Category Archives: Additional Inspiration

The ride– final thoughts.

June 15, 2012 – 10:46 pm

I’ve already talked too much about last Saturday’s ride. So, sorry in advance for this long post. Sometimes you just have to get things off your chest before you can move on, you know? So here are some final thoughts on the 100 mile ride.

I can’t tell you how much fear I was feeling at the start. It was a combination of too little sleep and unfamiliar surroundings.

And this: Last year, while I was training for a triathlon, I had a bad fall off of my bike. No broken bones, but a concussion that put me out of work for a week. Honestly, I don’t know how football players do it. My head didn’t stop hurting for six days. I couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t focus. As you can imagine, it scared me. Before the crash, I rode without a care. I wanted to go fast, turn hard, push my limits. After the crash, I was afraid of every downhill, every little bump in the road. Always on the brakes.

I related this fear to my nephew while he was tuning up my bike a few days ahead of the ride. He paused for a moment, then said “A hundred miles oughta take care of that”. He was right.

The longer I rode, the better, the stronger, the more in control I felt. I probably went fastest when I was on my own on the course. I learned a long time ago that the only way for me to overcome my fear was to confront it. Either it would best me or I would best it. And I usually emerged victorious. That’s exactly what this ride did for me. No more worries. I’m ready to train hard again.

By the way, it’s ridiculous how many new elements there were to this ride for me. A new seat (a little wider, a little softer, very comfy too). An extra water bottle. Carrying extra carbs with me. It must have been comical watching Maureen stuff granola bars into the pockets of my jersey, and then watching me take them out. This must happen for parents of CWD all the time.

“Here, take these with you”.

“Honey, the rest stops are close together and I’m already carrying all this other stuff”.

“I just want you to be safe”.

This was the first event with my feet clipped in, instead of going with running shoes and toe cages on my pedals. And let’s not forget that this was the 1st event ever where I wore my pump instead of disconnecting.

All of that is a lot to process. So I didn’t. I just had to trust that everything would work as designed. And it did, until I fell apart after the finish.

And the thing is: I really felt pretty good up to that point. Tired, yes. I felt like I had ridden 100 miles, but as I crossed the finish line, I remember thinking I could probably just ride my bike up to where I was staying, about 1/2 mile away.

I like to think I’m a spiritual man, but not religious. The Holy Trinity and I don’t stand on ceremony. I want to have a relationship with my God and Savior, but doctrine and dogma aren’t my thing. Just before the start of the ride, I said the same prayer I always say, asking Him to keep us all safe from incident and injury as long as we ride. And He did. Of course, once I finished the ride, I collapsed. Lord, why do you interpret things so literally sometimes? Of course, He delivered me into the hands of capable people who were able to help me when I needed them. So there is that.

In the end, after worrying the most about how to manage my diabetes during this event, my diabetes was really a non-issue. Great BGs all day. So while I have some work to do to keep from suffering the dehydration I suffered, I guess there’s a message there that I did accomplish something big for me, and I did it in spite of my diabetes. And my fear. Excuse me, but I really get a charge out of something like that.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Also posted in Exercise | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Beautiful Weekend.

June 4, 2012 – 7:43 am

After a lot of rain Friday night, the weekend turned out to be fantastic weather-wise. All of us in the household (three of us) were very busy this weekend. Lots to do. The Great Spousal Unit had a few dog walks this weekend (that’s what she does at this point in her career), and The Live-In Niece was busy doing what 26-year olds do these days. I just know that I didn’t see her a lot until her and her boyfriend cooked for us on Sunday night (great, by the way).

For me, it was getting my pond in the back yard cleaned up again, which took a lot of time on Saturday afternoon. And preparing for the ride next weekend, including a last-minute replacement of my seat collar– the clamp that holds my seat stem in place. I was replacing the seat Saturday night, and I overtightened the clamp to the point that I broke the bolt. So I had to find a new one (that was actually the same size), and get it on and test it out on a ride. Which was way shorter than I wanted. But at this point, either I’m ready for the ride or I’m not. More on that later in the week.

Despite all of the madness, Maureen and I found a couple of hours on Sunday morning to go out to Fort McHenry for a breakfast picnic. Fort McHenry has to be one of the best picnic places on the east coast. It’s at least one of the best urban picnic spots on the east coast. Basically, if you want to visit the fort itself, you have to pay an entrance fee. But if you want to hang out anywhere on the property outside of the fort, it’s free of charge, every day. Lots of green space, right on the harbor as it opens up to the bigger part of the Chesapeake Bay. Anyway, it was a lovely time, with coffee, delicious fruit salad, and a small amount of yummy pastry. Best of all, my BGs stayed in line all day.

And we got to bring the dog along too! Like any dog, he loves going anywhere with new sights, smells, and dogs. Don’t believe me? Take a look:

All in all, a great way to recharge for the week ahead. Oh, and by the way, I did get a new seat collar, and it works fine holding my seat stem in place. I hope your weekend was great! Best of luck to you on the week ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Disclaimer
I have no medical training. If you consider anything written here as medical, legal, financial, or any other kind of advice, you’re out of your mind. Please speak to a learned professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Any of the original content found on this site is my property and should not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without the author’s expressed written consent.

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Family visits. But no drama.

May 29, 2012 – 6:26 am

I haven’t posted for a few days… I’ve been preoccupied.

Family came to visit this weekend. A lot of family. From Maureen’s side. But still, a lot more than we are used to. And since they were all from out of town, it meant a lot of going to places and eating at crazy times, and eating a lot of junk.

Luckily, I was able to keep the BGs in check this weekend. All at 130 or lower. All weekend. Don’t know how I did it; maybe it was a lot of dumb luck. But I did have a lot of vigilance. I tested whenever I could. Even though I had some junk (polish sausage at the Orioles game), I didn’t overdo it.

I guess it comes down to moderation. Just gotta keep from too much or too little of anything. Finding the Happy Medium.

I hope your weekend was great! I always enjoy seeing family. We don’t get visitors too often. But I’m glad it’s over. Family in moderation is okay too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Disclaimer
I have no medical training. If you consider anything written here as medical, legal, financial, or any other kind of advice, you’re out of your mind. Please speak to a learned professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Any of the original content found on this site is my property and should not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without the author’s expressed written consent.

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Hangers-On.

May 22, 2012 – 6:33 am

So… just how long do you hang onto your supplies? You didn’t think that I actually had an entourage or anything, did you? No, really… Do you have outdated supplies? Old, old stuff? I’m talking about anything related to your D-care: Insulin, syringes, infusion sets, reservoirs, alcohol swabs (if you use them); and glucose meters, lancets, or test strips. Okay, almost no one ever has extra test strips, so maybe you can cross that one off of the list.

But chances are, if you have any kind of chronic illness, and you have access to drugs or paraphernalia that helps you manage your condition (read: helps you live your life), you’ve probably got a stash of something that you just can’t part with. Until you realize you’ve had that extra pill, or extra pill box, or something else, for a looooong time. An outdated glucose monitor that you just can’t trash (or the test strips that went with the one you did trash). Syringes from 12 years ago. A special case that you carry all of your must-have supplies in. I’m looking at you, Mr. and Ms. Glucose Tabs.

I’m guilty of hanging onto two things over the years.

One is outdated insulin. I’ve been a pumper for two years now, and I’ve only needed injections twice in that time. Both were needed as a result of bent cannulas. But I was cleaning out the fridge over the weekend and I found a six year old bottle of Lantus in there. That was my backup when I did the injection thing. I had a small incident a few years back (actually, eight years now that I think of it) when the mail order pharmacy held back my insulin delivery for some long-forgotten reason, and I just got it resolved the day before leaving for Ireland on vacation. After that, I developed a habit of ordering refills early from the pharmacy and saving one extra vial, just in case. But I never rotated my stock, so to speak. I just saved that one vial, the same vial, all those years. Looking back, it’s easy to see that it wasn’t a backup as much as it was an emotional crutch.

Also, I have this funny but amazing thing that I carry my insulin in when I travel:

I’ve had this for all of the 21 years that I’ve had this disease. My grandmother found it in a drugstore shortly after my diagnosis and bought it for me. The plastic thing goes into the freezer until I need it. Then I microwave it for a minute or so. Then the insulin goes in and it gets slipped inside of the other blue thing with the foam padding (these are technical terms here). Keeps it cold for a long, long time. It’s been with me on trips to the ocean, to the mountains, Ireland, California, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Florida, everywhere. And you know what? I ain’t giving this one up either. It’s indestructible.

Now, I have a point. Do you have anything that’s extra, but not outdated? Maybe you’d like to share with those less fortunate? Here are a couple of websites where you can get information on donating extra D-related supplies:

http://www.act1diabetes.org/campaigns/supply-exchange-program/

http://www.learningdiabetes.com/donate-supplies.html

I’m due for a new glucose meter… maybe I’ll see if I can get that before I use up all of my strips…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Disclaimer
I have no medical training. If you consider anything written here as medical, legal, financial, or any other kind of advice, you’re out of your mind. Please speak to a learned professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Any of the original content found on this site is my property and should not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without the author’s expressed written consent.

By StephenS | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Fridays.

April 27, 2012 – 11:12 am

WARNING. This post has nearly nothing to do with diabetes. We all need a break sometimes.

Never get tired of Fridays. Even if there’s nothing to look forward to. Fortunately, this weekend, there’s a lot… if the weather holds.

Saturday or Sunday, I should finally get my vegetable garden planted. Can’t wait for the fresh lettuce in about 7 or 8 weeks! Then green beans, then peppers, then tomatoes, then potatoes (yes, that’s the correct spelling… I’m not Dan Quayle). If I’m lucky, I’ll get a few strawberries and blackberries before the birds get them. This will be the 15th summer that we’ve been at this house, and I never get tired of planting, tending, and harvesting a garden. And this will be the 10th year for the pond on the other side of the yard (did I mention that we have a really small yard?). Every spring I have to drain it, clean it, and fill it up again. I’m hoping to get that in this weekend too. It’s very fun to enjoy a Sunday afternoon by the pond with a cold malt beverage and some jazz or a ballgame on the radio. Simple pleasures.

On Saturday we’re looking forward to seeing our friend Christine in her first appearance singing with her new band. We haven’t been out for a while. We need to shake off the winter rust. This should do the trick.

Wherever you are, I hope your weekends are fun… and I hope you have someone fun to spend it with. And stay safe, and keep those BGs in line you knuckleheads!

Happy Friday

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