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.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
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!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
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!!!
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!!!
Monday, August 11, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, August 4, 2008
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!!!
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!!!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Of Note!
Saturday August 8, 2008 at 11:00am I started pumping my insulin! Details to come soon! Same bat time same bat channel!
Friday, August 1, 2008
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!
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!
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