Today marks the six month anniversary since my crash in Tulsa OK. I celebrated this morning by riding almost without pain for 1 hour 20mins. I felt okay. My back has been playing up the past few days and my elbow is getting sore more frequently. In actual fact my elbow is not in pain - the pain is in my shoulder but for some reason (a very common sign in frozen shoulders and compressed nerves) it refers the pain to my elbow. A very weird sensation but also a disappointing sign to have it return again.
So let us talk about something else.
On December 1st four cyclists will depart Federation Square in Melbourne and will spend the next four days travelling the coastal route by bicycle to Adelaide, 900km away. Into the wind and with a tight schedule, they will cover distances of up to 270km per day in order to reach their destination by Friday afternoon. The ride challenge came about when Chris Day's 12 year old daughter, Lianna, was diagnosed with type one diabetes three months ago. Lianna lives in Adelaide and the crew will meet her on Friday.
In this pack of four will be my husband, Ewin Williams. He also knows a bit about living with type one diabetes. He is a constant witness to the daily challenges of the condition and has had to deal with the most common diabetes complication: depression. A donation page has been set up which will be updated throughout the journey. All donations will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), a charity set up to soley fund research into curing type one diabetes.
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/christopher_day
I am very proud of Ewin for participating in this. He has been very supportive of me and the tough road we've travelled since the crash on May 30. The highlight, or lowlight, was probably back in June when I had my first shoulder operation (to repair the AC joint). Despite our best and most rational arguments, we were faced with the enforcement of a difficult hospital policy situation that resulted in me being without insulin in the lead up to, and during, surgery. The policy also ensured that my diabetes specialist would not be consulted until I was back in my ward, some two hours after surgery. No diabetes-specific treatment by hospital staff was planned until this time, yet my glucose levels had predictably risen considerably and this was impacting my recovery. While still in the recovery room post-surgery, Ewin was forced to repeatedly test my blood, insert my insulin pump, and make correctional boluses of insulin to try to bring my blood glucose levels back into a safe range. By the time we were back in the ward the gravity of the situation was reduced and my diabetes specialist was not required to make the journey into hospital (something he was thankful for at 3am!). What Ewin was able to do for me was very significant and took a lot of courage, especially with me coming in and out of consciousness and giving very unhelpful tips in a drowsy and incoherant manner.
And so he rides tomorrow..
2 comments:
East wind blowing here at Yarragon, should push the riders along at a good cruisy pace! JH
Good luck...seriously Monique both you and Ewin continue to amaze me with your "can do" attitudes and never letting things getting in your way....I hope the four days is fantastic riding.....
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