does not form correctly. When this happens, the blood flowing through the defect will then go from right to left. If this occurs, there will be less oxygen in the blood that goes to the body. That’s what created the “stroke-like” effect.

Why didn’t it happen before? No one knows. Some people will live with the defect their whole life without knowing they had it. Others, like me, will have their body tell them some way that something is wrong.

So, I had a little surgery in July of 2011 to close the septum with an endoscopic, closed chest approach. You can’t even see today where they went in on my right leg.

So there you have it… No heart attack… No stroke…

A congenital defect that has been resolved.

2018: Cancer

I was really opened about this one. On my 38th birthday, I had a phone call telling me I needed a biopsy asap because of abnormal cells they had found on my cervix. The cells ended up being cancerous. Lucky enough to avoid chemotherapy or radiation, I had a surgery to remove most of my cervix.

I went through all kinds of emotions with this one as, being a resident of the United States, I had to deal with a system new to me where you are a bank account and not a human plus, if you are only a resident and not citizen, you get a lot of “we can’t help you”. I think I got more concerned with my bills than my health… I’m still paying for some of them as I had to take loans in Canada to pay the doctor’s down there… And no, when you live abroad, you cannot use the Canadian healthcare system.

As I explained in my recent 2019 Year Review, the cells were trying to come back so I chose to move back to Canada to get proper care. And I did. I can happily say that my last test was completely negative!! You don’t know how precious healthcare is until you lose it… Never again.

2019: The Knee & Retirement

I’ve been wrestling for 23 years… I have arthrosis in my knee. I won’t lie about it. Actually, I never lied about my problems as I believe sharing them will help someone, somewhere. I’m pretty sure most wrestlers who have been wrestling as long have some too. Let me doubt it if you say don’t…

Fed up of the business, my doctor telling me my knee was bad after I sprained it, falling down the stairs like a stupid idiot (credit: Chris Jericho), I announced 2019 would be my last year. And my God did I mean it.

Once again, I invite you to read my 2019 Year Review to get all the details, my thought process and how I decided to keep going.

Long story short, I lost 30 pounds, shots in my knee ended up working, and I was CLEARED by the doctor to keep going. Cleared.

2020: Why not sign me?

So there you have it, my full medical report. Nothing hidden, everything on the table here, clear as it can be.

I had a back injury? Yes, I did. I wanted to prove that women belonged so bad that I did some crazy things, took some crazy bumps. Let’s make this clear. Most men didn’t want to wrestle women. I got beat up real bad in hopes I would give up as they wanted to prove women didn’t belong in the same ring as them. This is a sad fact but it is the reality. Does the injury still bother me? I’m stiff sometimes, I will admit. Does it stop me from living a comfortable life and wrestle as much as I want? Absolutely not.

So there was no heart attack. I have no scars on my brain. But I was born with a little defect. A defect that has been fixed and that was never a problem during my matches as I’ve grew better and stronger following that episode of my life.

So please, as I’ve been fully cleared YEARS AGO, do not use this reason as an excuse not to use me because it is bogus and only an easy way out. It should be seen as an example that people born with a defect or different can achieve big things and that life isn’t over before it even started.

Yes, I had to deal with the one I call Mister C… And my God did I go to a dark place from there as I was battling a deep depression at the same time… But I came out alive and stronger. I was extremely lucky. My aunt and many others did not have that chance. Please do not use this against me as many promotions are often part of cancer survivors related charities. All survivors, the lucky ones who got out easily (me), the ones who had to struggle to make it through and the brave warriors who lost the battle, should be celebrated, not penalized.

My knee… It was beat up but it is better. I will sound old here but, back in my early days, you couldn’t say you were injured. They would have called me “weak, a pussy and a woman that don’t deserve to be in the ring”. I wrestled injured for a very long time, keeping my mouth shut and yes, it did create damage. 23 years of wrestling will do that to you, especially when you are often the only girl of the bunch, a girl that wants and needs to prove all those naysayers wrong.

However, I worked real hard in the past months. Can we embrace that I’m still here, having the best matches of my career instead of seeing a weakness here? Can we see strength instead? Can we see the years passed as experience that can be shared with the next generation? I think I have proven time and time again that I’m one tough cookie and that nothing can hold me down.

I am dedicated, I am perseverant and hard working… And you know what on top of this, I believe I’m a decent human being which is a good thing, right?

So there you have it. I hope it answers a lot of questions and that now everything is clear. Let’s move forward, shall we?

So… What will it take?

Much love.

LuFisto