Author: Shawn

I am a practitioner of the martial arts and student of the Buddhist faith. I have been a Type 1 Diabetic since I was 4 years old and have been fighting the uphill battle it includes ever since. I enjoy fitness and health and looking for new ways to improve both, as well as examining the many questions of life. Although I have no formal medical training, I have amassed a wealth of knowledge regarding health, Diabetes, martial arts as well as Buddhism and philosophy. My goal is to share this information with the world, and perhaps provide some sarcastic humour along the way. Welcome!

My Vices Have Me In A Vice…

We all have bad habits. Each and every one of us. If you claim NOT to have bad habits, being in denial is your bad habit. Truth. For myself, I’ve had several throughout the course of my life. I’ve been fortunate enough that my vices have never been extreme, severe or had lasting negative effects. Until recently…

For quite a long time, I used to enjoy a good cigar. This came about as a calming exercise when dealing with some of my PTSD-related issues. I came to enjoy it, and there’s nothing quite like lounging in the shade on a warm summer day, puffing away comfortably on a good cigar. Eventually, I came to find that it affected my overall lung capacity (even though you aren’t supposed to inhale a cigar) so I quit.

One of my other unfortunate vices, is the tendency to kick back with an “adult” beverage when I get home. In recent years, there’s been something liberating about knowing that once I’m home, I’m home and I’m not on call and there‘s no risk of my needing to leave the house. It became progressively easier to have supper, do dishes and then kick back and pour a glass. Over time, I moved from the occasional beer to the occasional spirits, since they tend to be carb-free.

It wasn’t until my recent visit to my endocrinologist that I discovered my potassium levels were quite high. I’ve written about this in a previous post but in summary, we discussed various food and drink items that may be causing the higher levels and I agreed to cut back on all of them. I was also prescribed a temporary “water pill” to help flush out the excess potassium.

It isn’t until I was doing some research for one of my posts (while enjoying a stiff Brandy, no less) that I landed upon a number of articles that addressed increased levels of potassium. Turns out that alcohol consumption can cause your muscle tissue to break down. This leads to the release of high amounts of potassium in to one’s bloodstream.

You might be thinking, “Isn’t potassium good for you?” The answer is yes, yes it is. But as with all other things in life, it all comes down to balance. Too much potassium in the bloodstream is know as “hyperkalemia” and can usually be treated, hence the water pills. But continued, increased levels of potassium can be very hard on the heart and can lead to a batch of other nasty effects.

To add shit to the pile, people with Diabetes are at higher risk for hyperkalemia. In keeping with the concept that we tend to cause our own suffering, it appears that my own vice, as carb-free and relaxing as it has been, is the root cause of my increased potassium levels. So, yet another vice that I’m cutting out. And that’s not a bad thing.

I can’t help but think I would have learned this sooner, had my doctor asked about my alcohol consumption. Although I don’t drink to excess, my occasional drinks every few nights a a week likely didn’t help my potassium levels. All one can do is live and learn. Does it mean I’ll never enjoy a nice drink on the weekends or after work? Of course not. I’ll simply be more mindful and be sure to keep the amounts nominal. Sometimes, the simplest solutions yield the best results. ☯️

Get A KICK Out Of This Story…

Sometimes I look back on my younger years and I become nostalgic for the past. During my youth, I never travelled much or wandered far from the comforting confines of Northern New Brunswick but it continues to surprise me how full a life one can have, even living in such a small environment. And no environment could have given me as much as my home. Here’s one of the memories drifting to the surface of my psych. Buckle up…

This story takes me all the way back to 1989. I was 11-years old and my older brother had another two years of life ahead of him. My health was waning and life wasn’t going so well for me. Increased insulin-resistance and the development of ulcers in my stomach saw me hospitalized almost as much as my brother. in fact, we often shared a hospital room together. I’ll let you decide whether that’s cool or just a little bit sad. But I digress…

I was in 7th grade and we had oral presentation to give in class on a topic of our choosing. As was usually my choice, I spoke about Type-1 Diabetes, its causes and how it’s treated. Because of the number of students, we had two separate 7th grade classes; 7A and 7B. I was in 7A. Didn’t mean I was smarter or further ahead. I think it went by alphabetical order. Anyway, on the third day of presentations when we were all done, the teacher announced that someone from 7B would be sharing his presentation with us.

In walked my friend Guillaume. My Sensei’s son. Friend and adoptive brother. He was asked by the teacher to share the same presentation as he had to his class in exchange for bonus points. Considering she found the presentation worthy enough to share with another class, I had difficulty grasping WHY he would need bonus points, but whatever kept me from doing actual work was fine by me, back then.

Guillaume went on to give a presentation about Uechi Ryu karate, how long he had been practicing it and the benefits it provided him in life, thus far. He capped off his presentation with a demonstration of a form, or kata, which I now know as well. While the rest of the class was busy snickering at the movement and making fun of him, I was captivated by what I was seeing. The flow, the movement, the gracefulness… My eyes were open to the potential of what I was seeing.

It was at this point that I had called Guillaume at home and asked about class times and location. I joined the same month. I had tried other styles and attempted different things, but none struck quite as deep in my soul as Uechi Ryu did. I would go on to study Uechi for the next 33 years. It would ultimately save my life and help forge me into the person I am today. All of that from a simple ten-minute presentation in class. Nice.

Our instincts provide for more than we usually assume. And as the old saying goes, we often find our destiny on the road we least thought to travel. All things happen for a reason. If the teacher hadn’t asked Guillaume to share his presentation with out class, I might have never been exposed to Uechi Ryu. I likely never would have joined. And my health may have continued to deteriorate to an uncorrectable level. Who knows? I certainly don’t. I just know to appreciate life as it’s been offered and continue to live life with no regrets. ☯️

You Shouldn’t Drink Poison Just Because You’re Thirsty…

Anyone who’s read any number of my posts already know that the reduction/elimination of suffering is kinda my jam. Not only for myself but for others, as well. Life doesn’t make this easy, although some might argue that this simply represents a balance to life. After all, we wouldn’t recognize the light if not for the darkness, right?

Trying to navigate our way in life can be made all the more difficult when there are toxic people in our environment. I’ve dealt with more than my fair during my younger years. It never helped that I was significantly more timid in the years leading up to becoming a peace officer and before karate instilled a sense of self in me that I didn’t have before.

My point is that when someone is toxic and to be clear, this toxicity can be subjective to you, it takes away your positive energy, drags you down and makes you feel as though life is all that much harder. When I say it’s subjective, I mean that what’s toxic for one person may be perfectly fine for another. I believe an example is in order…

I once dated a girl that was a frequent drug user. Nothing out of this world and nothing with the level of seriousness that would require Will Smith and Martin Lawrence to suddenly jump on the scene. But serious enough that it bothered me. The worst part was when I brought it this person’s attention, only to have them snub me and disregard my thoughts and feelings.

Although that may sound a bit like modern snowflake thinking, the negativity and toxicity that person exuded affected all aspects of my life and worked towards dragging me down. But to someone like-minded and who also does it, her occasional recreational use of drugs would have seemed perfectly normal and the other person would likely have joined in. See? Subjective. Ultimately, I broke up with her when I walked into her house the one day and caught her in bed with another dude. Toxic, indeed.

This is but one example of different times in my life where I’ve had associations, either friendships or jobs, that imposed a negative energy on me and made life difficult. When it comes to. A job, it can be hard to walk away from a toxic environment, especially if it’s your only means of income. But believe me when I say that it isn’t worth it.

In the same way that you shouldn’t drink poison just because you’re thirsty, you shouldn’t maintain friendships that bring a negative element or toxicity into your life. It can be difficult, but learning to walk away will have you faring SO much better. Life is short. Ain’t no time for all that bullshit. Take care of yourselves first, and surround yourselves with people and an environment conducive to a positive existence. Food for thought… ☯️

Dolor Maximus… Non Dormiunt…

I promise that I’ll stop bitching about my ribs. Maybe not anytime soon, but I will. I guess I’m just not used to being in a constant state of pain with nothing I can really do to alleviate it. I’m suddenly far more sympathetic for my father’s situation, not that I wasn’t before. The point is, the past week and a half have presented their fair share of challenges and some of them were worse than others. Allow me to explain. For those who may not have read my posts in the last week or so, I suffered an injury to my left flank while sparring with one of my fellow black belts over a weekend seminar. I stepped in with an attack using my left arm and my skilled opponent managed to duck around and punch straight into my torso, causing a sharp burst of pain and taking the breath out of me.

Luckily, we were one of the last matches before we broke for lunch so I was able to change and make my way home. I didn’t make the afternoon session as my left side felt swollen with a sharp pain every time I moved, breathed, sneezed, coughed or swallowed. At the time, I assumed that perfect it was simply a pain of the moment; that it would pass by the following day. I was wrong. Oh, boy, was I wrong! When I awoke on the Monday morning, I could barely move. I had to do that thing that turtles do, where I shifted my weight back and forth, in order to get up. My morning routine was brutal and the pain seemed to have gotten worse instead of better. I began to contemplate that perhaps I had fractured a rib.

I started to contemplate the possibility. It takes roughly 3,000 to 4,000 Newtons of Force to fracture or break a rib, which translates to a punch of about 675 psi (pounds per square inch). This would make sense, since martial artists our trained to punch with almost equivalent force to a boxer’s average punch of approximately 770 psi. That being the case, there was a definite possibility that my skilled opponent fractured something. On the other hand, the pain was somewhat different from the pain I felt back in 2011 when I suffered a confirmed fracture on my right side. Bottom line, I had to figure out if there was an actual break or not.

I decided to give it the Monday, as it was possible that the pain would still pass. I wasn’t completely debilitated, so I made my way to work and put in my day as usual. I emailed the dojo to let them know I would be absent for some time while I recovered. When Tuesday came, I noticed that the pain was getting worse. This suggested something muscular to me but as I often say, I’m not a doctor. My wife had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for the coming Friday that she no longer required. Instead of cancelling it, she called in and had it switched to my name instead.

Friday might have seemed like a long time to wait but trying to go to the ER for my current condition would be far worse. It would a require a wait time of six to eight hours at minimum, followed by an exhausted ER doctor who may not have the wherewithal to order an x-ray and would like send me on my way with some ibuprofen. No, thank you! It was better for me to go about my week without attending karate, allow myself to heal and take advantage of a scheduled appointment where the doctor might be more receptive to comment and suggestions. You can read about how that appointment went here.

In case you don’t have time to go back and read that post, I’ll simply say that it was a statutory holiday last Friday and while I was able to get in and see a doctor, the x-ray clinic was closed and I returned the next day in order to have my rib cage imaged. Now, the doctor said something that seriously gets on my nerves… He indicated he would call me IF he found a break or fracture. I asked him to contact me even if there wasn’t to confirm, to which he reiterated that he’d only call if he found something. When I asked how long I should wait, he said he couldn’t give me a definitive timeline; it would happen after he received the images and had time to assess them. Maybe in the next week or so.

The issue I take with such a statement, is that I’m sitting here in pretty serious pain and with every passing day, I’m wondering if a phone call will be forthcoming. This can be nerve-wracking. The only solace I take from this whole thing is that there really isn’t anything they do for a broken rib. You just gotta ride it out. He mentioned that if he didn’t call, it was simply muscle damage and there’s nothing to be done for that either but to take some anti-inflammatory pills and let it heal. Great. Yesterday morning, I finally got frustrated with waiting after a seriously ridiculous night without sleep and checked my online e-health file. The imaging results were noted as no visible fracture. Good news. Except that I’m still in pain.

On Tuesday morning, I had an incident where my nose started to bleed like a faucet again. I thought nothing of it, got cleaned up and went to work. Then sometime after lunch, my nose bled heavily again and stained the dress shirt I was wearing. Bloody fucking hell… pun fully intended. I decided to look up potential causes for nose bleeds and found consistent messaging that anti-inflammatory meds will often cause nose bleeds, and I just HAPPEN to be on one that’s prescription grade. I discontinued the anti-inflammatory immediately. I don’t even know if it was helping but I knew I didn’t want to be dripping blood all over the place.

On Tuesday night, I went to bed around 10 pm, hoping that the muscle relaxant would at least allow me to get some sleep. By about 1:30 the following morning, I threw in the towel and made my way out to the living room. There was literally no position that was comfortable and that didn’t cause sharp pain throughout my body. I sat in my leather lounger with my feet up on a foot stool. The difference this made is my weight wasn’t bearing down on my rib cage. I fell asleep and managed to wake up several hours later. I wouldn’t say I was refreshed but at least i got some rest. The lounger also isolates my movements so there isn’t a whole bunch of moving around.

The moral of the story today folks, is that even a minor injury can cause some issues. If there’s no break or fracture of the ribs, I have to assume that I suffered some muscle damage when I got punched, which honestly, makes all my painful theatrics seem a little excessive. but at least the recovery time should be significantly lower, with ribs requiring at least six weeks to heal and muscles may only take a few. Since it’s only been about a week and a half, I shouldn’t be surprised that it still hurts. But with some temperature treatment, continued rest and taking care of the area, I should be back to normal in short order. The real challenge will come from reconditioning myself and getting back into the dojo. But that’s a battle for another day. ☯️

Food For Thought…

I’ve seen this photo making the rounds on social media and online I general, lately. The message is sound and applies so much in modern life. It’s human nature to want to put something right, fix things or want things to remain the way they were. But more and more as time goes on, we come to see that if we hold on too tightly, we hurt ourselves worse than anything else could. That’s when you gotta let that shit go. Much like the photo where blood circulation is only restored once the rope is released, your soul can only find peace once you let go of the things weighing you down. Food for thought…☯️

Some Further Ribbing…

Last Friday morning, I had a doctor’s appointment to try and figure out if the constant, piercing pain in my side is actually the result of a broken rib or simply something muscular. After all, getting punched straight into the ribcage would no doubt crush/bruise some muscle tissue, as well. It’s been a pretty disappointing week. The pain has kept me from sleeping or sitting comfortably. The only positive aspect is I’ve been shoving fluids down my throat, non-stop for the past couple of weeks to keep from coughing. On Saturday evening while watching television, I sneezed unexpectedly and almost passed out from the pain.

My visit to the doctor’s visit was inconclusive so he had me scheduled for x-rays to try and examine the injury. Since it was Good Friday, the x-ray clinic wasn’t open until the following day, so an appointment was made. On Saturday morning I returned to the clinic and they took several shots of my torso, facing different directions. The technician was able to say that she couldn’t see any obvious break but that the doctor would examine the x-rays and get back to me. Since it was the weekend, she advised it likely wouldn’t be until Tuesday before I heard anything. Guess what day it is?

Obviously, I didn’t hear anything back yesterday and it’s still the wee hours of the morning. But if it IS muscular, there’s nothing to be done but rest, take it easy and let it heal. Ironically, even if my rib is fractured, there’s nothing to be done other than let it heal, as well. The only thing worse than being hurt is having nothing that can be done about it. the only silver lining is I was provided with anti-inflammatory pills and muscle relaxants. The latter has allowed me to at least get some sleep at night, but my mobility and ability to do anything but the mildest things around the house and at work are still hindered.

My inspiration to write has also been somewhat hindered. It’s hard to focus when your entire torso is piercing with pain. Hopefully, this passes soon. Besides the fact that I’m missing a HUGE amount of karate, right when I was finding my groove and really getting back into it, I’m not doing much physically, which is playing havoc with my blood sugars, my weight, everything… As I always say, life doesn’t care about one’s plan. I’ll blow the dust off once I’m cleared to resume. Hopefully, that happens before the roads are clear and dry so I can start out on the bicycle. ☯️

The Ten Commandments: A Review (Spoilers)

I grew up in a mainly French Catholic environment, with my mother being and grandmother being significant influences throughout my childhood. Although I ended up taking a significantly different path as I reached my teens, Catholicism was a constant presence in my life, especially since I went through elementary school well before the whole “separation of church and state” thing kicked in. Although modern society rejects the idea of the introduction of the Bible in the classroom, It had a profound influence on my life and I still have a copy of the Bible that I acquired decades ago.

I’ve read the Bible more times than I can recall and during seventh grade, my class and I watched The Ten Commandments. Released in 1956, the film features the story of Moses, an Egyptian prince who discovers he’s the descendant of Hebrew slaves and abdicates his throne to lobby on behalf of the slaves and sees them through freedom from bondage and the mass exodus out of Egypt. Moses comes to commune with God, who provides Moses with His ten “laws” that man should follow, hence the title of the movie. We watched it over several classes, since the movie has a runtime of 3 hours and 40 minutes. A significantly long movie for the time.

Although dated and very obviously an older movie, some of the principles still stand today and the movie is based on the Bible’s book of Exodus. I was reminded of the movie as I spoke to my mother recently and she indicated she had watched it over the Easter weekend. It always airs over this weekend and since my childhood, I’ve always made a point of watching it sometime during said weekend. I didn’t get the chance to, this year. Last year, I had the benefit of being at home because of the pandemic (the only benefit is that I was home, the pandemic in general sucked). But this year, between work and familial obligations, who the hell has 3 hours and 40 minutes to sit for a single movie?

I have the movie saved on my phone, of all places. I could potentially watch it any time and maybe I’ll make my way through it in the days to come. I could even watch a bit at a time during my lunch hours. In 2014, they came out with a remake entitled “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” which starred Christian Bale and ran for about two and a half hours. I watched it some years ago but it didn’t quite compare to the original and despite the better effects and film quality, they cut out a lot that was in the original movie. Plus, I just can’t picture Batman as an Egyptian prince who becomes a Hebrew slave. But I digress…

A part of me misses the yearly tradition of sitting through this movie. It still totally stands up and if you’re looking for something good to watch, this could be it. I have it on my iPhone because I purchased it through iTunes but I do know it’s available on a number of different platforms. “So it was written, so it shall be done.” ☯️

Happy Easter

I’m going to keep things simple this morning and simply wish everyone a safe and happy Easter. It’s been a rough few years and I hope y’all get the opportunity to have some chocolate, spend time with family and do something fun. Happy Easter! ☯️

An inconvenient “Tooth”

As life isn’t harsh enough living with Type-1 Diabetes, I’m sure I don’t need to remind everyone that Diabetes affects just about every system in the body. On Wednesday, I had a dental appointment. For the most part, I take pretty good care of my oral health. I brush every morning and evening and floss as often as I can. But even that can fall short of what’s required, depending on the circumstances. Since I changed jobs last year, I found myself without dental insurance for a period of time. And since I’m cheap to a fault, i refused to pay for dental visits until my new coverage kicked back in. I would regret that decision…

Since I hadn’t been to a dentist’s office in over a year and had taken no x-rays of my teeth in about five years, I accepted the full gamut. They took x-rays of my teeth and without even opening my mouth, the hygienist recognized that there would be some serious work to be done to remove all the plaque. I was in the chair for almost two hours while the hygienist scaled and cleaned my teeth. bear in mind that this was with an injured back and being in severe pain.

When the cleaning was done and the dentist came in to perform his examination, it was determined that I had receding gums over one of my bottom teeth. He issued a referral to a periodontist, which kind of pissed me off since he didn’t discuss it with me or ask if I wanted to be referred. It was until I was alone with the hygienist that she explained that they would assess the situation with my gums and any further action would totally be my choice. But based on how those procedures have been described to me and how painful they’re supposed to be, I’m kind of sceptical. I’ve had enough pain in my life…

Maintaining good oral hygiene is about far more than just preventing cavities or gum disease. Bad oral hygiene has been linked to heart disease, with bacteria and plaque making their way into the blood stream and causes all sorts of chaos. That same bacteria has been linked with respiratory problems, increased risk of infection and even erectile dysfunction. Makes you think twice about skipping that tooth brushing session, eh?

Cue the part where Diabetes comes in. Since Diabetes reduces the body’s resistance to infection, gum disease is more prominent among people with Diabetes. Lovely, eh? that same gum disease can also make it harder to control one’s blood sugar. I’ve never noticed an issue in that regard but it’s just one more thing to worry about. Honestly, the gums that are receding have been doing so for over 25 years. I’m doubtful that I’ll put myself through the pain and difficulty of grafting a cover. I’d rather have the tooth removed, if I’m being honest. Take care of your teeth, folks. You only get the one set (as an adult). ☯️

Less Than A Gentle “Ribbing”…

So, a few days ago I posted about how I attended an all-weekend karate seminar. this happened last weekend and was supposed to last all day, Saturday and Sunday. Sometime during the morning session on Sunday, I took a punch to the left side of my rib cage. The immediate feeling was having the wind knocked out of me. When I left the ring and stood off to the side, it took a few moments for the aching feeling and loss of breath to subside. once it did, i noticed a sharp pain in my side that I was able to ignore for at least the last twenty minutes until the session closed.

Once class closed, I was changing and noticed I was having difficulty getting out of my gi, with a sharp pain shooting up my left side and throwing bright, white stars behind both my eyes. I told some of the instructors that I wouldn’t be returning for the afternoon session. When I got home, I fell onto my bed and fell asleep from exhaustion. When i woke up, I could barely move. My first instinct was that my opponent had crushed a muscle and this was a muscle-based pain. But as the days passed and the pain worsened, I started to wonder if perhaps I had fractured/broken a rib.

It’s been a painfully brutal week. You really don’t realize how MUCH you use your core and abdominal muscles until you’ve suffered an injury that prevents it. The past week has seen me unable to comfortably sleep, do normal daily or chores or even get in and out of my car without wincing in severe pain. Hell, I haven’t been able to get in and out of a CHAIR without wincing in severe pain. And that sucks, since I don’t exactly have the most free time to be out of commission.

Once I realized I had a severe problem that wouldn’t be fixed on its own, I had to contemplate the possibility of finding a doctor. Problematically, finding a family doctor is quite, well… problematic, here in Saskatchewan. I still have a personal physician from my Mountie days but she’s located in Swift Current, which is a few hours away from where I am in Regina. Although making that trip wouldn’t usually be such a big deal, doing it when I’m in pain and my back is pooched isn’t the greatest. Luckily, my wife had a doctor’s appointment today that she no longer needed so she called in and had them exchange it to my name, instead.

I’m not sure what the doctor will determine, whether it’s a broken rib or damaged muscle. My sincere hope is that there’ll at least be SOMETHING that can be done to alleviate some of the pain. I feel as though I was JUST hitting my stride, being back in karate. Just in time to get injured and have to take a break for a couple of weeks. Figures. Either way, it’s important to take the necessary amount of time to heal properly when you suffer an injury. Better to wait it out and get better than return early and suffer potential further injury. ☯️