Broken Bones, Diabetes and Cycling

On Monday, May 16^th I was walking my dear dog Echo. We were on a perfectly flat sidewalk. The weather was perfect. Echo was not pulling. I was wearing new boots that I had never walked very far in before. These boots have rubber soles. I think what happened is the rubber caught on the cement of the sidewalk, and caused me to trip and wobble. So badly, I fell hard to my left. As I fell, I relaxed as I learned years ago from my cycling coach. Nonetheless, as I hit the ground I heard a very loud snap.

The pain began immediately. I was about 4 blocks from my house. After walking Echo I was going to head over to my brother’s house for a birthday dinner celebration with him and his two lovely daughters, my nieces. I laid there on the sidewalk for a few minutes. I know to allow my body to shake to help my nervous system recover from the shock. So I did. Then I decided to walk back home. Or rather, limp on home.

It took me a while to make it home. I had to stop twice. Both times to cry and catch my breath, since I almost passed out both times. Yes, I did have my phone with me. It never occurred to me to call for assistance. When I got home, I hobbled down to my office, which is in the basement, and I thought about what I needed to do. I placed a call to my insurance company to get their advice. It was 5:30 PM, and after hours for the regular doctor. The nurse I spoke to said, “Go to the emergency room!”

I realized getting to the emergency room by myself wasn’t a good idea. I let my brother know I wasn’t going to make it to the dinner. Then I called my nearby friend Linda. She was available to assist me. When she got here, she came up with the idea of calling our mutual friend Molly who is a physician. Molly suggested we go to Twin Cities Orthopedic aftercare. We called and they told us they were open until 8 PM. Off we went.

Sure thing, after x-rays and a consultation with the orthopedic surgeon, I found out that I had broken the first bone of my entire life. I broke the fibula. Luckily in a good spot. And it was still in alignment. They gave me an air boot and a pair of crutches and said, “Come back this Friday for a follow up visit. No matter what, put NO weight on it!”

When I got home, the tears started to flow. It hurt badly. And I realized, biking 80 miles that week in preparation for the Tour de Cure Twin Cities 100-mile ride on June 4^th, 2016, was not going to happen. The grief and pain all swirled together. Vicodin, the narcotic painkiller they gave me kept me awake almost all night. Plus I was sleeping on the couch. My heart felt like it was breaking in disappointment.

Today it’s 10 days later and I now know that this air boot will remain on my foot for a total of 8 weeks. Four weeks it’s on 24 hours a day. Then after 4 weeks, I can take it off at night. For 8 weeks, I will use the knee scooter I got. And the bath chair. I miss cycling. I miss walking my dog. I miss going down to see the Mississippi River. I am super sad I won’t be riding 100 miles on June 4^th.

I’m taking more insulin than I was. I’m also eating fewer calories. Less movement requires these changes. I was missing cardiovascular exercise so much, I found a bunch of chair exercise videos and now I do almost an hour a day of chair dancing and chair exercising. I make myself laugh quite a bit while I do that!!

I meditate every day. I remind myself that I am healing. I visualize healing several times a day. I am learning again to let people help me. I need help. This weekend I will need to go to the grocery store. That’s way too hard to do alone.

I won’t be doing a 100-mile bike ride this summer. I will ride later this summer, just not sure how long I will be able to go. First, I will put flat pedals on my bike and mount it on my trainer. Slowly and surely I am recovering.

In this healing down time, I plan to write. I’m back blogging!!  (thanks for reading) I remind myself that a reason and blessings will emerge. Just because I don’t know yet what the silver lining is, one day I will, and it will make sense.

And, on June 4^th, I will be at the Tour de Cure Twin Cities with my cowbell. I will cheer on all the Red Riders and especially I will cheer on my teammates Molly and Tammy who will ride 100 miles!!

If you’d like to help me reach Champion status, it would mean the world to me. I’m super close!! Click Here to go to my fundraising page. Thanks!!

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