Blog – Tammy Gunn

Slip and Falls and Silver Linings

By tammyg | November 24, 2024 | Comments 0 Comment

I have found in my life that looking for the silver linings in any event no matter how terrible can bring about something good IF you are willing to look for it.

Admittedly, I am not a doctor, but I am fascinated by healthcare in all forms. While I lean towards more of a focus on what most call “alternative healthcare” I do take an interest in understanding it all. Read on to discover where it all began…

Once upon a time…okay never mind… I am not Cinderella but this story does have a happy ending…continue…

When I was 19 years old, I was waitressing in a very busy breakfast restaurant. At the height of a busy Sunday rush, I walked into the serving area not realizing the ceramic floor was wet. I slipped and came crashing down on my back with all the plates I was carrying shattering all over. I couldn’t get up right away. I couldn’t move. I felt paralyzed with pain. In that moment, my life and everything I thought I knew shifted.

I saw my medical Doctor the day after the fall and was given pain medication but no real plan on what to do. In the hours, days and weeks to come my condition grew worse. I couldn’t go back to work because the constant walking and then strain of lifting anything gave me horrendous back pain. All I would be given is something to take the edge off the intense stabbing discomfort radiating from my neck and spine.

I wouldn’t work for nearly a year. I literally couldn’t work. I was now dealing with how groggy and unclear the medication made my brain on top of the constant physical discomfort. My doctor told me that my injury to my back was bad enough that I would most likely struggle with back problems most of my life.

My mental health was deteriorating from this news and laying around all day in pain just made the bottomless pit of despair seem to be growing bigger and bigger by the day. I felt helpless.

Was this what the rest of my life now looked like?

After about 6 months of this constant pain, complaining and feeling like a victim of all my circumstances, I was sitting with my employer at the time voicing my upset and he turned to me and said,” you need to see my chiropractor.” He immediately got up from the table, went into his office and made me an appointment for the next day. He didn’t ask me if I wanted to. He just did it and honestly, I was desperate to feel better and couldn’t handle the thought of where my life was currently heading. Pain pills. Chronic discomfort. Constantly feeling unhappy. I knew I had to try something different…Anything!

The next day I was sitting in the chiropractic office that was a small room with a weird looking table in it. A nice (and I could tell right away POWERFUL) woman walked in. She asked me lots of questions. She listened intently to my answers. She took the time to educate me on what was happening with my body and what to expect out of this treatment. She was honest. This wasn’t going to be a one session, and all is well again. This was going to take time and if I did the treatments and the recommended exercise she gave me to do at home, I would get better.

And I did.

That Doctor was Dr. Christine Majeran, D.C.

As I was increasingly getting better, stronger, I still knew I didn’t have enough strength to go back to serving full time. I had to continue to build up strength to lift things. People don’t think about what it takes to be a server. You are on your feet all day and you’re carrying many heavy plates. It is exhausting and hard work to do. Tip your servers well! They deserve it! Trust me!

One day while at my treatment I was so happy to share that I was feeling so much better but still frustrated that I wasn’t strong enough to lift and get my job back. Dr. Majeran turned to me and said “I have an opening for a receptionist here at the office. You will need to meet my husband as well who is the other Chiropractor here but if all goes well in your interview, the job is yours.” I was gobsmacked! This was awesome! How did I just go from being a patient to a possible employee in this GLORIOUS place of wellness?!

This terrible situation I found myself in when I fell is now turning out to be the catalyst to a lifelong journey of learning and being within healthcare. I must admit, I have loved every minute of it!

Working with everyone at the First Chiropractic & Wellness Clinic in Moose Jaw those many years ago was incredible. I learned so much about chiropractic care and the nervous system. I learned that chiropractic is not just for pain but for overall health and wellness! I learned all the different techniques in chiropractic and even became a patient educator at one point. During this time at the office, they began to expand their practice and brought in a Naturopathic Doctor.

There was so much more to learn!

See, once I started to feel better in my body from the accident, I no longer needed the pain medication and I began to feel that I wanted to fuel my body with vitamins and supplements and take on other “alternative” treatments to see how much better I could feel.

This discovery of Chiropractic and Naturopathic medicine was all coming at a time where my marriage at 19 years old was falling apart. (That is a whole story for another blog post! Stay Tuned!) There was a ton of stress on my nervous system from the fall and from the ongoing stress of a failing marriage. The glue that held me together became chiropractic and naturopathic medicine. It fueled my soul. Gave me strength to keep moving forward. Gave me strength to move on.

It also gave me a much-needed paycheck! But that was just a bonus to all the other benefits I was receiving!

See, had I not fallen on that floor that day I am not sure what my life would look like today. Also, I love it when someone tells me that I can’t or won’t be able to do something. It pretty much fuels me to prove them wrong!

At 30 years old, I started teaching Zumba full time and for someone who had a back injury that technically “should be” living with chronic pain, I am pretty sure my medical Doctor at the time would be shocked to know I was shaking my hips all over the city! This was definitely not a career path I am sure they would foresee me doing for over a decade now!

I mean, come on! Tell me I can’t DO something!

I DARE YOU!

Like I said, I truly believe that silver linings in any situation DO exist. IF you are willing to look for them!

Looking for a recommendation for Chiropractic care in Moose Jaw or Toronto? (I know, that seems like very random places to to know about…but I do!)

Contact me and I am happy to provide you information.

Dancing Through Diagnosis Tammy Gunn Breast Cancer Survivor Memoir

Truth Bomb for Family & Friends

By tammyg | October 29, 2024 | Comments 0 Comment

People reach out to me often about either themselves with cancer or family members or friends. I appreciate your trust in me to speak from the heart on this subject.

I am reminded often that when one person is affected by this disease, a whole community is hit. Cancer is like a tornado that whips its way through a community causing destruction everywhere.
When it comes to an end of treatment either by the individual surviving and thriving or passing, there is a lot of debris and emotions that have happened and now the community is out there looking together to see what damage has been done and will either rise above it all or may feel deep pain. Either way are very normal reactions to this disease and its impact.

Why I wrote my book was in part because of this. The impact that I saw for myself and my family was huge. I know I have a great support system around me but I am sure there were times, not said directly to me, but I knew people were thinking it… Will she live?
Some families I have spoken to have started creating memory boxes of their loved one. I get it. You want to ensure that their memory lives on.

Please be mindful though that this can occur to the patient like you have given up. It is not supportive to have someone treating you like you are dying or nearly dead when you are still alive and fighting! It shouldn’t even have to be said but many don’t understand that unless they go through it themselves. Having cancer is not easy to go through and mindset and who you surround yourself with can be everything.

Think about it from the patient’s point of view

How would you like it if people started treating you like you will be dead tomorrow?

As the patient, you are already dealing with your mortality. You do not need others fears to fuel what you are going through and causing you to become more afraid. What you need is strength. Making what seems impossible now possible.

If you cannot be that for your family or friend who is going through it, you need to get your own support. Please do not put your fears and emotions on the patient. They need to stay positive and believe they can overcome. There is lots of support out there for everyone and talking it through with someone other than the patient can be very helpful. It is always a scary and an emotional time for everyone. What is needed is love, belief to overcome and compassion.
Please know that your reactions and actions can get on the patient. Be kind, loving & supportive.

Seek out the support you need as well. It is okay to not be okay and there are incredible resources out there to help you too!

If you are unsure where to look for these resources, please send me a message and I will be happy to support you to find them.

We are all in this together!

(Below photo taken during my chemotherapy treatment)

Do You Sleep Procrastinate? I Can’t Remember….

By tammyg | September 27, 2024 | Comments 0 Comment

My best ideas come in the middle of the night. A 3 AM wake up and my mind is full of great ideas that will solve world problems. Okay, maybe not those kinds of great ideas but things like how to market a book to the masses, what to write about that will have people laughing and support those dealing with so much. Then I think to myself during this 3 AM wakeup “I will remember all of this in the morning and go right to work!”

Only thing is once my eyes open, I have used the bathroom and come downstairs, I have completely forgotten what that magical thing was that I was going to write about and know that I should have gotten out of bed at 3 AM to write about it but that just seems absurd at the time. I always convince myself that I need more sleep and should go back to bed and deal with it later. Only thing is when later comes, I cannot remember what it was I was thinking about.

I have sleep procrastination. Is that a thing? I think it might be.

I refuse to get out of bed because that would be “crazy” to do at that hour but then I am totally lost and accomplish nothing the next day but sitting there trying to meditate and remember what it was that was going to have me get a Nobel prize for what I thought of in the middle of the night.

I think maybe I am related to the likings of Deepak Chopra or Ghandhi… Okay, maybe I am not related to those two…okay, maybe not “maybe”….I am not. By morning I am once again just a prairie girl living out her life under the big city lights of Toronto. But I really do think my amazing thoughts in the middle of the night could possibly solve world problems or at the very least, have you, the reader, smiling and laughing and ready to take on your day knowing that you are not alone.

Please tell me I am not alone in this?

On top of the sleep procrastination I have (that is my term now, no one steal it!), I have brain fog. Brain fog IS a REAL THING! It is caused, in my case, originally by chemotherapy and now by Tamoxifen. I share about this in the book, but I also feel the importance to share about it here. So I don’t forget!

Brain fog is not only caused by medications. As our hormones begin to change after forty (and in some cases before) brain fog can become more prevalent. The term ‘Brain Fog’ is characterized by a persons confusion, forgetfulness, and a lack of focus and mental clarity. When my brain fog is really bad somedays, I imagine there is a little dark rain cloud hovering over my head like you may have seen in cartoons where the character is really sad. Only my little cloud is blocking any genuine clear thought patterns.

I have found that physical activity helps move that little cloud! Exercising in some way, even for 30 minutes can make a world of difference. Maybe a 30 minute walk in nature or cranking the radio and dancing in your living room. Maybe hopping on a yoga mat and stretching out your body. Really anything to get yourself moving can also get that little rain cloud opening up so the sun can shine in! There are also vitamins you can take that possibly your body is lacking that is causing it. For that, I recommend you see a Naturopathic doctor and work with them to discover what is right for you!

If you experience brain fog, know that you are not alone. I completely understand and there is support out there for you. If you experience sleep procrastination, know that you and I are the most BRILLIANT people at 3 AM and it is just too much for the world to handle, so go back to sleep. We will be awesome just for being awesome and we will allow others to win the Nobel prizes.

Music Can Make Everything Better!

By tammyg | August 26, 2024 | Comments 0 Comment

Let’s start somewhere near the beginning…not the beginning of time. I wasn’t there for that. Were you? If you were, well you look pretty darn good for your age!

No, I am talking about the “youngster” years. I don’t remember much about them now except for things like my Fisher Price record player and my cabbage patch kids record. Or my Smurfs 8 track….or my La Bamba cassette tape that probably started my whole love of Latin music that I most definitely sang to but have no clue what I was singing!

Music has always played a crucial role in my life and can instantly teleport me back to a time and place of good, bad, funny and sad memories.

Does music do this for you too?

Like a specific song comes on in the grocery store and suddenly you are standing outside at a bonfire party and about to have your first real kiss! November Rain by Guns & Roses if you were wondering….I know you were! Wink Wink…

At a young age, maybe 4 or 5, my mom put me in dance classes at the Barb Hunt school of dance. I embraced learning new music and about all different styles of dance from around the world. Music and dance helped me to see a world beyond a classroom and books. Music is the lyrical version of an epic story played out and interpreted with movement.

I also grew up in a family that has always loved music and many different genres. I remember as a kid polka nights with my parents, brothers and grandparents. I believe it was a local radio station at the time that would play polka music on Friday nights, and we would all dance and in between songs the adults would play crib. It was awesome! I loved it! Okay, I don’t remember if my brothers actually danced to polka…I may be stretching the truth a little bit here.

As an adult now, if I hear polka music I am transported back to standing on my dad’s feet as he effortlessly twirled me around the dance floor (also know as the living room). I love this memory!

Another memory gets activated when I hear the song Here I Go Again by Whitesnake. I can’t help but think of the time I was in a Newfie bar in Brampton and jumped off a speaker playing my air guitar and singing at the top of my lungs and then the next days feeling like I broke my knees but it was all worth it in the moment….If you were in that bar all those many years ago and wondering whatever ever happened to “that girl”, well now you know…it was ME!

No autographs please! Well, if you pick up my book, I will sign it for you!

Okay, probably nobody remembers that but me….either way, that song brings on some fun memories with friends and I still want to sing it at the top of my lungs!

To this day, music has played a huge part in everything I do and how I be out here in the world. Music and movement supported me all the way through my breast cancer diagnosis.

When I was going through breast cancer, I had a “pick me up playlist” that would help clear my mind and get me smiling again almost instantly!

Here is the Top 20 to that list in no particular order:

Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves
Have a Little Faith by John Hyatt
Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland
Skinny Legs by Mark Lalama
La Bamba by Ritchie Valens
Wheat kings by The Tragically Hip
Farley by Adam Sandler
Valerie by Amy Whinehouse
Raise Your Glass by P!nk
Point of View by Julia D’Angelo
Call Me Al by Paul Simon
Something to Talk About by Bonnie Raitt
This is My Passion by Ehrling
Best Friend by Sofi Tukker, NERVO, The Knocks, ALISA UENO
Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker
Ai Se Eu Te Pego by Nooossaa!
I feel Good by Pitbull, Anthony Watts, DJ White Shadow
Broken & Beautiful by Kelly Clarkson
I Believe That We Will Win by Pitbull
Me Too by Meghan Trainor

I know! You are shocked that Here I Go Again didn’t make this playlist! I think it did but no point adding it here…you know already! Now when I hear any of these songs it reminds of all I had to go through and how I kept believing it would all work out.

Even before any illness I have always shared the value in music. Music helps to reduce anxiety, lower the pain in the body, improve sleep, mood, and memory clarity.

Whether it be popping on a favorite song for 5 minutes a day and getting up to move or working with music playing in the background which I can NEVER do or I won’t sit still and no work will get done… however you embrace music and lyrics in your life can be a very positive and soul nourishing experience!

Music can move us beyond the imaginary boundaries we put up around ourselves. It is the window into one’s soul. Okay, that got a little deep there…. But it is true! Music can make whatever it is we are dealing with seem easier to handle even if just for a moment and that to me, makes it all worth it!

What was a song from your childhood that the moment you hear it you are instantly back in that time? What is the memory associated with that song?

This is going to get juicy, I can feel it already! Come on! Share YOUR list!

TAG! YOU’RE IT!

Liked this post? Show some love and leave a comment (and/or YOUR playlist below)

Dancing Through Diagnosis: Navigating Breast Cancer, the good, bad, and surprisingly funny

By tammyg | July 26, 2024 | Comments 0 Comment

Well, here we are! About to embark on another journey together. I hope you have put your seatbelts on tight because this ride has lots of twists and turns and you don’t want to fall out of your seat!

Let’s start here…Let me ask you, do you keep a journal? Do you talk to yourself? I think I talk to myself a lot more than I talk to people. And it is not all good talk either. In fact, I am clear the biggest asshole in my life to me is me. Can you relate?

I mean seriously, think about it for a minute. Humans are one of the most interesting creatures on this planet. Most of us are programmed from early in life that anything upsetting or tragic is bad or wrong. Anything that brings us great joy in life must be good and right. So, when we disappoint ourselves in any way we call ourselves all sorts of names to ourselves. And not the good names like “You are amazing! You are badass!” Oh no, it sounds more like “You loser! What a doorknob you are!”

I have spent many years and many journals (if you want to call the pile of unorganized books that I write in journals) talking to and being nasty with myself, only to discover that all the nastiness I spilled across the page and in between my ears about me was and is inaccurate.

It took a cancer diagnosis to wake me up from the internal negative slumber I had been in. I had always heard, thoughts become things. Sure, but I was thinking more like if I said them out loud then we would have a problem. It didn’t occur to me that if I was constantly whispering them to myself that they would manifest into anything!

I think we as humans, are always our hardest critic. We judge ourselves or maybe you are the blamer type and judge others but not yourself. You blame everyone and everything in your life for how your life is turning out. Please don’t blame me (although I know you will) but I can tell you now that your life is yours and you get to say how it goes no matter what may present itself.

I knew when I was diagnosed with cancer that even though my asshole brain was trying to tell me that I messed up my life and now I was going to die as the ultimate punishment, I had a choice.

I began talking to myself out loud more than in between my ears. I began telling myself that I was bigger than the circumstances before me. I began to scream the “YOU ARE AMAZING!! YOU ARE BADASS!!” and began the work to silence any other comments that did not serve me.

The truth is, up to this cancer diagnosis, I have lived a full and awesome life. I am the one that caused it. I don’t settle for things. I go after them. I set my mind to something and watch out! I may be super disorganized most of the time but somehow, I can pull it all together and write a freaking book. I will take that as a win!

I knew if I was going to have to face a life altering diagnosis that I was going to have it make a difference for myself and for others. I knew that my life has always been meant to give back to others. Up until now, I just hadn’t seen the biggest picture of them all.

So, you lucky readers! I am going get really intimate with you and lay it all out on the table. Growing up, things I have done I am proud of, things I have done I am not so proud of but share what I learned from it.. The good, bad and surprisingly funny parts of this thing called life! See, I truly believe everything in life comes with a silver lining if you are willing to go on the quest to discover it.

Life, to me, isn’t about making sure everyone thinks you’re perfect. Life is about showing our imperfections and allowing others to see themselves inside of those imperfections. Let’s be real with one another. No judgement. Just a whole lot of truth or dare!

Are you ready? (as I bite my nails and get naked! Ooh lala!)

Let’s go!

Category: Blog