A friend of mine alerted me to the airing of an interview about The Dream Tour that I did a few days ago for KUER FM90, one of Salt Lake City’s National Public Radio affiliates.
Here’s a link to the page describing the story:
On the page, there’s a link to an MP3audio file. If you have an MP3 audio player, you can listen to the interview.
Even with the injuries from my bicycle mishap back on October 28, I’ve been trying to stay active. For a couple weeks, it was enough exercise just trying to get out of bed in the morning, but now I’m past that and ready for more exercise than just walking around the neighborhood.
But, I’m not quite ready to face another encounter with a manhole cover, so for the next couple weeks at least, I’m exercising where it’s safe — my basement. I dug out the indoor trainer, hooked up the bike, inflated the tires, and hopped on. Then I discovered that the splint on my left arm prevented me from reaching the handlebars. I’m nothing if not stubborn when it comes to exercise, so I gave it some thought and decided that what I needed was a couple ski poles for balance. Below are a couple photos of me getting set up for an exercise session over the weekend. As you can see from the photos, I’m not totally comfortable on the bike yet, and my first session on the trainer (when these photos were taken) wasn’t even long enough to justify changing out of my jeans into a pair of cycling shorts.
I know it looks a bit funny, but I had to do something because this lack of aerobic exercise since my crash on October 28 is really getting to me. My insulin pump basal rates are up about 25%, my blood pressures are up, my HbA1c rose from 5.6% (on October 11) to 5.9% (on November 14). Everything is still within acceptable ranges, but the direction of the current trend is disturbing. Is this inactive recovery period a glimpse of what my life with diabetes might be like without exercise? If so, I do NOT like what I see. Somebody hand me my running shoes!
Since returning to Salt Lake City after seven months bicycling around the country, Pat and I are adjusting to a more stationary life. Some of that transition has been good, some bad. Some parts have been smooth and other parts not so smooth.
Since my collision with irony and a manhole cover on October 28, I’ve been trying to heal. The road rash is nearly gone. The broken finger (ring finger on my left hand) is splinted and doesn’t bother me much. The broken rib on my right side was extremely painful for a couple weeks, but is now much better. All the things that would bring me to my knees in pain before — laughing, coughing, sneezing — are now possible with only a small grimace. I can even manage to carry things in my right hand without too much pain.
My left forearm continues to be quite painful though. It seemed too painful for a simple bruise, so I had another set of x-rays done early last week. Sure enough, the radiologist spotted a hairline fracture just below the elbow. So, now I’m trying to cope with a marginally useful right arm and left arm with a splint running from my wrist to my shoulder. I hope the weather stays nice because I can’t even begin to get a warm jacket on!
Last Wednesday (11/15) was my first day back at work. I’m only working half days, but I am back at work. What’s it like going back to work for the first time since January? It’s like being a new employee without having to learn everybody’s name. Even the simplest things — like logging on successfully, retrieving voicemail or filling out a timecard — are a challenge. I knew how to do these things before so it should come back to me quickly.
The last bit of news from me is about a new addition to our family.
Yep, we’ve become a two-dog home again. We’re long-time members of Intermountain Therapy Animals and the staff there occasionally sends out notices about dogs in need of new homes. We saw a notice about Pearl in mid-October — just before we arrived home. We didn’t think much about it because we were still on the road and we thought a dog like Pearl would find a new home for sure.
Well, the subject of Pearl came up in an ITA meeting I was at a couple weeks ago. She sounded like a very sweet dog with lots of therapy dog potential. Pat and I talked about it and we decided to go take a look and introduce Truman to Pearl. Well, we all hit it off so well with Pearl that we couldn’t resist. That was about a week and a half ago.
Here’s a video clip I put together of our two dogs, Pearl and Truman, playing in the back yard:
Welcome to my new web site, Living Well With Diabetes, where I will write about my personal journey with diabetes.
Though, I have to admit, as I was working on this new web site, I kept wondering “Does the world really need another diabetes blog? Do I really have anything new to add?” To be perfectly honest, I don’t know. I mean, look at this list of diabetes blogs that I found:
That’s 135 diabetes blogs that I found in about two hours of searching! I’m sure I could find another 135 if I kept looking.
I finally decided to proceed with my own personal version of a diabetes blog for exactly that reason — it’s my own personal version. Each of authors of those other 135 blogs has their own unique and personal experience to share and I’ll share my own unique and personal experience here.
Enjoy!
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