If there is anyone who is glad to see 2015 in the rearview mirror, it’s Burly Bakers owner Will Armstrong. Major health issues last spring led to a diagnosis of congestive heart failure for the gay 42-year-old Atlanta resident, keeping him in the hospital for six weeks straight and causing him to temporarily close the bakery and his IT consulting business.
Armstrong, who used to go by Bill but now prefers Will, adorned our annual Dining and Drink issue in Dec. 2014, a few months before his health troubles began. We sat down with him again one recent Monday afternoon, and he opened up about what happened, what role his steroid use had in it, and how the community helped him get on the path to recovery.
Soon after we last spoke for the Burly Bakers cover story, you started to have the health issues. Tell me about what happened.
So in May, I was short of breath and had been feeling bad. I ended up going to the outpatient clinic and was sent from there over to the ER at Crawford Long. It turned out it was kidney failure from lack of blood from lack of heart performance. Then it turned out to be congestive heart failure.
It was a rough few months. There was a period of a couple months there where it was a lot of uncertainty as to whether I would survive it or not. I applied for disability and had to close both my IT consulting business and the bakery for a while. My heart was pretty severely damaged.
But I’m still recovering. I’m definitely not 100 percent, nowhere near it. I’m still on an IV infusion that runs around the clock and they’re still considering me for a heart transplant. The future is still a little uncertain.
What was done medically and personally to get you out of those first few months when it was unclear if you would survive?
Well there were some lifestyle changes. You know, I’ll be honest with you, I was using steroids and they think steroid abuse was a big part of what caused the heart failure. I was big, I was 247 pounds, and that alone puts a lot of pressure on the heart.
I’ve been on a very reduced sodium diet. Very clean living and just a very peaceful life, very stress-free. And lots and lots of medication, I’m on 14 medications now. This IV infusion they have me on is considered a bridge to transplant drug and it’s a pretty heavy duty one that saved my life in June. I think the steroids had a lot to do with it and dropping 50 pounds, that certainly made a difference.
What about medical expenses? Did you have insurance?
Thank God for President Obama and the Affordable Care Act [laughs] because I was insured. I’ve had $400,000 in medical bills since May. Thank God for the ACA because that’s the thing that saved my ass. I’ve had excellent care.
Also some people set up a GoFundMe campaign for me, and between that and another fundraiser they did it gave me $15,000 in cash, which really carried me through because when I got sick I completely lost my income altogether. The community helped me out a lot.
So how was your mindset while all of this was going on and what got you through it?
I’ll admit, it was pretty hard. The first 60 days were probably the hardest and I went through a very, very dark time. I had some friends that just really cared for me. I had friends that were staying at my house and taking care of my dog. I spent about six straight weeks in the hospital.
Luckily these donations kept coming in and people kept paying my bills and telling me not to worry about it. The community was amazing and my family was amazing. I was over it. I had never up until that point had any indication of any heart problem. I was confused and in some pretty serious denial for a long time and was just angry. I guess I went through all those stages of grief they talk about and just a lot of disbelief about how this could happen.
I see so many 40-year-old gay men die from steroid abuse and massive heart attacks and I think I finally reached a point where I realized that could have been me and that could have been the outcome in my case too. And I started to look at what I had been given as being a second chance rather than “oh poor, pitiful me.”
That’s when things kind of shifted and I started getting some gratitude about every day after that being a gift instead of me being dealt a bum hand. Because I can name three or four people just in the last two years that have died, seemingly healthy men but obviously gym rats who are 250 pounds and chasing the dream and they’re dead. And I’m not one of them so for that I’m happy. But it definitely took me some getting there.
When did your businesses start back up again?
I started the bakery up in June again but it’s on a pretty limited basis. Obviously some of my IT clients had to choose other providers because I was unable to be responsive. I just now got freedom to drive again.
So it’s been a slow start but I’m doing a little bit of both again and I’m really looking to ramp back up for Valentine’s Day and just see what the future holds. I’m trying not to let it overwhelm me or get too stressful because I’m at about 50 percent now physically. I don’t want to kill myself with it.
Why exactly is a party-boy steroid queen who blasted out his own organs with drugs being celebrated? Why are other people paying for his ruined body? When is he accountable for his own self-abuse? What a load of shit. We celebrate morons and lift them back up, while we refuse to help those who really need it. $400,000 of medical care?! Paid for by others’ taxes? It’s criminally irresponsible. The gay “community” is no hero here — it is the victim being “had” by this foolish scam.
Marcus, where’s the compassion for your fellow man? Yes, there should be self responsibility but we all know that addiction and self abuse run rampant in our community for all kinds of reasons. I’m not saying Wil is a victim but he is a human being who makes mistakes. How about getting off your judgment box and have some understanding? As far as your comment about the expense of his medical bills and taxes, Wil has private health insurance. His friends and people with actual compassion for their fellow man helped him with their own money. He did not get disability so your taxes not were not used. Even if they were used for someone in his situation so what it’s only money. A life is more valuable.
Marcus,
While your overall message is understood, Will has never personally asked for a hand-out nor pity. His friends have banded around him and did everything possible to help him survive this devastating path nobody should ever have to travel. He has remained stoic in the face of multiple dances with death and chose to be honest about the cause of his condition rather than mask it for something it’s not. He accepts full responsibility and is using his second chance at life to educate others of a topic not commonly understood nor discussed. That should tell you something about his character and his desire to help use his mishaps and poor choices to prevent further damage to members of our community and beyond. Rather than attack him from the safety of your smart phone, why don’t you take the time to help out someone in need who you feel deserves your contributions and attention. Will certainly deserves mine and his story is changing lives. Spread love and compassion. Don’t deter someone’s efforts to do the right thing.
Marcus,
I had private insurance through the ACA with zero subsidies when I got sick, and I have maintained that insurance with zero subsidies. I have never been on disability, never been on medicaid, and I have never asked for a handout. To suggest that I have “scammed” anyone for anything or done anything criminal is just ignorant.
The amount of love shown for me when I got sick has been truly incredible — and it was given without me asking. I am so grateful for the amazing support I received and which I continue to receive. I hope you have the same amazing quality of people in your life if you ever find yourself in need.
The interesting about Marcus’ response is not what it says about Will but what it says about Marcus. Will obviously made some mistakes, and he was willing to openly discuss that and make himself vulnerable to the public so that others could hear the story. He asked for help where he needed it, which is a quality most of us could learn from.
The response from Marcus is completely disproportionate to the story being told and you just have to wonder where all that anger, judgment, lack of compassion and self-righteousness is coming from?
sad but true.
Even if this man is contrite, he should at least mention what he did wrong to end up this way (his steriod abuse that he could have done without!). Not one word on that here.
Fine. The ACA isn’t a tax-supported exchange. We can believe that if we want despite fact. And sure, friends rally around. As they should. That’s great. But my real point is that, sad as it may be, this man’s heart didn’t simply “start to fail” at an early age. He, like many in our community, failed his heart. Abused his body. And now has the consequences of that. It’s not so much a random tragedy or medical condition as an earned outcome from self-abuse. To pretend otherwise is, to me, indeed a scam. Just say “I ruined my own body to get attention and now need your help because I messed up my own life”. Because that’s the hard truth. This didn’t happen to him; he did it to himself. I don’t want him to die. But I do think the honest story might actually do others some good. Yes, I am angry but not at this person. At the inane, childish, abusive, indulgent, superficial standards defining this community far too often. Then, when it catches up to us, we want others to step in as the adults to clean up the after effects of the party. It’s wrong and doesn’t make me a bad person to call out the truth. If we really love each other we’d be more honest and truthful with our friends before they ruin their own lives. And finally, if this gent weren’t white and cute and a circuit muscle man, would anybody give a flip? Unlikely. The mirror isn’t just for flexing. It’s for real reflection. The community needs it. But instead it scolds those speaking truth. Ok. More of these situations will happen then.
Marcus, you made your point. This article would have been vastly better if he had written two sentences of his regret about drug use and tried to stop others (had he had it, which it seems he is very very low on, for those who might be reading this article) from making the same mistake. I think we can let the politically correct ‘bleeding hearts’ who do not see the point because they see too much of themselves in this man, carry on trying to take your worlds back…. I guess they see this scenario looming ahead one day themselves.. poor clucks.
Marcus, you lose all initial credibility when you begin by calling a person a “party-boy steroid queen”, a “moron”, and a scam artist. I’m not quite sure how you would think that is a good idea or an effective way to communicate whatever point you think you are making. Instead, you have presented, in this public forum for the entire world, a clear indication that you have any number of your own underlying issues, insecurities, anger-management issues, and poor judgment.
Putting your offensive and unprofessional name-calling aside, your lack of basic reading comprehension is what really does you in. It seems that the entire theme of this article – or at least a primary theme – is to discuss Will’s health issues and the admitted connection of those issues to his steroid use. I can count at least three or four separate instances in the interview where Will explicitly acknowledges the connection between the steroids and his health decline. You accuse Will of dishonesty; to the contrary, Will is not only honest, but leads by example, by utilizing this opportunity to publicly admit his own faults and to bring awareness of the dangers of steroid use to the community at large. If you, Marcus, had a fraction of Will’s courage or maturity, perhaps you could put your own anger to good use and help others in the community – rather than waste your time demeaning those who are already doing so.
I don’t know Will but I have spoken to him once .. I know people who know him and I am an addict myself .. addiction is brutal .. to bounce back is admirable .. Asking for help isn’t a handout. I have a disability and need help myself many times.. don’t judge .. just love