Tagged

The tag cloud generator app at http://www.wordle.net/ is great fun. Here's what it created when I tossed all the words from my last 100 blog posts into its bucket.

Five by Five on a Two by Four

photo by jimmypk218

He stayed hunkered down until the ground stopped shaking. When he finally raised his head, it was a changed world. The road he’d been travelling was gone. The ground had fallen away to the left, right, and behind. Only a sliver of path remained, winding up through the swirling dust, a two by four sized ridge top with an abyss on either side. Somehow he pushed aside paralyzing fear, stood, and stepped carefully, calmly forward, summoning a balance he didn't know he had.

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

Oh, The Drama!

The first time I gazed out across the diabetes landscape I saw a wasteland. It was a zone of gray, dusty ruins in perpetual twilight. The meager glow of kerosene lamps here and there marked the various huddles of gray, dusty denizens. They always seemed preoccupied with the devices clipped to each other’s belts, or the contents of the little zipper cases they all carried. Every so often one would announce a number and the rest would either cheer and slap his back or sigh “oh no” and give him a hug.

As I watched, a regular stream of pilgrims plodded into the zone, looking bewildered, new zipper cases in hand. Some of them drifted into dark corners alone. Others were drawn like moths to the kerosene lamp groups where they were consoled, and hugged, and congratulated on the quality of their insulin supply case or pump.

Nobody seemed to notice me on the bluff from where I watched. They didn’t seem aware of the sunlit, clean kodachrome universe mere steps from their enclave.

In the years since, I’ve traveled often into the Zone, carrying news of the fresh water and food that I’m sure saved me from their fate. I’ve shown any who would listen that I carry no case or pump, just a handful of almonds. Mostly I’m met with blank stares. Once, one of the kerosene lamp leaders asked me to go away.

But depressing as these sorties into the realm of victimhood are, it’s worth the short time away from my happy life for the one person in a hundred, mostly from the queue of new pilgrims, that hears me, and turns away, daring to live in the light.

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

It's More Than About Beating Diabetes

I've already changed my profile tagline in several places to something like “it’s more than about beating diabetes”. The word holistic seems inadequate to describe the profound integration my experiment has illuminated for me. It’s a question of seeing the big picture. When racing sailboats you’re taught to get your head out of the boat and look around. It’s hard, because the many adjustments and controls near at hand seem to demand attention. But even if everything is trimmed perfectly, if you’re not headed at the mark, all your micro-fidgeting is for naught.

I’m convinced that western medicine is full of micro-fidgeters. Blinders and magnifying glasses strapped on, the questions that legions of mice are sacrificed to solve are miniscule (possibly meaningless) pieces of the big picture. Without more of an eastern stepped-back, whole systems view, they’ll never connect the parts. It’s no wonder we see so many unintended consequences for drugs targeted at discrete processes. Nothing is discrete.

An entire blog post of mine might pass without mention of Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA). What started for me as a typically western search for a solution to this individual disease yielded not a pill to be taken and cure resulting by morning, but a real cure all elixir. None of the ingredients are unheard of, although a few, like self-accountability and patience are hard to come by.

photo by Leo-Seta

Finding and maintaining balance is the root purpose of each and every goal I might choose to list on a given day. It’s all so interconnected that it’s difficult to create a linear string of words to diagram it. Writing about it is like uncovering a tiny section of an ancient wall on an archeological dig and not knowing which way to follow it to get to the treasure chamber. Of course, eventually you figure out that either way will get you there.

Here’s one list of cascading challenges/opportunities for achieving/maintaining mind/body balance and the resulting good health:

1. keep the cupboard and fridge stocked with organic, unprocessed food

2. find a way to make a living that enables #1

3. avoid the kind of work requiring body-killing stress but still satisfies #2 and #1

4. dedicate a generous slice of each day to physical and creative activity while still solving #3, #2, and #1

5. discover an infinite number of moments in which to be present with wife, kids, and any other human whose path I cross, unfettered by worries of failing #4 through #1.

List small victories? Like writing every day for a month on topic and on deadline? Or launching the boat for the season, knowing that just the thought of it swinging on its mooring is the best stress pill available? Or having a 30 and 90-day average fasting blood sugar of 115? Or staying cool and balanced, even though laid off and in uncharted waters? Or this morning, having the presence of mind to watch the thermal-riding hawk for uncounted moments?

It all matters, but not in the proportions you may first assign. Remember the drinking bird toy that repeatedly dipped its head? Our lives are an endless cycle of head-drooping down to focus on one spot of ground followed by the wakeup head-shaking return to the long view where we get back in our lane and spot the next turn.

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

Summed Up

Tomorrow’s Memory

The old guy was really skinny. But not unhealthy skinny. Plenty of muscle rippled under his weather-leathered skin. John had no idea why his current assignment was to come talk to this guy. His editor had simply said, “Go talk to this guy.” He lived on a sailboat down at the 79^th street marina. After asking at the dock master’s office, John made his way out to where Ouija was moored. This boat was pretty old, but looked well maintained. Lots of varnish undoubtedly was brushed onto all the woodwork on this craft each year. After hailing the traditional “permission to come aboard?” it was a few moments before Captain Russ stuck his head up from below.

“You bet, son. You must be from the paper. Come aboard and have a seat in the cockpit while I grab a cup of tea. You want anything?”

“Tea sounds good.” John sat next to the old-style wooden-spoked steering wheel and tried to guess what each of the myriad coils of line hanging everywhere was used for. He wondered if the range of colors from bright yellow, to red, green blue , purple, and every braided combination and thickness really helped to identify  them all. As the boat rocked on the gentle swell, the dock lines creaked.

“Green tea OK?” the captain called from the galley.

“Sure. No sugar.”

“You’re damn right no sugar!” was the Captain’s growled reply. “We don’t even stock that poison on board.” John could hear the water pump thump a second or two as the teapot filled and he smelled the faintest waft of propane from the stove.

“Right. I guess nobody argues that it’s not poison anymore.” John now had an idea why he’d been sent here.”Say, Cap’n, didn’t you have something to do with proving that?”

The spry old guy climbed from the cabin below with 2 steaming cups, handed John one, and took his time settling onto the slick waterproof cushion, the kind that squeak a little when you sit on them.

“Not really. I wasn’t a scientist, or a physician or anything. I just helped spread the word.” He dipped his teabag a few times, waiting to see where this was going.

Until now, John wasn’t sure either. But he had a hunch this guy was one of a handful of bloggers from 30 years ago who were raising the alarm about processed food and sugar years before the warning labels and eventual strict controls came along in 2018.

“Don’t be so modest, Captain! If I remember right, you put your money where your mouth is and tested these theories on your own body, right?” It was dark in the cockpit, but John could see the gleam in Cap’n Russ’ eyes as he leaned back and recollected.

“Well, they were sure different times. Back then, EVERYONE was addicted to sugar. Hardly anyone realized the danger. There were these canned drinks called sodas that contained a hundred times the amount of sugar as what’s set as the legal limit now. And what’s horrible is, they let kid’s have ‘em. Hell, mom’s actually bought them FOR their kids. The schools had vending machines full of them. I used to drink one called Dr.Pepper. I remember it was so carbonated it really tickled your nose.” The captain itched his nose sympathetic to the memory.

“Yeah, as I research this, pieces of that picture seem pretty surreal. What made you leave the ‘opium den’, so to speak.”

The captain chuckled, “Opium den. That’s a good way to put it. The sugar and the saturated fat had a hold on nearly everyone. I got lucky though. Me and a few million other canaries in the coal mine got sick from it early enough to do something about it.”

“Lucky?” John had to balance his tea for a minute as the wake from the passing powerboat rolled Ouija a few times.

“Sure. The rest of the sugar addicted world was sick too, but didn’t know it. They thought dying at 70 or 80 was normal. Except for a few heretics, nobody had a clue. Nobody connected all the ways everyone died, failures of heart, brain, immune system, and any other organ, to the garbage we were eating.”

“But you did?” John was amazed at how long it took some old geezers to get to the point.

“Well, when I was told I had an irreversible metabolic disorder called “diabetes” back in ’09 I quickly learned that it was kind of like an early old age. Diabetics actually died from the same kind of cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and other body malfunctions as anyone else, just sooner. There was a connection back then between sugar and diabetes, but not the right one. People thought a genetic error just made us sensitive to it. Sugar wasn’t viewed yet as the culprit. I originally quit it just to buy time and keep my blood sugar out of the red zone until a cure like a beta cell transplants came along. It was another couple of years before I realized that quitting sugar and most processed food in addition to swapping out a high stress lifestyles was the cure.” The captain paused to sip his tea.

“But what was all this I read in the archives about some kind of hormone that people had to carry around in pumps or needles and inject themselves with?” The thought gave John a queasy shiver.

“Oh my God, son, it was like something out of the Twilight Zone. Insulin. The best that science and medicine could come up with back then was a f*cking shot in the stomach! Most of the research and money went into new devices to deliver it. People walked around with devices clipped to their belt and tubes inserted into god knows where. It didn’t even treat the disease, just one symptom. And the worst thing was that many used it as an excuse to keep drinking soda and pizza. The stupidity of human kind...” The captain shook his head and muttered something unintelligible, Pop-eye style. John steered him back again.

“So Cap’n, what led you to see the truth as we know it now, that most disease is related to toxins from diet and stress?”

“I just thought that the whole insulin thing was batsh*t insane. I researched. I looked toward eastern medicine. Seems obvious now. It was all right under our noses. It’s a shame it took so many years before the establishment got it.” The old man frowned, obviously re-tasting something bitter. Then he got up, and extended his hand. “I’m afraid I have to say good night. Need my beauty sleep you know.” The happy twinkle had returned to his eye.

“Ok, Captain. I hope it’s OK to follow up if I need more for the story. John shook the calloused hand, trying not to wince at the strength of the grip.

“You bet. Come back when there’s breeze, and we’ll take the old girl out for a spin.”

“I will.” And John knew he would, too.

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

A Mascot, Huh?

I suppose it would be nice to have something to replace the beer logos that might’ve adorned my baseball caps once upon a time. I thought about a little Buddha. He’s kind of my shoulder angel. But he’s not really suitable as a mascot. People might get the wrong idea.

Mr. Almond

So why not my good buddy Mr. Almond? He’s without question my #1 junk food replacement. A bag of him and his cohorts are with me at all times. I consume pounds of these wonderful nuts. There’s plenty of science showing their benefit for diabetics. The fibrous nature of Mr. Almond makes him very nice and slowly metabolized. He almost counts for nothing as a carb because of his un-rushed progress in my gut. He’s a healthy influence on other carbs and sugars too. If I eat something with a higher glycemic index along with a handful of Mr. Almond, he’ll slow them down too. And for me, a nut's fat is a needed replacement for the animal saturated fats (including dairy) that I must shun.

Mr. Almond is wonderfully low maintenance. He stores a long time, doesn’t need refrigeration, He certainly doesn’t crush easily so he can be tossed in the backpack along with tools and end up no worse for wear. California seems to grow a gazillion, which must help keep the cost so low. At least compared to my ex-best-buddy Mr. Potato Chip.

I suppose he could use a little graphic design help. With only a sideways glance you might mistake him for South Park’s Mr. Hanky Poo.

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

How Social Can You Be?

As Health Activists, our mission is to communicate our message. As of this point in 2012, there have never been more choices for extending your audience reach. Your blog by itself is a great central location, but it’s a pretty small piece of real estate for people to actively search out. There are a range of additional tools that can complement your and send your message further.

Many of you are active on Twitter, which is great. Choice use of hashtags and links in your tweets can expose you much more broadly, especially if what you say is helpful or interesting enough that someone wants to retweet it.

Your social networking sites are a great resource. LinkedIn and Facebook are not only another place to post a link to your blog, but any discussions or groups you participate in adds to your credibility.

You also need to think visually if you want to maximize the chances of reaching the the largest number of people who might be interested in what you have to say. In addition to making sure you include some kind off graphic in every blog post, pin that graphic to a Pinterest board and any others that might be eyecatching and relevant to your followers.

What about You-Tube? It’s pretty hard to argue with the penetration that video has. And with people’s attention spans these days, it could be your greatest hook. I’ve been experimenting for a while now with short Captain Russ diabetes videos like this one. This book trailer is the final tip for the day. The reach of ebooks is exploding. The built-in marketing of Amazon and Smashwords is a huge leg up. Don’t write a book expecting to make any money. Do it because it provides a concise method of detailing your helpful knowledge. Every bit of communication about the book also provides a way to get people back to your blog where they can continue to benefit from your expertise. Ebook publishing is not difficult. I'd be happy to share what I've learned from my project if you're interested.

Sticky Note For My Forehead

Health Activist Writers Month Challenge -Mad Lib poem

all in determined

All in determined went my blueberries meditateing 
on a cynical activity of green 
into the fibrous reggae . 

comfortable non-alcoholic smartphone ed sustainable and ing 
the insulin-free peace before. 

life-changing be they than victim-like creativity 
the balanced healthy peace 
the healthy insulin-free peace . 

comfortable healthy focus at a strong understanding 
the calm almonds before. 

raspberries at strawberries went my blueberries meditateing 
meditateing the sunflower seeds down 
into the fibrous reggae . 

comfortable non-alcoholic smartphone ed sustainable and ing 
the zen pasture fed beef before. 

content be they than hopeful healthy green tea 
the non-alcoholic strong peace 
the sarcastic sustainable n peace . 

comfortable sarcastic oatmeal at a green salmon 
the doubtful onion before. 

poodle at green chile went my blueberries meditateing 
meditateing the quinoa down 
into the fibrous reggae . 

comfortable non-alcoholic smartphone ed sustainable and ing 
the doubtful salsa before. 

experimental be they than rogue meditation 
the heretical inspired peace 
the critical broad-minded peace . 

comfortable critical acupuncture at the determined quinoa 
the broad-minded non-violence before. 

All in determined went my blueberries meditateing 
on a cynical activity of green 
into the fibrous reggae . 

comfortable non-alcoholic smartphone ed sustainable and ing 
my ketch moderate poodle before. 

- Russell & e.e. cummings

Breaking News

Colorado man mixes paleo-style diet, supplements, activity and acupuncture to cure autoimmune diabetes

Says lone self-researcher

Berthoud, April 20, 2012 – A researcher living in northern Colorado has identified a mix of eastern and western medicine techniques that halts the attack on insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and regenerates them – a breakthrough discovery that may ultimately help millions worldwide with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes avoid insulin and live normal lives.

The work on the multi-year project was led by blogger/poet Russell Stamets of the LADA group and researchers from the Health Center of Integrated Therapies. The results are recently published in Stamets’ ebook Refusing the Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health, available through Amazon and Smashwords.com.

“Our work shows that pancreas function in late-onset autoimmune diabetics, and possibly all type 1’s, is recoverable. My drop in A1c to normal levels accompanied by a rise in C-peptide is unprecedented,” says Stamets. “None of the components of this treatment regimen is new in itself, but this appears to be the first time equal weight has been given to the diet, supplements, activity, and stress reduction aspects.”

In persons suffering from type 1 diabetes, the immune system launches a misguided attack on the insulin-producing beta cells, resulting in the cells' decline of insulin production and eventual loss of function.

Without insulin, the body's cells cannot absorb glucose from the blood and use it for energy. As a result, glucose accumulates in the blood, leaving the body's cells and tissues starved for energy. That's why people with the disease must inject insulin and monitor their blood glucose levels constantly. To cure type 1 diabetes, it’s necessary to develop methods to increase beta cell replication and activation, hence the potential therapeutic importance of the current study.

In his work, Mr. Stamets devised a modified paleo diet (included whole grains and legumes) combined with a supplement set designed at glycemic and damage control and immune system function along with significant lifestyle changes including consistent activity and acupuncture and meditation for stress control.

Stamets recorded significant drops in A1c after 5 months, leveling off in the normal range (about 5.8) and remaining steady as the study continues.

“This means that the increasing push to put any diabetic immediately on insulin, and the accompanying costs to our healthcare system and diabetic’s quality of life, may be misguided,” says Stamets, who along with his acupuncturist/nutritionist, and with oversight from his physician D.O. have committed to continue the self-funded study.

The challenge, admits Stamets, is to find support for long-term studies, which are difficult to fund, particularly in lines of research with un-patentable findings, no matter how great the success.

###

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Hey Hon, I've invited these guys over tonight. Hope you don't mind. I'll pick up a six-pack of Red Stripe on my way home.

image by The Wanderer's Eye

Bob Marley

Carl Sagan

Mark Twain

Maya Angelou

Ben Franklin

I’m not positive about Carl and Maya, but I’ll bet all these folks have a sense of humor.

Each is a survivor for one reason or another.

Every one connects our everyday human existence with something greater.

All 5 communicate creatively, uniquely, and beyond their “group”.

They’re all inclusive types that will honestly listen to each other.

It wouldn’t surprise me if, by the end of the night, everyone is jamming together, singing, playing guitar, spoons, whatever. 

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

Dashboard Idiot Lights

Day 18 of the Health Activist Writers Month Challenge prompts us to grab a book, flip it open, point to a phrase, and run with it!

In the short stack of the non-digital books I’m currently reading you can spot MARINE DIESEL ENGINES, by Jean Luc Pallas. Since my new floating home (come September) may only be kept off the rocks at times by one of these faithful beasts, I have some motivation to know them intimately.

On page 212, in a section on oil pressure, my finger lands on the phrase, “When the light or the buzzer comes on, the engine is already suffering from lack of oil.” Okie Dokie. Good to know. If you see it, it’s probably too late. Like in the middle of the night close to a lee shore you’re being blown onto. Fortunately, the subtitle of this page turner of a book is Maintenance and Repair Manual. Pallas gives loads of considerably more useful tips to increase the odds that you never see the low pressure warning light.

So you can take it from here, right? Substitute your own health focus into the analogy and debate the pros and cons of preventative maintenance vs. repair. The idea of no warning certainly resonates with me. My pancreas appeared to be beautifully handling everything a typical beer-guzzling, pizza chomping full blooded American male does. Until the moment it didn’t.

One way to proceed would’ve been to accept the prevailing wisdom that this autoimmune malfunction was a genetic manufacturer defect and that this engine would never run normally again. I could’ve accepted the permanent towboat of shots of insulin and kept eating my pizza.

But life behind a towboat would stink, literally. The whole point of a sailboat is to escape that kind of exhaust and cost. I couldn’t stomach the thought of it, literally. When the engine quit, I grabbed a wrench and a flashlight and went below to the engine room. Fortunately, the tide was turning and the wind eased a little. I had a few hours before my ship would ground on Complications Reef. It was pretty scary. There was no manual for curing a Type 1 LADA diabetic. I changed the oil, put in clean fuel, reconditioned the injectors, and promised my precious 80-horse Yanmar I’d forever go easy on the throttle.

As dawn broke, with just a few hundred yards to spare, I held my breath and pressed the starter. She sputtered to life. Exhaling, I realized I’d used at least one of this cat’s nine lives. My diesel runs smoother now, and cooler than before. I keep my promise, and take the time to find  clean organic fuel. The fruits, veggies, and fish are well worth it. I also don’t kick her or swear at her, or put her in unhealthy situations. I know I should have been doing all this long ago. But here was no warning light.

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

Calculated Risk

A “lesson learned the hard way” is one of those common phrases that seems a little strange after you stare at it a while. I was trying to think what a lesson learned the easy way would be. Or the fact that some of these things are more like skills acquired. I thought about commenting on one hard to accept truth that I resisted believing for years. It has to do with a fundamental difference between most men and women. It has taken me decades to deal with the fact that logic and intent counts for absolutely nothing. All my learned lessons from science and mathematics about cause and effect and the shortest distance from point A to B have to be suspended when communicating with the opposite sex. But I don’t think I’ll go there. I’d have to use logic to describe it and so the message might be lost on at least half the audience. (Note tongue in cheek.)

photo by Ephemeral Scraps

Turning from the altar of Logic is really just a subset of a bigger lesson anyway— the lesson of how to listen. In some ways, reliance on logic makes you think you don’t have to listen. Thought flows to thought, action to action to result, predetermined. A logical guy knows what the next thing said will be, or should be. Pretty stupid, I know, now. It just never occurred to me that there was more truth than logic out there. Truth you can hear if you listen. I know now there is a background whisper of universal truth. I’m sure it’ll take the 2^nd half of my life to tune the hearing aid appropriately, but it’s clear that the entire answer guide is continuously broadcasting.

I won’t second guess my deafness to date. Sure, I should’ve listened to my wife and my body and the universe all along. But I haven’t lost any of the three. Is it part of the definition of a hard lesson learned that you survive the teaching of it?

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

The Point of the Pins

The life that might've been

symbol of a tethered, punctured life (photo by Melissa)

The life that is

symbol of the very best the universe has to offer

All that stands between

symbol of clean living and kick-ass health

The life that might’ve been, if I had not questioned the mantra that an autoimmune diabetic’s only choice is insulin. It’s a dependent life. Dependent on fridge space for the insulin, batteries for the devices, and nearby hospitals for the inevitble lows that accompany a medieval treatment.

The life that is, is such a contrast. No fridge on this boat, and no need puncture oneself in between wave crests. And a deserted beach, far from EMT, is a joy, not a worry.

All that stands between these alternate endings to a LADA diagnosis are pounds of almonds, bushels of berries, stringers of fish, and an unending supply of even, deep breaths, drawn and exhaled between the smiling lips that emanate from a sustainable life.

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

What's In A Title?

The question posed by today’s prompt is easy enough. I‘ve never pondered it much, but my writing style and habits follow reasonably set patterns. I’ll detail them in due course. But the real challenge with this one is how to find any kind of hook or relevance for my audience. Why in the world would a follower of the russell.stamets blog care about how this LADA warrior and lifestyle remodeler creates his content? To date, this blog’s sharp focus on one man’s different solution has been nearly inviolate. Even the lighter bits of verse I occasionally offer relate to some physical or mental aspect of my experiment. It’s true that a few of my friends probably wish I’d write about something else now and then. And I probably should keep a personal blog with the sci fi, philosophy, poetry, and other effluent for anyone that might care. But this blog is squarely in the Diabetes Zone. To date I’ve adhered to the school of thought that blogger’s shouldn’t stray from their message. After all, we’ve got Facebook for all the rest, right?

OK. Enough attempt at connective tissue. Here’s how I write. I still use pen on paper when laptop or android are inconvenient to use. I like the feel of my beautiful wooden ball point pen I got from the Planetree conference in Williamsburg in 2007. I have to fight my tendency to chew it. I like uniquely bound journals. Currently, I use a full letter size leather bound beauty that has protective tissue sheets between the pages, and a small Tibetan backpack size book with fascinating rough pressed fibrous pages. I write in these while swinging in the Skychair on the deck, or in the bright sunshine on the boat, or when travelling unwired. Partly because my left-handed scrawl demands re-interpretation due to its indecipherability, most handwritten musings evolve more than the typewritten.

My creative hours run from about 8a-2p. For a typical blog post, it’s an hour or two of conceptualizing after the prompt or idea before fingertips hit the keys. The first couple of paragraphs are roughly outlined in my head. The rest usually writes itself, and occasionally supplants the original thought. Contrary to most advice, I tend to edit as I go. The short form of the blog post suits me. Longer non-fiction involves a different, iterative, layered process. My latest, about my LADA project, surprised me with how different the final approach was. I had envisioned stitching together the extensive set of complete but separate thoughts from this blog. But the story declined to be told that way. It needed to be built as a fresh narrative, not composed of, but simply informed by the tens of thousands of words already written.

Oh yeah, how about titles? They’re sweated over for a book, but a last afterthought for something like this.

___

Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

Pixie Dust, Anyone?

photo by flickkerphotos

The Perfect Day? Another sigh. I suppose it might start with not grousing about another gag-me-with-a-spoon blog carnival prompt like “Describe your ideal day.” Talk about too syrupy for anyone, much less a diabetic.  And let’s dispense with all the Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men, shall we? I mean sure, it’d be great to wake up and know that the planet was healed and that the Dolphins and Humpbacks were running the World Congress and that we Humans were protected from ourselves.

But I’m guessing that the head prompt-meister for this thing was really hoping for something a little more self-centered. Something about whichever disease or condition that’s inscribed on our Health Activist membership card. Perhaps it will be interesting to see how many of us describe a perfect day in terms of not having “___________” (name your ill). Or how many have so close a horizon that they will only describe their perfect day in terms of a lower blood sugar that day, or less pain, or an encouraging doctor visit, or a new device to attach or... you get the point.

And then again, on a perfect day, maybe I will be a little less crusty and cynical and look for others to write, like I would, about the growth, hope, opportunity, and overall richer life resulting from “__________” (LADA diabetes in my case). Unfair you say? Because I only write about this coming from a position as victor and not victim? Because I’ve apparently beaten this thing and it has no more effect on my daily life than the time it takes to advocate? Fair enough. But this is the perfect day, remember? I choose to use my allotment of pixie dust to see the day when most of those with one of these chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune conditions have managed to step beyond the non-edge of the not-flat Earth, instead of just the too few, healthy but lonely, with whom I stand.

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Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

I Suppose I Could Do Without a Toe

photo by Clearly Ambiguous

why list 10 vital needs?

because we have that many fingers or toes?

I suppose I could do without a toe

but not without Kathy

the one unshifting reference frame as we orbit each other 

     through the chaos

or 2 daughters whose talent and huge hearts we claim no credit

     but revel and beam with pride nonetheless

and not without health, it equals freedom to look up, and out

     and away from the victim inside

or vision tuned to see the all-pervasive magic

or the sailing and reggae, scaling the the daily grind down

     placed in the box labeled “truly meaningless”

or fresh salsa, symbol of nature’s simple sustainable-life solution

I need my curiosity to keep from drowning in the mundane

and my ego, albeit tiresome at times, is the undisputed warrior 

     against despair

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Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

Unfiltered

photo by Seattle Municipal Archives

Sigh. Stream of consciousness? Give me a freakin’ break. A s the prompt suggests, this might be of use to the author, but there’s no way this peek into the raw data stream can inform or clarify to my audience. Although, with a microscopic audience, maybe the risk is less.

And Kathy will attest to the fact that the ENTIRE contents of the conveyor belt running through my head are not fit for human consumption. I spend considerable effort and time culling coherent bits to try and assemble something useable.

It’s just that I broadcast on all wavelengths at once. Conjectures on cabinet handle functionality form only nanoseconds apart from, or maybe even within the discussion on the sorry state of the school system. Or the fact that it’s trash day and I didn’t load up all the extra cans with junk. Junk we’ve only got another 6 weeks to get rid of before we list the house. Junk that’s not going to fit on the boat or go into storage or be sold. If I could remember on Wednesday’s to load up a few cans for pickup, I could save a trip to the dump. But it’s not so much remembering. It’s on my android calendar, staring me in the face on Wednesday. It’s more about prioritization and the dazzling array of lists and lists of lists attempting to make this not quite add-hoc adventure happen. I can’t imagine how much junk we’d have collected if we’d stayed in this house another 20 years. What’ll fit on a 45 foot sailboat? Not much. It’s wonderful to simplify. If that, and fixing up the house to sell in a couple of months were the only tasks, it would seem too easy. Unfortunately, ... (wow, 15 min goes fast)

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Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC

Natural Mystic

Syncopated on the 2 and 4, my song’s rhythm is my heartbeat, steady and sustaining. This pacemaker beat triggers the step of joyful dance. Equally, it encourages moving the next foot forward into the teeth of the storm. It pumps life energy to even the most numb nook and cranny.

The music that produces in me a reflex smile and autonomic hip sway is a direct reverb of the deepest earth pulse and tune. It’s a universal broadcast for any who are open to receive it.

original art by Quito Rymer

When the lyrics choose to augment the bass rhythm truth, they may remind you that you’re living now and that down payments on anything else are not evidence-based. They illuminate the magic in the present and cajole the victim to get up, stand up.

This music, of course is Reggae, of the roots variety. Bob Marley’s Natural Mystic was my theme song before my LADA diagnosis for all the attributes listed above. Its appropriateness now is amplified. Those of us who attempt to communicate a message on behalf of a misunderstood group can learn from Marley’s Rastafarian gospel. His positive vibration resonates even for millions without dreadlocks. Self-determination, sanctity of earth, body, and natural forces are all powerful components of Bob’s wildly successful message. And like I said, the lyric is just punctuation to the cell-level communication of the rhythm.

“There’s a natural mystic, flowing through the air;

if you listen carefully now you will hear.”

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Refusing The Needle: A Diabetic’s Natural Journey To Kick-Ass Health by Russell Stamets

ebook available for all devices at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145608

and for kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6L5C4

tags: type 1, type 2, autoimmune, diabetes, lada, natural, alternative, diet, supplements, acupuncture, meditation, lifestyle, HAWMC, bob marley, reggae, natural mystic