Friday Evening; 1.8 Miles; And Flashbacks to "True Grit"

In case you've been wondering; I'm working the middle of a long stretch of 12+ hour shifts. Twelve hour day shifts (7am to 7pm) at a Long-term Care Facility (LTAC) yesterday and today; and tomorrow is 13 hours at the Dialysis Clinic (4am to 5pm) and then 12 hours at the the LTAC from 7pm Saturday to 7am Sunday morning.

Then church!

So, posting will be abbreviated until Sunday afternoon. My apologies.

So with all this time juggling Julian had to have my car to go to his Junior Prom tonight, so Ariane had to come pick me up after she got out of work downtown at the Dialysis Clinic (15 mile trip). So when I got done, I started walking from the LTAC to the Nursefinders office to drop off my paperwork.

So, I managed to work in a little Walk of 1.8 miles after work -- in 97 degree heat -- mostly uphill. Not a bad workout, really.

Then what to my wondering eyes should appear about halfway there then this:



A snake.

A BIG Goddamned snake!

A big goddamned snake two feet from my feet!

A big goddamned diamondback rattlesnake two feet from my feet!

Eeep!

When those seven rattles on his tail went off I jumped straight up into the air and screamed like a seven-year-old girl!

I took a movie, too:



At the time I thought I was taking a photo -- please excuse my ineptitude as I was busy peeing myself and whimpering to myself. Still, I'm astonished I managed to grow enough of a rudimentary spine to chase down the freakin' snake and take pictures, let alone movies.

The weird part is that this is the SECOND rattlesnake I've seen in two weeks. The first was a two-foot juvenile with no rattles at about 1am last Saturday in our own parking lot. (Julian witnessed that one -- it was too dark for the camera.)

Must be some kind of Texas thing.

I'm going to go lay down and whimper quietly now -- after checking the bed for snakes. . . .

~~JD~~

Tuesday Afternoon; 1.5 Miles

Huh! It's been exactly one year since I last posted one of these updates.

Fancy that.

Today was the first day I've been able to take my daily walks since I had the couch dropped on my leg during the move in January. I've been trying to take it easy and rest the leg and knee, and that's been going well to a certain extent. But at a certain point the couch cusions start to look a LOT like your backside, and boredom begins to set in. Plus I started to gain weight, which is Not Good. Plus my glucometer has been broken -- what, an ENTIRE MONTH???

Yeesh! Time to get organized here.

Mileage: 1.5 Miles
AM Glucose: Unknown
Weight Gain: 8 pounds

Blanco Road has these wonderful, wide medians that have been formed from tinted concrete that look like red bricks, and it seemed a perfect place to take our walk. (Samantha certainly seems to approve, anyway.)

we had to stop halfway -- Samantha was more tired than I was. But I didn't want to push it too fast, too soon, and make the knee worse than it was. Nevertheless, my thighs and ankles ached when we got home, which is a good sign I didn't atrophy too much.

Better yet, my knee felt better than when I started.

~~JD~~

Friday Night, 2.6 Miles

Samantha the Wonder Dog; Doing what she does best.


Mileage 5/25: 2.6

AM Glucose (5/27): 102*
AM Glucose (5/26): 99*
AM Glucose (5/25): 88
AM Glucose (5/24): 72
AM Glucose (5/23): 92
AM Glucose (5/22): 99*
AM Glucose (5/21): 68
AM Glucose (5/20): 79
AM Glucose (5/19): 74
AM Glucose (5/17): 57
AM Glucose (5/16): 57

Today's Weight: 291.5
Weight Loss: 34.5 pounds


That little bit of rebound on the weight (1.5 pounds) was kind of expected -- I lost almost 10 pounds in 8 days there, so I'm not too worried about it.

When i started having those ultra-low blood sugars in the fifties the middle of the month, I started thinking about doing things different, like changing my eating habits (adding a nightime snack, etc.) Starting the 19th, though, I began to see a noticeable difference in the blood sugars. It took a few more days until I realized I had put the wrong strength medication in my medicine boxes. (I usually take 10 mg of glyburide at night and 5mg in the morning -- I had accidentally put 5mg in both boxes.)

In other words, I've cut my dose of diabetic meds by 1/3rd. That's a really good thing!

Additionally, the starred dates (5/22, 5/26, & 5/27) are days I forgot to take my nighttime medications entirely. (It's easy to determine -- if the pills are still in the box when I wake up in the morning, I didn't take them, did I?) This would mean that apparently I can cut my dose of diabetic meds by 2/3rds with no apparent ill effects.

I can't wait to see my Hemoglobin A1C test in September. But I'm not completely silly. I'll continue to monitor this with only cutting the 1 pill, and wait for the doctor to tell me to cut the 2nd.

But still, this is good! A couple more pounds and I might even be able to get off the meds entirely. An other good motivator for me to lay off the Klondike bars and hit the road walkin'.

Off we go!

~~JD~~

Diabetes Update

For some odd reason, this picture reminds me of Samantha and I walking along. For some reason. . . .


Mileage 5/22: 2.7

Mileage 5/19: 2.6
Mileage 5/17: 1.2

AM Glucose (5/23): 92
AM Glucose (5/22): 99
AM Glucose (5/21): 68
AM Glucose (5/20): 79
AM Glucose (5/19): 74
AM Glucose (5/17): 57
AM Glucose (5/16): 57

Today's Weight: 290
Weight Loss: 36 pounds


Keeping that morning blood sugar low seems to be the key. I started an evening shift last week in preparation for classes next fall (It's so much easier to get classes during the day versus Evening classes, which are almost always filled up.) The first two days I was waking up with extremely low blood sugars ("57" is actually borderline dangerous). I think this is because I was working until 11pm, then going to bed, with only my evening sandwich and yogurt to support my metabolism. And given my size and decrease eating at night (Hey, I'm working right up to bedtime almost!) resulted in low blood sugars. So I've started carrying a little snack with some kind of carbohydrate base to it, like a Nutri-Grain bar or Peanut butter sandwich to eat before bed (hopefully on the way home.)

The large weight loss (Eight pounds in ten days) is partly from that, and some from switching scales. Coming to work at 2:00 pm means I can't weigh myself first thing in the morning like I used to, so I bought a digital scale that seems to be within a pound or two (probably two) of the scale at work.

So maybe two pounds of it is scale-switching. But not all of it.

In related news, the new belt I bought in January because all of my other belts were too big -- is now too big itself. Plus Ariane has informed me that my too-big pants look like those of my beloved Bozo the Clown's pants now, so we have to go shopping at the Dickies Outlet this weekend in San Marcos for new pants.

Cool!

~~JD~~

Sunday Night, 3.7 Miles

I was just noticing that as of this month I've been doing this 'blog 2 & 2/3rds years. I've created 252 posts, and this year I've already done more posts (61) than I did all of last year (49) or the first year (41).

Who knew I could whine so much?

Mileage: 3.7
AM Glucose (5/13): 129
AM Glucose (5/12): 115
AM Glucose (5/11): 58
AM Glucose (5/10): 66
AM Glucose (5/09): 86
AM Glucose (5/08): 61
AM Glucose (5/07): 79
Weight Loss: 23 pounds



We took the western route today to our explored limit, then went one block beyond just for good measure. I'm claiming the extra tenth of a mile, whether it's true or not. Samantha did pretty well, considering she's still wearing her winter coat; but at least she didn't almost have a heatstroke like when we walked to he Interstate. We did have a scary moment when her collar came off in the middle of a traffic-filled street, but apparently I've trained her well -- she stayed right at my side until I could get the collar and leash back on.



Julian had the band awards dinner last night (Oh, Look -- there's my plate!) and we ate at one of the numerous Mexican restaurants in San Antonio. Julian won two gag awards for "Most Likely to be seen on a Dating Show" and "Most Likely to be seen on COPS" (heh!) He also found out he'll be First Chair in the Chamber Orchestra next year. Today he had graduation for the (voluntary) Chinese class he's been taking this year. His class average was 99.8% (100% on all tests and 98% on the Final).

Ariane's grades from this semester are still pending. I'm sure they're all A's and B's.

~~JD~~

Sunday Evening, 2.6 miles

I've been taking it easy on the walking this week, and my weight is showing it. I got as low as 304 pounds and started yo-yoing up as high as 307. However, as soon as it stops raining almost every day here I plan to start walking again 3-5 times a week again. We haven't had this much rain since the year we moved here.

I think this pretty much effectively ends the drought everyone has been worried about.

Mileage: 2.6
AM Glucose (4/30): 101
AM Glucose (5/01): 105
AM Glucose (5/02): 90
AM Glucose (5/03): 108
AM Glucose (5/04): 102
AM Glucose (5/05): 77
AM Glucose (5/06): 83
Weight Loss: 19-22 pounds

The last seven days I've been able to keep my blood sugar below 110, which is a new record, and I'm pretty tickled with it. In fact, I've been under 110 for 16 of the last 18 days; also a record. Plus there were a few cheats in there (ice cream, potato chips), so I'm learning to be careful when I cheat. That's the beauty of Type I diabetes; you can really eat any food you want, as long as it's in moderation.

Of course, when I've got my hand in that bag of chips or on the ice cream scoop, moderation be damned -- I WANT IT ALL!!!

Samantha is sitting next to one of the benefits of the extra rain. These are West Texas thistle blooms, which have big white floppy flowers the size of your palm with yellow and red centers. They'll tear the hell out of your clothes, but they're gorgeous. The vacant lot next to our apartment has about a hundred of these, which is 90 more than I've seen in the last five years combined.

Very pretty stuff.

~~JD~~

Sunday Evening, 5.75 Miles

Honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking.

Mileage: 5.75 Miles
AM Glucose: 102
Weight Loss: 22 pounds

I've been taking the doctor's advice and laying off the walking the last week, which has been driving me crazy. I decided to compromise and just walk one "Big Walkie" a week. Since I had planned to be off Monday the 30th, I figured that Sunday night after work would be the best time -- gives me a full day to recover, not to mention sleep in the next day.

So we (the dog and I) started walking the Southern Route to see how far we could get without pain; or, alternately, without too much pain. 2.85 miles later, we met the Interstate and stopped for an ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. (Considering we had to repeat the trip home, I felt like we deserved a treat.) Then we walked back, which almost killed the dog -- literally. She was limping by the time we got home, and she collapsed ont the living room floor and panted hard and fast for an hour after drinking her entire bowl of water. Plus she slept in this morning -- something she's never done before.

And I've had charley horse cramps all day. So, it was a nice, brisk turn of the leg for both of us. Then to add insult to injury, on the way back home I got called into work for the next morning, so sleeping late was out of the question. (yeah, yeah -- listen to me complain about overtime!)

However, I am seriously considering going to bed early tonight.

Very seriously.

~~JD~~

Wednesday Evening, 1.2 Miles

Mileage:: 1.2 Miles
AM Glucose: 103
Weight Loss: 20 pounds

I've been cutting back on the walking like the doctor ordered. I walk every 2nd or third day; just enough to keep the glucoses down and the muscles toned. (Such as they are.) I have a follow-up appointment tomorrow, and tomorrow morning is my last antibiotic (Cipro). Frankly, Cipro is a far better antibiotic than Keflex from my standpoint. Kelfex is to Cipro as a Camaro is to a Mercedes 500SL. They both do the job well and have plenty of power, but the Mercedes is the far superior car to ride in. Much less harsh, and far more refined.

I had two whole days off today and yesterday, and on Ariane's orders spent the day resting, watching TV, and trying hard NOT to pick up work.

It felt really good, too.

First time since the surgery I don't have a nagging pain somewhere -- that's a real good feeling. Working a double tomorrow, so I better get ot bed.

~~JD~~

Thursday Night; 3.0 Miles

Had a doctor's appointment Monday afternoon. I still have the suture infection, so they put me on another antibiotic. This makes 4 antibiotics so far -- Azithromycin the week before; some unnamed cephalosporin during surgery; Keflex for the last week, and now they've added Cipro to that. So I'm on the last two currently at the same time.

I've walked 1.2 miles Tuesday. Worked a double yesterday, so no walking there -- then walked the Northern Route to Walgreen's and back for a three mile round trip. Kicked my butt good, too. I have a follow-up appointment tomorrow after work with the surgeon, not just his Nurse Practitioner.

Going to bed now. It's been a trying day.

~~JD~~

Sunday Night, 2.25 Miles

Sunday, April 15th, 2007:

AM Glucose: 113
Weight Loss: 19 pounds (down 4 lbs since surgery).
Miles Walked: 2.25 Miles

Got up with a tummy-ache; by the end of church I had to lie down in the back seat for the drive home. Slept most of the afternoon, and took our traditional Sunday afternoon Walkies with Ariane (and Samantha). We took a new route to a dead-end up the street fromn our apartment and back, which just works out to 2.25 miles.

Kicked my butt, but good.

I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with my surgeon again. We'll see what happens then. I'm planning on going to work tomorrow morning, but I'm kind of doubtful.

Going to bed now -- 8:30pm. New Record.

~~JD~~

Saturday Evening, 3.75 Miles

Saturday, April 14th, 2007:

AM Glucose (4/13): 86
AM Glucose (4/14): 98
Weight Loss: 19 pounds (down 4 lbs since surgery).
Miles Walked: 3.75 Miles

When I got home last night from work after 24 hours on the antibiotic, I felt terrible. My abdomen was sore, I was dizzy and tired, and my incision had leaked through my undershirt. Arieane took us our for dinner, but after that I came home to bed quickly, and slept like a rock. (Ultram is a wonderful thing!)

Got up this morning after a solid ten-and-a-half hours of sleep and went to work to help out for an houjr or two -- then came home for our Walkies with the dog. Unlike the previous couple of times since the surgery, we started out at our usual fast-walk pace, and were very surprised to get to out ususal turn-around point (for a 2.6 mile walk) earlier than usual with energy to spare. So we decided to keep going to the next crossraod, which throws an extra 1.15 miles onto the round trip. It also throws the meanest hill I've ever walked into the trip as well.

Surprisingly enough, we finished the Walkies in 85 minutes -- still a record time nonetheless. Not too bad. I still feel like I've been ridden hard and bedded wet, but my strength seems to be returning. Heck, I feel even better than before.

Most importantly, my blood glucose has been stabilizing. Today was the first day I'd had two consecutive glucoses under 100, which is, of course, extremely important -- I'd rather not end up blind or with a stroke, thank you.

Also, I seem to have cracked some kind of a plateau post-surgery. I'd lost 15 pounds from Thanksgiving until the 1st of April; and I've lost 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks since the surgery. That's another good thing.

So, I'm feeling a little better.

~~JD~~

Thursday Night, 1.2 Miles

Went to bed last night feeling really good. Got up this morning and took off the old bandage before my shower.

My entire incision is as red as a lobster's butt in hot water.

I've been changing the dressing every day (and sometimes twice, depending on the drainage) and putting Neosporin ointment on the staples per the doctor's instructions. It's been sore, but not too bad -- until this morning.

Fortunately, I had my appointment to get the staples out this afternoon, so I showered and washed it with soap and water, patted dry, new dressing with Neosporin, and off to work. A little more sore than usual, but these damn staples are always getting caught, so I didn't thin much pf this.

When my nurse practioner came in and took off the dressing, she said, "Oh, My!" Then she squeezed the sides of the incision, and I felt a sharp pain, with a warm rush.

Then she said, "Oh. Dear. Don't move -- I've got to get some gauze -- I'll be right back." When she left, I stole a look at my incision. A small handful of green and brown pus looked back at me.

Oh, gross. That came outta ME!

She came back in and cleaned it, then took out my staples. I gotta tell you, i wiggled and cried like a little girl. I haven't felt like such a wuss in a long time. She wrote me a prescription for Keflex (antibiotic) 4 times a day, and Ultram (reeeaaalll good pain reliever! every 4-6 hours. Ultram's good stuff -- no nausea, no addictive properties, and it well and truly kicks my butt. I've been typing this 'blog entry for almost 3 hours now -- just can't stop the typos. (Incidentally, I've learned to work the Spellcheck today for the 'blog . . . )

She also gave me an appointment for Monday -- NOT Tuesday, first thing Monday. Then she gave me her cell phone number, and the surgeon's as well. Call if it get's worse. "What's worse mean," I asked?

"You're a nurse -- you'll know."

This is the point when prayers would be appreciated -- It's obviously infected, and she's concerned. And I hurt like hell -- like red-hot chicken wire is stretched across my gut.

And I still have to work Friday.

And I just walked the dog 1.2 miles. Just to see if I could.

Gotta go -- the Ultram's kicking in again, and I can't remember where the bedroom is.

~~JD~~

Wednesday Evening, 2.8 Miles

Cacti growing in a rotted-out tree stump -- Only in South Texas, Baby.

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007:

AM Glucose: 116
Weight Loss: 17 pounds
Miles Walked: 2.8 Miles

Samantha and I decided we wanted to take our "Walkies" early while the sun was still shining, so we went out our Central Leg on Wurzbach Parkway -- 1.4 miles each way, with a pretty decent hill to walk up.

Started out slow with every intention of turning around when we got tired, but much to my surprise, we never did get tired enough to turn around. We plodded up the hill with a nice, slow pace, and when we got to the top, we felt pretty darn good, so we turned around and started to give our legs a good stretch with a faster pace.

My stomach didn't hurt. My feet barely hurt -- not nearly what they usually do. And I started to get cramps in the weirdest places -- my kidneys, the arches of my feet, my under-jaw area, my inner thighs. Oddest of all, I didn't have the abdominal ache I usually do after walking.

My theory is that I've been uncon- sciously altering my gait and gener- ally the way I've walked over the years. As the hernia got bigger, I continued to alter my gait more and more until I developed plantar fasciitis, or "heel spurs". When I would walk, I would also partially strangulate my hernia (which means the motion of my walking was cutting off the blood supply on-and-off), giving me the "tummy ache" after walking.

So, the new aches are a "good thing," then.

The views were just incredible, as you can see. The cacti all had new blooms on them from the huge amount of rain this spring, which is nice, also. The whole air smells like perfume according to Ariane.

I just know my brown car is covered in green Mountain Cedar pollen, even worse than Augusta GA used to be this time of year.

God, how I love this place!

~~JD~~

Monday Evening, 1.2 Miles . . . .

I am going out of my gourd with all this "relaxation." I've been posting like a madman her at the 'blog; cleaned the living room, re-arranged the living room, cleaned Julian's room, re-arranged Julian's room, cleaned our bedroom, and run a thousand errands, and finished several long-standing projects (including the family crest thing). I've even read an entire Joke Book and a book on U.S. Presidential History.

So, I think I'm ready to go back to work.

I got cleared by my surgeon today; then I got a flat fixed at Sam's Club (free tire warranty for life -- nice!), then I had lunch with my best buddy Brenda at a nice little Tex-Mex place we know in the Hill Country. Pretty cool day, all things considered.

Walked Samantha last night in a cold drizzle as the Tropical Trade Winds continue to push the Northern High back in the direction of Canada -- which is fine with me, as long as the rain fills up the Edwards Aquifer so we don't have water rationing again this summer.

Off topic -- where was I? Oh -- walked 1.2 miles to the base of the hill with Samantha and back. Felt like a complete dork, too -- in the Army, we used to walk farther than that for chow in the evening. My legs felt like hardwood, and my incision ached afterwards.

But it felt good. Let you know how work is tomorrow.

~~JD~~

Good Friday Afternoon, 2.6 Miles

I must be out of my flipping mind.


This forced inactivity of just sitting around and recuperating from my surgery is driving me bonkers. I managed to get through the night with just one Vicodin every 5 hours with 2 Ibuprofen backing them up without any problems. After doing my daily web-surfing for news (Vidette-Times, Post-Tribune, Sun-Times, Drudge, and MySA.com), I got bored with the limited programming for Good Friday (Spike TV has a marathon of "World's Wildest Police Videos", FX has a "That 70's Show" Marathon, etc.)

So I started cleaning the Living Room. While I'm not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds, Julian sure can, and he moved the chairs while I vacuumed, re-arranged, and cleaned out the winter's worth of ashes from the fireplace.

Then one of Julian's friends called and they went out for the afternoon. (Texas is 90% Catholic, so Good Friday is a school Holiday here.) So I figured it was time for another walk. At first I thought we'd just take another mile and a half or so. Once we got out there the wind came wafting out of the south from the Gulf of Mexico, the sun was warm on our skin, and the day was so darned beautiful that we just started following our southerly route and ended up at the Mail Boxes Etc we use for our mail. From there it was a simple matter to make a slight detour and take the long way home.

After the first quarter-mile my calves felt like knotted rope, but they stretched out pretty nicely after the first mile. But just about the point of no return I started to feel winded, and it was all uphill from there. We took a nice slow, regular pace the whole way -- substantially slower than usual, but I feel like my butt was well and truly kicked this afternoon. I hadn't walked much the couple of days before the surgery due to a slight sinus infection, so it's . . . . been interesting.

God, I'm tired.

But it's a good tired overall. My pain medication needs are decreasing, and I'm getting bored, which is a good sign. This will be a good chance to get a dozen little projects out of the way that I've been meaning to get out of the way.

Julian and I are going to go look for a new phone for him -- Small Project #1.

~~JD~~

Thursday Afternoon, 1.2 miles

No, really -- I went out and walked 1.2 miles this afternoon.

Samantha and I went out for her usual afternoon "walkie" and just found ourselves on the old familiar pathways; so we walked north 0.6 miles along the main drag until we reached the base of our main hill to climb, then turned around. Low impact, low stress -- slow pace. Considering the longest walk I took yesterday was to the bathroom and backl and the day before to the parking lot, I'm pretty pleased with it. Tomorrow we'll try something more interesting.

Then, just to keep things interesting, I had my annual dental cleaning this afternoon. Getting into and out of the damned chair was a lot of fun, that's for sure! A good report all things considered, but I gotta work on my Wisdom teeth -- as usual. (Well, they're hard to reach!)

I'm down to a single Vicodin every 5-6 hours (from 2 every 3-4 hours right after surgery) with 2-3 Ibuprofen backing up the Vicodin. I want to be off the Vicodin altogether this weekend, if not tomorrow.

~~JD~~

Sunday Afternoon; 4.6 Miles

Spring in South Texas seems to bring out the prettiest roadside scenery. Lady Bird Johnson made it her life's work to have wildflowers planted along all Texas highway right- of- ways so that this time of year right after the winter rains are full of bluebonnets, marigolds, and Indian Paintbrushes.

Ariane, Samantha and I took the Northerly route this afternoon, but kept going past Walgreen's to the Regent Care Nursing Home 0.75 miles past. This adds 1.5 miles to our standard 3.1 mile trip. It was actually surprisingly easy one we got past Walgreen's, as the land becomes much flatter. We saw lots of squirrels -- red squirrels, grey squirrels, and even a black rock squirrel, all of which Samantha thinks would be very tasty parts of her balanced breakfast. Fortunately or the squirrels, it was after lunch, and Samantha's fuzzy doggy butt was dragging pretty low from this extended excursion.

One of the cooler things of our "walkies" is that we walk by and under the glide path for San Antonio International Airport. I always thought the coolest part of driving limousines to the Chicago airports was getting to sit in the Staging Parking Lot watching the planes land. Southwest is the primary service into and out of SA, so their colorful and different jets are always interesting. Today we got to watch a NASA T-38 fly in, as well as a Medevac Army UH-60, most likely from Fort Sam Houston. Brings back memories of my Grandma Glynn taking me to O'Hare to watch the airplanes take off and land back in the 60's when you could still walk up to the departure gates.

Good Stuff. Good Memories. Good Walkies!

~~JD~~

Saturday Night; 3.1 Miles

Did our northerly route tonight to Walgreen's and back and even managed to drag Julian along, who took the nifty photo of me and my dog.

We had a fun philosophical discussion along the way. I set Julian up by offering that I thought the schools could make kids a lot healthier by banning sugar-sweetened soft drink machines and only allowing diet sodas or fruit juices and bottled water -- the rationalization being that by eliminating harmful eating habits and empty (non-nutritious) calories, the kids would be "exposed to healthy alternatives." Julian's counter-argument was that this was "forcing" the kids to accept something they didn't want, and that they shouldn't have to experience something they weren't used to.

My counter argument was that by "exposing" the kids this way, they would be able to make informed decisions for themselves later. Julian's response was that nobody should be "forced" to experience anything they didn't want to.

My response was, what about teaching people not to be intolerant of different lifestyles? Like teaching southern people not to be evil towards black people? Like teaching Iraqis not to hate each other, and to live in a democracy?

He had to think about that one for a while.

He's on his way to Colorado this week with the Orchestra to play some concerts for Middle schools there. We had to buy him some ski equipment (of all the things to shop for in South Texas!) He hasn't had a real winter coat in five years since he outgrew his last one; and it never gets cold enough here to buy another, really.

Tomorrow it'll be a variation of the Walgreen's route again, but with a 1.4 mile extension. My feet hurt bad enough right now that this seems impossible; but that's the fun of it, isn't it?

~~JD~~

Tuesday Evening, 2.75+ Miles

I have no idea how far we walked tonight. We started out on what I refer to as our "Southerly Route"; wherein we walk south 1.25 miles to the corner of two main thoroughfares; then over a little over a tenth of a mile to our Mail Drop and return. It works out to just over 2.75 miles.

However, Ariane is always pushing herself to walk farther and farther, so we made a little detour that pushed us well over 2.75. I won't know how far until I time it out on the car's odometer -- and Julian's out and about right now. I'd guess a bit over 2.9 by the way Samantha's tongue was hanging out. I usually don't see that until almost the end of our 3 mile walk (which we refer to as our "Walkies" -- Samantha starts drooling and leaping like a puppy when she hears the "Walkies" word.) That's the northern end of our southbound dog that's the black blob in the photo above as we walked the thouroughfare of choice tonight.

Morning glucose was right down where it should've been this morning at 64. (A blood glucose of 60-110 is considered normal.) The last four days had my morning blood glucoses in the triple digits, but the glyburide has fixed that fast.

Best news of the day: I wore a pair of shorts for this walk hat I grew out of last spring. Today they had room to spare. That right there is a great feeling money can't buy.

~~JD~~

Monday Night, 3.1 Miles

Sometime around Thanksgiving I started going for walks at night as a method of relieving the pain of my heel spurs. In a gross fit of irony, God saw fit to bequeath to me the same heel spurs my mom has. They started bothering me about two or three years ago, and I tried various methods to decrease or relieve the pain, from soaking my feet to elevating them to various creams, rubs, ointments, and pain relievers. Not much worked. The one thing that did work, oddly enough, was walking -- and walking a lot.

So I marked off three walking courses from the apartment and back. If I walk north along the street our apartment is on to the local Walgreen's and back it's 3.1 miles round trip, which was our trip tonight for me and Samantha the Dog. We like that route because it involves walking up a fairly steep graded hill about half a mile from the apartment (just enough distance to get a good stretch in the legs), then walking the next half mile uphill, then another 0.6 miles down the other side. When we reach Walgreen's, we turn around and re-ascend the hill for 0.6 miles, back down for half a mile again, and half a mile home. Tonight we ran most of that last half-mile, which Samantha particularly likes because she feels like a vicious wolf creature when she runs with her hair in the wind.

Or so I've heard.

The diabetes is fairly well under control. For some reason my pharmacy shorted me 75% of my glyburide medication to control my blood sugars, so I ran out last Thursday. I just got the replacements in the mail today -- during this last weekend my sugar was never higher than 174, and usually in the 130's to 140's in the morning, with normal (90's or so) reading before meals. I guess the "eating healthy" thing is working our pretty well. Ariane has lost almost 50 pounds since Thanksgiving and a good 2 inches from her waist -- and she tells me 2 whole sizes. I've lost about 10 pounds and 3+ inches from my waist.

The best part was buying a new, smaller belt today at Wal-Mart. (Deep sigh of satisfaction here.) What a great feeling.

Julian continues to be Julian. After his 1st-place performances at State (UIL) as an individual, his orchestra followed up with 1st-place performances just before Spring Break. He's pretty much assured 1st Chair next year, but he may not take Orchestra
to concentrate on his medical and language studies. (He's still going to take private lessons, though.) His pre-Spring Break trip to Mexico went very well. He managed to come back in one piece without Montezuma's Revenge (unlike a couple of his compatriots) and even named a few of the rats he met there.

Yeah, you read that right. He named the rats. Yup -- he's my boy.

~~JD~~