Category: Diabetes

Silver Linings For My Dark Clouds…

Despite all the sad, morbid topics I’ve covered in recent days, last week was that time again; I had a scheduled appointment with my endocrinologist. It seemed like September wasn’t that long ago but here we are, six months later! You may recall my post from a couple of weeks ago complaining about the wait times at blood labs and such… This appointment is the result of that blood work.

Visiting my endocrinologist is usually a mixed bag for me. Although eternally grateful for introducing me to the concept of carb counting and getting me on an insulin pump, my doctor is also the one who provides the results and discusses concerns surrounding all things Diabetic. So I never quite know what I might be in for.

One big issue is the uploading of my pump. The doctor’s office requires the uploading of my insulin pump into a database that they can access. Even though this should be a pretty straightforward thing to do, I almost always seem to have issues when I try. So this time, I got smart and uploaded the pump a week prior to my appointment in the event I had issues I had to work through. I was going to upload again the night before until I realized I had foolishly left my link meter at my office, which I required in order to tether the pump to my computer.

I figured, no harm, no fouls, right? Wrong. I was quickly told to surrender my pump so that the admin could upload the last week of readings. I found this a bit tedious since they already had six months of readings. How much of a difference could the past seven days make? Que sera, I was on their time so I turned it over. Maybe I’m just bitter because she also weighed me and announced I had gained two pounds. But I digress…

The past six months have been a bit rough for me, with losing out on one karate school, which messed up my fitness routine, to losing coverage for CGM, which messed up my blood sugar routine, to starting a new karate school, which messed up my fitness routine to getting back on CGM, which will hopefully fix many of my readings… See where I’m goin’ with this? Basically, i knew my blood sugars would be all over the place with some rather significant highs to explain.

When my doctor walked in, we discussed all these issues and he indicated it explained a lot in terms of what my readings showed. He was glad I was taking steps to fix things but he also made a point of saying that despite some of the high readings, I managed to hold my A1C at a reasonable level of 7.3, which is down from a higher reading back in September. I was pleasantly surprised.

He added some further sweetness to a not-so-bitter pill by showing me how my renal function was back to normal, blood pressure was normal, blood circulation and neurological systems were good and I apparently still have the heart of a horse (and no, I don’t mean enlarged, wise ass!). The only caveat to all the good news is that my potassium, of all things, appears to be slightly higher than normal, which will be fixed with a temporary water pill and some changes to my overall diet. I can live with that.

By the time we had reached the end of my appointment, my doctor once again called me one of his most boring patients, since I presented no challenge. He further went on to explain that if I continued on the path I was walking in terms of maintaining Diabetes control, when the time came that died, I would be one of his only patients to die WITH Diabetes instead of dying BECAUSE of Diabetes. I may just get that tattooed on my lower back…

Did I mention that my cholesterol is also down by a full point? I’m sure there’s more but I was basically gushing from the positivity so much that I think I missed some of it. In a current world where there’s so much wrong and suffering, it was nice to have some positivity for a change. AND it justifies all the hard work I put in, maintaining my blood sugars and my fitness. This is something we can all do. One your organs fail or you’re on death’s bed, it’s too late. Better to start improving now so you can appreciate the results later. Food for thought…☯️

Riding The High-wire Without A Net…(A Long Read)

Obviously, this past weekend has been a bit of a journey for me… Saying final goodbyes to any family member leaves a lasting cloud over the occasion. I’ve always fancied myself as someone very organized and capable of thinking and planning ahead. Hell, I’ve travelled to Japan and Okinawa without any concern that i was prepared SPECIFICALLY because I can count on myself to be just that: prepared. This weekend taught me just how possible it is for someone to lose their edge when faced without something that divides their mind and spirit.

Our trip started with me leaving work early, last Thursday. This was necessary in order to drop off our sons in Kindersley to spend the following night with their grandparents while we travelled to Alberta for my uncle’s funeral. I left the office in a hurry once my meetings were done and once I was home, I found myself with about an hour of down time since Nathan wasn’t back from school yet. This turned out to be a mistake for a number of reasons. Over the years, I’ve come to discover that I usually function better under pressure. The hour of down time allowed for a small window of time for me to allow my thoughts to drift on the days to come and make a few mistakes…

We took to the road once Nathan was out of school, having picked up some McDonald’s drive-thru to appease the boys while simultaneously ensuring everyone was fed without delaying us at home. We made our way as far as Rosetown, which is only about an hour east from Kindersley. My pump started to vibrate, signalling that it needed a calibration. We pulled into a local coffee chain so that everyone could stretch and get some drinks for the remainder of the trip. That’s when I took my overnight bag apart and realized that during my “down time,” I left my fuckin’ glucometer in my work bag… Thus began the weekend…

I made my peace with the fact that I could feed the pump it’s own sensor readings using the graph to ensure some accuracy. This isn’t ideal and pump trainers will usually say it’s not recommended. But for lack of any other immediate options, it would do. I fed the pump the previous sensor reading and everything went gangbusters for the night as we slept at my wife’s parents’ house for the night. The following morning, we left for Red Deer, Alberta where I would be bidding final farewells to my uncle.

We had originally made arrangements to meet at my aunt’s house first, followed by going to chapel together. However, once we reached the outskirts of Red Deer, my pump vibrated an alarm indicating that my sensor had expired. Fucking lovely! All things considered, this wasn’t the worst situation I’d ever been in AND I just happened to have extras of everything in my bag EXCEPT a glucometer. Luckily, this is a non-prescription item so I was able to find a local pharmacy and pick up a cheap and outdated model of the current meter that uploads to my pump. this one would not, but it would take blood sugars readings to allow the calibration of the new sensor.

We checked into our hotel room and got ready for the service, all of which made us to late to go to my aunt’s first. Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And this is me, we’re talking about… So it should come as no surprise when the damn sensor failed. Despite our best attempts to get the transmitter to connect with then pump properly, the sensor just wasn’t having it. I thought it would be fine, since I had just purchased a new glucometer. I would simply run on manual mode for the weekend until I got back to Regina. THAT part at least, was no big deal…

We attended the chapel and sat through the memorial service, followed by a celebration of life and a meal afterwards. In honour of my uncle’s preference, everyone started with a dessert followed by their meal. It was a great tradition but it was very high-carb. This is why after saying goodbye to my aunt and cousins, we rushed back to the hotel room to test my blood. I had to do a double take to confirm that my glucometer wasn’t in it’s case. I took my overnight bag as well as my wife’s apart to ensure it hadn’t fallen out anywhere. I travelled our route from the car to the room backwards, checking to see if it had bee dropped somewhere. Nada!

I went back to the room and tried to collect my thoughts on what I should do next. It would be about 18 to 20 hours before we would be back in Saskatchewan and I needed either a sensor or a glucometer in order to maintain my blood sugars for that period of time. I really only had one choice: I had to find an open pharmacy that would have a glucometer for sale. Since it was about 9:30 pm, I managed to find a Shoppers Drug mart that was still open. In exchange for purchasing a box of the test strips I usually used at home, they provided me with a basic meter for free, which was all I really needed. I decided to buy a box of FreeStyle Libre, as well. Considering the luck I had been having, I figured having the “poor man’s CGM” in my tricep couldn’t hurt.

The following morning saw us enjoy a lovely breakfast with my family and then we got on the road back to Kindersley. When we were halfway to the Alberta/Saskatchewan border and stopped for fuel and coffee, my wife reaches between her seat and says, “Son of a bitch…” and reveals the first glucometer I had purchased when we reached Red Deer… Now, I own enough glucometers to open my own at-home Diabetes clinic. We made our way onto Kindersley and spent the night there with my wife’s parents. We took to the road for Regina around lunchtime the following day.

Our trip back to Regina was as one might expect; crying and restless kids followed by everyone napping while I drove. We chose take-out for supper, since we were pulling into home during dinner hour and had no idea what was available in our fridge. While eating, we gave Nathan a small Tupperware container that held a half-dozen chewable multi-vitamins. he was to take one, then return it to the kitchen, out of the baby’s reach. Ultimately, he left it sitting on the edge of the dining table, just mere inches away from the baby gate. Alexander (the baby) got a hold of it and ate the remaining vitamins before we realized he had it…

You know when you’re in an elevator that goers down when you thought it’d be going up? That’s kind of the feeling I got when Laura told me what had happened. In an immediate state of analyzation, I grabbed the vitamin bottle and started looking at the ingredients and the instructions in the event a child consumed the bottle. I contacted Saskatchewan Poison Control and provided them with all the information. they were able to calculate that the effect would be minimal, including bright, fluorescent pee and dark, almost black bowel movements. Otherwise, he might have a bit of a sore tummy but would be otherwise fine and suggested we feed him a snack to help absorb the excess iron he ingested.

That was the icing on an otherwise bitter cupcake on a bullshit of a weekend. Not only did my uncle pass away, my eldest son left something out that could have potentially been toxic and deadly to his baby brother. yes, we should have been watching. To our credit and his, he DID put them on the dining room table outside of the baby gate. Little did we know that our little Alexander had long enough arms to reach them. Live and learn. Alex turned out to be fine, but it prompted a very in-depth conversation with Nathan about the perils of leaving things in his little brother’s reach. It’s surprising how the little details can lead to big problems. We got lucky this time, but live and learn… ☯️

Food Or Foe…

Ah, food… Never has there been something that elicits such a delicate balance of love and hate. Required for our continued survival, food plays an integral role by providing us with the fuel and nutrition we need to get through the day. It’s also somewhat responsible for weight gain and a variety of health issues if consumed improperly or in large amounts. The other side of the coin is that food can bring a significant amount of enjoyment to those who choose to experience their food as opposed to simply eating it.

For someone with Type-1 Diabetes, the consumption of food is a delicate dance of counting carbs, eating in appropriate portions an ensuring the appropriate amount of insulin is taken in proportion to what’s being eaten. It isn’t always easy and it’s made all the more difficult by the fact that every person is different their bodies may react to foods in different ways. For example, I know some people who can easily and quickly treat a low with a small glass of juice. If I tried that shit, I’d die long before the juice took effect.

For me, it’s a handful of jellybeans. Believe it or not, those bring my blood up far faster despite the fact that fluid will be absorbed quicker by the body. But some foods will be problematic, in general. Take chocolate as an example… I know a lot of people who will turn to chocolate in order to treat a low. The problem with that is that chocolate, in essence, is a solid block of fat mixed with sugar. When consuming chocolate, the body will usually break down the fat before getting to the carbohydrates. this can mean a significant delay in getting one’s blood sugars up, using chocolate. It’ll still get you there, it’ll just take forever doing it.

The same can be said of certain foods we consume at mealtime. For me, the guilty culprit is pizza. Anyone who knows me will tell you that gourmet burgers are my kryptonite and they would be right. But I definitely have a soft spot for stuffed-crust pizza. Especially on Friday nights when one can purchase a chicken Caesar stuff-crust pizza for only $10 online. It makes for a great end-of-week treat for the entire family and in fact, my son Nathan will only ever eat pizza from one specific restaurant. I recently tried to convince him to have a stuffed-crust pizza from the grocery store. It didn’t end well. But I digress…

Pizza poses a significant problem for me because it’s one of those foods without a happy medium. The contents of a pizza are unfortunately as such that i face the same conundrum as chocolate. The heavy amounts of cheese and fatty ingredients make it so that the pizza is processed differently than other foods. If I take an appropriate amount of insulin for the amount of carbs I’m eating, I’ll almost certainly bottom out within the hour. Why? Because those high-fat ingredients will get processed first and the insulin will continue to work BEFORE carbohydrates are introduced.

My insulin pump has an interesting function called “dual wave” and “square wave” bolusing. The former involves providing a specific amount of insulin up front with the remainder being dosed out over a period of time. The latter involves the entire amount being dosed out over a period of time. Why is this important? Because it allows for the appropriate dosing of insulin for the amount of carbohydrate I’m consuming while still giving the body time to process the other food aspects, such as fat, without causing me to go into hypoglycemia.

As wonderful as this sounds, the odd thing is that those wave functions aren’t available when using SmartGuard in conjunction with a CGM. This seems like a design flaw to me and I’m not clear as to why the puppy manufacturer would have done it this way. I didn’t build the thing, so maybe there’s a reason behind why it’s not permitted with SmartGuard but it rather feels like driving a car with heated seats that won’t work if you’re wearing specific pants.

It kinda sucks because it leaves me in a position where I either have to forego eating pizza altogether or I’m back to the good ol’ days of “guess-timating” how to bolus… The usual practice right now is that I’ll put off taking any insulin until I’ve actually completed eating my slice and even then, I’ll only bolus for half of the required dose at a time. This effectively mimics the square bolus effect as much as possible without disabling the extremely effective SmartGuard system that I’ve come to love.

I’ve always said that having Diabetes shouldn’t prevent a person from enjoying anything that a non-Diabetic would. After all, it’s 2022, we’ve put people on the moon, for light’s sake! Given all the advancements in medicine in the past decades, enjoying a pizza with my family on Friday night shouldn’t be such a convoluted ordeal. But it is. It usually ends up that no matter what preventative measures I take or how I adjust my bolusing, I either spend the evening trying to bring my blood sugars back up or I spend the night slowly trying to bolus to bring myself back down.

So there you have it… I know I often bring up how I’m aware that I complain about Diabetes a lot, but this is an example of how even having pizza on Friday night can be complicated. Which sucks. A lot. But such is the burden carried on the shoulders of anyone living with T1D. It can be tedious and exhausting but there are always ways to work through it. Food for thought (pun intended) Great, now I want pizza…☯️

It’s Toe-tally Painful…

I know that it seems as though I’m often posting about negative shit but trust me when I say, it’s about the journey and the pitfalls we face, not the negative aspect. That being said, it can be easy to fill an entire book with the negative aspects of Diabetes, considering the side effects and secondary issues it causes within the human body. One of them happens to be that wounds are much more difficult to heal for someone with type-1 Diabetes. This if for a variety of reasons including but not limited to, poor blood circulation and nerve damage.

One of the nastiest and most annoying wounds that one can get, is when a toe splits open. Believe it or not, this can happen a great deal when doing karate by virtue of some of the stepping, stomping and movement performed repetitively on a hard floor over hours of class time. I recently discovered this when I noticed last Thursday night after class that my right foot stung every time I took a step. When I got my phone out to snap a pic of what was happening underneath (I’m sure as hell not flexible enough anymore to bring my foot up to my face) I found a fine cut, right the seam where the toe meets the foot.

Calloused but clean…

These types of wounds are worse than paper cuts, because they continue to constantly move and flex with every step one takes. This means that it’s all the more difficult for these kinds of cuts to heal in a timely manner because the wound can’t sit long enough for it to close up quickly (or as quickly as a Diabetic foot will permit). And of course, all the usual Diabetes-related issues will apply; poor circulation in the extremities and neurological damage will contribute to the overall length of time it takes to heal.

That being said, there are things you can do to ensure this type of wound DOES heal up, whether it takes a bit longer or not. Keeping your feet warm and dry are the first lines of defence. Moist feet will breed bacteria (yes, I used the word “moist,” get over it), which is the last thing you want when you have an open wound in an enclosed area like the bottom of a toe. Although most and covered wounds may be more likely to let regeneration happen faster in most wounds, you need to consider the totality of where the injury is, coupled with the fact that the cut I’m showing you in the photo above won’t scab. No one likes scabs, but they do serve an important role in the healing process.

Since a cut like this won’t easily accommodate a band-aid or bandages, keeping the wound site clean can be problematic, especially if you’re stubborn and will keep going to class and training with bare feet. As much as it pains me to recommend it, taking the next class or two off, to allow the cut to heal is preferable to walking and training on a floor where several parties are all bare-footed as well. Luckily, I discovered this cut on Thursday night and no longer have class until Monday night, so I should be able to let it heal.

When you’ve showered/bathed, be sure to dry the area properly and don’t be afraid to let your feet air out well before slipping on socks. If you wear slippers, remember that those bastards contain everything your feet come into contact with. So if you’ve got a pair of old faithfuls that you’ve been wearing for years and you slip them on your freshly-showered feet, you’re mashing light-knows-what into your wound that’s been collected inside them bastards when your feet maybe weren’t as clean as you’d like to think. Moving on…

Antibiotic creams or gels CAN be helpful, although the jury is out on whether they genuinely provide faster healing or not. The consensus I’ve found is that they can help to reduce the risk of infection in simple cuts and wounds but may not do a great deal for the length of time it takes to heal. The other thing to consider is if you smear antibiotic cream into the crook of your toe, as with the cut in the picture above, you’re likely going to rub it all off as soon as you start walking, barefooted or not.

This is the part where I explain that proper diet and exercise and strict management of your blood sugars level will all help with the proper healing of cuts and wounds on your feet. As with any injury, you should seek medical attention if you start to notice that it’s becoming red and angry, turning strange colours, spreading or oozing pus or fluid. Or if it’s been an extended period of time without healing. That’s kind of important, as well.

Limb amputation is the last point I’ll touch on in this post, as morbid as it may be. It’s a harsh reality that’s people will Diabetes often need to face, especially in cases where their condition is poorly controlled and monitored. When a wound in the extremities becomes aggravated or infected, there’s a greater chance that it can lead to amputation, which is why it’s so important to take good care of your feet. You only get one set, so you need to pay attention. Check your feet for wounds and sores you may not feel or be aware you have. Keep that circulation going and keep your blood sugars controlled. ☯️

Take A Knee…

Nobody likes feeling pain and if you do, you likely run in circles that won’t have you reading a Buddhist blog. But I’m not here to judge. GENERALLY, people don’t like to feel pain and it’s no secret that there are many sources of pain outside of accidental or intentional. I’ve recently written posts about injuries and how they can be aggravated by Diabetes as well as how one shouldn’t ignore injuries or pain if they persist for long periods of time.

One of the body parts that can relate to ALL of those aspects are one’s joints. I don’t know about you but as the years have dragged on, I’ve started to notice an increased amount of joint paint. Not consistent and certainly not debilitating but just enough that it draws my notice.

Now, just to be clear because sometimes I’m not, a joint as it relates to the body is where two bones meet. Joints allow the free movement of the body, which we would be unable to do otherwise. These meetings of bones are held together by ligaments, which are strong elastic bands of tissue and movement is achieved by tendons, which are also a connective tissue that connect to the muscles that create movement.

All caught up? Good. People tend to take their joints and the respective movement they provide for granted and assume that muscles are solely responsible for proper movement. But there are many moving pieces to the process (pun fully intended). The last piece of the puzzle is cartilage. This is another type of connective tissue that serves a number of different functions throughout the body. One of the most important among these functions is coating the bones in a joint to cushion them against friction and impact.

Over time and extensive use, such as one might see from decades of martial arts training, the cartilage in one’s joints can become worn. This wear and tear can eventually cause loss of motion in the joint and pain as the bare surfaces of the bones start to rub together. This grinding of bones is called osteoarthritis, or the “wear-and-tear” disease.

It’s not always as bad as bare bones rubbing against each other. Even mild conditions can have you feeling aches and pains in the joints, especially when moving. It’s important to pay attention to these aches and pains as they can be treated in various ways but it’s obviously easier to do so before it becomes worse. Any joint pain you feel that’s sharp or acute can mean something more serious, like a torn ligament or tendon, muscle damage of bone fractures. None of those should be left untreated and you should have them checked by your medical practitioner.

Why am I writing about this? Well, the reality is that when one studies a contact art like karate, one’s joints take a terrific beating, figuratively and literally. I know that after the many decades of training hard, my joints certainly aren’t what they used to be and I would be lying if I said my knees don’t swell up like balloons on rainy days. The important thing is to keep stretching, warming up the body and ensuring that you don’t ignore consistent, chronic pain when it becomes known. Your body will thank you. ☯️

A Lot Of Effort For A Little Prick…

Alright, this post will be a bit of a rant so I’m warning all of y’all to buckle up. Next week, I’m schedule for my bi-yearly visit to my endocrinologist where we examine my state of existence as it relates to Diabetes and how I’m managing. For the most part, I tend to make things pretty boring for my doctor, with level blood test results and a blood glucose log that you could easily cross-country ski on. My last visit, which was back in September, wasn’t as good as previous ones by virtue of having come off of CGM. This was mainly the fault of my insurance company, which put a cap on how much they would cover and I couldn’t see clear to pay the hundreds of dollars each month for them, myself. But I digress…

My point is that for the first time, my A1C’s were off, my blood sugar results weren’t as pretty as usual and I had some ‘splainin’ to do. I always find it hilarious when a doctor picks out one random bad reading off my blood log and asks, “What happened here?” Dude, I have difficulty remembering what I had for breakfast YESTERDAY… You really think I remember why I may have suffered a high or a low at that particular time? And that’s the caveat, that these appointments usually require a bunch of steps on my part prior to showing up. These steps including getting extensive blood work where I’ve been fasting for 10 hours or more as well as uploading my insulin pump to a database, which always seems to be an issue (apparently because I use an MacBook).

One of the biggest issues with visiting my endocrinologist is the need fr scheduled blood work. This blood work needs to be collected no later than 10 days before the appointment but I’ve had instances where I’ve gotten it two full weeks prior and been told that the results were too old. So not only do I have to time it as closely to 10 days as possible, I can’t really get a leg up and do it earlier. Fun times. If you haven’t guess, this post is a rant against getting my blood work done. Like I said, buckle up.

In order to understand my frustrations, we need to go all the way back to the early 80’s, when Diabetes treatment was a joke (at least in my home town) and they still operated on babies without anesthesia because they thought infants felt no pain. Yeah… THAT decade! Anyway, any time I needed blood work, it would always require showing up at the hospital first thing in the morning. There were no other times to get it done. No appointments and no “save my spot.” You needed to show up, get registered and sit and wait. Here’s the clincher: you’d rarely ever wait more than 15 minutes.

Fast forward to February 25, 2022. I was slated to go to a local blood collecting lab, which seems to be the only way to have your blood work done in Regina unless you’re actually admitted in the hospital. And it’s not that this is a new thing. Even just ten years ago, I would STILL go to the hospital to get blood work done in New Brunswick. So, I don’t know what the problem is out here, but I digress… I woke up in the low 3’s, so there was no way in hell I could keep fasting and make it through the inevitable long wait at the blood collection lab.

I bolused with some fast-acting carbs but the damage was done; I had broken my fast and my test results would be tainted. I also felt like a freight truck hit me, so I ended up calling in sick for work. It wasn’t a great day and when i had my levels up, I fell back asleep and surprised myself by waking up past 11 am. I can’t remember the last time that happened and it only happened because my blood sugars bottomed out. Brutal. Anyway, my chances of getting my blood work done was out the window and I faced a unique problem. If I waited until Monday to get the blood work, I would be below the 10-day requirement.

That wouldn’t be a lot but I know it would be enough to elicit comment, especially if the lab didn’t have enough time to analyze the results. Luckily, we live in the modern era and I was able to check online and discover that my closest blood lab was open on Saturdays. Score! It also opened at 7:30 and was open until 3 pm. Bonus! I wouldn’t have to get there at the butt crack of dawn and wait in line in the cold with everyone else in the city who were rushing to get their blood work done. Or so I thought… getting it done on Saturday also meant that it would be over ten days to my appointment but not so long before as to elicit comment. Alright, let’s do this…

Given that it was Saturday morning, I apparently thought it was a good idea not to set an alarm, the night before.I awoke just after 8 am and my first instinct was to grab a can of energy drink and go sit on the couch to enjoy some weekend silence before everyone woke up. But as I made my way to the fridge, some post-sleep clarity kicked in and I remembered my blood work. I grabbed the requisition form, jumped into some clothes and bolted out the door. Everyone was still asleep.

I got to the blood lab and noted that there were two people in line outside the door. This wasn’t as bad as compared to other days but as I stepped out of my car, I noted that a few people were walking towards the line as well. I didn’t want to make a scene by running ahead of anyone, so I continued at a normal pace, which resulted in having four people ahead of me outside instead of two. It was only -16 degrees before the wind factor, which was a lucky thing. Had it been in the -30’s before the windchill, there’d be no human way in hell I’d be standing in line outside.

The time was 8:46 am, which is important to note. Some chairs in the waiting room were empty, which made me wonder why some of us were waiting outside. There were no restriction notices on the door, nor any explanation around why we were made to wait outside like pack animals instead of inside the warm lobby. By the time I got inside the lobby, it was about 9:20 am. Some of the people who got in ahead of me overheard one of the technicians saying it would be at least an hour’s wait. At least four people stood up and indicated they were leaving as they didn’t have an hour to wait. I felt this thinned out the herd and made it so that I cold potentially get through faster. I was wrong.

My name was finally called at about 9:40, almost an hour after I first stood in line. The only consistent part of their process was the truth behind the hour-long wait. Despite being caffeine-free and on an empty stomach, I was surprisingly patient. maybe it was the perspective of seeing everyone else getting angry, frustrated and making a scene, that helped me to recognize how I sometimes tend to fly off the handle. I was ushered into a stall and asked to remove my coat.

Once I was seated, I was still made to wait for fifteen more minutes before a technician came over and mechanically asked for my name and date of birth, followed by drawing the blood and dropping a container in my hands to collect a urine sample. I went and peed in the little cup and walked out of the blood lab at about 10:05 am, ironically right at the moment when my wife asked me what my ETA was. I could sense the tension in the room as I walked out and couldn’t help but feel that there’s got to be a way for this process to be moved along faster.

That first gulp of caffeine went down smooth, like the very nectar of life was infusing my body with the ability to face the day, despite the first couple of hours having elapsed already. I don’t work as a lab technician and I don’t collect blood samples for a living so I can’t put myself in their shoes. But from the outside perspective looking in, it seems to the common person that this process can see that there should be something done to make the process smoother and quicker. The only saving grace is that my next appointment will likely be in September and waiting outside won’t be such a big deal. Small favours… ☯️

It’s Never Too Late, Until It Is…

“It’s never too late…” How often have you heard that saying throughout the course of your life? It’s a well-known utterance, usually accompanying someone who is doing something said to be beyond the social or physiological limits of their current state. I’ve often read inspirational stories of people in their 70’s getting their PhD’s or parent and child graduating from the same college at the same time, together. Imagine how awkward THOSE frat parties would be? But to some, age is just a number and time seems infinite. I recently read a story about how Willie Nelson earned his fifth degree black belt at the age of 81. You can read that article here.

The big problem with this concept, and trust me when I say that I’m not TRYING to be negative, is that eventually it DOES become too late. Exceptional accomplishments much later in life are the exception, not the rule. This doesn’t make them impossible, simply improbable. And doing so is extremely subjective. Perhaps one person’s specific factors won’t allow for the same level of accomplishment as another. This is true of any point in life, not just the latter part. But eventually, the rigours and responsibilities of life start to accumulate one can find themselves at the mercy of responsibility instead of enjoying the freedom of their own potential. What’s possible becomes a fevered dream, to be dwelt upon during fleeting moments drowned in a cloud of reminiscent drunkenness.

I know that some of this likely sounds negative as hell and once again, it’s totally not meant to be. But since I’m throwing out sayings and utterances, another important one to keep in mind would be, “life is short.” And it is. None of us have any idea when life will take a turn towards that dark tunnel with the light at the end of it, so we should take full advantage. If you spend your life saying that it’s never too late, eventually, time will run out and it WILL be. Although one can always try their best to shoot for the stars, it’s important not to wait on the things that matter to you. Want to train for your black belt? Today is the day you should get started. Want to get on a diet and start losing weight? Don’t wait, get at it. Tomorrow is one more day that you haven’t done what you need to do. “It’s never too late?” Sure, until it is…

Never forget that life should be a pleasant experience. But that takes effort. Happiness should be the first and last thing on every person’s mind in a day but we cause our own suffering, and feeling a sense of loss over the “what if’s” only contribute to that suffering. Despite the pleasantness, life also wasn’t meant to be easy. And one shouldn’t mistake an easy life with happiness. One is not synonymous with the other. One can easily find happiness while still navigating the difficulties of life. What one should never do, is put off the things they want to accomplish. Because eventually, inevitably, the time will come when it WILL be too late. Food for thought… ☯️

Like A Hamster On A Wheel…

One of the big things I enjoy doing for fitness is cardio. There’s something pleasant about pushing oneself to go farther and faster, all while burning calories and fat. Given that my knees are pretty shot from three decades of fight training, I usually opt for cycling because it allows maximum distance while still getting a good burn without all the impact on my knees. This is why I opt for the elliptical during the winter. But despite having the centre of gravity equivalent to a rock, I can run. I usually choose not to, but I can.

During the late autumn and winter months, I’ve taken advantage of using the gym located in my office building. I’ve posted videos of what that location has to offer and it’s served me well. But in recent weeks, I’ve come to find out that circumstances may take this location away and I’ve once again found myself in a position where cardio will take a back seat. I mean, let’s be honest… I have free weights at home. I have a punching bag at home. And I now have a dojo at my disposal. This means that cardio is very literally the only reason I would use the gym location in question.

I’ve gotten rather lazy in recent weeks, missing some classes and negating the aforementioned cardio. There are a number of reasons behind this, including but not limited to the increased work load that has kept me from taking time to run at work. And I kind of enjoy spending some time at home, you know? With this in mind, I started looking for something I could do at home. A traditional elliptical machine or stationary bike would be too heavy and cumbersome to get downstairs, not to mention it would cost a fortune.

My GoZone “Walking” treadmill…

Enter: the GoZone Walking Treadmill. I purchased it from a local retail outlet and I usually don’t make it a point to endorse any particular distributor, but it doesn’t take a genius to guess what location I’m talking about, given the brand name. Pricing in at about $250, it’s currently on special for about $160. It supports a maximum weight of 265 pounds but only weighs 40 pounds, itself. it doesn’t boast a handlebar with a bunch of fancy buttons and displays but it definitely serves the purpose for an at-home workout area.

Digital display

I started by plugging it in to a nearby wall socket and set upon my laptop for music/streaming. It comes with a small, handheld remote, which controls speed and time. The digital display alternates between elapsed time, speed (in mph), distance (in miles) and energy burned. There’s a memory key on the remote that allows you to set maximum distance or time, and a rounded button for speed adjustment. Maxing out at 6 mph (approximately 10 kph), it allows for a reasonable jog. It wouldn’t be fitting for someone looking to train at hard running but definitely serves its purpose for some at-home cardio.

I’m not keen on the fact that it looks as though I have boobs…

I hadn’t run or performed any significant cardio in months, so I decided to test the treadmill out by running a simple mile (1.6 kilometres). I had Disney+ playing on the laptop and I was watching “According to Jim.” The mile crept up quickly and I could feel the shin splints building as I neared the end. It was a good burn, albeit brief, and once I stopped, my core temperature decided to catch up and I was sheathed in sweat. my blood sugars also dropped, making me grateful for training at home. Nathan also hopped on and trotted for almost half a mile.

Being old and out of breath is no joke…

Honestly, I was a bit concerned that the track would start to falter with me running on it. But it held up pretty well. I don’t know how long this thing will continue to work as smoothly as it does but it will make an excellent addition to my fitness routine. Given the low, reasonable cost, light-weight design and portability for storage and reasonable speed, the GoZone “Walking” treadmill is definitely recommended. I keep putting “walking” in quotations because I’ll only ever use it for jogging. ☯️

Self-Care First…

If you’re anything like me, you work pretty hard towards taking care of others. Whether you’ve found your calling by pursuing a career that allows you to help others or you do volunteer work or perhaps simply take that extra amount of time in your daily routine to throw on a load of laundry, do extra dishes or extra cleaning around the house, helping and taking care of others is an important part of one’s life. If there’s anything that life has taught me, it’s that everybody needs somebody and helping to care for them takes many forms and is important.

That is to say, it’s ALMOST as important as taking care of yourself. Great strides have been made in the past couple of decades towards acknowledging one’s mental health as an integral part of a successful, healthy life. Of course, some have been wise enough to acknowledge that, long before it started being well-known. The important thing to remember is that you’re no good to anyone else unless you manage to take care of yourself first. I’ve previously written about the need to take time to do things for oneself, whether that means reading a book or taking a drive on your own.

Your mental health depends on it, which is why it’s so important. Throughout my life, I’ve experienced toxic relationships where I’ve been hindered or prevented from taking proper care of myself. Not only does this make life far harder than it needs to be but the toll it takes on a person is substantial. All that being said, there are three things you should never have to explain or justify. And those three things play an important role in your well-being. In fact, they represent some of the basic needs that all people have. Here they are:

The Need To Sleep

Sleep is an integral part of a person’s health. Without proper sleep, a person can expect difficulty concentrating, blood pressure issues, cardiac issues and a whole score of health-related issues that no one wants to deal with. When you feel tired or sleepy, there’s no reason you should have to explain the need to sleep. There’s nothing worse than being tired and wanting to lie down, only to have someone require an explanation or accuse you of being lazy.

According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, sleep counts as a physiological need, which is the bottom and first layer of needs. At its most basic, everyone sleeps. And the reality is that if one doesn’t sleep, one will eventually succumb and die. Work and familial obligations notwithstanding, you shouldn’t have to explain if you need to lie down and grab a quick snooze.

The Need To Eat

Another bottom level and basic physiological need, eating is subjective to the person. The rules of survival are pretty simple; if you’re hungry, you should eat. Now, bear in mind that hunger can be attributed to more than simply the need for food. Dehydration can cause feelings of hunger, so it’s important to maintain proper hydration levels by sipping water throughout the day. Emotional issues can also cause a person to compulsively eat, which isn’t directly associated to hunger but can cause a person to eat outside the regular boundaries of one’s three meals.

But if you find yourself hungry for the the old fashion reason, that being that you need food in your system, this isn’t something that you should need to explain or justify. In past relationships, I’ve actually had partners who have commented on my eating habits and have accused me of “eating too much” or gaining unnecessary weight through excessive eating. Although I’m not exactly the skinniest dude on the block, I also know that my weight is consistent with my age, size and activity level.

The Need To Recuperate From Illness

This one is near and dear to my heart, especially since I was diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes when I was 4 years old. Throughout my childhood and into my teens, I would often have friends and later girlfriends, comment on my mood, health and energy levels as Diabetes took its pound of flesh from me. Even into adulthood, I’ve had difficulties when trying to explain or justify needing some down time to myself when overcoming a cold, flu or something Diabetes-related.

I remember one time, I was dating a local woman in on of the towns I was posted in. We went out to an even this one evening when nausea and stomach pain seized me. I told her I would be going home to rest and I could tell she was clearly upset by my early departure. She even made a passive-aggressive comment to others about how we had to leave because I was “not feeling well.” It wasn’t until she came in to check on me the following day and saw the state I was in, did she realize that I was genuinely sick and wasn’t making excuses.

The experience left a sour taste in my mouth and helped me realize that one should never have to explain or justify needing time to medically recuperate. And taking care of one’s health is the second level on Maslow’s Hierarchy as part of one’s Safety Needs, one step above basic physiological needs. I don’t think I need to explain why it’s so important to maintain one’s health and well-being.

This post is effectively an opinion piece. Perhaps there are other needs you feel would be more important and that you dislike having to explain or justify. If so, feel free to share them in the comments section. At the end of the day, the lesson here is that you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. Otherwise, the whole house of cards will falter. And as I said earlier, you can’t help others or take care of them before first taking care of yourself. ☯️

Ignorance Isn’t Always Bliss…

As I get older, one of the big things I notice is the increased amount of pain and discomfort. It isn’t a constant, debilitating pain, of course. But it’s usually just enough that it sits on the present fringes of my consciousness, a steady companion as I make my way towards the latter portion of my life. For example, just twenty years I could get a night’s sleep, whether good or bad, step out of bed and hit the ground running. Now, it takes several minutes for my body to acknowledge and accept that I’ve woken up, everything cracks and settles as I sit up and then my knees and joints scream at me as I get them moving. Such is life.

One of the important aspects about any pain and discomfort that we feel, is recognizing the need to seek medical attention. We’re often ignorant of this, whether due to the inconvenience of trying to get in to see a medical practitioner, which is not an easy in modern days, or the stubbornness of believing that pain is temporary. It often is, but we allow ourselves the indulgence of a far longer wait than we should, in some instances. This can lead to complications that one can ill afford, especially if you’re dealing with Type-1 Diabetes on top of things.

From a martial arts’ standpoint, many injuries will be suffered during training. Bruises, scrapes, blisters, pulled muscles, torn muscles and even broken bones are al injuries that I’ve either suffered or seen during my many decades of training. Most things can be healed with a bit of rest and time, specifically things like bruises and pulled muscles. But even those can lead to complications if left unchecked. If bruising begins to inexplicably spread or change to unusual shades of colour than what your bruises typically look like, there may be something more serious happening beneath the surface.

Pulled and damaged muscles actually take much longer than people assume. If left to heal properly, it can take several weeks for muscle tissue to return to its former state. If it’s been several months and the pain still persists or has worsened, that’s a sign that ice packs or warm baths won’t help any further. Medical examination may be required. Trying to return to your normal activities without allowing your muscles t properly heal will aggravate an existing injury and potentially cause others. Broken bones are a problem all their own. Besides the broken bone, certain breaks can cause a kink of nerves, restricted blood flow and circulatory issues.

It goes without saying (despite the fact I’m saying) that broken bones shouldn’t be ignored and require medical treatment. The old belief that you won’t be able to move a limb or use the part of the body if your bone is broken is myth. You’ll still be able to walk on a broken leg as movement is done through your muscles. That doesn’t mean it won’t hurt like hell and cause al kinds of damage, though. I’ve been lucky enough to get through my life with only mild fractures. I’ve only had to be casted once and have otherwise never needed to be laid up.

Numbness and loss of feeling is also an important concern. If you have pain somewhere in your body and start to notice numbness or loss of sensation in the extremities, this could suggest that whatever your injury may be is causing lack of circulation or kinking a nerve. None of that is a good sign and should prompt you to get the injury checked as soon as possible. trying to “tough it out” can lead to nerve damage and loss of extremities if blood flow is hindered.

Having Diabetes adds a whole different flavour to injuries and I recognize that I’ve mostly been speaking about internal injuries that show show a great deal of much on the surface. But cuts and open wounds are especially difficult, since people with Diabetes will have difficulty healing in a timely fashion by virtue of neurological and circulatory issues. Not only will injuries take longer to heal, but T1D’s are prone to infection, which will make matters all the worse. This is why it’s so important to maintain good blood sugars and seek medial assistance if injuries appear red and angry, ooze any kind of fluid and it appears as though they aren’t healing properly. ☯️