No airplane this week!!! Riding bikes...

Howdy from HotLanta...

No more travel!!! Or at least for 7 more days. I checked out my flight schedule, and this is the first 7 day period in 2 months I have not been on a plane... But it has been some great times! Last week, I got to Boston, with hopes of riding with my man Mark Supernaut, but endless games of phone tag, and the inability for me to plan made it not possible. I did catch a ride with Rob Campbell and Amy at Insulet, which was nice, and then cruised through downtown Boston, and Harvard to check out my future school (please let me know when you stop laughing...)

Great times at Omni-Pod, and that is a company that is just taking off. Great people, great products, and great ideas for the future! Then John G, Rob, and I took off for some fishing, and caught a bunch of striper, but no tuna. Saw a lot of whales! Then 3 hours later, wake up, and get back on the boat with John, Rob, and my man Steve Bubrick for another day of fishing! Again, no tuna, but did see more whales, and catch a bunch of striper. John and Rob laughed at Steve and I as we made fishing look hard.

Back to Atlanta, and still training. Hitting the gym to get some strength back, and also got my first 2 hour ride in yesterday. It is awesome holding onto Dan and Joe's jerseys as we go uphill to keep my heart rate down right now, and cracking on a 2 hour ride. Fitness come back please!!!
Now for some diabetes: I can't figure out what is going on just yet. I am doing more lantus then when not training, and in the morning, it seems to take a lot of insulin to cover the life cereal I have recently been re-united with. I am not sure if it is a dawn effect, or what, but am blood sugars are not where I want them to be. Solution: get on the bike. As soon as I do that, the BS comes right now. Tomorrow, I am going low carb for breakfast, then gym, then bike. We shall see how that works. Might try a little something else as well.

7 more days in Atlanta, with hopes of doing 3hrs by the end of the week, and 4 by this time next week. Then we head to Toronto for the DESA convention, then Sanofi National Sales meeting, and finish up the trip with Children with Diabetes conference in Orlando, Fl.

Also, a special note: Please say a prayer for my friend and teammate, Ben Brooks, who took a nasty spill today in the Cascade Classic in Bend, OR. He needs our support right now!

Thanks for reading. Have a great night!

Philpott

travel travel travel-over...

Howdy from Boston,

Or wait, which city? So last week was a busy VA-NYC-Atl trip. Got home said hi to a few people, then back to Boston. Yesterday I visited Insulet Corp, makers of the Omni-Pod. These folks rock! It is fun getting to meet and chat with the people, (John G, Marc, Steve, Amy)
who invented it, and are constantly working to make it a bit better. Got to spend some time catching up with my man Steve B, who has been with TT1 from the start.

Oh yeah, I have been riding!!! Got to ride outside 4 times now, and even though I feel not so great (out of shape) it feels SOOOO good to ride. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I got out there. Now it will be a long slow process getting back to top shape! On Friday I go home to Atl, and then have almost 10 days in Atlanta. I hope that by the end of that stint I am up to 3-4 hour rides, before a 11 day travel stint going to Toronto for DESA, Orlando for a Sanofi Sales meeting, and then Children With Diabetes. During that trip I hope to ride 2-3 hours/day with some intensity. That is my plan, and I hope to stick to it.

Boston is a cool place to ride. Went through BU, Harvard, MIT, and then got lost in the maze of 1 ways in downtown. Fun times! If it didn't snow or freeze for half the year, I would love to live here.
Fishing with John, Rob, and Steve tomorrow. Hoping for some good bites.
Happy 4th to all.
Have a great day.

Phil

Life is good: Bike-diabetes-all of it

Howdy from NYC:
I have come to terms with the fact that I am not a good blogger. It seems for a blog to be catchy, it must be updated very frequently, with new material. My apologies, as there is a lot of material (I am biased, so think it is good...ha) but time to sit down and write it up is not.

Enough excuses: I can ride my bike again!!!! For the last 10 days, beginning with the day the team finished RAAM, I have been on a stationary bike. First ride in Annapolis, 2nd ride in Atlanta on my bike (inside) then KS, MO, then Atl, then a ride in Charlottesville, VA, and now 2 days in NYC before heading home to head outside, which I cannot wait for!!! I will go a little extreme here, but to me riding inside would be along the lines (how cheesy can I get) of a
lion in a petting zoo...
So what does a type 1 exercise junky do, when you take his ideal form of life away...
Set new goals: I want to go uphill fast, and am going to target US Pro Champs, and if recovery is good Tour of MO. To be good for these, I have gone into extreme diet mode, and it has paid dividends. I am appx 10 lb.s lighter than in February, and my basal rate of insulin is at an all time low, and that is with minimal exercise. Am hoping now tomorrow to get on the bike, and on the path to speed. The past 2 weeks have been great, and seeing the guys leave their hearts on the road for RAAM was awesome. I got the true appreciation of what it means to be on the crew, and the effort they put in for us the past 2 years. At the finish line, the Apidra/Lantus team had 25 reps from the area to support us. It rocked! Then athlete days, which are a great opportunity to share with docs about TT1, and what we are doing, and who makes it possible. Yesterday was a nice 15hr work day, with a lot of social fun in the mix. Today was a little bit lighter, and got to cab it all around NYC... Good times.
The reps and doctors here have been awesome, and we may have a new teammate or 2 because of it. The ladies of the NYC team Dyna Pride, Yvonne, Adriana, Pam, and others all had TT1 t-shirts sporting the teams time!! Truly a great few days.
Tomorrow am home, and stay through Monday night, and then Tuesday I head to Boston for a few days to meet with Omni-Pod. Exciting times.

That is about it for now. Thanks for reading.
Phil

Questions from last post

Howdy again from HotLanta...

Had a few questions from the last post, and I am more than happy to address them anytime:
as related to diabetes?
1) Did you ever figure out what the itching was? Do you think it was related to diabetes?
No idea what the itching was. There were a few theories:
1. Morphine- which I was on for appx 1 hr.
2. The epidural, and drug that it delivered
3. The bed sheets.

2) How can you be on a Lantus/Aphidra routine on a pump??
For the time being, I am just on shots. When on a pump, I use the Omni-Pod, with Apidra in it, but for now, I am on a pump-holiday so to speak., and when doing that I take Lantus and Apidra.

Today was first swim day. I got some goggles and a kick board and went to town for 20 minutes. Nice to get a little workout in. I hope to be able to extend the swim to 45 minutes this time next week.

Thanks for reading, and for the great questions!
Have a nice day.

Phil
www.teamtype1.org

Inquiring minds want to know. And congratulations on the successful surgery.

-- Stellasmom

phone-phone-no exercise...

Howdy from Atlanta,

Not too much to report these days. Still recovering from the surgery, so not too much that I can do. Walking a quarter mile is about the most I can do. In fact, went to a Brave's game yesterday and the walk from the car to park, and park to car created a good bit of sore muscles last night.

These days I get to watch bike racing. I got to see all the RAAM guys get trained on the FreeStyle Navigator last Friday. Then the guys were all overloaded with the wealth of info this bad boy brings. You can make adjustments before you need them, and get close to perfect blood sugars once you learn how to use the machine. It does take time, and it takes lessons, but here are some examples of the control:
14 Day Average: 106
Above Target: 5%
Within Target: 87%
Below Target: 8%
Last A1C: 5.4

Doing all this on a basal/bolus regime of Lantus/Apidra. I am however surprised about the amount of Lantus I am using. Even with a near sedentary lifestyle, I am only on 20 units of lantus a day. Typical sedentary is 23 units for me, so it seems to be working great! The Apidra also works better with lantus than any other rapid acting insulin.

Now it is on though: This week I ca start to swim, and do some light gym work. I am also on a full fledged diet. I am not training, which means I don't need to recover, so don't need to eat., much. My old buddy Dan Holt has moved in, and is helping me to get lean so that when I get back on the bike it is on! I want to drop 4lb.s by middle of June, and another 4 by middle of July, so that come August/September I am ready to dance of some climbs for Nationals in Greenville, and Tour of Missouri if the artery is good.

So what to do when not racing:
Conference calls. I am now on the phone all the time making plans for 2009, and getting riders to come on board, sponsor renewal, and all that good stuff. I enjoy the business side, and have some aggressive plans for growth in 2009 which will take us closer and closer to the Tour de France by 2012.

BIG CONGRATS to Monique and Morgan for their stellar rides up in Kelly Cup and Somerville. Morgan took 2nd and 5th in those races, and Monique was 3rd in Kelly, and did super work for Morgan in both those races. For any team to get 2 ladies on the podium in a NRC race is HUGE, and when you take into account that they were are only 2 ladies, and oh yeah, both have type 1!!! Team Type 1 keeps rocking the house, and I hope you will all follow the blog as RAAM comes up in 2 weeks!

Thanks for the support.
Have a great day.

Phil
www.teamtype1.org

slice and dice, diabetes in the hospital...

Howdy from GA,

My apologies for dropping off the face of the earth. A lot and a little have been going on. I guess last time I was about to go in for surgery, or get some test done to see if it was needed, and it was. So I go into the hospital, explain to the anesthesiologist (no idea how to spell) about FreeStyle Navigator, and he agreed to use that to monitor my blood sugar during the surgery. At first he told me we were gonna do it his way, then came back apologizing, and thought the thing was awesome. So they give me an epidural, and knock me out for this bad boy. I wake up, and am itching pretty bad. Get some Benadryl, and fall asleep. In and out all day, itching the entire time... I am told that I will be on Regular (prehistoric) insulin for my stay in the hospital, and they will give me a shot every 4 hours, which I scoffed at.
I said I wanted to use Lantus and Apidra as my basal/bolus, and they said no. I got my endo, Bruce Bode on the phone, and he told me just to do it my way. So I fought, and fought (still all doped up) and finally was able to sign a consent form saying that I would be responsible if I died from hypo in the hospital, but that I could manage my own blood sugars. Happy to sign. My mom helped me big time here, and even went to sleep on a hospital chair to look out for me through the night. My blood sugar ran in the 150-200 range most of that day, and I was conservative with insulin cause I couldn't eat, and didn't want to go hypo.
But, I did want the itching to stop!!! So at 9pm it got bad, and if I had nails I am pretty sure I would have bled to death. At 12am, I was taken off pain killers to see if I was reacting to them. 12am- Benadryl- to "stop itching and put me to sleep"
1am- wide awake about to have a nervous breakdown from the itching- doc give me more Benadryl
2am- had a nervous breakdown- doc recommends Benadryl again. I say "it didn't work the 1st or the 2nd time, and I don't think it is gonna work the 3rd..." he gets pissed, and give me more anyway
3am- still wide awake, still itching, and I am really getting on everyones nerves. I was trying to explain that it felt like I had both chicken pox and poison ivy at the same time, and nothing I could do about it.- I get some other drug to "stop itching"
4am- no sleep still get another drug, and finally at 4:30 after watching sportscenter for the 20th time I crash
6am- woken up by doc to check pulse- and itching is back
this went on until high noon

The surgery however was a success. This was a problem caused by cycling, not diabetes. Kenneth Cherry is supposed to be the best in the nation for it. I had been having my left leg go numb for about 1.5yrs, and racing with 1 leg is not an option. So we did test and I had stenosis in both the iliac and femoral arteries, so they sliced me open, diced the arteries, and the put patches on them both. It was been 2 weeks off the bike, and 4 more before I can start light riding again. When I come back, and achieve good form again (September???)I should be faster than ever.

My mom had good friends in Charlottesville who opened their home to us, the Eichelberger's.

Last few weeks have been hanging out, getting used to walking again, and beating people with my cane...ha

Thanks for letting me vent. And if you are ever in the hospital I would recommend
1) take my mom with you
2) fight like hell to control your own blood sugars as opposed to someone who has no idea what diabetes is.

Have a great day!
Phil
www.teamtype1.org

Bad News, Fun News, Great News

Hello Hello from Hotlanta,

Life has been a bit hectic as of late. After a sub-par personal performance at Redlands, I had some decisions to make. We were all gearing up for Tour of GA, and have a strong team ready to rock. With my recent nagging lack of performance in my left leg, I opted out of the Tour of GA. This race has been my focus for the year, and was essentially my main goal in 2008. It is extremely dissappointing to pull not even start my home race. The team will still rock, and have better odds in the sprints now that my man Emile Abraham is taking my spot, and I will be there to witness, and cheer the guys on. So some lack of training enabled me to work on a speech I had the pleasure of giving to the Sanofi-Aventis Regional Sales Meeting.

At this meeting there were about 1100 people from all over the East Coast!! I had my good friend Shashank (pictured above,) and was ready to rock. I just wanted to thank the sales force for fighting the fight for Apidra, and getting the best insulin into the hands of doctors and patients. The crowd was great, and they were very nice not to throw tomatoes in my 20 minutes on stage. I truly enjoy giving talks, and the thanks that come afterwards. 1100 was the biggest crowd in a while, and it seems that the more people there, the more jazzed I get!

It was a lot of fun to meet all the Apidra team, and I hope they can have a great 2008. They are going to be one of the main reason's we get to the Tour de France in 2012...

So now for the Great news. Today, I inserted the first approved FreeStyle Navigator in the US. I have used this device many a times, but always under study protocols. This time it is mine, and I don't have to give it back!!! For all the people with diabetes who struggle with not knowing what your blood sugar is, and where it is going, this is the answer. For parents of children with diabetes who want to get a good night sleep, this is the answer. I will try to give updates about how my life is changing because of it. Mainly, I will be able to titrate my blood sugar to a much closer range, and hopefully get my A1C back into the low 5's!

In 2 weeks time, I go to UVA for a diagnostic on my Iliac artery, and if all is bad, then surgery on May 5. On April 26, I might head to the JDRF Gala here in Atlanta, and then on May 2, I get the pleasure of being the keynote at the JDRF Gala, in Madison, WI.

Thanks for reading, and please follow the team and send support to the guys at our blog on www.teamtype1.org.