MEETING RECAP - 25 January 2021
Submitted by Will Arscott
Club AGM
Chiropractic Practices with Kurtis Gryba
Our meeting was a Zoom meeting presided over by President Paul Gauthier. The membership was likely pleased not to have to go out on one of the first really cold days of this winter. Our cashier for this week was Wayne Palmer. The meeting started with the membership standing and mostly listening to the
national anthem. An appropriate blessing was asked by Mark Cheriyan who reminded us there is beauty in a Saskatchewan winter and to be thankful for the opportunity to serve our community.
Visitors and Guests
There was one visitor, our guest speaker, Kurtis Gryba.
Health of the Club
This club function has been taken on by Gary Kerr. Thank you, Gary!
- Gary reported that Vic Dubois is still waiting for hip surgery.
- Will Arscott reported that Otto Ulrich had been hospitalized with dehydration, but he is on the mend and is either home or coming home shortly.
Announcements
- Grocery cards are available. We have cards for Sobeys/Safeway and for Co-op. Your cards from the holidays are likely used by now so it is a good time to stock up. In the financial report it was revealed that grocery card sales were a real bright spot in the last Rotary year and the extra revenue helped offset reduced income from our regular projects.
- Heather Clysdale is undertaking a project to update the record keeping for our club. At this point past records are being boxed and stored. She needs help and input deciding what records should be kept and in what format. If you can give her a hand, please contact Heather.
- The Badge Shield and Star Dinner is still tentatively booked for April. It seems very unlikely this will be able to go forward. Currently Prairieland can accommodate events with up to 30 guests all at separate table which does not create a very sociable occasion. The dinner may move to September and other possibilities are being discussed. There is a further note on BSS in the AGM report.
Happy and Sad
- 5S Gary Rusu (later joined by Wayne McGillivray and Graham Pearson) put in sad dollars recognizing the passing of John Cross. John had many connections with many members and was truly a Renaissance man. He was a one-time member of our club and mentored several current members. He will be missed.
- 10H Somebody or other paid ten happy dollars saying that he was proud of his son, our guest speaker. He is right to be proud.
- 50S Graham Pearson recognized John Cross whom he knew in a professional and personal capacity. He also recommended a film that has gone viral called the Messiah Complex. Your writer is not familiar with this film, but it features great pictures taken across Canada. Graham has promised to send a link for the members. Graham also expects an exciting Superbowl with an old quarterback versus a new up-comer.
- 5H(S) Wayne McGillivray also recognized John Cross and talked about how John mentored him when he first came into our club. Wayne also spoke about being responsible for the COVID-19 protocols at the ski hill and trying to set a good example. With the weather Wayne is happy to have a couple of days off. It is great to see you back at meeting Wayne!
- 20H Steve Wilson and his family have been hit with the COVID virus. Steve is in total lock-down. His wife and daughter have had the virus as well as several extended family members. All are doing well. Steve’s wife had a very mild case. Steve had a message: COVID IS REAL - TAKE IT SERIOUSLY! Steve, we are relieved that all of you are doing well.
AGM of the Saskatoon Rotary Club
Minutes of the meeting were taken by Heather Clysdale as club secretary. The writer will not attempt to re-produce them here. We had twenty-one members present so a quorum was achieved. Some highlights:
- As mentioned above, revenue from grocery cards was a real bright spot in a year when revenue from many of our other projects, particularly the Master’s Golf Pool were down or missing.
- Badge Shield and Star worked out well despite the fact the dinner was not held. The sponsors paid even though there was no dinner. Many tickets were donated back to the club. A speaker’s fee from several years ago was not taken and was returned to our ledger. Because of the BSS and other special donations our commitment to RAP has been able to continue to this time in the pandemic.
- The new club executive was elected. The past executive acted as nominating committee and a full slate was presented for the first time in a while. The new executive was elected by acclamation. It is great to see our three newest members take a place on the executive. The new members will be invited to meetings effective immediately.
- Our cash position is down but much of this relates to the cancellation of the Pavilion project and the resulting requirement to return funds to the other Rotary Clubs. In terms of actual money held that the club could use, our situation has not changed much over the past year. This must be considered a victory.
Guest Speaker - Kurtis Gryba presented on Chiropractic Practices
Kurtis was introduced by his proud father Mark. Kurtis is Mark’s third son. Kurtis has been around our club for years attending many family Christmas meetings. Club members have been able to follow his exploits for years as Mark has put in many happy dollars and told of Kurtis’s exploits. Kurtis attended BJM High School and qualified for national recognition in both football and basketball. He spent five years at the U of S playing football and following an academic progression from business to medical science to kinesiology. His later athletic career was marked by injury and recovery to the point where Kurtis was forced to give up competitive athletics. It was likely through this process that he found a true passion in rehabilitation and in chiropractic science. He studied chiropractic science in Portland completing the course without breaks in three years. During this time, he was a very dedicated student taking many extra weekend courses for practitioners so he could be fully prepared to enter practice. Kurtis graduated in 2020 and has returned to Saskatoon to begin his practice. Until his own space is ready, he is practicing below Freedom Fitness at 20th Street and Idylwyld.
Kurtis began his talk by saying that the COVID pandemic has created many surprising effects that might not be expected. One of the results has been an increase in the number of people experiencing lower back pain. This may be the result of people doing too much sitting particularly in situations where their back is slumped. There may be no problem at first but then some simple thing can set their back off and create unmanageable ongoing pain. The problem was created over time and has little relation to the event that finally causes the pain. As a chiropractor Kurtis brings a suite of assessment tools to a patient that reports lower back pain. It is important to note that where the pain appears is very often not where the problem is. The pain appears because of compensation and the problem is in a different place. As many as 80% of people will experience lower back pain at some time in their life.
There are four common causes of back pain: joint irritation, strains to muscles, damage to disks and lumber stenosis. Damage to disks or discogenic back pain is the most common. Our disks consist of a hard out shell surrounding a jelly- like interior that holds the nerves. Over time the jelly may be squeezed resulting in a hernia or even leakage out of the disk. This can go on for some time because a person can lose more than half of the jelly part before pain sets in. By the time pain is experienced the disk degeneration is quite severe. Discogenic back pain has several causes such as poor lifting mechanics, prolonged sitting particularly in a poor position and poor low back stability. In all cases changed pressure on the soft center of the disk creates an inflammatory response. Herniation can result in a protrusion. The good news is that in most cases the situation is treatable without surgical care. 97% of cases are solved with conservative care. Often in difficult cases there are other general medical factors such as smoking, diabetes or obesity. If you are experiencing lower back pain Kurtis would recommend you seek treatment from an E3 chiropractor. A course of treatment would first seek to reduce pain. This is often done using directional preference exercises. These exercises often involve flexing in a direction opposite to the direction that caused the injury. After this the treatment may seek to increase low back stability and hip mobility. Our hips are designed to have a large range of movement, if this is lost it puts additional stress on the lower back. The secret is that the hips should be mobile and the back stable (in this regard Kurtis does not recommend traditional sit-ups as an exercise for a host of reasons he did not have time to go into). The treatments will seek to increase strength and improve overall function. This may involve more exercises and beginning to lift heavy things. When may people think of Chiropractic care they immediately thing about spine adjustments. Kurtis finds this perception unfortunate as he does so many other things. Adjustments are a tool but certainly not the only tool. Adjustments are also not well understood. Kurtis pointed out that all of our bones are where they should be. Essentially adjustments involve finding joint dysfunction and working to restore proper movement. After his talk Kurtis took several questions from the club members:
- Gary Rusu asked more about sit-ups as an exercise and Kurtis said that they involved too much back flexion. He said that pressing the stomach out can actually do more in terms of strengthening the lower back muscles. These better exercises help create back stability.
- Mark Gryba asked about Kurtis’s use of the word functional. Kurtis said a functional movement is one you would use in the real world. For example, a good lifting mechanic is the front knee bend you would typically do to pick up a small child.
- Graham Pearson shared some of his experience with lower back pain that at one stage incapacitated him for three months. His situation was eventually solved with conservative methods though it was a long recovery. Kurtis pointed out that bed rest, though common in past treatments, is not always the best solution. Directional exercises often work better and faster.
Kurtis was thanked by President Paul and the regular donation will be made to Bethany Home in acknowledgment of Kurtis’s talk.
Next Meeting: Monday February 8. A presentation on Wills and the Power of Attorney will be presented by a lawyer, guest speaker, James Steele.
Adjournment
