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!

Stress? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Stress…

You guys may recall that I posted a video back in May after my first doze of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. I posted the video in the hopes that it could be of assistance to other Type-1 Diabetics who were considering doing the smart thing and getting vaccinated against the virus. Now, I’m not here to debate the merits of vaccination or to argue about what any individual person’s choice may be. Based on my life and my thoughts on the matter, vaccination was a smart thing for my family and I. I have no regrets.

Without writing out the entire content of the video I posted, I’ll briefly describe what happened after my first dose. I walked into the pharmacy about ten minutes before my scheduled appointment. My blood sugars were relatively normal. Bear in mind, I wear a continuous glucose monitor. I get the injection. Less than an hour later, my blood sugar spike to above 22.0 mmol/L! A couple of important details to point out include the fact that it climbed from a normal range to that level in about an hour and that it happened SO fast that my pump didn’t even register and have time to set off the “High” alarm at 14.0 mmol/L like it’s programmed to. Still with me? Good.

I’m used to having things screw up on me on occasion, so I drank some fluids and slowly bolused and brought my blood down to a normal level before going to sleep. It wasn’t until a week later when I was at the pharmacy filling out one of a bajillion prescriptions, that the pharmacist asked me about any symptoms after receiving the vaccine. I told her I hadn’t suffered any symptoms that I knew of. My blood sugar had spiked, but nothing vaccine-related. She was shocked at the spike and asked me fill out a form for the health authority as she felt it may have been a side effect of the vaccine.

It took a few weeks for the health authority to get back to me, but their determination was that the spike in blood sugars were a result of “stress associated with getting the COVID-19 vaccine.” Wait. What? Are you fuckin’ kidding me? So, I’ve been getting near-constant injections and needles almost since the cradle, I’ve had scores of vaccines and immunizations and I used to work a job where my life was genuinely in peril on more occasions than I can count, and you think getting this particular vaccine “stressed” me out? What a joke! By that definition, why didn’t everything I listed above cause a massive and rapid spike in blood sugars? None of it ever has…

I was pretty pissed off at this response and I made it clear to the caller, who wasn’t a doctor or health professional but simply passing on the information to let me know I was good to get my second dose. I explained that I was in no way stressed about getting the vaccine and that the health authority’s assessment was inaccurate. In fact, besides being a little tired I was quite relaxed and chatting with the pharmacist while getting the vaccine. I explained that I felt that it would be foolish to write this off as something trivial, considering Saskatchewan has somewhere near 100,000 people with Diabetes and it could potentially be dangerous for someone with less control than I have. The caller assured me that everything was documented. Great.

I can just imagine that if I DIDN’T wear a continuous glucose monitor and had as much experience as I do with managing my own blood sugars without an ER visit, the night would have turned out quite differently. I would have easily gone to bed, given that I was sleepy from the extreme high. Without any monitoring, the pump would have continued with nothing more than the base rate of insulin and I could have faced some dire results.

According to article posted by Diabetes UK, “common ingredients in the coronavirus vaccines include sucrose (a type of sugar) and salt.” Well, ain’t that a bitch??? That would have been nice to know. The article carries on by later indicating that the body produces an immune response because of the vaccine. The “body needs energy to produce this immune response, so it may release some extra glucose (sugar). This is what leads to your blood sugar increasing.”

Setting aside the fact that I can’t help but feel that this is something that perhaps I should have been warned about, the combination of existing sucrose in the vaccine (however minute the amount) mixed with my own body’s immune response resulting in the release of glucose into the bloodstream is what resulted in my spike in blood sugars. I would have liked to assume that the health authority should have known this. Unless the immune response is what they meant by being stressed. Who the hell knows?

I attended Coronavirus Vaccine 2: Electric Boogaloo, last Friday and this time I was ready. Extra Gatorade and fluids were available and I watched my blood sugars like a hawk. I’m happy to report no issues, besides the typical crap one feels after getting any immunization. I felt exhausted for a couple of days afterwards, but since I made a point of incorporating my meals around the vaccination, there was no reflexive release of glucose by the liver and my blood sugars stayed consistent. But this just goes a long way towards making it clear that when I complain about how Type-1 Diabetes affects EVERYTHING, I’m not exaggerating. ☯️

Vacation, Why Not? Day 3

The day started out pretty nicely; waking up in a cozy hotel room with “Just For Laughs Gags” playing in the background on the television. The day is especially chilled, with a combination of smoke hanging in the air and a light rain falling. We had the choice of a complimentary breakfast or $8 off a full breakfast. Considering the size of me and the fact I’m on vacation, which do YOU think I chose? If you think I would be satisfied with a muffin for breakfast, you haven’t been paying attention…

I had a work commitment that I couldn’t skip, despite being on vacation, but as soon as it was done we were off to do some light shopping. We had a watch belonging to my mother-in-law to repair and a couple of clothing items I needed, as well. (And wanted). After those few shops, we opted for an easy snack-based lunch of a soft-baked pretzel. Yes, it’s high carb but this is a vacation, damn it! And I have a fresh infusion set in.

Look at that fat bastard!

Our afternoon turned out to be a tribute to the level of relaxation that should come with being on vacation: we took a 2-hour nap. And it was glorious. Now, if you’ve read some of my posts from way back, you know that I’m a huge fan of naps and consider them to be integral to good health. And this one was no exception. I woke myself from the occasional snore, but slept pretty solidly before my wife’s alarm went off.

We had supper with my wife’s sister and her new husband. And in keeping with my personal policy on not photographing or naming people without asking first (for various reasons), I’ll limit this paragraph to saying we had a fantastic meal and some good conversation and were all carb-loaded and exhausted by the time we left the restaurant.

Then, we capped off our night with some cable television in the hotel room, coupled with some gaming on our devices and reading. Wild couple, right? To be honest, a vacation is only as fun as the company you keep. And I think I can speak for both of us when I say that my wife and I have had a great few days. Tomorrow, we head back to Kindersley to see how much of grandma’s house our boys destroyed. We’ve missed them, but it was definitely good to get away for a few days and recharge our batteries.

We still have a few days of vacation left, which will be used to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday and kick back a bit before travelling back to Regina. I promise that the days that follow will go back to some regular content. But it was nice to have a few days to relax and to chronicle those few days. Everyone needs a bit of time to rest and recharge. ☯️

Vacation, Why Not? Day 2

The morning started the way one would expect when not sleeping in ones own bed; with children waking in a strange environment and seeking out mom and dad. My wife and the baby shared a bed in one room, while I used another. Nathan has his own room at grandma’s. The baby woke early but might have almost gone back to sleep, if not for Nathan’s insistence to come “help” the baby off the big bed and off they went.

After a much-needed infusion of caffeine, my wife and I hit the road for the almost three-hour trip to reach Saskatoon where I would be getting my bimonthly eye injections. Not exactly the ideal couples getaway, but we got to do a fair bit of stuff when we hit the city. The ride up was uneventful, with some good conversation and the mandatory road trip stop at Tim Hortons for coffee. The Smokey air was a bit of a grim reminder of the wildfires burning in the north.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant before walking the central area of the city prior to my eye appointment. It was a welcome change with only silence and calm guiding our actions. A far cry from the usual “I’m hungry” and “I need a potty” that usually accompanies our two little rug rats. Although we missed them, we were quite certain they were having fun with grandma and grandpa on the farm. Plus, my wife’s mother hadn’t texted or called in a panic yet, so that was a good sign.

My eye appointment went as well as one could expect it. You know, for having steel needles jammed into ones eyes. My wife took advantage of my appointment to enjoy a brief nap. Then we had supper at my favourite watering hole: Finn’s Irish Pub. We shared an appetizer platter and some fried and I had my customary burger and pint (I may or may not have enjoyed a highball as well, since they were on special).

We capped off the evening with a soak in the hotels whirlpool, where we met some interesting people and got hear their story. Every once in a while, some random person feels compelled to chat with me. It’s kind of neat. Then we curled up in the room for some Big Bang Theory and a horror movie. This is actually starting to feel like an actual vacation…☯️

Vacation, Why Not? Day 1

Vacations take on a significantly different tone, once children are in the mix. And of course they do; as opposed to laying on white sand with a cocktail, you need to see to the enjoyment of little ones as opposed to focusing on rest. Granted, I’ve never really had much of a vacation that didn’t involve training or working.

It didn’t take long after we arrived at grandma’s house to want to rush out the door and go to the park. There happens to be one located about 30 seconds down the sidewalk from my mother-in-law’s house. After over three hours cooped up in a car seat, he needed to blow off some steam.

Yes, the boys need to be entertained, but hopefully we get a bit of respite over the next couple of days. Despite the bimonthly requirement for eye injections, my wife and I will be enjoying a couple of nights away while grandma looks after the boys. She may need more of a rest than we do, by the time we get back. ☯️

Letting It Go To Be Happier…

Life is a fleeting thing. In my younger days, I foolishly joined an MLM company and used to attend local conferences where successful directors would give speeches. No offence intended to those who are participants of MLM companies and especially those who are doing well; it simply wasn’t for me. But my philosophy of life includes that there’s always something to be learned in any environment. As such, I remember the words of the one of the speakers, “Life is a flicker. And in the snap of a moment, it’s over…”

It is true that in the grand scheme of things, we’re only in this life for a very brief moment in existence. Sometimes life can FEEL long. And from an outside perspective, you’ll hear people say, “they had a good, long life” but as it relates to the nature of the universe, we’re here for but a mere spec of time. It makes you think about the importance of how one chooses to use that time and how they behave themselves around others.

In my previous career, I walked the line between light and darkness. I got to help a lot of people and prevent a lot of bad within my small corner of the world. But I was exposed and would see both sides of the equation. Sometimes I would be forced to see some pretty dark and disturbing things, which I still carry with me to this day. But I always had the benefit of going home at the end of the day and knowing I was happy and safe within my little haven and that I was doing my part to reduce suffering in the world.

When I say I’ve seen some dark things, it doesn’t even have to be something horribly traumatic. I’ve seen the folly of people who turn on each other for some of the most trivial things. Spouses, friends, brothers and family…. There is a slice of society that doesn’t care what bonds or relationships exist when they feel an entitlement to their cause. And sometimes it’s justified. I’m not here to judge. I wasn’t THERE to judge. But the suffering that results from these encounters is long-lasting. It’s gone a long way towards showing me that some people just want to watch the world burn.

This brings me to my own life. Despite my personal beliefs, I can concede that no one TRULY knows what happens when we leave this life. In that light, I’ve always fought hard to maintain and preserve myself while trying to live as happy a life as possible. When one stops to consider that goal, it’s a really simple one. Living a happy life is easy. Manage your affairs responsibly and pay attention, live in the moment and work on doing the things that make you happy versus what everyone else expects you to do and you’ll be pretty happy. I make it sound pretty easy and in truth, it is. But I understand that some obstacles can get in the way and make happiness difficult to achieve.

And I say “pretty” happy because there will always be things that will be out of one’s control. For example, I don’t think I need to explain that life would be simpler if I didn’t have Type-1 Diabetes. That being said, I also wouldn’t be the person I am today if I had never been diagnosed as such. Maybe I wouldn’t have the drive, ambition and focus on health and martial arts that I do, if I’d grown up without the challenges that Diabetes has thrown at me. This is where you’d hear me say that all things happen for a reason.

It would be contrary to Buddhist belief that suggesting that some levels of suffering in life are necessary in order to grow and evolve. And this may be so. Saying that all things happen for a reason would indicate that possibility. After all, if some form of suffering you’re going through is happening for a reason, doesn’t that mean it’s an essential aspect of life? It’s one of the more important philosophical conflicts I’ve always had with myself. And I’m pretty certain I’ll carry it with me into my next life, since there’s no clear answer.

If there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that you should never intentionally do something that will cause suffering in others. I’ve also experienced this phenomenon first hand in recent years, where certain individuals have taken action that would have altered my life in a seriously detrimental way. Now that the smoke has cleared, I’ve often considered speaking with these people and confronting them, if only to learn what their motivations were and why they did the things they did. But ultimately, what further growth will that provide me? It likely won’t do anything but re-open old wounds and cause more suffering. I choose to be better than that. I choose to be happy. ☯️

To New Beginnings, And The Steps In Between…

You know what’s weird? Like many people, I sat at home for months on end while the pandemic dragged the world to a standstill. Day in and day out, I occupied myself with household chores, playing with my kids and working out. In a way, a strange way, it was nice… It’s the kind of life that one could imagine enjoying, if only it didn’t require a pandemic in order to get there. I can only imagine that if I won the lottery or happened to be independently wealthy, I might consider spending my days the way I did during the pandemic, without the stress and worry of what life would bring or how the world would look once I emerged from my safe haven.

I’m looking at all this in retrospect. I’ve been back to work and pushing hard for almost four months. As of today, I’m officially on vacation. It should be a good time. A pleasant combination of visiting family with a sprinkling of leaving the boys with grandma while my wife and I run off to the neighbouring city for a couple of nights. I’m looking forward to it; I love my job and I enjoy the work. It’s as much a part of me as breathing. But there’s no denying that taking a bit of time to ourselves will do a world of good. As the world slowly starts trying to return to normal, it’s nice to take the time to stop and smell the roses.

I’m sure my posts for the next week will involve updates on what we’ve been doing and where we’ve been going. I totally plan on being “one of those folks” who posts photos of what we’re eating and where we are. It might be cliche, but I can promise that I’ll enjoy it. Maybe my joy will spark a little joy in some of you. Either way, I’ll still have fun. Stay tuned. ☯

Carry The Torch For Too Long And You Could Get Burned…

We all get older. There’s no getting away from it. And as we get older, our muscle tissues become less flexible, our joints a little less loose and our energy levels can deplete. This is why it’s so important to maintain one’s fitness throughout one’s entire life in order to ensure that we can maintain our best form throughout our later years. This includes proper diet, regular exercise based on one’s capabilities and in my case, proper Diabetes control and frequent blood sugar testing. Staying abreast of newer therapies and exercise routines definitely helps.

Most people with Type-1 Diabetes have difficulty keeping their energy levels above nap time at the BEST of times. But once we get older, we tend to have a little less get-up-and-go. So long as one has a strong sense of determination, one can push through the apathy. But so long as you keep moving and pushing yourself forward, there’s no shame in altering your fitness routines and lifestyle to accommodate one’s life, despite energy levels.

I can admit that in recent years, my motivation towards daily workouts, pushing myself to the point of exhaustion and cycling for 100 kilometres in one sitting seems to have taken a back seat to taking care of writing, doing forms, yoga and light calisthenics mixed with the occasional venting of negative energy on the punching bag. Where the cheese has definitely slid off my cracker is my diet. Battered proteins and starchy foods have become a little too common, lately. And although I’ve enjoyed the benefit of shedding a few pounds in recent months, my diet could certainly use some tweaking. this doesn’t mean you can’t indulge or allow yourself something enjoyable on occasion. But moderation is key.

The extreme heat that we’ve experienced over the past month has definitely put a damper on my ability to push through. I always like to think that my ability to push forward and push through will always be there. But the fervent zeal I experienced in my teens and my twenties no longer exists (I’m well beyond that point, in case I haven’t dated myself enough in previous posts). Sometimes we need to evaluate where our motivation lies in order to be able to tap into it. In previous years, I was attempting to save my own life from the cruel ravages of Diabetes. Dramatic, I know. But accurate.

Throughout my twenties and thirties, I had a point to prove to myself as I continued and excelled in my martial arts studies. Then I had the benefit of my job requiring a certain level of physical fitness and a combat acumen. In case no one has guessed from my initial posts from years ago and some of the hints I’ve dropped, I used to be in law enforcement. And although I still have my overall health and fitness to maintain, I’m finding difficulty in keeping that momentum going. It’s been noticeable. I DON’T like it, haha.

I’m sure that I’m mostly in a slump and I’ll fight my way through it. I always do. And that’s the important thing; to keep fighting for what’s required to ensure your health and happy life. Everyone’s capable of it. One simply needs to do it. ☯

A Malfunctioning “Carb-uretor”…

Before you panic and scroll past, this isn’t another post about my car. Evidently, my car is functioning quite well since its last visit to the mechanic. Now I get to focus my “repair” attentions to my newly-purchased cell phone, which I’ve already ranted about here. So I won’t bother getting into THAT again (at least until I get the phone back and find out if it’s working or not). You all know that I like puns in my post titles, and this one is no exception. The carburetor I’m referring to is the pancreas.

A real carburetor promotes the internal combustion process of a vehicle by injecting a mist of fuel with air. This is done to allow for the internal combustion process to “make the car go.” Much in the same way, the pancreas injects insulin and helps control the level of fuel (carbs) in the body in order to also “make it go.” On a slightly different playing field, but the comparison is sound. In the case of someone with Type-1 Diabetes, injections of insulin are required since the pancreas no longer produces insulin after having one’s own immune system attack and destroy the body’s insulin-producing cells.

Now that I’ve explained that definition for what seems like the millionth time in my life, let’s proceed with the post, shall we? I’m a big, big fan of believing that someone with Diabetes can do ANYTHING that someone who isn’t afflicted with the condition can do. This is especially true of food, so long as one’s blood sugar levels are well controlled and you can dose your insulin in such a way to properly deal with the food you’re eating. For many years, I was mostly of the opinion that I should eliminate carbs as much as I can to inject as few units of insulin as possible. But modern therapies, including the insulin pump, have made it possible for me to enjoy a significantly more “normal” lifestyle and eat the way I see fit. Almost.

An example of a delicious but extremely high-carb meal I ate.

Therapies and technologies are only as good as the users who maintain them and even I make mistakes sometimes, despite many decades of dealing with my condition. Take a particular day for example, where things slipped off the rails, ever so slightly. I skipped breakfast. Alright, not deadly on it’s own but never a good thing. I don’t know if it’s age, Diabetes, my specific biology or an unhappy combination of the three usually leaves me waking up with no appetite for much of anything but dropping my head back to the pillow.

That first meal of the day serves a number of purposes, which I’ve written about in previous posts. So I won’t beat a dead horse on this one, but one key point is that eating regularly can actually help to maintain your blood sugars throughout the day and can help prevent highs and lows. So grabbing that quick bagel on the way out the door is never a bad idea (or yogurt, since bagels are pretty high-carb). Nevertheless, I skipped breakfast on this particular day, which meant that by the time lunch rolled around, I was extremely hungry and my blood sugars were slightly out of whack. Go, me (sarcasm)!

I ended up being a bit on the naughty side and ordered out for lunch. It was an extremely high-carb lunch, which should have been no problem. As long as I could bolus appropriately for the food I was consuming. Did I bolus appropriately? What do YOU think? I always like to think that I do, but sometimes bolusing does involve a level of guess work, especially when you’re eating food that’s been ordered and have no immediate way of verifying the total carb count. That’s what happened in this instance and as a result, I faced blood sugar levels in the teens for a number of hours leading into dinner (or supper, depending on where you’re reading this).

By the time supper rolled around, my blood sugars were reasonably back into normal range. My wife and I prepared the delicious supper you see picture above. Chicken balls with a homemade sweet & sour sauce with warm, buttered biscuits. Comparable to Thanksgiving, this meal practically put me into a coma. Between the heaviness of the meal and the high carbohydrate content, I was ready for sleep by 6 pm. And in truth, once the boys were in bed, I joined them and crashed as well. And that’s where I made my next mistake.

Like most people with Diabetes, I’ve dealt with many years where I had to pay for my supplies out-of-pocket. I’m lucky enough to have some solid medical coverage now, but it wasn’t always so. And Diabetes supplies and therapies are surprisingly expensive for something that absolutely necessary for keeping people alive. As a result, I’m pretty thrifty when it comes to insulin, since I’ve often had to make the most out of every unit. As a result, I decided to go to bed with only 12 units remaining in my pump. Normally, this wouldn’t be such a big deal and I could change it in the morning.

But my overnight basal rate is about 1.5 units/hour. Since I crashed at about 8 pm and awoke at 5 am, that’s nine hours of sleep. According to new math, 1.5 units/hour x 9 hours of sleep is 13.5 units. I fell short and had an empty pump for over an hour when I awoke. This left my blood sugar readings in the high teens. Not a great way to start the day. It’s all the little details that make a proper balance so critical. I know and understand the reasoning behind everything I’ve described in this post, but it doesn’t prevent the occasional bad day or a day where one is unable to find a proper balance.

The important thing to remember is that you should always be vigilant in your dealing with Diabetes, but you should also cut yourself a break when things don’t go well. As long as you keep fighting the good fight, you’ll always get ahead. I know a lot of people with Type-1 Diabetes who eat what they want, do what they want and completely ignore their blood sugars and proper insulin dosing. The sad truth is that for those people who just don’t seem to care, it doesn’t take long for Diabetes to completely overtake them. It also doesn’t help that Diabetes can be exhausting. But as much as this post may feel like I’m simply complaining about my condition, it’s mainly to illustrate how even a well-balanced and controlled case of Diabetes can easily have a bad day where things slip out of hand. Monitor your blood sugars regularly, eat well and include exercise into your weekly routine. And stay strong. ☯

It’s All in The Words…

One of the more difficult things about writing, especially on specific topics, is finding reputable sources that ACTUALLY exist. Or even worse, finding quotes that were actually spoken by the person in question. Most of the time, having a photo with words superimposed into it is enough to have people believe that the party in question actually said what’s written. It can make it hard to discern truth from fiction.

The above photo is a good example. Although those words would certainly be spoken by Confucius if he he were around to respond to all the memes and quotes on the internet, I’m reasonably sure that he never uttered them in life. But yet, when I Googled “Confucius” in order to him up, this was the first thing that popped up. Let that sink in for a moment…. World-famous Chines philosopher who was considered one of the wisest sages of this time, and the first piece of information that pops up on a search is “I never said all that shit.” Nice.

I’m a bit cranky this morning, so I’m keeping this short. But if you happen to be searching for information on the internet, make certain to fact-check your sources. My blog is reasonably harmless and loaded with disclaimers that I’m not a doctor or health professional, but even I make sure that I’m only quoting from verified sources AND I provide said sources so that readers can judge for themselves. We may have the world’s information at our fingertips, but that information isn’t always accurate. Tread lightly…☯️