Dr. Giacalone & Protandim Video

Dr. Joe Giacalone, Doctor of podiatric medicine, spent 15 years as podiatric surgeon, specializing in microsurgery and serving over 9,000 diabetic patients at the largest diabetic clinic in the state of Utah. He also served on the the official physician team for the 2002 SLC Olympics. Due to some health issues, he was forced to retire as a surgeon and gravitated back to his love of research. He spent 2 years on research and development of Nrf2 agonists in conjunction with the University of Utah. In 2012 he was introduced to protandim, an all natural Nrf2 synergizer with no side effects, and he immediately saw the incredible product and business opportunity that Lifevantage had to offer. He has been passionately sharing this education with others since that time.

Through Nrf2 activation, protandim communicates with your cells, telling them to do what they are supposed to do naturally, but which they do less efficiently as you age. Nrf2 up-regulates "survival genes", which enable your cells to survive well in the face of stress from free radicals, aging, and other oxidants and down-regulates harmful genes that promote inflammation and fibrosis, thus helping your body to function at an optimal level as you age. This is why protandim is such an effective oxidative stress reliever, but because of the Nrf2 activation it is so much more.

Scientists understanding of Nrf2 has been around for about 15 years and is considered the "holy grail" of pharmaceutical research and development.  At one time, there were three Nrf2 products in development, but there were some deaths associated with one of the products that went to clinical trials so it was pulled from the market. One of the two products still in development stimulates Nrf2 by 600% and the other one by 200% . Protandim synergizes Nrf2 by 1800% and is an all natural product!!!

The "Agony of Defeat"

As I listen to the wind whip outside I can't help but parallel it's blowing to the winds that have been blowing in our lives over the past couple of weeks.

Last night was one of the most heart wrenching losses that I have had to experience with one of my children. Dallin took second place in state wrestling. Those who have experience with high school wrestling would look at this win as an unusual and an amazing accomplishment for a high school freshman, but when you understand that taking this title has been something that Dallin has dreamed about and been preparing mentally and physically for for several years you can see why this loss was so heartbreaking. He even spent his hard earned money from pipe moving on wrestling mats to put in our basement and practices on them almost daily with his brothers in addition to his wrestling practices at school. To see this dream ripped out from underneath him has been so hard because is all it took was 6 minutes of not being mentally prepared and making stupid mistakes on his part to have it all taken away. He was ranked #1 in the state and he had beat his final competitor the last 4 times they had wrestled. Dallin was by far the better wrestler. Dallin knew it and the kid that won knew it. That is what has made this such a devastating loss.

We understand that there is a much bigger picture to life and life is not just about high school sports, but it still doesn't take away the pain and growing experiences that we will go through as we experience this “agony of defeat”. This pain is unavoidable if you have put your heart and soul into something.

Last nights loss was just one more blow to the already stormy weather that has been blowing in our lives for the past couple of weeks. After all of our trials over the past couple of weeks, we were really hoping for them to end with a State Championship title for Dallin that he has worked so hard for.

The winds starting blowing on us about two weeks ago when our heater went out at the store, then the computer, then we had major electrical problems, and to end the week we were robbed at the store. The week after that started out with Spencer being admitted to Primary Children's hospital and being diagnosed with Type I diabetes, Tuesday Enoch was in a skiing accident and his still suffering from a concussion, Wednesday Ben came home sick with the flu, and Friday we got a phone call from one of our tenants because they had got a reduction in pay and could no longer afford to pay full rent, and then we ended Saturday with the State Wrestling Competition.

We have learned, and are still learning much through these experiences. Now that we have had a month from “hell” we are hoping that we can look forward to March proves to be a less stressful month.

Spencer's Diagnosis of Type I Diabetes

Monday, Spencer had his first ambulance ride. Poor Spencer has been suffering from "ketoacidosis" (a very serious condition in the body caused by untreated Type I diabetes) for about two months. Even though he had almost every symptom of this condition (increased thirst, increased hunger, increased urination, weight loss (he had lost 20+ lbs. in a very short amount of time) it took us a few months to wake up and realize the severity of the symptoms we were seeing. By the time he was seen by the clinic, his blood sugar was at 586 and he had the more advanced stages of "ketoacidosis"--weakness and fatigue, fast, deep breathing, and slow or confused thinking. After they received his test results back from the lab, we were immediately called back to the hospital where he was started on iv's to combat this condition and he was taken by ambulance to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City where we have been able to get his body back in balance and receive a completely overwhelming education about our new life. Even though this situation has added greatly to our already "full plate" I feel that we have much to be grateful for.

First of all, we were seen by an excellent nurse practioner at our local clinic who was very knowledgeable about this condition and very helpful in helping us deal with this situation. We also had the very unusual privilege and blessing of having Spencer transported in the ambulance for the 1 1/2 hr. ride by his aunt and uncle who are both emt's. This was a great comfort to us and Spencer at a very stressful time and we are very grateful to them for arranging their very hectic schedules to be there for us.

Secondly, I feel blessed that this is a treatable disease. As our family has experienced, nothing is more devastating than receiving a diagnosis of a disease that has no cure or treatment.

Third, I wouldn't pick any of our children to have this disease, but if I had to pick one that would handle it with flying colors it would be my Spencer. He is such a responsible and conscious boy. Infact, I am confident that he will be correcting me if we are not managing his diabetes exactly how we have been taught. Essentially his pancreas (an organ in the body that is responsible for producing the hormone insulin that allows glucose to move out of your bloodstream and into your body's cells) has shut down. We will be acting as an external pancreas to give his body what it needs to function correctly. As he is a very responsible and trustworthy 13 year old, he will be able to take a large responsibility for his care that this disease will require.

Fourth, with this type of diabetes being insulin dependent Spencer can eat almost anything he wants as long as it is managed. He will be testing his blood sugar levels 4+ times per day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime) so that he can adjust his dosages as needed. Before any meal or snack that has carbohydrates in it he has to count the number of carbohydrates he will be consuming and give his body the correct amount of insulin to process this food. It will take some time and experience to balance his blood sugars correctly and we will have to monitor and treat his low blood sugars as well as his high blood sugars. If we can prove that we can manage his condition over the next year we will be eligible for a pump which is a more convenient option for managing this disease.

Spencer is handling this diagnosis incredibly well and was such a trooper as he was turned into a "human pin cushion", especially the first night we were here and they checked his blood every hour on the hour. I really think that he is relieved to find out why his body has been struggling so much and that he finally has a way to take care of it. We all have some apologizing to do, however, as we have been teasing him about being lazy for the last little while. When he does get his body back to its optimal levels he is probably going to come back and kick all of our butts!