Special?

April 23, 2014

Why Am I Special?

Am I?

I Don’t feel Special, So Am I Special? The Only People That Can Answer That Are The Ones Who Read This Blog, My Friends or My Family.

The Family Votes Are In, Mmmm Nope! Not Special.…. I Am A Father, Brother, Uncle, Step Dad, Husband and with Diabetes, So That Does Not Make Me Special, Does It? Nope Again ! 

I Was 280 Pounds When I Was Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes. I Suffer From Nerve Damage and Pain, My Eyes Are Affected By the Disease, My Arteries and Other Internal Organs Have Been Affected,Makes Me Special,Nope Again!

My A1C was 12.7  When I Was Diagnosed With Diabetes, Special? Nope ! Scary? Yes ! According to Many Different Diabetes Sources Out There, Normal A1C should below 7 , Again Not Special !

When “Unofficially”  Diagnosed (Blood Test) I Couldn’t See My Doctor for 2 Months, By the Time I Saw Him, in which he ordered “Labs”, My A1C was down to 7.8 and I Drop 30 Pounds. You See, I Read A Lot on American Diabetes Association ,WebMD Websites and Listen to Kathy RN (my wife) To Get Information How I Can Control This Monster That Is Robbing My Life, Am I Special Now, NO !

While I Started To Do Some Serious Cycling, I Picked Up On ADA’s Tour de Cure, WoW A Race For Diabetics? Of Course Not, You Know Better Than That! It’s A Fund Raising, Educating, Empowering Family Bike Tour. Not Only That, But I Am A RED RIDER, I Person Riding With Diabetes, and I Get My Own “Red Rider” Cycling Jersey, WoW!!! Am I Special Now? No Silly!!!! But the Other Red Riders Are!

My First Tour de Cure was Jacksonville Florida, on May 18th. 2013. That Is Where I Fell In Love With “Tour de Cure”, They Made It Was Rewarding, especially the gal that was in charge, Kimberly Lewis, she made us feel like we were part of a Big Family. I Was Hook After My 35 Mile Tour…………..Am I Special? Nope ! But Kimberly Is !

-after the Jax Tour de Cure, came my “Jersey Shore” Tour de Cure, I Am Doing the Metric Century,100 km (62 mi) With My Oldest Son,Bill. Am I Special ? No, But He Is ! Also At “Jersey Shore” I Met Up With Some Friends from High School Days (67-71), Bruce, Sue, Janet, Don, Adrienne, their spouses, their friends and my Youngest Son, Michael for a Send Off I’ll Never Forget, Now Am I Special? No No No, But They Are!!! 

Since I Started The “Tour de Cure” in May 0f 2013, I Have Completed Jax, Jersey Shore, Lake Nona (Orlando), Southwest Florida (Tampa). I Did Lake Nona With Kathy and It was Fantastic, Cesar, ADA’s Asst. Director (Orlando) did A Great Job. Am I Special? No ! But Kathy, Cesar, (SWFL)Drew and Melissa Are!!!  

Lake Nona Tour de Cure,
Kathy, Kym and Bill

 Kathy Had A Goal of Running All of runDisney’s Half Marathons, 10 milers, some 5 and 10k, along with some challenges ( Coast to Coast, Glass Slipper). To Honor the Completion of Her Quest, I Decided To Run “MY FIRST EVER” 5k, which I Did! Boy, I Must Be Special, Wrong Again ! But You Know Kathy Is Special (again) !!!

My First Ever 5k

My Wife, My Best Friend,My Support,My Love

  Being A Former Smoker (40+ yrs.), Not Being Active at all for 10 years, Being 62 Years Old, -and-

After 1 Year of Being Diagnosed With Diabetes and It’s Brutal Effects, Riding Over 1300 Miles, Running 2 5k’s, Dropping 90+ Pounds, Getting My A1C to 5.8, Having All Of My Friends and Family Support and Encouraging Me, Loving the Physical/Athletic Activities, The Good Lord Giving Me A Second Chance and Controlling My Diabetes………….

I AM SPECIAL !!! 

Me – Me & Me