Welcome to the Healthy Veterans Project

"I Should Know About This."

Those words have echoed in my mind ever since.

Let me introduce myself: I am Dr. Kim Shunkwiler, a 100% disabled Vietnam Veteran who receives all of my medical care at the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Nearly three years ago, my health declined to the point where I had to retire from my chiropractic practice after 35 years of serving patients. Falling on my patients wasn’t an option!

In October 2023,, a friend introduced me to a company with very unique products. They hosted a golf outing at a course I often play, and I asked if I could join them. On the day of the event, I woke up with severe low back pain. By the time I got to the course, I could hardly move and assumed I’d be laid up for at least a week. I told the group I wouldn’t be able to play, but the gentleman next to me said, “I think you’re riding with me. Why don’t you just ride along with us?”

At the first hole, he asked me to lift my shirt and applied a gel to my back. He repeated this every hole for the next five holes. By the sixth hole, my back pain had improved by about 85%, and I was able to finish the round. I was more than impressed.

I continued using the product and soon found that my chronic shoulder pain—resulting from a torn labrum, torn subscapularis, and dislocated bicipital tendon—was also gone. I haven’t had a recurrence of my back pain in over a year.

I began applying the product to the soles of my feet and my umbilicus before bed. This improved my sleep and maintained my pain relief.

In December of 2023, my umbilical hernia, which I had always been able to manually reduce, became incarcerated and I was unable to reduce it. I messaged my VA primary care provider, who directed me to the emergency department immediately. At the VA Ann Arbor ED, the examining doctor told me I would likely need surgery, but two surgeons would try to reduce it manually first, warning that it would be very painful.

As the surgeons tried to push the hernia back, one of them said, “I’ve never seen anyone handle pain this well.” That’s when I realized: my nightly use of this product on my umbilicus must be why I was tolerating the pain so well. I explained to them that the product blocks the Alpha-7 subset of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. They looked at me, probably surprised that an old Vet could even say that!

Later, one of the surgeons who had seen me in the Emergency Department, came to my room to ask about the product. After I explained it, she said, 

“I should know about this.”

Her words have stayed with me. She should know about this—as should every healthcare professional.

The surgery went well, and when I was being discharged, the nurse informed me that a prescription for OxyContin and Narcan was waiting for me at the pharmacy. I told her I didn’t need it, as my pain was minimal. The next day, I received an overnight package from the VA with OxyContin and Narcan inside. That package remains unopened in my closet.

That experience confirmed to me how powerful this product is, which is why I founded Healthy Veterans Project, LLC, to bring this product to my fellow Veterans and Providers.