It seems ironic, as someone scared of heights, that my favourite ride at the Disneyland and California Adventure Parks is the big "Incredicoaster" rollercoaster. My heights phobia is no secret.  My family knows it all too well as I warn them to stay away from ledges such as on the Chief near Squamish, BC. Even my colleagues at work have a little fun with it, playing up my fears on the occasional social media post!

So why no fear on the Incredicoaster? Well, maybe not 'no fear' as I was a little nervous as we snaked through the maze that is the cue for the ride. And then, as the roller coaster cars suddenly accelerate in under 5 seconds to about 90 km/hour for the first ascent, yes I'm tense. But as the ride peaks and rapidly descends over 100 feet (30 metres), twisting to the right, the g-forces tugging, it feels pretty good. No, it feels great!

So what gives? Fear of heights, yet the roller coaster thrills.  It comes down to trust. Trust in the engineers who designed the ride with deep canting to centre the g-forces. To the unseen well trained maintenance crews. And the operators who are mindful of guest safety.

Everyday, my life is made easier and safer by people I don't see. People who make things work, who build or maintain infrastructure including transportation, water and sewers, energy, and buildings.

There are a lot of those people involved in the making of a health supplement whether SierraSil® or other products. I'm thinking of the people and technology (engineers) who support quality control at the contract manufacturers that we work with and our own Quality Control team led by Caroline Eve. To all of them, I say thank you! I should add that there are also extensive written procedures, check lists, product testing and auditing that are part of the processes.

I reflected on this as I flew from Vancouver to Toronto, along with hundreds of other people on a crowded Boeing 777. It's amazing that so many things in our modern world go right, even if they are delayed as my flight was.

At SierraSil®, it's nice to know that our minerals make a difference for a lot of Trades people, helping them do their jobs, often in awkward spaces under counters or other obstacles.  SierraSil also makes a difference for flight crews, as a medical doctor for an airline told me, SierraSil gives pilots "happy knees."

So, with Labour Day not too far in the rearview mirror, I just want to say thank you to all those people, "seen" or "unseen," who make our modern way of life possible. And to all those who serve us, even at odd times of the day, with medical, emergency, and civilian services.

Thank you.

Michael

Have you had a canine pal that played a neat or important role in your life? Perhaps as a companion during a difficult time,  as a jogging buddy or maybe as a service dog providing critical help.

When I was in school, my family had German Shepherds - they were wonderful dogs for us. My favourite activity with Ingo, our dog during my early elementary school years, was playing street hockey. Ingo was tremendously quick in his reaction times, so trying to play 'hog the ball' while stick handling with Ingo really developed those skills. But I also remember the warm August day that Ingo died - perhaps my first exposure to grief, as Ingo was carried away unceremoniously by the people from the Pound. 

We had other wonderful shepherds, although on a couple of occasions of the breed's protective elements were displayed. Once my friend Rod was giving chase while playing touch football, Pax defied his name (Peace in Latin) and tried to change the game to tackle football. The other 'incident' involved Lesley (who became my wife). We were horsing around a pool and I was trying to show off by carrying her into the pool (it may have looked more like dumping). Finito, my parents Shepherd at the time, nipped at Lesley as we entered the pool. Lesley was fortunately not injured beyond a surface scratch.

Years later when Lesley and I had a growing brood (then 2 boys), Lesley and the boys determined our family should get a dog. I agreed to tag along on a trip to the SPCA 'just to look'. Well looking resulted in coming home with Jilly, who looked a little like a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Our next dog was a Bernese Mountain puppy, whom the boys named GI Jane in honour of her low puppy crawl. Jane was really lovely and lived to nearly 14, which is very old for a 'Berner'. 

Oscar is our current dog. He's a handsome tri-colour Springer Spaniel whom we got as sort of a rescue. He was going to be a breeding dog, but when he was just over a year old, the breeder felt Oscar was just too docile for the job. That was perfect for us though! By why a Springer? We decided that if we got another Berner, we really should get a larger car, so a smaller dog was easier, although one with similar colouring to Janey.  Oscar is now an old guy, hard of hearing and maybe of seeing, but still moves well, perhaps thanks to SierraSil®'s Leaps&Bounds™.

Pictured: Janey

As you might suppose, I like dogs. So I'm delighted that at SierraSil, our second generation of canine product (the first was too chalky to be tasty for dogs) has been a joy saver for hundreds of dogs.  A few amazing testimonials follow below and the CEO of a regulatory organization shared with me that the our Leaps&Bounds was, in his experience with rescue Akitas, definitively the most effective product for dogs with sore joints.

SierraSil is introducing a second Leaps&Bounds flavour for Canada and we will explore options for our American customers.  We do take pride in having quality natural ingredients, sourced primarily from the US and Canada, and produced here (including the packaging materials). We also take pride that our retail price is considerably more affordable than competing products and comes with a satisfaction guarantee.  I do hope that you will let us know how your canine pal has done with Leaps&Bounds.

Finally, I just want to share how sad I am for the communities that have been victimized by wildfire this summer.  We have so many friends and customers in some of these areas, particularly Kelowna, the extended Okanagan Valley and the Shuswap region. Our hearts with you and a special thanks to all the fire fighters.

Michael

A few Leaps & Bounds testimonials

• Alex in Yakima, WA: My experience is genuine. For years I have tried dozens of different joint products for my two dogs, from OTC to prescription, but your SierraSil® formula is the only one that we've seen meaningful results with. Very happy to hear that many others have shared my experience with Leaps and Bounds as well.  I believe you are building towards something special, a solution that can fundamentally shift the way pet parents and veterinarians discuss and manage joint health in dogs.

• Judy in Vancouver, BC: My 9 year old dog had arthritis, limping, obviously in pain, stopped wanting long walks, could no longer climb up her stairs to bed. After a month on Leaps and Bounds, her walking was improved, and she was clearly in less pain. After two months she was bounding around like a puppy and runs up her stairs to bed. I've discontinued the injections she was getting from the Vet. Leaps and Bounds has been far more effective.

• Lauren in Napa, CA:  I have told many people about it and the wonders the treats (Leaps&Bounds) have done for Molly.  She was unable to jump into the car anymore, so I started giving her the treats because, well, they’re treats and she loves them.  Within a few days, I noticed an improvement in her walking.  After about a week or so, she was able to jump into the car again.  The ONLY thing that I changed was that I started giving her the treats. It is very uncommon for a supplement to help so drastically, but there really is nothing else that can explain it and I am truly thankful.  I would like to know if they come in larger sizes because they don’t last too long for her as she is 60lbs.  I am giving her 6-7 treats a day.  

• Sloan in Kelowna, BC: I have a miracle to share! I decided to give Benny 4 Leaps & Bounds that night & when he woke up he wasn't walking on it yet but pressing lightly.....so I gave him another 4! By that afternoon he was running and still continues to run!! WOW!! I want to shout this product on the rooftops!

• Courtney in San Francisco, CA: I can’t tell you the difference it makes for Sawyer—he is a new dog!!!  At almost 12 he is back to running, jumping and just has more energy.  If you see an uptick in sales from the SF area, it’s because I tell everyone I know about it!!

Your body is amazing. Really it is - and so is mine and so many others.

This really hits home for me as four years ago, my wife Lesley shattered her tibial plateau while hiking near Palm Springs, California. Basically, the top of her tibia, the main bone that connects your feet to your knee, was completely destroyed. We didn't know it on the trail. All we knew, or at least all that I knew, was that Lesley passed out (from the pain), and her eyes rolled up in their sockets. I was scared.

(X-Ray of Lesley's tibia pins)

Last June 30th, we were out for an evening bike ride, when it was my turn. Descending down the hill from the University of BC to Spanish Banks,  paying more attention to the view of mountains and sea than the road, I hit a pot hole and went flying. We didn't know my injuries at the time, but later that night at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), I learnt that I cleanly broke three ribs, fractured four more and I perforated and collapsed a lung. Details in my July 2022 blog (link here).

What's amazing is our (you, me and others) ability to heal, albeit aided by top notch medical personnel. Lesley was told by the orthopaedic surgeon in California that her running days were over.  That it would be months before she could put weight on the injured leg, even with new titanium rods and pins to provide interim structure. She would need to re-learn how to walk.  

Lesley really worked hard on her recovery. Everyday, exercising and stretching. We got a stationary bike on the advice of physiotherapist Paolo Bordignon. Then nine months after the March 17 injury, just before Christmas, Lesley had her hardware removed. One of the retaining screws was irritating the surface just below her knee and the bone and tendons had recovered enough that removal was possible. The girl whose "running days were over" continued her daily training and within two years of the accident, ran about 50 km in the month of January 2021.  Yes, I'm really proud of her.

My punctured lung healed within a couple of days thanks to a chest tube thoracotomy to drain the displaced air. That's normal, but still I think, amazing. I was told my ribs would largely heal in 6 to 8 weeks but full recovery would take 3 months. In both our cases, we were told that the body knows its injured and would respond to 'fix' the injuries and then return to normal function. For Lesley, that her body would direct more bone building materials to her shattered tibia, and once healed, would return to normal care of her whole skeletal structure. The same was true for my ribs. I think that intelligence, if that's the right word, in the body, is amazing. 

But I also learnt the brain causes the body to compensate for the injured area, and doesn't relax that compensation quite so quickly, which can cause other stresses and hence add to the recovery time. In my case, while the ribs healed quickly, the tendons that protected the injured ribs stayed tight. Even today, there are certain movements that don't hurt, but alert me to a tightness around my back left ribs. For Lesley, her right hip stepped up to compensate for the injured left tibia and that is still a work in progress to address. For this un-programming, we need exercises that activate the compensating body parts, to effectively retrain them to relax a little.  For that, I'm grateful for access to great physiotherapists (at Salus Physio) and Jerome Betrand, a personal trainer who works with us together about once a week. 

This past Canada Day (and Independence Day) weekend, we celebrated the anniversary of my VGH hospital visit with a weekend in Tofino, BC, one of our "happy places". While the care I got at VGH was great, sharing an interior curtained space in a 5 bed room was not splendid, and it was no match for the views from our room at the Wickaninnish Inn. Yet I'm grateful for both. The good care that I received at VGH and the hospitality and scenery on the west coast of Vancouver Island. 

Yes, your body is amazing. You have probably heard many remarkable stories. I just read on the weekend about a Palestinian boy whose biking accident lead to a "internal decapitation" but has had a full recovery after his head was "reattached" to his neck at the Hadassah Medical Centre.  Captain Trevor Greene, the Canadian soldier who was ambushed in 2006 with an ax to his head while caring for Afghan people in the Kandahar Province, suffered a massive brain injury. Through perseverance and extreme hard work he had a substantial, albeit long, recovery that is heartbreaking and inspiring.  Or consider Silken Laumann, a famous Canadian rower who thought she may have lost her leg in an accident in May 1992.  Five operations later, she was training again and in ten weeks made "the greatest comeback in Canadian sports history" winning bronze at the Olympic Games.  Wow! 

If you are currently injured, know that recovery is possible. With the help of medical interventions, physiotherapy, physical training and a strong mind set, its remarkable what your body can achieve. Yes, your body is amazing. Be grateful and care for it.

But I also want to recognize that sadly, no matter how hard we try, the outcomes aren't what we strive for. This past Canada Day, a good friend of youngest  breathed his last as his body succumbed to a very rare form of cancer. He was a truly strong young man, and lots of friends joked they became really good at coming second to him in races. As he battled the cancer, he continued to look forward, even taking a first aid course last winter with the hopes of a career in emergency services and completing his driver's license test in May. His passing is heartbreaking but may he rest in peace, free of the pain he battled courageously these last three years.

Michael

PS We get many testimonials from people attributing accelerated healing to SierraSil. It's a joy to hear their stories. Just two weeks ago, I received these:

• My "rotator cuff pain had not reduced. But after a few days of Sierrasil, I feel it is about 90% back to normal"
• "My father in-law was told that he was going to need an operation on his knee and has been suffering just from walking around the house and after taking Sierrasil for only a week he is not wearing his knee brace and moving around better than he has in a while."

Please note that I can't and won't promise similar results, but if you use SierraSil for possible help in your recovery, I'd welcome hearing if you feel it made a difference (or not).