Bicycles, Diabetes and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

This past weekend I participated in the Indiana Tour De Cure to support diabetes research and camps for those under 18 who share diabetes with me.   My weekend was filled with bicycles, Diabetes and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). This past weekend it was rainy and a bit chilly as I started off and despite some annoyance from a lingering hip issue I felt pretty good peddling around the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  In fact, I had a pretty good day until later when the second act of the story which featured Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) took the stage.  Here is a look at my weekend in three acts.

Act 1: Bicycles and fighting Diabetes

I was pleased to be asked to join Team Lilly for the Tour De Cure.  Being on the team meant that I was to meet the group at 7:0 AM.  I told the person who invited me that my goal was to ride my bicycle around the track 8 times.  That would be double the amount I road in 2015 and I felt I had worked myself up to be able to meet that challenge.  Most other Lilly riders chose the road course but I knew that based on the condition of my joints and fluctuating blood sugars I needed to stick closer to the rescue tents in case something went wrong.

Waiting for the start one could see storm clouds gathering and after my group was started I made it to the first turn when the rain let loose.  I was soaked by the end of the first turn and I thought my day might end right there.   All I could think of was my feet.  I hate when my feet are wet since the potential for blisters goes up astronomically.  But I could not feel any rubs and thanks to gabapentin the night before my feet were not in terrible pain or giving me a tingly reminder of the neuropathy I deal with most days.

At the end of my first two lap run, I decided it would be a good idea to pull into the pits, check to see how Sheryl was getting along and check my blood sugar.  As I was getting into my pack to get the meter, Sheryl found me and we talked about the course and my plan.  As we were talking, I spotted my friend, Celeste Stanley, a Lilly employee and she said she was willing to ride with me.   About that time, the rain stopped and as we circled the track we could talk and we had some fun laughs.  Along the way Celeste and I caught up with the speeding Terri Richert riding for team Roche who was also supporting the event.  We chatted for a few minutes and off went Terri traveling much faster than I ever could have.

After about 2.5 hours I completed my 8 laps.  When I finished lap 8 I wanted to keep going.  I knew I had another two-lap run in me but my blood sugar had worked down to the low 80’s. I was soaking wet and it felt like it was a good time to call it a day.

Act 2: The revenge of the Rheumatoid Arthritis monster

It would have been so easy to stop there with my account of riding in the Tour de Cure.  I want to stop there in fact; but in my world it is just not that easy.  By the time we got home I was exhausted and clearly RA was about to show its hand in the ride.  When I got up from my nap all I could think of was taking another nap.  I was mentally and physically worn out.  My joints were protesting in a hundred different ways, including swelling, stiffness and aches.  I knew my best defense was to keep moving if I could.  But 5 hours post ride, I disavowed any notion that somehow I would recover quickly.

Saturday night I slept well something I do not usually do and when I woke up on Sunday I was exhausted.  That kind of exhaustion that most of us with RA just cannot adequately explain but which we can be more accustomed to than not.  I got to church almost on time and promptly fell asleep during Sunday school so I excused myself and when church was ready to start I found a couch in an office to sleep on and I did throughout the service.  By Sunday afternoon my stiffness had taken hold and I found walking on the sidewalk as my Grandson Ben rode his new bicycle difficult.

Later in the afternoon I took a nap and finally at about 11:00 PM Sheryl and I called it an evening.  Where once again for the second night in a row I slept ok with joint pain that woke me for one 3 hour stretch.

Despite getting in 7 hours of sleep I feel the need to go back to bed this morning and continue to dig out of the hole I placed myself in by riding in Tour de Cure.  I figure it may take one or two more days to get back to something like normal.

Act 3: So why ride in the Tour de Cure?

On June 21, 2016 I will have been a person with type 1 diabetes for 42 years.  I have never attended a diabetes camp as a camper and I have no illusion about being cured of diabetes.  In fact, after all these years it might be difficult to accept a cure and the many issues that might bring to the life of a person like me.

But still I have the three best reasons to ride that anyone could ever conjure up.  Their names are Madison, Graham and Benjamin.  My grandchildren and their children will someday be faced with type 1 diabetes if we do not make great strides to prevent or cure it.  When I ride in the Tour de Cure or raise money for the ADA or TUDiabetes, I am buying those children a better future.

This is not uncommon in my family.  In the 1960’s my mother would give small amounts of money to the ADA and say much the same thing.  Like myself she never believed that any money raised would benefit her directly; but she was convinced that her contributions would someday make diabetes manageable for her son and eliminate it for the generation of her grandchildren.

Mom was half right, diabetes is manageable for me, but now our target is to eliminate it for her great children.  I think last Saturday as I rode around the track I could feel my mom saying some very comforting words: We can beat this and we will Rick.

I hear you mom and more importantly I agree with you.  We can and we will beat this; yes we are so close that after all these years I can say that with some certainty.  If it takes getting wet so Madison, Graham or Benjamin never have to worry about diabetes then sign me up I am ready to fight the fight.  Joints be damned and full speed ahead.

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rick

Take away for June 7, 2016

• Participating with team Lilly in the Indianapolis Tour de Cure was great fun
• I got very wet
• Rheumatoid Arthritis exacted a cruel revenge
• It was more than worth it if we get one day closer to a cure and provide camp opportunities