Christmas 2008

Here's the evidence:

For a diabetic I sure did get a lot of sweets! :)


Molly looking beautiful in front of her Christmas tree!


Dad, me and brother modeling our new North Face gear


Pretty much how mu brothers holiday went!


Oh yeah, plus a laptop!


Pops and I


Molly and I at Christmas Eve dinner


Brother and I at Christmas Eve dinner


Santa left the diabetic glucose tablets in his stocking, ROCK ON SANTA!!!


Molly and I wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Photo Shoot

So, I was at a photo shoot all day yesterday only I wasn't the star. My car was! Here are some photos of my car as it stood yesterday. I can't tell you what product it was for because that product won't be available until June. If you know who I work with you can probably guess though. ;) It was a long day but very interesting.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!!!

Thoughts For The Holiday

As I browsed CNN.com I ran across an interactive slide show, showing all of the famous people that passed in 2008. It was amazing to me to see how many people passed due to some sort of cancer. Maybe I'm just hyper-vigilant having a brother currently battling cancer but it made me think, as usual!

I'm thankful for my brother's will. His will to not let cancer get in his way, his will to stand up and take the hit of chemo every two weeks, his will to continue. I think there was a reason that my brother has been given this burden. Possibly to show us what the human spirit is capable of. Maybe to show us that we are a stronger family than we think. Maybe to show cancer that it doesn't always get to destroy peoples' lives. There's only one person that knows the reason for sure, the rest of us can spend our life guessing. Either way, I said it before and I'll say it again, Kevin in my hero.

Happy Holidays everyone, make sure you go the extra mile this season to tell everyone how much they mean to you!!! :)

P.S. Happy Eating as well! ;)

I thought About It At Least

What's that you ask???? Cycling. With all the craziness in my life between work and family, there are two things that help me relax: 1. Molly and 2. Cycling. However, my bicycle has gotten lost between 50+ hour work weeks, brother's chemo treatments, Christmas shopping, etc. I'm pumped for the holidays and new year!!! I think I will be turning over a new leaf, I'm not sure what exactly that is but I feel happy and excited. Now all I need to do is finish my video and photo shoot by Jan. 7 and I can take a deep breath and relax. No, it's not that glamorous, we are shooting new tires for a large tire corporation located in Akron, OH.

On a health note outside of being expensive the insulin pump has been amazing! It's made winter and the holidays so much easier to manage my diabetes! No more digging through layers of clothes to find ripe flesh for injections. My blood sugar numbers have been a little crazier lately but that's what happens on a 14 hour work day. Throw in vendors sending me way more cookies, chocolate and sweets than any person should eat. Let alone a diabetic! After the holidays everything will settle back down and I can get back into a better groove. I would say my average right now is probably around 160, up from 130 a few months ago. My goal is to bring that back down by 2/1/09.

I will keep everyone posted on my blood sugars and cycling/fitness progress as we head into 2009. Happy Holidays everyone!!!

I Love Christmas!

With the exception of working my third 55+ hour week in a row the holiday shave been amazing. Yes, I said amazing! It's been great putting up the tree with Molly and all of her incredible ornaments, baking cookies with my Dad, brother and Molly and buying everyone gifts! I love buying gifts, make me happy!!! Sooooo, come noon on the 24th I'm bustin out of work and heading home for the holiday!

Santa has a few more gifts to get for some people, however, there is plenty of time for that! For now it's brand planning, video shoot planing and photo shoot planning! Yeah! Awesome times!!!

Don't you hate....

the end of the year? It's not enough that there are holidays that require a high level of involvement. I'm ok with that because I love spending family and friends! :)

Is anyone familiar with the term SOX or Sarbanes-Oxley? It is a United States federal law enacted on July 30, 2002 in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals including those affecting Enron, Tyco International, Adelphia, Peregrine Systems and WorldCom. These scandals, which cost investors billions of dollars when the share prices of the affected companies collapsed, shook public confidence in the nation's securities markets. This only affects public companies like the one I work with not any privately owned companies.

Basically it states that in order for something to be billed in against a specific calendar year, the work must have happened or at least started in that calendar year. Sooooo, if your company has a surplus of money at the end of the year and doesn't need office chairs or copy machines that you must use it on projects that year otherwise you lose it and it disappears into a black hole called the bottom line for that corporation. Hence why I've worked 3 twelve hour days in a row getting projects started and moving so we can bill against the 2008 budget instead of the itsy bitsy 2009 budget.

However, being gainfully employed at an economic time such as now is a good thing so I just shut my mouth and plug along. Is anyone else out there dealing with the same craziness or is this all some big joke being played on me?

Tour de Cure 2009!!!

Yes, I know it's early!!! But I was excited to finally update my page. My brother inspired me to sign up at the last minute for this ride after his cancer diagnosis. My mind has been on this long journey since then about what truly matters. I've found many things that truly matter to me and one of those things is making a difference. If I can make a difference in the lives of others than I'll give it my best. I've set a high goal this year for the Tour de Cure, however, far from unattainable. Check out my page and if you feel like it or made too much money this and don't know what to do with it (riiiiight) feel free to make a donation. Well wishes and kind thoughts are also very appreciated! :)

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=5598&px=4222221

Tour de Cure 2008

CAVS Game with My Brother

My sister and I decided since she was coming into town on 11/26 that it would be nice to do something with my brother. He had mentioned that he would like to go to a CAVS game. So I was able to get tickets for the four of us to watch the CAVS beat down Oklahoma City! Who knew they even had a team!!! lol I left work at noon packed up and headed home to pick everyone up for the game. My brother, sister and her fiance for the game. We went to Tower City and ate dinner at the Hard Rock! Then headed over for the game, luckily we were able to get the handicap platform just above where are seats actually were so the 4 of us went and enjoyed! Here are a few picks from the game:

The three of us at when we got to the Q

Opening ceremonies!:

Me harassing my brother about something:



Kim and Rhett

LBJ

As for the rest of Thanksgiving, what can I say. Incredible, it's been nothing short of a dream spending time with Molly! She is also the best for taking care of me yesterday and this morning while I was busy being sick with something. Now, back to work! Hark, is that a whip cracking in the background?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Peace, love and turkey for everyone!!! :)

I Love Turkey!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!!! A holiday based around food and giving thanks to what you have. What could be better??? I know, I will hear no less than 5 times around the holiday should you be eating that or can you eat that? My question back is should you? If it's that questionable then why the hell are you putting it in your mouth as well??? YES, I can eat that and you know what I'm probably 10 times as aware of what I eat then a person without diabetes. So, don't ask! lol I don't let it get to me though, I've made it 15 years without complications, I'll make it 60 more!!! And I feel damn good!

Wow, I didn't mean to rant. Yikes, I'm turning into Debbie downer! Sorry work is CRAZY and it gets to me sometimes. However, I do have my little oasis away from the everyday grind that makes me incredibly happy and relaxed. Thanks for putting up with my craziness Molly!!! :)

On the workout front...(cricket, cricket)...yeah, I need to get on that! I feel lazy but don't have much energy after a long day of work to kick my own ass after everyone else has kicked it all day! lol

Tomorrow I'll be taking my brother to an Indians game. A happy departure I'm sure from hanging with Mom and Dad and spending last week in the hospital for chemo and being sick. Our sister and her fiance will be joining us as well so it should be a good time! :)

Like I said in the beginning, totally looking forward to Thanksgiving and spending it with Molly and family!!! :)

Best Birthday Ever!

This past Saturday was my birthday and I tried my best to take time out of my crazy schedule to enjoy it. Molly helped to make this the best birthday ever! It started Thursday with a surprise from Molly, she got us tickets to the Carlos Mencia show at the Playhouse in Cleveland. We were both crazy on Thursday but managed to get up there have a nice quiet dinner at Bricco and still make it to the show with plenty of time to spare. The show was GREAT and incredibly funny! Thanks Molly, you're the best!!!

Friday came around and I couldn't decide what to do. Either stay in for a nice quiet dinner with Molly or we were going to go out somewhere for dinner. Since it took me so long to decide it was now 7pm so we decided to go out so we would get our food quicker. We went to the Wing Warehouse in Cuyahoga Falls that also is the home of the $4 fishbowl of Long Island Ice Tea. Molly agreed to be my DD as my friends and coworkers started to show up. Here's a timeline of the evening: Fishbowl 1, eat, fishbowl 2, fishbowl 3, karaoke 1, fishbowl 4, karaoke 2, fishbowl 5, help everyone else karaoke, fishbowl 6, get sick all over bathroom, Molly closes tab, leave, pass out on bed. Everything after fishbowl 4 is a little fuzzy, I gathered the rest from conversations the next day! :)

Saturday I was heading home to see the family, I didn't leave my place until 10:30am. I was way too drunk to drive before that to drive home. So needless to say I was feeling like shit all day long. Happy Birthday to me. lol My own fault, no more drinking like I was in college again. Had a great bday with the family, however, seeing the 6er of Christmas Ale they got me did make my stomach churn a bit. We went to Quaker Steak for dinner, my brothers favorite place! I was indifferent about where we ate so he got to choose. Then my parents had cake and ice cream after that. I was stuffed!

That evening and Sunday were spent relaxing with Molly and just laying low. Molly is incredible and I have to throw out a big thank you to her for helping to make my birthday freakin awesome!!!

In other news:
Insulin Pump: doing pretty good, still trying to dial it all in now that I'm not working out as much. Carb counting still remains challenging as usual, test, test, test is my motto recently.

Brother: Doing good, went in for another round of chemo yesterday along with various tests. He should be out of the hospital late tomorrow.

Parents: Happy 30th Anniversary today!!!!

Sister: Doing fine after being hit by a car as she was crossing the street. I think her ego may have a pretty serious bruise on it.

Work: BUSY! Launching a new brand, three new products, new website, two trade show booths, prepping POS for 2009 credit program and planning two brand marketing strategies for 2009 I ask, when is my next vacation!!!

Bike: Below $1500 left to pay!!! I'm excited already.

All is well, still wish I could do more riding.

Holiday Today???

YES!!! It's World Diabetes Day today!!!!

World Diabetes Day (WDD) is the primary global awareness campaign of the diabetes world. It was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the alarming rise in diabetes around the world. In 2007, the United Nations marked the Day for the first time with the passage of the United Nations World Diabetes Day Resolution in December 2006, which made the existing World Diabetes Day an official United Nations World Health Day.

Here is a link to find out more about WDD:

http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/the-campaign/about-0

Here is a picture of Molly and I supporting the cause and wearing Blue today!!!

I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up!!!

Ok, I feel it. That pressure and anger when all you want to do is ride or run or workout but can't. I think I have a bad case of the daylight savings blues. I want to ride but can't find the motivation. I would be happy just working out in some sort of way. Maybe I feel angry that I had a 12 hour day at work. Not just any 12 hour day but a 12 hour day where you bust your ass only to create more work. :(

I want to ride my bike, I want to get the hell out and do some riding. The kind that makes your legs feel like jello!

In other news I signed up for the Tour de Cure. My goal is to raise at least $1,000 to help find a cure for diabetes. I raised $850 in 6 days last year so this shouldn't be a problem but ya never know. I signed up for the 62 miler on June 14th. No wussing out next year and taking the shorter route because it's too hot, too cold, too rainy, too windy, etc. Put up or shut up. That's my motto in 2009! Well enough ranting for the evening time to get some rest, I have been home for a solid 2 hours now! WOW!

Any words of wisdom to get out of this rut would be greatly appreciated!!!

It's been a little while....

Since I've posted a picture of my brother. I like how he reminds to do a lot of things in life. Not give up, stay strong, enjoy myself, don't wait until tomorrow, enjoy the little things and in the great words of one of my favorite bands Don't Stop Believing.

He's the coolest guy you could meet, the pics are of us at the Air Show and the other is us probably causing some sort of trouble at home!!! Or maybe him showing how much taller than me he is...with his shoes off!!!

One more bit of good news...

I went to visit my bike that I'm working on paying off at Eddy's, well, I was actually making a payment but I still talked to it! :) I noticed the identical bike in a size large was on sale $200 cheaper. So I asked if they would be willing to reduce the price of mine and sho-nuff they DID!!! Yessss! I get my bike $200 sooner!!!!!! :)

A Little Ray of Sunshine Already!

After getting such terrible news about Kevin's condition Monday, I got a call on Tuesday from my brother and he sounded quite happy! Apparently the follow up scans they did Monday to verify the spreading results showed NOTHING!! They showed an all clear! Long story short, the doctors are very confused. But, at least now we there is a 50/50 chance of good news again! So, in the mean time Kev's going to continue on the chemo regimen he was on prior to surgery while they do more scans over the next few weeks to try and decide what's going on. I'm going to choose to believe the scan that showed 'spreading' was just a mistake until they find another scan that confirms the spreading! Hopefully it was all just a big error! Woohoo!

P.S. Sorry for stealing your some of your blog entry Kim! :)

ANGRY!!!

Ok, I haven't ranted in a day or so. I need to talk about my brother, his situation really bugs the hell out of me. I'm going through the question portion of why him, why us. He doesn't deserve any of this, why cancer, why him, why didn't the chemo work the first time?

The update is, my brother went back to have tests done and start up on chemo again. His tests confirmed the worst, not only was the tumor still on his kidney but has doubled in size. The cancer also spread to his adrenal glands and a small tumor on his scapula. Now we have gone from finishing up chemo treatments to continuing chemo treatments, adding two weeks of radiation therapy and a mid-December, merry fucking Christmas, removal of part or all of his kidney. I'm so angry I spent the evening crying and the night laying awake staring at the ceiling. (A big thank you to Molly for coming over from Youngstown to be with me for the evening. She's just plain incredible, words can't describe how much she means to me.)

Why the hell around Christmas, Kevin loves Christmas. He would always get enough toys to make his sister and I jealous and remind him of Christmas past when we would get 50% clothes and 50% toys instead of an 10/90 split like him.

Why do my parents have to go through this, I can see the years piling on every week when I go home to help out. My Dad won't get his shoulder looked at because he feels he needs to be ready to help out with Kevin, my Mom is beside herself. She's a nurse, she knows the damn odds that are stacking up here. Why does Kevin have to suffer at 20 years of age?

It would be nice if there was more answers than questions but that is all I can seem to find at this point in time. Sorry for the rant.

Kevin is still in good spirits and keeps his emotions close so it's hard to read him. Right now he seems OK so we will all continue to fight with, for him.

He's my hero.

VOTE TODAY!!!!

I've already sent in my absentee ballot! I think it's time for a change. :)

Browns vs. Ravens

I went to the Browns game yesterday. The game was awesome for the first 3 quarters. However, you knew it was going to go downhill quick when wide receivers started dropping balls and DA couldn't covert a 3rd down to save his miserable throwing life. I mean seriously, how many minutes does the defense have to play before they get a break? They were work out!!! My boy Sean Rogers is BIG he needs a breather!

Let's take a step back for a second, how much do these guys make? They aren't saving lives, teaching children, balancing budgets, developing a cure for cancer, dealing with clients or feeding starving children. They get paid millions to throw and catch a football, THAT'S IT! If I got paid millions to walk around on my hands, you can bet your sweet ass I would never buy a pair of shoes again! How can the Browns take a relatively simple theory and make it seem so difficult?

Anyway, Molly and I thoroughly enjoyed each others company and the atmosphere of Cleveland Stadium! We also had incredible seats!!! Check out the pics:

Dawson, warming up

7 rows back on the home side of the field

Molly and me! :)

Cribbs waiting to do his thing!

Cribbs once he did his thing, 6 points richer!

Anderson looking to happy to complete a pass!

Pumpkins!!!

Well, I've totally fallen off any sort of exercise routine. Sometimes when this happens I feel like it's meant to happen so you don't get burnt out. However, I'm ready to start back up again. I'm not sure exactly what to do but I'll figure it out.

In the meantime, last week, Molly and I carved some mean looking pumpkins. Molly mad a wicked smiley face and I carved a decent looking spider using a stencil kit.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!!!

Molly hard at work!

Our Masterpieces!!!

Crazy Week

Wow, where do I begin? This week has been incredibly crazy. The first part of the week was solely devoted to putting together a creative testing proposal for my client. Wednesday was solely devoted to preparing for the presentation. I was literally handed final, bound presentations as I was walking out the door to the client. I'm way better a "winging" my presentations rather than preparing. Otherwise I freak myself out getting ready. This way I only freak out for a minute when I realize on my 10 minute trip to Goodyear that I just finished analyzing the competitive landscape 30 minutes before and have to present to this analysis to the client in 20 minutes. Too late now, let's roll!

Presentation went incredibly well! The clients loved the information and were equally impressed and satisfied that we had done out due diligence in gathering information for this product launch. Then Thursday day came after rolling on and about 12 hours of sleep for the week and my dog peeing on the carpet at 5:45am had me worried about how the rest of the week would go.

Sidenote: went to the Coldplay concert on Tuesday at the Q with Molly. Concert was awesome! Hard Rock cafe for dinner, awesome! Molly = double incredible awesome!!! Thanks for sharing the tickets beautiful!!!

Back to Thursday. I was just plain tuckered out it felt like I had put in a weeks worth of work already, maybe even two! Finally I was free, it was 4pm! I was incredibly happy cruising home with my two week old car rocking out to Hairnation on Sirius when the worst thing possible happened.

Stupid f@c$! Some ass in a big Jeep Wrangler hit the side of my car with his big ass tires. Does anyone see the irony that I work for Goodyear and tires f-ed up my car? Then he didn't even stop! Hell no! I took off, how far did he think he would get in a jeep? My car maxes at 127 mph and I was more than happy to use every single mph to catch him. :) Got his license plate and stopped to call the cops. :) Now that the rubber is almost all buffed out and my blood pressure is out of the red zone some stupid f@c$ will have to deal with a hit and skip and my car is back almost good as new.

Now it's Friday and the clients denied our proposed research that we had 120 hours of work in on and I feel like someone is playing one huge joke on me. Oh well I guess, at the end of the day I'm still getting paid.

Other news:
Brother: doing well, he should get cleared on Tuesday to head back for another 7-8 moths of chemo. Too bad he sill have to lose his hair again. :( However, his mobility is coming along very well and he should be up to using a cane soon instead of a walker.

Bike: I have 1/3 of the bike paid off and I'm well on my way to half way after only a month! I can't wait, I feel like a kid again!!!

Pump: moving along pretty well. I've finally been on long enough that I'm slowly tweaking the basal rates to stop the random fluctuations in my blood sugar. Feeling good, other than that. :)

Hello Cold!

I went out for a bike ride yesterday morning as the thermometer rose to 42 degrees! Yikes! It was freaking cold! Luckily I planned accordingly and was able to dress perfectly. I was cold for the first three miles then warmed up once I got the old ticker going! I managed an easy 18 miles. Short but at least I got out, I was happy!

It's crazy how the leaves look when you ride over them. It's like there is a funny carpet over the whole trail yet you can ride over them without any problems. Kind of weird, it's like you want to dodge the leaves bu there are only more leaves! lol

Still working on paying off my mean race machine!!! I'll keep you posted on that, want to free it before the beginning of 2009 so I can start prepping for some rides and races. :)

My brother is doing well, taking a few steps on his own. Hopefully he will only need a cane soon instead of a walker. He likes my new car and wants to borrow it, I said let's not get crazy!

My BG were a bit out of whack this weekend. I need to test more and reign them back in, don't want to lose the 6.2 A1C. That was hard to get!!!

More to come, check back soon!

My Crazy Week!

Here is a recap of how last week unfolded, it's amazing I don't have panic attacks!

Monday: Work all day, stop at bike shop on the way home to test 3 bikes and put a down payment on a bike.

Tuesday: Dentist appt. 7am then off to work for the rest of the day.

Wednesday: Take car in for 30K mile tune-up, ask about getting out of my lease into buying a VW. Work the rest of the day. Get phone call about purchase options on a 2008 and 2009 Jetta. Mill over purchase decision all night while hanging out with my incredible girlfriend.

Thursday: Go to work, go to dentist at lunch to get my cavity filled, test drive VW on the way back to work. Pick up new car at 6pm. The new car: 2008 VW Jetta Wolfsburg Edition. Meaning BIG engine in tiny car. Plus a ton of cool shit like 17" wheels, sunroof, spoiler and sport suspension. I apologize in advance to anyone I may cut off in the next few years driving wayyyy too fast up and down route 8. Go out for ride with beautiful girlfriend after her school open house.

Friday: Work and hair cut, followed by a bike ride in the evening.

Saturday: Go to parents to visit brother and help around the house. Back to Stow where I fell asleep an 9:45pm and didn't get up until 10:20 in Sunday. I think I needed the extra sleep.

Sunday: Get up, make breakfast, ride bike 20 miles, drive to Youngstown to meet beautiful girlfriend for a walk in the park and dinner.

Now, back to the grind! Below are a few pictures of the new car for your viewing pleasure!!! :)

Gotta Start With The Basics

I've recently decided to get back into an old sport that consumed (in a good way) me as a young buck. Mountain Biking. My family can attest to how much I loved this sport before, in high school I built my MTB up from scratch. Bought the frame, then the fork, seat, pieces/parts, etc. That's what I did with my money, I worked all through high school to support my habit. This past summer has been great getting out and riding. I feel great and it keeps my diabetes under control. The more I've thought about it the more the itch came back to head for the hills.

Road biking is great but very flat. It has it's own sense of danger and obstacles but I would rather those be from steep and muddy downhills and uphills or some gnarly single track than the 2500+ lbs. vehicles whizzing past me ear and elbow.

Molly, my girlfriend, is incredible! She supports me 100% and has said it is who I am and that makes me feel incredible as well as driven to take this on! I know I'll love it, I get excited just thinking about riding! I have some goals as well. In 2009 I would like to ride in at least two races. On top of that I also wanted to try my hand at marathon cycling starting with the less challenging 12 hour race. I'm going for it solo, I want to prove some things to myself about how I can not only handle the race but handle diabetes and the race. I'm tired of people saying what I can't or shouldn't do. Why don't you let me decide? (directed at no one in particular just society in general) I can do it, I've been doing it for over 15 years! How about that?!?!?!

I'm still going to keep my road bike for training and when timing doesn't allow me to pack everything up and drive to the nearest MTB trail. Are you excited yet??? I am, do you hear that coming??? It's me getting ready to take on the competition and myself!!!

Here is the bike that I am working on purchasing from Eddy's. It's hot!!! Cannondale Scalpel 4:

Lefty front suspension, carbon rear triangle with pivot less rear suspension, disk brakes! Bikes have sure changed since I was younger!!! As every cyclist knows you need shoes as well, these are my new shoes. Diadora X-Trail Carbon:

Wish me luck!!! Here goes nothing!!! I just need to get the rest of the money together to get these out of layaway! lol I love bike shops!!!

Most People Won't Care

But some may. Just had my Dr. appointment yesterday and my A1C was 6.2!!!!! For those who don't know that is an incredibly good A1C to have as a diabetic. It's the lowest it's been in my 15 year stint with the disease! Lower A1C = reduced risk of long term complications from diabetes, minor things like blindness, extremity amputation, kidney/liver/heart failure and death. Another "for instance" a healthy non-diabetic has an A1C of 4-6, that means I'm almost non-diabetic!!! lol

My Summer of Learning

As the temperature drops here in NE Ohio, the leaves begin to change color and days grow shorter. I've been reflecting on my whirlwind of a summer. I was trying to find the uniting thread that ties together my life. If any of you know what my life is like you would think I was crazy for even trying that but I did and it worked. This was my summer of learning.

My life has tested me, my family, my friends as well as my co-workers. Here is a list of 20 things I've learned.

1. Cancer sucks
2. Diabetes can suck
3. My brother is stronger and more resilient than cancer
4. My family is stronger and more resilient than cancer
5. I should not have ever stopped cycling
6. I still can run, fast sometimes too!
7. Insulin pumps kick major ass and I should have started on one a long time ago
8. I am extremely passionate about fighting cancer and diabetes
9. My family is growing closer not farther apart
10. Ziplining is fun!
11. Less soda = healthier me
12. Less little debbies = even healthier me
13. You can change everything about your life except the weather if you desire to do so
14. I have some of the best coworkers anyone could ask for
15. Never give up on anyone or anything you believe in
16. Never be afraid to love someone
17. The human spirit can move mountains
18. I'm not a diabetic, I'm a person living with diabetes
19. I have priorities, I need to keep them straight
20. Life is short, if you love someone always, always let them know

That's all for now, I have some crazy ideas brewing in my head for next year! Check back as I reveal them!!!

My World/Weekend

Life has been anything but boring these days. Plenty going on, some good, some not so good. My brother unfortunately had to go back to the hospital. My sister wrote an excellent (long) blog about the situation as it unfolded Wednesday. You can read it here at: http://mupialpha.blogspot.com/ the good news is, I saw him twice this weekends and his spirit is good. He's just pretty much hanging out at the hospital. They want to keep an eye on his leg and give him IV antibiotics. His leg, while still being fully wrapped, looked smaller like the swelling was going down. He was also practicing laying flat which can be quite painful after his earlier procedure. He was having pain in his lower back that was probably due to him sleeping in a recliner instead of flat on his back. So the short period of pain should pay off in the long run as he works to get back to "normal" life.

This weekend was incredible!!! I spent the entire weekend with Molly and we had a great time!

Friday we went to visit my brother at the Cleveland Clinic.

Saturday I ran the 4th leg (5K) which was uphill. I was still really happy with my time 27:27, I hadn't had a consistent training schedule but was still able to get out a few times a week. Molly dropped me off at the start and then found her way around the race course to the finish to cheer me on and pick me up, she's the best!!! :) After that I needed a hot shower and a nap. I think I earned it! lol Later in the evening I went back out to visit my brother while Molly ran home to Y-town to grab a few things she forgot.

Sunday Molly and I went on a zip line tour through the Hocking Hills Canopy! Check out the web site: http://www.hockinghillscanopytours.com/ Everyone there was incredibly nice! We rode 11 zip lines (some as long as 575ft. with speeds 30+ mph :)), crossed 3 suspension bridges and repelled down a 30 ft. high platform! I did my best to scare Molly whenever possibly but she was on to me. I would recommend this trip to anyone, well worth the drive down there!!! Here are some pics:

Molly and I in front of suspension bridge 2

Molly coming in for a landing

Me, coming in for a landing

4 Days Late! Darn it!!!

A diabetic friend named Molly (check out her blog: http://curemoll.com/ ) recently celebrated her 15th diabetic anniversary on September 8th. That got me thinking about when my anniversary is so I looked it up at my parents house yesterday and discovered I was 4 days late! Darn it! 09/14/1993 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. However, I did have an incredible weekend with my girlfriend Molly, not the same Molly as noted above, we went for a hike out at Brandywine Falls. So I guess maybe my subconscious knew the day.

The only thing that's been going on longer than my diabetes at this point is my sisters school career. lol Good luck on you paper Kim! :)

But that's a long time without any complications and few incidences from the diabetes. I'll show my collection of meters in a later blog but I still have my original onetouch meter that do the old 30 second count down and all. They have changed drastically and all the changes have been made for two reasons: 1. To improve the accuracy and convenience of controlling diabetes, 2. to improve the quality of life for all diabetics. Can't beat that!

Well, I guess, happy belated anniversary to myself! I hope everyone out there in blog world is doing great!!!

P.S. My brother is home from the hospital and doing well. Recovery is a process but he is moving right along!!! :)

Update

Hi everyone, I wanted to give a quick update on my brother: HE'S COMING HOME THIS WEEKEND!!! He has progressed far enough, quick enough that he does not have to go to in-patient rehab. He gets to sleep in his own bed and play XBOX live (very important lol). Also, if he is feeling up to it, a week and a half shouldn't put him too far behind in his online classes he was taking at the college. He was hoping this semester wouldn't be a wash. Thanks to everyone for sending you positive thoughts, positive energy and prayers my brothers way!!! :)

GO BUCKS!!!

GO BROWNS!!! Only bitches wave little yellow towels!

GO KEVIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Updates!

Update on my brother:

I went to see Kevin Saturday and Sunday at the Cleveland Clinic. He is getting better by the minute! He sat up for 10 min. in a chair on Sat. and for 45 min. on Sun.! Which is quite the feat if you saw all the shit they have in wrapped up in and on him and hanging off of him. I'm not sure if I could get around with all that shit on myself. His spirits are as good as they can be for being stuck in a hospital in bed for 23.25 hours a day. I'll get a picture of him once he gets home to give and update. His scar is pretty bad ass too! Maybe he'll let me post that as well! I asked, he didn't get to keep the bone. I thought he could get it bronzed of something.

As far as surgery, Kevin had the upper half of his femur removed and a titanium rod now takes the place of his femur, he's part bullet proof!!! They had to insert a metal fitting into his hip to receive the top of the rod. Some muscle and other tissue was removed from Kev's leg around the area where the mass was but most of the major muscles were able to be saved. That's where the painful part is, it's one thing to replace the hip but to restructure and attach all of the muscles leads to a lot of soreness and bruising. He won't be able to run or jump anymore but he can still power walk and swim. He loves to swim!

That's all for now but I'll keep everyone posted on his recovery! Thank you all for your thoughts and well wishes!

Today is the day!

Kevin's surgery is today! Wish him luck!!!!

A pic of him and I at the Air Show this past weekend!!!

Here's the deal....

Sorry it's been a little crazy lately with my brother's surgery coming up and summer ending.

Here's the list:
1. Insulin Pump - It's been freaking awesome and almost a month already! I even got my first bill for the tiny thing. Who would have thought it could be so expensive. Roughly $888 per square inch, that's the wannabe engineer coming out! lol Numbers have been great, still trying to dial in counting carb grams instead of ratios. Also alcohol has proven to be difficult sending my blood sugar high and then dropping like Kellen Winslow in the end zone. I'll get used to it though, I've also had great luck so far integrating my exercise routine with the pump. No crazy lows, yet!

2. Brother - Please keep him in your prayers. My brother is 19, he'll be 20 next month! His big surgery is on Sept. 3. They will remove the mass of cancer from his right leg which means removing 4-5 inches of his right femur and replacing with donor bone as well as removing muscle on top of that. He will have a direct morphine drip during his surgery and for a few days after. From there he will have to learn how to walk again using different muscles in his right leg. He may need a cane for awhile or at least have a bit of a limp but I think he will be back to normal sooner than later hopefully! He will finish up with a few more months of chemo and then hopefully be cancer free! :) I try to tell him this will only affect him as much as he lets it. I know he will work hard to get back up and again show that cancer can't mess with this mo-fo!!! Check out his blog at: http://mycancerexperience.blogspot.com/ he must have learned his updating skills from his big bro, we are blog slackers together! Thank you to everyone who keeps asking about him and for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers. This is just a minor set back because he is a strong willed guy.

3. Running - How the hell did I get involved in this? I will be running a 5K leg of the Akron Marathon. I've been out running a few times but need to get out more. I have no problem ripping off three miles, even if it kills me. It's only three miles! Nobody has volunteered but if you are interested in running with me...well...don't mind me trying to keep up with you is more like it. Let me know!

That's all for now. If my brother can't or doesn't want to keep up on his blog after surgery, check back here. I'll keep you informed of how his recovery is going.

Check back soon!

OK, it's been awhile. Check back later, I will write up a new post during lunch today. Discussion points: insulin pump, brother, exercise and other randomness!

Has it really been that long?

I guess it has. Old habits die hard, especially blog slacking! It's been a busy but good past week or so.

The insulin pump is working magnificently although this last round was a little jacked up getting the infusion set in. It got all gummed up on the quickset and wouldn't shoot all the way in my stomach. Which, let me tell you, is more painful than gross! It has been a bit of a lifestyle change but has been good at forcing me to check before meals instead of counting my BS reading from two hours ago.

The weekend was great! Friday I hung out with my friend Carly, who is an incredibly awesome person, and her friends who were very nice as well! I'm looking forward to hanging out with her again soon, it feels like it's been forever already! Saturday I met up with some friends on participating in Kent Krawl 2008, an annual event that includes hitting up all of the spectacular bars in Kent. lol 12 bars made the list this year I managed to hit up 5 with the group before heading home. I had an early start on Sunday. However, I was required by the group to do two drinks at every bar which was probably way more then necessary! The bars I attended were BW3, Dominic's, The Brew House, The Zephyr and The Loft. The Brew House was where I witnessed history being made by Michael Phelps who is incredible by the way!!!! What an athlete!

Yesterday I started a new sport in addition to cycling. Running! I'm sure I looked ugly out on the trail but I did manage to run 2 miles around Virginia Kendall Lake. I only think I threw up in my mouth once! :) I'm a little sore today but nothing unbearable. I wanted to start out on dirt since my running career ended 10 years ago with shin splints so bad that I could barely function throughout the day. I was a strong middle distance runner back in the day running about a 1:54 800 and a 0:53 400 meter. So we shall see how this goes, I'm not out to break any records but felt damn good sweating it out for those two miles. If anyone is interested in giving me tips or meeting up for a run let me know!

That's all for now, more to come soon! I'm going to the Linkin Park concert tonight at Blossom!!!

Ah, the weekend!

Well everyone the weekend was great! I started off the weekend with a 30 mile ride on Friday. I felt great and is was my second ride with the pump! Everything seemed to go well and all I had to do was reduce my basal rate to 50% for the duration of the ride. My BS after riding was a respectable 96. I did my best to get to bed early for the big day on Saturday.

Saturday I went to Cedar Point with my brother, friend John and brother's friend Josh. We had a great time and just barely missed the massive storms blowing through at night. My brother and I were on the Wicked Twister strapped in and ready to go when they released the lap bars and made us exit the ride. :( So we headed for the exit since it was 8:30 anyways. My head looked like a tomato it was so burnt. A 77 and partly cloudy forecast turned into 88 and sunny. Not that I'm complaining, i just wasn't as prepared as I should have been. On a lighter note my blood sugars were great the whole time never creeping above 140. This pump is awesome!!!!
The best part of the trip was when my brother and our friends got out of my car to help tear apart the fence at CP. They had their heads so far up their asses at moving traffic we moved 30ft. in an hour while all of the other lots were empty. I had no problem driving through the gaping hole along with the other 30 cars. It was kinda fun as well!

The two infusion changes that I have done so far have been pretty easy. The change on Friday was perfect, very little air as compared to the first change. We'll see if tonight goes even easier!

Sunday was an incredibly lazy day. I woke up at 10:30a took a nap for two hours promptly at 12:30! :) Watched the Olympics all day and did some cleaning and ran errands in between. Now it's Monday and I'm sitting back at work. Boo!

In other news I decided to join a relay team for the Akron Marathon in Sept. I haven't ran in 10 years so this should be interesting. I'm hoping my cycling fitness carries over at least a little. Any words of advice for training would be greatly appreciated. Also, I think I would like to go to the Olympics, what's a good sport that I could go in? Cycling may be tough, I was thinking more like table tennis or badminton. Hmm...who knows.

I'm Still Alive!

Yes, over 48 hours on the insulin pump aka: digital pancreas and I'm still alive and well. No severe reactions on it, yet. I had a pretty good weekend but wish I went riding. It feels like it's been forever! Well, it has been since last Friday! Now that I've had a few days to get comfortable with the pump, it's time to work it into my cycling regimen. I'm excited to be on the pump, I feel like I've done something to truly help my body. More than just eating better an exercising.

Pro's with the insulin pump:
1. No more multiple daily injections!!!
2. Less lows in the middle of the night
3. Only one type of insulin is needed at the drug store (meaning one less co-pay :))
4. Amazing control with the bolus wizard! This programs figures out a recommended insulin dose for a meal or snack by crunching the following things automatically: blood glucose (transmitted directly from meter), grams of carbs (figured and entered by me), my carb gram to insulin ratio, insulin sensitivity and amount of active insulin in my system. Basically everything I had to figure out on my own is done for me now.
5. Eat what I want, when I want

Con's:
1. I'm attached to an electronic device 24 hours a day
2. Carrying extra tubing with me in case of tubing failure. If not fixed quickly could hospitalize me or even kill me.
3. Becoming desensitized to hypoglycemia reactions and going into a coma in my sleep
4. Sleeping and #1 Con
5. Sex could be interesting with a pump attached

Hmm...that's all I got right now! Like I said, it's day number two. I'm sure I'll have more as the time on the pump increases. Check back soon!!!

Of Note!

Saturday August 8, 2008 at 11:00am I started pumping my insulin! Details to come soon! Same bat time same bat channel!

Reflection

As I sit here at work becoming incredibly farther behind I can't help but reflect on my life. For the past 15 years I've been injecting myself with insulin to live. Tomorrow morning that all changes. I haven't done anything else except live for longer than 15 years. Kind of crazy! Somebody was asking me what an insulin pump was like and I replied, like an external hard drive for your computer. All the non-diabetics out there have a normal operating pancreas, I don't. My normal operating pancreas will be on the outside now.

As I enter this world of unknown I take comfort in the fact that the pump will make my life better. No more carbo loading right before rides just so my blood sugar doesn't crash. No more digging for a patch of stomach in the middle of winter under all of my button down shirts to give a shot....8 times a day! No more $30 co-pays every 50 days for humalog AND launtus. In time, no more getting up every night because your crazy metabolism breaks down 24 hour insulin in 19 hours.

I'm excited to see where I'm at in a year. Next summer will be the summer of cycling. My life has changed a lot in the last year. I'm single now, live alone, moving to an insulin pump, cycle regularly, volunteer often, have a brother who is showing cancer that it picked the wrong mofo to mess with, picked up massive accounts at work and reconnected with my spirit a bit! I feel like my life is heading in the right direction. I am happy!

It's Here, It's Here!!!

Yes, to most people it means nothing but to me, the world! My new insulin pump!!! Yes, I did open it at work because I was too excited! Check out all the "stuff", now if I could only get some to show me how to use so I don't accidentally kill myself! lol I did make a trip out to restock glucose tabs and instant glucose gel in case of emergencies. I will keep everyone up to date as I learn more and get this party started!

The real question of the day is can I keep numbers like this once I start on the pump? I hope!

For those who can't read horrible, blurry pictures:

7 day average after 26 checks is 110

14 days 109

30 days 119

60 days 120

90 days after 393 checks 120!!!! Freaking Awesome!

Package delivered at work:

Package contents on desk at work:

Package contents spread out on table at while reading the literature:

My weekend!

This weekend was great! I went riding Friday and put on a solid 30 miles. Did I mention I love riding? lol The whole time I was thinking about getting my insulin pump, how will I ride with it? Where will I put it? How do I adjust for exercise? All the normal things running through people's minds! Right?

I slept in until 8am on Saturday! Funny, I know, but getting up at 5am all week long means 8 is 3 extra hours!!! I went out to my parents to help with some projects as usual and visit with my brother. He is doing well with his chemo and all, here is a picture of him and I. So keep him in your thoughts and prayers and hopefully everything will keep moving along pretty well.

Sunday I rode the Sweet Corn Challenge put together by Eddie's Bike shop. It was an in credible day for riding!!! Perfect temp, perfect weather!!! I met a group of guys training for the MS 150 and rode with them for most of the 53 miles. It was a great ride, fairly challenging for the area but fun as well. I finished in 3:10:00 but the best part was that my blood sugars were perfect all day long. Now that I'm finally getting these under control while riding so I don't go low I'm moving to the insulin pump. My goal is to be up and running for the STOMP metric century at the end of the month. Wish me luck!!! On that note check back to see pics as I get my pump delivery tomorrow!!!

FINALLY!!!

Monday my insulin pump will arrive! A whole new era in my life with diabetes! I feel like it's Christmas in July! I will admit that I'm a little nervous about getting started but know it will better in the long run. I'll keep everyone posted on how this journey goes and how it changes my life, hopefully for the better. :)

Here is a pic of the pump in the color I will be getting:

Monday

Well, I was finally able to get out yesterday at about 6pm. The weather looked a bit shaky up until then. I had the news on, Internet weather and kept walking out and looking at the sky. Finally I said screw it!

I got my bike and myself ready and went out. The ride was great and I tried a new route which ended up being 29.4 miles, close enough to 30 for me!!! I felt great, like I could ride another 20 miles. However, I wrestled with my blood sugars for the ride. I was low when I started (BS 67) so I fueled up and about 9 miles in I went low again and had to stop in the valley for a Power Bar gel which is a solid 30g of carbs. Felt pretty good for the rest of the ride. when I got home my BS was 57 but I knew I was eating dinner so I was ok.

Checked again at 9 and my BS was 110 which is a-OK perfect as far as BS goes. I took my Lantus and had a small snack, the usual nighttime ritual. However as I was going to bed a little after 10 my BS was 41!!! Back to eating again. Sheesh! Being diabetic is tiring.

On a good note though HUGE cold front moving through bringing the temp and humidity down. 77 and sunny today!!! 40 miles here I come!!!

Boo, the weekend is over!

Back to the grind here at 7am. The weekend was good, I came off last week with a few more miles on my bike under my belt. Last week at some point in time I pulled a muscle in my back. I rode a few more days with it but it bothered me enough to take Friday off the bike. Not doing a heck of lot except relaxing with some heat on my back catching up on the weeks DVR or the Tour de France. Saturday I went home to help my Dad out with a few projects, visit my brother and see some relatives that were stopping by on there way back to NY. While taking some toolboxes back to my Dad's shed I tweaked my back again. Son of a B%#@*!!! However, I wasn't letting it ruin my ride that evening, after popping some Motrin I managed to tough out 35 miles in the evening.

Sunday was a bust as well, my back was pretty rough but after spending some time in the hot tub it felt better. My parents and brother came out to go swimming and cookout. I grilled up 7lbs. of ribs for everyone. Slow cooked with dried mustard, brown sugar and honey before topping off with some bbq sauce. I had to ribs left after the 4 of us got through them.

The highlight of my weekend, outside of seeing the fam, was stocking up on much needed refueling supplies!!! See below.

Gatorade G2, on sale until Wed. at Giant Eagle 10/$10 my fav beverage!

Power Bars, love them for riding, working out and the occasional low blood sugar!

Ride plan for the week:

Monday: bike 30 miles

Tuesday: bike 40 miles

Wednesday: Appreciation dinner for Tour de Cure at HOB Cleveland

Thursday: Toss up, 30 miles or ABC group ride

Friday: 40 miles

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: Sweet Corn Challenge! 50 miles with Horrendous Hills!!! Yes, I'm sick!

My Cause

And my new prized possession.

Have You Ever?

Been working out for awhile and just reached a point where you say, "I feel like I'm getting better!". I reached that point yesterday, maybe it's mental, maybe it's spiritual. I'm not sure. Yesterday when I was riding all the numbers were showing my heart rate, speed and distance were normal but I just felt more relaxed like I could ride all day. I rode 33 miles yesterday and I was ready to go back out again as soon as I got home. Words just can't describe that great feeling you have when you are busting your ass running or ridding or whatever your workout is and you feel you can just rise above and rock out.

Riding is my euphoria. I don't have to depend on anyone except myself, no one else is going to push down the pedal or get me up the hill. There is a lot going on in my life between work which is always crazy (gotta love marketing!), a little brother with cancer, a crazy ex-girlfriend who can't leave me the hell alone and is crazy even when on medication, all the day to day things that need to get done (i.e. paying bills, grocery shopping, taking care of dog, laundry) oh and did I mention I'm a type 1 diabetic and have to monitor my blood sugar, insulin and food intake every second I'm awake so I don't need anything amputated or have a major organs fail?

Riding = :)

But I love to ride, my goal is to ride over 1200 miles this season. I've covered 508 so far and I've signed up for local rides almost ever weekend I'm free for the rest of the summer. On top of that i get out of work at 4pm now and can make it almost anywhere for a ride in the evening. Here's my plan of attack for the week:

Monday: rest/clean bike (see Ran Man entry)
Tuesday: Ride into the valley and out a few times 33 miles
Wednesday: HIIT Ride 30 miles
Thursday: ABC Ride and picnic afterwards
Friday: Climb every hill out of the valley and then ride back in (more fun than you think!)
Saturday: Visit brother and try new ride route covering 45 miles
Sunday: Loooooong endurance ride

Weekly Mileage Goal 175

Drop a line if you want to come and ride!!! lol Happy cycling everyone!

Rain Man

Sunday's ABC ride was great! Well...outside of the fact that it rained all 65.4 miles of the ride it was great. I felt good for the ride for the most part. I forgot to take my shot of Lantus the night before so my blood sugars were a little goofy but I got them under control quickly. Started off the ride with a BS of 135. A OK!!!

I got all of my gear together and headed out. My usual plan is to go out and find a group of riders that are slightly faster than my average speed so I push myself. I found that group about 3 miles in, it was Goldilocks style! lol First group, nice but too slow. Second group past so fast I yelled car back thinking it was really a car. Then I saw it, through the downpour of rain, a faint flashing red tail light. I kicked it into gear and chased them down. It was a group of 6 guys that ride together and usually hammer through the valley during the week. PERFECT! We kept a solid 16.5 mph pace. This may have been faster if it wasn't pouring down rain so hard. It was the kind of rain that left you with two options: 1. Wear glasses (which I have my clear lens in) and deal with water on them and fogging up all day or 2. Not wear glasses and get the spray from someones wheel in your eye all day.

Roughly 6 hours after the ride my shoes and helmet were finally dry, they gave new meaning to the word saturated!

All in all, great ride and I can't wait to get out and put more miles on this week.

Weekly total miles: 142.4

Sunday Ride: 65.4 miles
4:07:00
Avg HR: 157
Max HR: 183
Avg. Speed: 15.8mph
Calories burned: 3138 Yikes!

Next big ride Sweet Corn Challenge!

Beautiful Weather!

Yesterday was a beautiful day! I ran out of work at 5 and went straight for my bike. I was on the road by 6 after walking/feeding the dog and getting my stuff together. It got a little hot around 3-5 o'clock but by 6 the temp was perfect!

My blood sugar was perfect as well with a pre-ride test of 138 and a small snack the my body felt great for the ride. Why you ask? When my blood sugar is low at the start of a ride I can eat a quick snack but still, part of my bodies energy is going towards correcting my blood sugar instead of the exercise at hand. So even though the "normal" range is 80-120, 138 is perfect for the start of strenuous activity. I sipped on Gatorade G2 throughout the ride and stopped to watch the cows at Hale Farm while reloading on a Powergel. When I finished my ride my BS was 80, perfection!

The ride overall was great I covered 28 miles which included a few small hills in 1:50:00 flat. Hopefully my ride today and tomorrow will be as productive as the one last night!

On a side note everyone say a prayer and send your happy thoughts to my little brother who is going in for his fourth round of chemo. Take care little buddy, love ya!!!

Did I mention how much he drives me? I push myself hard for him, I think when I have a great day that it sends positive vibes up his way. That's why I like to call him and let him know how things are down here.

Take care everyone and enjoy the beautiful weather!!! :)

Alright No Slacking!

I'm doing my best to not be a blog slacker (they should make a name for this phenomena).

My holiday week/weekend was great! I went out to Buffalo to visit the family which was great and the drive was nice as well. Sometimes it's nice to just drive by yourself and rock out to some great 80's music while pondering teh meaning of life. Then I snapped back to reality and realized how lucky we are to have 3 lane highways around most of Akron. Stupid trucks and slow drivers, get to the right side of the road!!! >:(

So I drove from 4th picnic in Buffalo straight to another 4th picnic in Amherst, OH being held by the other side of my family. Then I stayed at my parents to help mulch the front first thing on Saturday morning. By this time I had eaten and drank wayyyy toooo much. I was missing my bike.

Saturday I got home around 3 and headed out on the bike. I covered a cool 30 miles and rocked a few hills in preparation for the ABC ride next weekend.

Sunday I go up at the crack of dawn, well, 7am to hit the road by 8. I made it out by 8:10 but who's counting! I covered another 36 miles Sunday morning. If you add that with my mileage from Tuesday and Saturday I met my goal of 75+ miles for my vacation. Then I hiked around Kendal Ledges with my friend Molly. She was laughing at me because I was getting a little sore. She said every time I got up I moved a little slower. She's mean! lol

So here is the run down of my week:
Monday - Softball
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Hard ride, hit up some hills in the valley. Oak Hill, North Hampton, Ira.
Thursday - Distance Ride 30 miles
Friday - Easy ride - 25
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - ABC Ride in Medina 62 miles

Have a great week everyone!