Vigilance

Wow.  I never thought that I would ever need to write this post, but the events of the last week have - shall we say - opened my eyes to a problem I have.

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently had knee surgery.  To complicate this, my wife had surgery to remove a bone spur on her heal and stretch her achilles tendon.  To quote her Doctor, "Your toes need to be elevated above your nose for the next two weeks."  So, short of trips to the powder room (does anyone really call it that anymore?), she is flat on her back in bed.

 

What does this have to do with vigilance?  Let me start by saying that I have no clue how my beloved wife is able to accomplish everything she does in a day.  Having dealt with everything she does for the better part of a week now, I'm at a loss to explain how she has the time to do it short of magic (time-turner anyone?).

 

This morning while sitting in physical therapy with my knee wrapped in a pile of heat wraps I realized that I hadn't checked my blood glucose in almost two days.  Oops...  I also realized that I didn't take my meds yesterday.  Double oops... Would being on insulin make these "oops'" fewer and farther between? Definitely, as I'm sure having to put a needle into my body EVERY meal would be a constant reminder to do what is right... But for now I'm not on insulin and have got to figure out a better way of managing my diabetes (any and all suggestions are currently being solicited - leave a comment if you want to help this silly man out).

And That's The Way It Is...

Twenty six years. It can't be that long... Twenty six years ago this week Bruce Hornsby and the Range hit number one with "The Way It Is." Wow. My oldest child is now the same age I was when that song came out. Now I feel a wee-bit old...

When I was even younger than I was when Bruce was crooning his hit, our home always watched the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. Cronkite was the king of honesty in my parents' home and it was a rare day when we would miss his broadcast. Every evening he would end his broadcast with the phrase, "And that's the way it is..." That was Walter Cronkite - straight shooting and matter of fact. So today I'm borrowing Mr. Cronkite's phrase.

Five weeks ago I had my knee scoped (I guess arthroscopic surgery is the technical term). Anyway, the doctor found a severe tear of my meniscus. He trimmed off the tear and cleaned things up inside my knee (the technical term, once again, would be partial medial menisectomy). And with the completion of the surgery my mobility became all but nothing.  And, for me, that became "the way it is..."

Until the time of my surgery I was losing weight.  I was being more active.  I was watching more of what I ate.  And then...  Snip, snip, snip.  My knee was fixed but my activity was gone.  Sitting around with not much to do was hard.  It has affected my willpower.  It has eroded my momentum.  "And that's the way it is..."

Now don't get me wrong.  I really have had quite a few blessings come from this.  For the first 72 hours or so I was totally dependent upon others.  That is quite humbling.  When I was first diagnosed with diabetes I considered myself fairly independent due to my family connections to the disease.  There were things that I didn't know and was surprised to learn from the literature that I received at my diabetes education classes.  That was humbling too, but not quite like my surgery.  I truly felt I had a good handle on my diabetes - but I really didn't (and still don't).  "And that's the way it is..."

My road back from surgery has been fun / painful / happy / sad / frustrating / joyous / maddening / relief.  You can pretty much name just about any emotion and I have felt it.  Physical Therapy has been quite brutal at times and rather rewarding at others.  It truly is a blessing despite the hardship.  I dread PT tomorrow but I will go because I need to.  "And that's the way it is..."

As difficult as things are right now for me and my family (did I mention that my wife is flat in bed due to surgery to fix a heel bone spur and stretch her achilles tendon?) our lives are truly blessed.  As out of control I feel I am with my diabetes right now, I'm still trying.  With the holiday madness descending upon us I know that we are going to be ok - that I'm going to be ok - and that I can do this.  I can climb this mountain and succeed.

"And that's the way it is..."