Monday, August 22, 2011

Recap of the weekend!! Pelotonia 2011

I'm alive to tell you all about the past weekend!!!







The weekend started at 3pm where Columbus, Ohio was the only thing I was focusing on...thankfully I remembered everything for the weekend!!  We arrived there and the nerves were already starting when my mom and I met up to go over to the opening ceremony.  I had my bike in the back of my car since I don’t trust myself with putting it on a bike rack quite yet...at least the one that I own.  The first order of business was to put my front tire on the bike and take good ol Jarvis to registration.  Bump number 1 of the weekend: front tire will not go back on and the quick release is not going back together...Thankfully they had emergency repairmen there to fix my tire.  They got it together in no more than 5 minutes.  Thank you repair people!  My mom and I headed to registration and set up Jarvis for the next day so we could enjoy the catered buffet of chicken, beef, salmon, pasta salad, green beans, potatoes, and bread was the spread.  I passed on the beef and salmon but tried everything else.  I could have sworn I had seen someone with an ice cream sandwich but I think it was the heat getting to me because I did not find them after looking for a few minutes.  I finally met my team mates from Toledo and picked up my jersey from them.  A wonderful group of guys from the Pike fraternity at The University of Toledo.  We listened to the speakers and all headed home to get some rest.  Resting was the hard part.  Working the night previously was not helpful in getting to sleep on time.  Neither was the anxiety of not waking up the next morning!  I maybe got 4 hours of solid sleep but nothing was going to stop me! I rose at 5:15 and we were out the door by 5:40.  I was so nervous I could only stomach some gatorade and a banana at the time which was a horrible decision.  I didn’t eat until 11:15 when we made it to Amanda, Ohio...after 43 miles.  I was ok, but I definitely need to be more prepared food/drink wise for the next time.  We rocked the first 43 miles of the ride, starting at 7:35am and  coming in a bit before 11am.  It was a slow start with a lot of stop and go around the city of Columbus. Once we passed the first finish at 23 miles, though, things spread out a lot more.  At the 43 mile mark we took a long break for lunch and waited for the 8 guys who finished there.  I filled up on water and gatorade an we were out on the road again.  By this time it was getting hotter and the course was getting hillier.  You would think a ride in Ohio would be a flat, easy course.  Wrong.  This was the most challenging course I could have imagined.  The miles between 53 and 75 were the worst, including me popping a tire (thankfully right by a repairman driving by) and a hill that was known for being the “epic hill” people kept talking about along the way.  When we got to it, Dan and I made it maybe 100 yards and got off to walk.  James, however, made it the whole way.  Way to go James! Thanks to the family who had a wonderful rest stop for us waiting at the top! The rest of the course was still hilly, but the worst part was definitely over.  My bum was starting to ache as well as my neck and back but the end was in site.  We stopped numerous times to refill on the water and gatorade and just had to keep trekking on!  I got to see my parents, KC, and Marley around mile 83 where they were enjoying some bud lights as we passed.  The energy from their cheers along pushed me to the end.  I knew I could do it, and I knew that I WOULD do it! And we did.  All three of us finished side by side with the cheers from our families, friends, and complete strangers were there to greet us.  
All in all, I am completely ecstatic I made this commitment.  I can’t say this enough: I WOULD NOT have been able to do this with your financial support and your words of encouragement.  Thanks a million and a half.  
This week I am starting grad school part time and getting back to work tonight, so it is a great time to have to take a few rest days from training and start reading some textbooks! Hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

It's the final countdown!!!!!!!!!!!


3 more days till the big day! Pelotonia is so close I can taste it.  As I rode on jarvis this afternoon after getting him all tuned up I reflected on some things I am glad I did during training/wish I would have done differently.  I came up with quite a few.  As I sit comfy in the AC, however, I hope I can recall at least most of them...
Pats on the back (things I’m glad I did):
  1. Buying a nice roadbike.
I was extremely hesitant on forking out some money to pay for a legit bike, but I will say now that jarvis is the best purchase of this year.  Such a smooth ride, and the shop I bought it from is to this day so helpful with everything I have questions about.  And give really good deals: for instance, I got a free tune up today.  All I had to pay for was a flat tire (yes, another one).  And they are just so friendly.  Can’t go wrong with friendliness!! Learn from them people!!!  Jarvis is probably going to be around for a good while too, so I am even more happy about my purchase so I can go on many long rides with him.  BTW jarvis is my bike if you haven’t been following my blog closely.

       2. Actually committing to the 102 miles

Yes, this saturday is going to be hard, but I can’t help but look forward to after the race and see all I will have accomplished fundraising wise and biking wise.  What can I say? I’m proud of myself.

       3. Going along with the last one...committing to Pelotonia

This is a fundraiser first and foremost, not a race.  It is a RIDE to raise money for the James cancer hospital in Columbus.  This is the most money I’ve had to raise ever for any cause and we all know how hard it is to ask others for money.  It’s hard.  But that being said I am so SO incredibly grateful for everyone’s support whether that be money or encouragement.  A special thanks to all those who will be there at the ride this weekend! (shoutout to mom and dad, KC, and the family in cbus).  

          4. Blogging about this

Ok, I haven’t been that great about this last one, but it is the best I can do.  I wasn’t an English major, nor was I ever that spectacular at writing, but I am so glad I have some of my journey written down.  We’ll see if it lasts...
Slaps on the face (things I should have done differently):
  1. Not buying biking gloves/shorts earlier on.
The shorts for reasons of my backside not being in complete pain after a short 20 mile ride.  What was I thinking not getting them? Crazy. The gloves are a recent purchase.  I’ve been having problems with my fingers/hands going numb after riding for a while.  I was told (by the awesome bike store I love in sylvania called bike works) to try out some gloves.  I was also told this by suzanne a while back, and I just never got any and dealt with the numb feeling.  Well the gloves make a huge difference. So glad for that.  I want to be able to feel my hands after riding 102 miles

           2. Joining a group ride of some sort.  
In all seriousness, the rides that usually take place are 8am on Saturday or Sunday mornings.  If I wasn’t working a weekend the past few months I was usually away.  Or not about to switch my schedule to fit around a riding groups.  I should have tried a little harder, though, I’m sure I would have been able to figure it out one way or another.

           3. Coming up with more fundraising ideas
There are so many fun ideas on the blog for pelotonia that people have done.  If I ever do this again, I know that fundraising is going to be even harder and I would have to get on it with more creativity

          4. Not training with more hills

Reality check: Toledo is flatter than flat. I had a conversation with a resident about his hometown in Iowa.  He made the comment that Toledo is much flatter than Iowa. Really? Yes. Toledo is that flat. All I have to say is Holy Toledo Flattness to that one.  What am I getting at? It would have taken an all day event to go train with some serious hills regularly.  I was too lazy to do that alone. No excuse, because the part of the ride I’m worried about Saturday is miles 50 to 65 which are the hilliest.  My stomach is churning just thinking about the hills!  AHH!

         5. Eating/drinking like I was training

I think cutting back on the booze would have helped a bit. I don’t regret it, I had a fun summer with the booze included...I should have evened it out with less grease/more water.  Yep, that would have cancelled out the booze.
These are the only ones I can remember.  I’m sure there were more.  Flipping memory is not as sharp as I had thought! 
On another note, I start school next week, orientation this morning got me that much more excited.  There’s something to look forward to after this ride is over!


                                                 KC was tired after work/before going out to eat. Marley wanted attention.
Really no reason for this picture. It's just adorable.


Saturday, August 6, 2011

Muck Fichigan

63 miles. I’m really getting the hang of this biking thing. Unfortunately I was going to do 70 but the effing rain starting coming on my journey. Had to turn around and by the time I got back I was drenched, the rain had slowed down, and another phone was ruined. Yes, another one. I really really need to stop that. I got yet another one at verizon, they seriously know me by name by now the amount of times I’ve been in there the past week (4 if you were wondering).  This is the last and final time I am buying a new phone. I got insurance again just in case though.  Because we all know I’m can be quite clumsy out there.  On the bright side, I saw KC in singin’ in the rain last night with Jackie (unfortunately Mal pal was sick) and I was able to sing “singin’ in the rain” while it was raining with me on jarvis.  Oh, and Jarvis got a bath, so that’s another tick on the bright side of things.
The reason for my title today...other than the obvious reasons.  I was riding on river road coming up to a crossing.  I clearly had the right away and a guy on a bike cut me off and what did I see on his back? A flipping Michigan jersey.  Eff that. 
I’m really not that upset about it and it wasn’t a big deal at all but I like to heighten any chance I can to make fun of that state up north.

Topic of the week at work: trying to converse with patients who are confused.  Oh wait, I meant to say confused AND don’t speak english.  Times I wish I actually absorbed things from the measly 2 years of spanish I took in High School.  The lady had a raging UTI which was why she was confused and the nursing home told us that she “only spoke english when she wanted to”.  hmmm. only when she wanted to. great. Well, that meant for her she would ramble in spanish that none of us could really understand, we would google words in spanish to ask her, she wouldn’t answer them, and she would randomly burst into some english “when she wanted to”.  It was one of the most challenging admissions I have helped with on the floor to date.  Thank goodness a spanish speaking nurse came on in the morning.  It is so hard for me when I can’t understand when someone is trying to communicate but I just don’t get it.  Whether it be in the hospital or in day to day life. It just stinks...you sit there and try so hard to get it  but there is some missing piece.  Some sort of link that got lost between that person and you.  Just down right frustrating.  I hope that I can be better at these situations whenever they pop up again.  Any suggestions for next time that are better than googling spanish words? Let me know.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

1 ice bath topically x’s 1 qdaily prn for pain...first dose stat

Nurses will appreciate the name of my post today.  The past few weeks I have been busy busy busy with work and other things.  But yes, I have been lazy in posting once again. Let me first update you on the past few rides/runs and such.  The past few weeks have been brutally (is that a word?) hot so riding/running has been pretty impossible...or usually just really sweaty...sorry for the visual. Last week I was able to do 2 few 20 mile rides and a nice long 40 mile ride on Wednesday.  I felt like a million bucks riding and I should have gone further quite honestly.  I needed a little encouragement, but since I was riding by myself again I just couldn’t bring myself to go anymore myself.  Food sounded so much better than another 15 miles.  See where my priorities are? Oh, and I was meeting mal pal to go to ikea so I was running short on timeas well.  Ikea was a fun afternoon trip where we got lots of ideas for both of our places...nothing was bought, but plenty of plans.  That evening I had a huge craving for cream so I went to walt churchills and bought some vanilla and had a great night of watching love and other drugs.  Typical girls night in with myself, a chickflick, and cream.  Much needed.  
Yesterday I did a 9 mile run in preparation for the Chicago Half Marathon.  I haven’t signed up for it quite yet, but I needed to do a nice long run (and not stop). And I stopped only 2 times...once in the cemetery to grab a drink and the same in a park.  Only for a minute or so.  And I finished in about 1 hour and 25 minutes.  Not bad for first longish run in a while! I felt like I needed an ice bath after it all, but all I did was ice the knees.  I’ll be heading out for a bike here after I finish this post...
Marley was tired after my run as well I guess...even though she was napping while I was out.

The things that hold you back on my rides....trains passing through perrysburg. 


Work has been good recently, finally chemotherapy certified.  Yay for that! Not that I will be hanging much chemo on nights, but at least now I do have the credentials to do so! Never a dull moment on our floor...I had a confused patient who pulled out her PEG tube from her stomach.  You’d think that would hurt, yes? Well not only did we not hear her scream, yell, anything...she told us she didn’t do it.  Yea, well dementia plays a part in that fact.  Sweethart? yes. Challenge? YES.  I enjoyed her a lot minus the whole taking out her peg tube thing.  Sunday I saw the wonderful Brooke Diller and her mom after work.  They were up my way shopping and stopped by to get my scarlet scrubs since Brooke is starting nursing school in the fall! YAY!  It was a nice visit and great to see them both.  I went to mass at blessed john where I had a tough time staying awake without someone there nudging me when I dosed off.  Sorry Jesus.  I had a busy morning after that still of buying a new tv and buying some supplies for the lasagna/martini night at my place.  After all that I slept for a few hours and woke up to start cooking for my ladies+KC.  We had a lot of laughs that night and ended with some cranium.  So happy that I had them all over.  The next day I did an afternoon showing of Captain America with KC.  I was fully impressed, but I need to have a viewing of the other movies leading up to the avengers now before next summer.  Hopefully sooner rather than later!  
I think I have to go on that ride now, it’s looking like the rain may be coming to kill my plans of biking if I don’t go soon....at least that’s what blizzard bill of abc is saying

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Sleepless Goodbyes

This past weekend was a rollercoaster filled with work. And lots of it.  Thursday, Friday and Saturday night were my nights to work.  Fully prepared for craziness there.  If you have been following my blog closely (I know I have SO many fans out who read every single post obviously...) I had made a post about a previous patient of mine who is a young women with 3 small children and stage 4 cancer.  Well, she is back in the hospital again for other complications related to the cancer.  All I kept saying to myself the entire weekend was how I need to not attach myself to patients because I already have with her.  I can’t help but think about her when I am away from work, hoping and praying a miracle happens.  I just know if something happens to her I am going to be a mess...but I am just going to do the best I can to help her now.  That’s the only thing I can do.  Prayers and doing my job at work.
It was Jackie’s birthday on Friday and unfortunately for her she was working.  But at least she got to work with me, Mal, and Adrienne...obviously making her night the best it could be: complete with a yummy sandwich ring, some D. C. (diet coke) that we drank way too much of because of lack of sleep the day before, bomb dip from her mom, and a cookie cake made by yours truly.  We had some cream aka ice cream too, but there was way to much food for us to handle already.  We had a crazy first 5 or so hours of work that night as well so it’s not like the night we were celebrating her birthday.  That would not have been realistic seeing as we were at work obviously.  But it was the best we could do for being there during her 23rd birthday.  
Saturday night turned into being a slow night until 6am med passing started where a patient’s urostomy leaked all over the place which led me to having to change it not once but twice in the last 20 minutes of the scheduled shift.  Thank god Mal helped me pass on of my patient’s meds for me.  After the 12 hour shift they needed help in many areas of the hospital and were offering extra pay if we stayed for 4 hours over.  So tempting.  So tempting that I took them up on it and worked on the step-down unit until 11:30.  I had 3 patients, 2 of them having been in a car accident the day before.  They were both in the same accident, and both in the same car, and both broke ribs along with other bones.  And both the most compliant and thankful patients I have ever had.  I was taught a valuable lesson from something one of them said when this conversation happened: 
Me: “You are going down for your surgery now, I forgot to take off your heart monitor and earrings before, so we need to do that now before this nurse takes you to the Operating room if that’s ok with you! I’m so sorry I forgot, I thought I had thought of everything...I am trying to do things perfectly for you and I guess that I failed with that one!”
Patient: “Sweetie, there was only one person that was perfect...”
Wow, so true. I guess I can only try my best at work/in life in general.  Nobody’s perfect.  Thanks go to her after 15 hours of work and still teaching me a valuable lesson.  
I gave report to the next nurse coming on and headed home to finally rest before going to Columbus to say my goodbye to Fahad.  I slept for a little over 3 hours grabbed a dc and headed south.  Fahad and I went to Hyde Park and had a delicious dinner filled with steak, cheesecake, and wine.  Oh, and we got calamari/crab cakes/scallops for an appetizer...I know what you are thinking.  Amanda does not like sea food.  Well we got it anyway so I could attempt it again.  And I can honestly say I enjoyed it this time.  Maybe it was lack of sleep? Or maybe it was that I was enjoying the company of Fahad? Or maybe I really did enjoy it (shhh don’t tell anyone).  For reasons like this one, I will continue to try to like seafood so I don’t miss out on something people seem to really enjoy.  
We ended up closing the restaurant and headed back to campus.  I was going to originally head home, but I was suckered into going to mug night.  I wasn’t too upset by it.  We sat outside on the deck and people watched for most of the time before Falon and Alex showed up.  It was a nice chill night with all of them and I am glad I made the decision to stay for it.  I haven’t been to Columbus in a long time where it was just a small group of people out like that.  Different, but in a great way.  So glad I got to see Alex before he leaves for Tucson next month since I can’t go down for his going away party either.  Saying goodbye to friends is always so flipping hard, but I say those are just 2 more people to add to the list of placed I can go and visit.  And it’s see-ya later for everyone, not goodbye for good.  And I know the people who are leaving ohio are leaving for amazing opportunities that should not be passed up.  So happy for my friends and all their journeys even though they will all be missed like crazy!
In other news I tried for a run the past 2 days.  There is no place for me to ride without being in the direct sunlight, and with the heat being 100+humidity I would say that running was a better idea.  I timed it to run in the rain yesterday right by where I will be living in a month and a half! It was much better once the rain started.  Today I had chemotherapy class and afterwards headed up to wildwood to be in the shade.  It was only 85 out in the shade instead of 105...yea, thank you toledo weather. Nice to be in the AC again.  That is until volleyball tonight at 9:30. Maybe it will cool down to 90...
For now, a shower is in order.
Keep it real.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

"I think we should make a book"

Last night I spent my time with jackie, mallory, and Mr. and Mrs. Malenfant (aka jackie’s ‘rents) at the Malenfant residence in Waterville...about 10 minutes from Perrysburg.  Jackie’s birthday is tomorrow so we had a mini celebration last night complimented with a delicious steak/potato/corn dinner.  Great food, even greater company.  Throughout the dinner we got on the topic of work.  Even though we complain about work sometimes, we do have to look back and laugh/enjoy the craziness that ensues there.  I think we could have talked all night about the many stories we have already had there...which is why Mr. Malenfant said we should write a book.  Or at least write down all these stories we have.  
Story time from work on Tuesday night: I was assessing my patient’s feet seeing that they were swollen and I went to take off her socks when she was quick to say “oh please be careful with my right foot!!”.  I just figured she may have a sore on her foot of some sort but when asked about it she said “I have my money in my sock and don’t want to lose it.” Hmmm...well I guess no one will steal it from you? Where she went on to say that she thinks that if anyone will go for it in her sock at least she’ll wake up.  I told her we could lock it up, but she seemed to think it was much safer in the right sock.  And that her son would pick it up tomorrow morning.  
This is just one story of many from each night.  Some are funny like this one, some sad, some just down right crazy.  I realize why there are sooo many shows about hospitals/medicine.  You never run out of stories.
On another note, thanks again for the donations that keep coming in for my ride in August! Still have a long way to go, but so thankful for everyone so far who has gotten me this far with the donations.  Monday since it was pouring cats and dogs I had to pay a visit to the treadmill...wasn’t originally looking forward to this, but turned out pretty good.  This Tuesday I went on a nice 22 mile ride along river road from pburg.  I can’t tell you how happy I am with my bike purchase this year, best purchase of the year for sure.  I think about that literally every ride.  Yesterday I did a short run before heading over to the Malenfant residence...I woke up at 5:30pm after work the night before cutting it a bit short.  Ok with me, legs were screaming at me.  
Today another ride at some point before going into work tonight....first night of 3 for me! Let’s hope they are good ones, or at least ones full of lots of stories for our book “the adventures of floor 4cd”. 

Monday, July 11, 2011

50 50 50 50 50 50!!!!!!

As I write this post I have a load of laundry next to me, a thunderstorm outside, due date playing in the background and an ice pack on my back.  Laundry is next to me because it always takes me a day and a half to actually fold and put it away. Thunderstorm is widely appreciated in Toledo since it hasn't rained in a month.  Due date: just because I like background noise.  And the ice pack? Well, I need to learn how to not slouch when I'm riding jarvis, especially when I'm riding 50 miles on him. (or 102 when pelotonia rolls around)  I think an ice bath is in order later today if it still feels like this.  I'm not sure if I will actually put myself through that one though...we'll see.
So the ride yesterday I broke up into a 30 mile ride with a 20 minute break to grab some more water at my place, let marley out to pee/play, and get a snack.  I rode to luckey and back on that first part where I only saw a few cars, motorcycles, and fellow bikers.  It's funny how much a motorcyclist and I have in common: they wake up early to feel the wind in the hair, as did I. With the exception of them having some extra help with the actual feeling the wind in the hair with the motor part of it.  And we all had helmets on, so I guess not really feeling it in the hair...sort of.  Regardless, we all enjoyed the morning in the outside....I thought I was going somewhere with that.
Also on my ride someone was gracious enough to spray me with some water as they were watering their grass.  With only about 5 miles to go it was much appreciated.  And I came to the realization that I need to buy riding gloves at some point very soon.  My right pinky is still numb from the ride.  Not the best sensation ever.  I will be heading up to bike works of sylvania this afternoon to see if they can help me out with the glove situation.  Hopefully I get some suggestions, they always have been super helpful there!!!
All in all, it was a solid ride.  It makes me believe that I can really do that next 50 when Pelotonia comes in August.  Well, hopefully!
Not much more going on here.  Will update you all again soon.  Don't forget to make a donation to my ride if you haven't yet and if you can!  Any little bit helps, even if it is 5 or 10 dollars!!!  Just go to
http://www.mypelotonia.org/riders_profile.jsp?MemberID=115667&SearchStart=0&PAGING
and click on "donate to my ride".  Thanks for everyone who already has helped donate so far!  You are making a difference in people's lives by doing so!
Alright, I guess I should get back to laundry. BOO.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Snake Tees and 4 12’s...

I have a lot to catch up with you all...haven’t written AGAIN in a while.  I’ve been busy on vacation/working 4 12 hour shifts straight.  I figured I would just update after I had all of them done (and 7 days off straight!!)
Well well. I left for Bethany beach, delaware last Sunday for the week with my family+Alana. So glad she could join our clan.    Jared’s parents came down for a few days as well.  I haven’t seen them since Em and Jared’s wedding I think! Always good to catch up! It was a week of good eats (of course, Mommy Ernzer was cooking so it was awesome), company, running and biking, and relaxing on the beach with a drink in hand  (only after 4 o clock was there a drink in hand...ok, maybe 3 o clock on some days). I ran every other day and biked on the other days. I was able to do about 5 miles running around the sea colony resort/boardwalk the days I ran and 20- 30 miles biking each time.  The 30 mile ride was absolute bliss: no wind, a few random hills, perfect temp, and very wide roads for me to not have to worry about traffic being a problem.  Oh, and it was right by the shore too...so gorgeous views! I wish every ride was like that. I guess I’ll have to not live in Ohio for that.  Maybe some day...
yay! share the road with us!

The runs were pretty perfect as well. I think the fact that I was on vacation and I knew I had a yummy breakfast to come back to when I was done made it that much better.

Then we spent the rest of the morning/afternoon on the beach. I think this was the first year I was actually able to spend more than an hour on the beach and not get bored.  Just laying there in the sun with the family was a blessing this week.  I don’t think I’ve had so much fun or laughed so hard in a long time.  Can’t get enough of that crew.  
enjoying the sun and our 4oclock bag
biking over to play tennis
J-rod and wall-e
lana baby
Upon returning to Toledo, I was definitely bummed to be leaving everyone.  I was actually ok with coming back to work.  I am glad now that I had my mind set to work 4 in a row because I don’t think I could have done it otherwise.  And I had some pretty sweet patients/coworkers every night which made it that much better.  I had the same conversation with one of my patients who was getting 2 units of blood and a unit of platelets about the importance of giving blood and how thankful he is for people who do (see second to last post).  So thanks to everyone for continuing to give blood!!!  
I also had a lesson on heparin drips and the importance of monitoring lab levels of ptt and ufh as well as just looking for signs and symptoms of bleeding.  One of his lab levels was normal (the one our hospital goes by) and the other one was way out of wack.  And he had some bleeding problems.  I spent most of one night trying to stop the bleeding while we finally turned off his heparin drip even though his lab levels we go by at UT were normal.  Which reminds me I need to email someone about this problem.  If we are using a lab that is not accurate then it is not safe for these patients! I will email someone now...
How was working 4 nights in a row you ask? Hard on my body? Yes, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Did I like it? Actually, yes, very much so.  I was able to have the same people back every night which made it so much better.  I love getting in a groove with things and getting to know the patients more and more each night.  Am I going to enjoy a nice margarita or 2 or 3 tonight with my girls? yes. On that note, time to take marley for a walk so I can start getting up and ready to go! 

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Holy Toledo Humidity!

Dear God Toledo, why must you always be humid as hell when I just want to go on a friendly run after waking up? I went to get fingerprinted/background check for grad school in the fall and since I was right by UT’s trail I decided to take some time on a nice 6 mile run.  I was thoroughly ready for humidity...or so I thought. It ended up being a pretty good one, but just sweaty beyond belief.  After I planned on going to giant eagle to grab some snacks for Wine Wednesday with Mallory and me. And KC after rehearsal.   I felt bad for whoever came within a 5 foot radius of me. I had just enough time to come home, eat, and go to volleyball.  So I was the smelly one on the team at the beginning.  But I was glad I hadn’t showered seeing as though I had time between our games to practice my sandcastle building skills in the sand for the beach next week with the family.  
Lesson of today: it will be ridiculously humid in Toledo during the summer.  Being a smelly hot mess is going to be the theme of the summer after long bike rides and runs. And I’m ok with it. 
That’s about it. Have a wonderful, humid day.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Giving blood and saving a life

Very cliche title today. But so true. Working on the oncology floor of the hospital it seems as though I give a unit of blood or 2 at least once or twice every other week.  There was a night at work where 4 units of blood were used on one of my patients (2 of the bags went bad after some complications with getting an IV in/ a high fever ensued after starting one of them).  That is 4 different people who needed to donate to help out this one patient on one of his nights of stay! Are you getting what I’m saying to you?! We use a lot of blood on just our floor...and this is just our floor in our tiny hospital. 
I had a conversation with a patient of mine on Tuesday night about her cancer and how thankful she is to people who have helped her by giving blood.  She told me that she did not realize how important it is for people to give blood when they can, but she sure does know now! She has gotten so much blood that she now can “feel” when she needs it.  She knows when she is tired and dragging so much that a unit or 2 of blood will do her good.  After the unit she got ended she said to me “gosh I feel like a new person! Too bad it’s 3am”...I had to laugh. :)  
Moral of the story: give blood people.  Give as often as you can (if you don’t have a low hemoglobin level like I usually do. Grr.).  It literally will save a life.  You don’t have to be a superhero to save lives, just give some blood every 56 days.

Monday, June 20, 2011

A new ride to work

Last week my mom and I went on an excursion to find another bike. what? yes. another bike.  Why is this? Well, I’m going to start to bike to work and I can’t leave Jarvis outside in the middle of Toledo during the night. Just not a good idea. So I found an old one on craigslist for 40 dollars. I’ll take it. Only needed a new tire on it and it is golden.  I did a trial run last night and it worked well.  It is raining right now so I’m not sure if the biking to work tonight is going to happen unfortunately.  Maybe tomorrow night? Fingers crossed. The ride will be just over 10 miles one way so it will help add some milage on the miles needed for the training.  The bike is so much heavier than jarvis too so it adds some difficulty to the ride.  Helps me with the hills being non existent in NW ohio.  It is quite the gorgeous ride on River Road as well right by the Maumee! Maybe the amount of money that goes to gas from my paycheck will decrease as well.  At least I’m hoping so.  
Side note, this weekend was an absolute blast with my family celebrating marta and matt’s wedding. Marta looked gorgeous and Matt didn’t look to shabby either.  The different, relaxed feeling of the day made it so different than any other wedding but I think it was perfect for them.  During the afternoon (since the wedding was at 11:30) KC and I were able to explore the short north a bit and get Jeni’s ice cream: obviously.  That ice cream never fails to make me smile.  Love it.  At night we all found our way to goron biersch for some beers/dinner before char bar to celebrate some more.  Made for a wonderful night with everyone! The whole weekend was an eating spree as well.  So much food at cafe bella, then at barcelona, and at Aunt Elaine’s house.  We seriously went home with a loaf of bread from panera.  Thanks Aunt Elaine for feeding us!  Spending time with the family makes me that much more excited to go to the beach with the family next week! YAY beach!
Now to take a nap before work. 

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Reunion in the bus

Thanks again to everyone contributing to my ride, every single bit helps, so please contribute if you can!!!
I went to cbus this weekend to celebrate suzanne’s birthday/her coming home from oregon/sujie visiting/graduation for everyone else.  It was an adventure (as always) with all of them.  We were even able to get a bike ride in on Saturday afternoon.   It was a little over 20 miles and included a nice steep hill...aka something I never encounter in toledo.  It was a challenge, but man did I feel on top of the world after we took it down.  We were able to enjoy some drinks at out r inn afterwards with some people and shop a bit before dinner.  We went to cafe bella which is by far my favorite restaurant in Columbus right now.  North High Street right after hudson.  Go there.  You won’t be disappointed. http://www.cafebellacolumbus.com/ We are actually going there for MARTA AND MATT’S REHEARSAL DINNER!!!! YAY WEDDINGS!! This Saturday is the wedding. So flipping pumped.  After we were able to hear James Greenebaum’s speech on the oval for the candlelight ceremony. He was the best person for that job because it truly was from the heart and encompassed everything that needed to be said. We left right after and headed downtown.  The rest of the night was filled with plenty of laughs, excursions, and a walk from the arena district back to 12th avenue. Thank you to whoever thought that was a good idea...I guess it was a fun walk but really? All the way back to campus? All 2 miles of it? (I googlemaped it so it was legit 2 miles). I guess I shouldn’t complain. We could probably have used the exercise after all the, um, beverages we had that night.  And it was a nice night.  And it was a blast.  I just want to complain right now about it though. All in all, WONDERFUL to see my friends and be in the bus.
This past Monday I was able to do a 40 mile ride.  It took some planning/metal pumping up but I finished and I finished without 1)popping a tire 2) getting lost 3) falling off my bike. So it’s definitely a win right there. I cannot wait to enjoy those rides on the open roads of Michigan with Suzanne in July. Going to be absolutely unbelievable.  Well, now my mom is here and we are enjoying watching hgtv after a yummy dinner and commenting on the cookies we bought at the perrysburg farmers market.  We both thought they were excellent...not as good as ours. But excellent nonetheless. What does that say about our cookies? That they are flipping amazing. Not even going to be humble about them. We also were able to buy some homemade bread where the proceeds go to homeless shelters in the Toledo area.  The guy that does it seemed in need of help so I gave him my information for volunteering my baking services/helping out the homeless shelters.  I hope he does get a hold of me about it, it would be something I’ve been looking for around here.  An ongoing volunteer oppurtunity. We’ll see where it goes from here.  
All in all, been a great past week and ready for the weekend with the family for the wedding celebration. I promise I will be getting better at posting. I need to! Lots of love
Amanda

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

MARLEY!

It has been a while since I wrote up here.  Slacker status right here.  First off, thank you thank you thank you to all the people who have donated to my ride already for August! I appreciate it more than you know.  I will be sending formal thank you’s as well!  A lot has happened since the last time I wrote!  Most importantly, though, I have inherited a beautiful little mut named Marley.  From what I’ve been told she is 5 months old (so we’re still mastering the whole peeing outside thing) and the possibilities for the breed are pikanese sp? and/or shitzu.  What do you think she is? 
This was right after her bath...she looks less than thrilled she's all wet.

Marley is a dog that was unfortunately left behind when some neighbor’s of a friend moved away. So sad they would just leave her, but so glad she is now under better care.  This is such a learning experience.  I have never had a dog in my life so I am very thankful for the kind people of petsmart who taught me the ins and outs of taking care of her.  The second day I had her I took her to the vet and thank goodness I did because she was throwing up constantly and had diarrhea (sorry for the visual) like crazy.  They gave her a shot for nausea and some doggy andibiotics and advised me to give her a bland diet for a while.  After about a day and a half she seemed to be doing much better than before.  And now she is herself again.  She loves going on walks and always greets me at the door after getting off a long shift at work.  I cannot be in a bad mood when I get home even if my night is awful....flashback to Saturday morning: my night WAS awful.  I didn’t end up getting done at work until 845 if that gives you any idea of how everything went.  It was less than awesome.  But then I came home to her beyond excited to see my face and I couldn’t help but let the stress of the night go.  I’ll be posting more pics of her soon.  She is my pride and joy basically..
Other than her, basically the same old stuff.  Right now I’m enjoying this weather out at levis commons with marley.  She has gotten more than a few compliments on how adorable she is.I went to wildwood metropark earlier for a run as well.  I was going to do my long ride today, but my other tire needs fixed and did not want to deal with it earlier.  I need to make sure I pump up my tires before every ride, because I think that’s why I popped this other one.  Booo.  I’ll learn my lesson (the hard way) again.  It was a blessing in disguise, though, because wildwood is the highlight of my day right now.  The one thing about Toledo is they have an awesome trail system.  And I’m going to be taking full advantage of it all summer long. I am loving Toledo summer already!!! Cannot wait to enjoy the pool more, head down to another mud hens game, play some sand volleyball, enjoy el camino margaritas on the patio, and much much more!  

Friday, May 27, 2011

All parts of the job

Worked the past 2 nights. Up at 12:30 today after sleeping for 3 hours....let’s hope I can hold out for the fun night planned filled with a mud hens game and out downtown somewhere. Oh, and let’s hope the sky doesn’t blow up on us either like the past few days/nights.  Lots of tornado warnings/watches. Hello midwest. Either way I am just glad that there were no touch downs with tornados around here. I still cannot believe the damage done in Missouri.  It’s really hard to watch the news with all of the images from there.  It seems like mother nature has really hit us hard this year with the awful storms that have been happening.  I can only pray that she gives us a break from all of this and that we all stay as safe as we possibly can.  The one thing that they do make me want to do is get on some sort of disaster relief effort at some point in my life.  I’ll definitely have to look into that.  Anyone know anything about doing that? Let me know!
Another topic I need to bring up: confused patients.  I have had one the past 2 nights and it has been more than a lot for everyone.  I can remember when babcai (my grandma) seemed to talk in circles, ask a lot of the same questions and how hard it was to continue to see her like that.  I cannot even imagine how this family can see their family member continue to wake up, not know what she is doing in the hospital, start crying about not knowing what is going on, and then realize she is confused and get upset about it again.  And continue to answer the same questions over and over again when it is just a continual circle to get you back to where you started.  After two nights it was just exhausting.  No matter how hard I or anyone tries we cannot fix her dementia, but seeing her be tearful over again I just wish that it could go away.  I cannot imagine being confused and realizing I am confused.  It is one thing being confused and just being pleasantly happy with everything and not really knowing, but this is just awful to see her so upset at herself for being confused.  I guess it is all part of the job, but there are points that it just breaks my heart beyond belief.  
Just to let you all know I sent out the letter to everyone about supporting me in the Pelotonia.  I will post another one below if you did not receive one and would like to contribute to the cause.  Every little bit helps!
Hope you all have a wonderful memorial day weekend...enjoy some wonderful weather.  I just got back from a 6 mile run and it made my day that much brighter. Hope you can all do something of the same sorts!
Family and Friends:
August 20th of this year I will be biking 100 miles in the fight to end cancer: Pelotonia.  Pelotonia is a bike tour that raises money for life-saving cancer research at The Ohio State University’s James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.  Pelotonia directs 100% of every dollar raised to research and putting an end to cancer.   
I have a goal to raise a minimum of $1800 for the innovative research that takes place at The James.  
I am currently a nurse at The University of Toledo Medical center on the hematology/oncology focused floor and feel compelled to help out in any way I can towards the battle to end cancer.  We nurses use this research every single day taking care of patients and I pray that Pelotonia will continue to support the work that we do for others in their time of need. I am writing to ask for your financial and prayer support of my goal.  No donation or prayer is too big or too small, every little bit helps!  If you would like to contribute visit www.pelotonia.org and search my name under riders.  You can make a donation there under my profile. 
Please visit my blog at www.swimmer-runner-biker.blogspot.com so you can ride along with me on my journey!!  I will be posting pictures and updates as much as possible.
Thank you so much in advance for your support in this event and your generous donation to the James Cancer Hospital.  If you have any questions do not hesitate to call me or email me at 724-689-5399 or ernzer.1@gmail.com.  

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Hello pavement!

I’ve felt like a normal person the past few days! It is unbelievable how many things you can get done when you don’t sleep in past 12.  I knew this before (and I’m sure the majority of you know this), but I guess I had forgotten after getting used to the night shift thing.  I have been up before 9 the past 3 days and it has been amazing.  Biked and/or ran in the morning time (I forgot how much I loved doing that right in the AM) and was able to get so much done around the apartment/run errands.  I hope I can nap or sleep in tomorrow for the sake of having to work tomorrow night.  This little break from work has been like a mini vacation minus the whole trip part of it.  It’s been wonderful regardless.  I think when I have breaks like this in my schedule I’m going to try to sleep less during the day...especially when it is getting to be absolutely beautiful out.  I can’t waste these wonderful days of summer when I know how awful these winters can get.  
Ok, enough about sleeping.  Just a short story of my ride today for you all...
I have had so many visions of myself doing this at some point, so I knew it would happen eventually.  I just went out for a short 15 mile ride in hopes of running a little bit afterwards.  Which thankfully did happen and reminded me of how much I want to do a triathlon again.  But that’s not the point of the story....got side tracked sorry.  I was about 4 miles from my apartment on my way back when I came to an intersection that actually has cars coming through quite frequently as opposed to many of the roads I travel on.  I slowed down and saw a car coming so unclipped my right foot so I could rest for a second.  (I have those pedals where you have to clip in your shoes to them and unclip when you get off of the bike.  It is not a problem, especially when you aren’t stopping that much at all and once you get used to it: see Cycling pedals 101 below)  My body seemed to not want to lean to the right side (where my foot was unclipped) and knocked me over to the left.  Long story short I didn’t have time to unclip the left one so I ate some pavement, well a lot of pavement.  Ouch...right on my sunburn from Sunday.  Nobody even stopped to see if I was ok. :(.  There was one car that passed, so I guess I’ll give that car the benefit of the doubt and say that I was pretty embarrassed so I’m kind of glad they did not stop.  Only came out with a scratch on myself, and a tiny one on Jarvis.  Nothing to write home about.  Hope you laughed a little bit at my expense from my story.  If not, well I’m sorry I’m not funny enough for you.  Anyways, I’m going to enjoy the rest of this pretty day.  Included in the day for me? Glee finale (obviously), listening to my new lady gaga cd (you all need to go buy it, for reals.), and cooking up a yummy dinner at some point.  Hope you all have a wonderful evening!



Cycling Pedals 101: cycling pedals, or ‘clipless pedals’ are pedals that lock into cleats attached to the bottom of special cycling shoes, much like a ski boot.
 The idea is simple – with a solid connection between your feet and the pedal, you can “pull” on the upstroke as well as “push” on the downstroke.  Thus you get 360 degrees of power instead of only pushing down the entire time.  Your feet are less likely to slide around or off the pedals, and with a stiff-soled cycling shoe, you transfer more power into your pedal stroke.  All together, clipless pedals make you dramatically more efficient on a bike.

http://triumphtriathlon.com/2011/02/17/new-triathlete-question-clipless-pedals/

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Flipping dogs

So last night I got the entire night off.  I was on my way to work as ready as I could be after only getting a few hours of sleep during the day (how hard is it to sleep during the day when it is nice out? it’s going to be a challenge for me) and I got that wonderful phone call asking me if I wanted comp time. Yes. Please.  I was able to get some shopping at NY and CO done (hello 50% off everything) and get my apartment somewhat clean before meeting some friends for sushi.  Yes, sushi. Well, I had already eaten dinner so I just got a yummy key lime martini that tasted like summer and some edamame.  And I tried a piece of sushi. It wasn’t horrible.  I would have liked it had it been crab-less. (Is that correct english? who knows)  Maybe I’ll try it again.  That’s a big MAYBE though!  I fell asleep at midnight so thank god I didn’t have to work, I would have been dragging.  I hate that feeling beyond belief.  It allowed me to get up at 8 (what?) yes, 8am to go on a 26 mile ride in this gorgeous weather. It was amazing until I turned around and realized that the wind was behind me the whole way out.  I hate HATE windy rides.  I’d much rather have a million hills than wind...I say that now but I guess Toledo doesn’t really have many hills. Or should I say any hills?  But at least hills have an end to them, the wind just hits you in the flipping face out of no where. Ridic.  And then there was this house that has 2 big old dogs that come chasing after me. every flipping time I ride past there they seem to think that it is a great idea to come chasing after a bike.  I have come to the conclusion that because one of their name’s is “buckeye” (I heard the owner screaming it when it came after me) and because my bike is Ohio State colors it is just drawn to me.  Or maybe it’s just because I’m a moving object and they don’t know any better.  Either way, it scared the living daylights out of me.  And I can only hope that they have them in the house the next time I’m riding by...but since this is not the first time I have a feeling it will happen again, I will have to stop so I don’t get knocked over, and my life will flash before my eyes yet again.  Thank you dogs for causing me stress on my ride that is supposed to de-stress me.  At least after the ride I got to go to mass and now I’m sitting poolside writing this.  I think it may be time to take a little nap in the sun? Yes please....don’t worry mom I’m wearing sunscreen.
Oh, and I have no clue who that man is...but I'm gonna bet he's getting burnt.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Step one of common sense: complete

Step one of using common sense: getting my flat fixed, learning how to correctly fix a flat by myself, and buying the necessary supplies to help me when I’m stuck miles from my apartment again.  Thank you bike works of Sylvania!! No more phone calls from me saying I need saved when I’m stuck in the middle of no where. I don’t think so anyways...
Did absolutely nothing but run errands this afternoon. Getting that tire fixed was top priority, and figuring out how to put the tire back on my bike when I got home.  Only took me 4 attempts! 
At work tonight I had the sweetest old man as 1 of 6 of my patients.  He was one of those people who could talk for hours upon hours. It is a blessing and a curse at times: blessing when I have time to talk, curse when there are 5 other patients who need you at the same time.  Isn’t that awful that sometimes I don’t have the time to talk to those people who really need to talk? Well, I did get a little 20 minute stretch while I was in his room and was able to do so.  He was great at rambling for sure...you know, one of those  people who could talk about nothing and if I shook my head and said uh huh a few times he would just keep on going.  But then he got into how he ended up in the hospital.  He fell at home, and was on the floor for over 2 days.  2 DAYS!? I cannot even imagine what that must feel like at all. 2 days straight of yelling for help, hoping for someone to hear you. He just wanted someone to listen to his story, just like he just wanted someone to hear him when he was on the floor for those days.  A little reminder for everyone to just listen to “those people” who just don’t ever stop talking. They’ll get to the point eventually.  Well hopefully. Peace and much love, A

Thursday, May 19, 2011

WE FINALLY WON!

Volley ball game last night: success. WE WON!!!!!

Yinzers run a marathon relay

So here we are a few days later...what is new?? Well, my back is no longer burnt. It is peeling. Gross? Yea, sorry.  I went to the ‘burgh last weekend to see the family.  I was able to get a megabus ticket home and back for a total of $2.50. Score.  Thanks to Jackie for driving me to and from the station. And thanks to the 2 police officers for not giving her a ticket on the way home.  
The trip was much enjoyable.  Mom made a mexican fiesta on Friday night which was delicious and exactly what I needed.  The sibs came over as well which was a fiasco as always.  I got my outfit from Emily for the weekend for team GNC and my bib.  I was “frank” for the day since that is what my bib said.  I’m ok with it.  Emily brought over this neat thing from Under armor.  See link: 
http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/mens/accessories/protective-gear/pid1223503?iid=125|ArmourBite|v4.0-Endeca-Department-Page---113|dp_hero_01||MWBG|armourbite|P|I|1223503|
Do you think they work? She seems to think it’s legit.  
The next morning we took a tour of some homes in the south side in Pittsburgh.  A walking tour was just what I needed to stretch frank’s legs out. And dad brought his pedometer too and was very proud of the fact he did over 5,000 steps!  I loved seeing all the houses I will never in my life be able to afford and spending some time with the rents.  We met up with the bro on Mt. Washington for a lunch looking out to the beautiful city of Pittsburgh.  Yummy lunch filled with lots of laughs! Upon going home I suggested church later that night but my body was telling me I was crazy....after readjusting to regular person sleeping schedule (thank you night schedule for doing so) I was in need of a nap that afternoon/evening and noone was going to disturb me....(sorry mike gearhart for ignoring your phone call that afternoon...I called you back yesterday though!!)  It made for a non restful sleep for the night unfortunately and I was a bit sleep deprived during the race.  Which was quite ok since the adrenaline was running like crazy after seeing the kenyans running their butts off and all the people on the sidelines cheering for us.  If you get a chance to run in a relay race definitely do so.  They are a blast (I cannot wait for RAGNAR in January!!!!!)  Pittsburgh did a great job of keeping everything organized and fun the whole race for everyone.  After the race mom made us all a huge brunch and I pulled a dad and fell asleep on the couch for an hour or so.  
We just hung around the house/went grocery shopping in the afternoon...nothing too crazy.  Emily suggested we all grab some ice cream later so we me them at the ice cream shop near us all.  Perfect ending to a great visit with the family.  Boyd man dropped me off at the megabus station the next morning and I started my journey back to Toledo just to work at night.  When I finally was able to sleep the next morning I had been up for 22ish hours. Too much stress on my body some times.  Thus why I need to chill out on the going away to different places every other weekend for at least one weekend the next month.  I made the decision to stay in Toledo for memorial day weekend so I don’t go crazy trying to make plans with people and get to different places just to come back to work.  I need to take a chill pill and relax in T-town so I don’t lose my brain.  I can get some good bike rides in that weekend too! Well, at least one I’m hoping for!  Sometimes I think I need to slow down my life a little bit sometimes.  Really, I just need to take a step back and remember that I am supposed to be enjoying myself and not just checking things off of my to do list everyday.  God made this life of mine so I can experience it, not try to squeeze everything in I can possibly squeeze in.  I know I tell myself this all the time, but it is hard to live by it, I am always on the go.  If you notice me too much on the go give me a slap in the face and tell me to stop, look around, and enjoy my life.  In the words of miss Francesca Battistelli “In the middle of my little mess, I forget how big I’m blessed”....I need to stop forgetting that fact!!
Peace and much love,
A

Friday, May 13, 2011

USE COMMON SENSE

It has been QUITE the eventful past day for me.  As in, something out of the ordinary for me.  Something maybe worth reading about for you?...
Yesterday morning I decided a bike ride was in order.  I needed to give the pounding of my legs a little break for the pittsburgh marathon relay this sunday.  And I just haven’t been out on my bike for a while so I was itching to get out on a nice day.  Not too windy, hot, and sunny is exactly what it was yesterday.  I had my tanktop on and still need to invest in some bike shorts, but I was so excited to get out on the road that it didn’t matter to me at all bike shorts or regular bike shorts (I guess I paid for it today though...that and the not caring about sunscreen thing)  I reminded myself one more time that I really need to get a patch kit for my bike before I go out again, but said screw it, I’m going and I don’t really care.  “I’ll be fine”...last time I’ll say those words ever again.  I took my phone in hopes of capturing a picture of the reality of the back country roads I ride on. 

I had a great ride...on my way to being over 30 miles yesterday and feeling good in every which way (other than not realizing I was burning profusely).  I even made it to a cute little town called Luckey, Ohio complete with a home cooking restaurant, bar, corner store, church, and little elementary school.  Adorable.  I looked at my milage and saw 15 miles completed on my journey and figured it would be a good idea to turn around, total being 30 miles today.  I made it a little over 7 miles and grabbed my water bottle for a sip.  Well me being my clumsy self let it slip out of my hand and ran over it with my back tire...thus starts my realization for how far I still am from home as my back tire started to swerve.  I am still thanking God that I brought my phone with me on this ride, I almost went out with nothing but some water....I know, I’ve learned my lesson.  I got my first burn of the season while I was waiting for my friend Mallory to pick me up (shout out to mal! Thank you! thank you! thank you!!!!)  and I also got extremely dehydrated.  Made for a fun night at work of being hot then cold and exhausted beyond belief from the ride/dehydration.  And all my patients were asking ME if I was ok! They were trying to take care of their nurse! I appreciated it, but I know that’s not how it should be!  I guess what this has taught me is first off, always wear sunscreen.  I am pale, I can’t fight that anymore.  Secondly: always bring necessary supplies on a ride: phone, ID, money, extra tube for tire, pump, water.  Anything else anyone can think of? 
I need to use some more common sense is what this stupidity comes to....ready, go. 

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Baseball and Bud light night

Lots of baseball news for the past few days....
  1. The Pittsburgh Pirates are above .500. This is the biggest news for the Pirates since they got a new stadium. 
  2. The “lemonade here” man from pnc park passed away. If you’ve ever been to a pirate game you know who I’m talking about.  May he rest in peace and have people waiting on him hand and foot up in heaven like he did for so many!
  3. I went to the mud hens game last night.  Go Toledo! Seriously such a great park. And $9 for a seat behind home plate I’ll take any day.  I enjoyed Tony Packos and a few beers with Jackie, Mallory, Kc, and Tony.  Love this crew of people. So much fun...and a good break after 3 nights straight of working.  I slept for 12 hours last night after it all!
I think that’s it for the baseball news.  I can’t wait to go to another game, such a good reminder summer is coming. I woke up this morning at 8am to a thunderstorm and couldn’t fall asleep for a bit so I watched Jamie Oliver’s Food revolution on hulu. (I then fell asleep until 2, which is how I ended up getting 12 hours of sleep ha!)  The show really is amazing, though.  He has such a huge goal for people and healthy eating.  I honestly get scared when I think about the fact that there are so many young kids who are developing diabetes and so many who don’t even know the meaning of a good homecooked meal with fresh ingredients.  It is so sad...
I have a feeling that pretty soon I will be seeing 90% of my patients will be diabetic, even though it is not unusual to have half of them being diabetic now!!