The Achilles Chronicles - Recovery Update

First of all let me apologize to my followers, friends and family. I've been less than motivated lately to post updates to my progress......mostly because there hasn't been any. Most of you already know of my set back in late July when I ruptured my Achilles. That quickly ended my journey to run my 50 mile challenge I have been planning for so long. I have had the feelings of letting myself down but more importantly of those who had been counting on me. I am so sorry to have let you down.

The 50 mile challenge was to happen while I was still 50 years old. Unfortunately the doctor says I cannot even begin running until after my birthday if at all this year. Patience has never been my best trait. Struggling with depression seems to have escalated. Diabetes does that. Running helped with it. The inability to walk without crutches, to drive, to do just about anything without assistance or depending on others has just thrown fuel on the fire. Some days are better than others. Some worse. Life goes on and I strive to focus on the issues I can address.

The definition of SETBACK is shear daunting when I think about having to start all over. The fear of ever returning to where I once was haunts me. It'll be a long road.......longer than 26.2!

Well that's my emotional state......sorry if it lacks positivity......that's today's mood.

Here's the recovery story....or at least my update for the last four weeks:



07.28.16  Snapped Achilles went to ER

 



07.29.16  Saw the orthopedic surgeon

 

 



08.04.26  Surgery to repair it



08.19.16  Wraps taken off to see my Frankenstein scar (PG image version)



 

08.25.16  First visit to physical therapist for evaluation

 

Two weeks of no weight bearing then two more of minimal weight bearing from 9.19.16

That'll put me at mid to late October before I can begin walking without crutches entirely.

09.16.16  Return to surgeon for follow-up

09.17.16  50 mile challenge day. Thankful for others who will be running in my stead at Unify!
 

That's about as far as I can see into the future. Each day I grow more anxious to begin.....begin doing something! Anything! Did I say patience wasn't my best trait? It's hard to plan my schedule even months in advance because I just don't know how well I'll be walking or if at all yet. That's frustrating.

Goals:

Running by end of November.

First marathon......Shamrock in Virginia Beach by J&A Racing

50 mile challenge redux......9.16.17

Wish me luck and send your prayers. Thank you to my friends.

RUN EUGENE RUN

Eugene Thompson

Marathon Runner + Founder

www.RunEugeneRun.com

www.GoFundMe.com/idg4vk

Problem Solving with Diabetes

Have you ever had one of those days wherever you turn you are faced with problems?

Areas you thought were 100% under control turned out to be in chaos? The world begins to spin and you cannot seem to grasp back onto solid ground?

Yeah....me too.

It can be normal everyday issues or even work related. Whatever comes up you need to not stick your head in the sand but rather resolve the issues. I know easier said than done. I have this often. I want to run away. I call it my hermit-itis......(is that a word? It is now).....I'd rather be a hermit.

As a diabetic I've often been faced with imaginary issues that seem much more grand than they are in reality. Don't tell my brain that......it thinks they are real. Blood sugar controls so many things one of them being your emotions. You certainly could call it depression..... I'd rather call it emotional delusion. I know that it is just a chemical imbalance and I should try and work myself out of it. 

So how do you do that? Well I've gone through this enough times that I have learned a few lessons.

Lesson learned: 

1) Suck it up and walk it off.

Ok so that is harsh but I tend to be a bit tough on myself and really don't want to drown in my sorrows. I feel that the best medicine is to get up and keep moving. After all nobody ever drown by falling into water......they drowned by staying there.

2) There is no time for me to be off of my game. 

Have you ever went on vacation and then came back to a pile of work? Isn't it crazy how much builds up even over a short time. So think about that when you get overwhelmed and want to retreat. More than likely you are a person that is in need. Staff, Family, Friends.....try to stay on your game. Many people rely upon you but more importantly you rely upon yourself. Take a breath and get back in the game.

"I know I have said this a thousand times. Just Keep Working. No matter how bad things are or how bleak the future seems. You are giving up on things by not getting up early, showing up late, or not finishing what you started. Neglecting your work just paralyzes your chances of getting through the darkness. So if you are going through tough times. No matter what they are. Just Keep Working." - Jesse James

3) I realize that I need to more analytical and less emotional in my dealings.

Science! It will solve anything. Okay maybe not exactly. Try to flip the switch and pretend it is someone else's problems and you are asked to solve them. Would you jump up and down and freak out? Probably wouldn't help that individual much. Try to put it in the right perspective. There is some issue that needs to be addressed. Whether it is work related or any other issue look at it as a regular problem solving task. 

Matt Damon said to those students at the end of " The Martian" ...when things look bad just do the math and solve the problem. Then move on to the next problem. You solve enough problems you get to go home. 

4) Write the issues down.

Whether they are real or imaginary....it doesn't matter. In your head they are real....or real enough to make you worry about them. Then after each one.....write a solution. Don't worry about how practical the solution is.....just write it down. It will start your brain thinking about various possibilities to resolve the issues. Sometimes by writing them down it will bring a bit of reality to the situation and you will realize that it wasn't that big of a deal after all. Sometimes FEAR freezes us and makes us IMMOBILE to any action.

5) Reengage.

Once you've gone through these tasks don't keep hibernating. Get out there and keep doing what you do. Re-engage with others and interact so that your brain gets back on track.

Diabetes is a real struggle as well as depression. Don't let it get out of hand. If you see yourself slipping further than don't be afraid to get some help. Sometimes just chatting with a friend can get you through some tough issues.

I'm here if you need to chat about your diabetes struggles. You can contact me at RunEugeneRun26.2@gmail.com

Eugene Thompson

Runner + Diabetic

Website coming soon with menus and exercises to help us all.

Cats in the Cradle

This song always gets to me when I hear it on the radio. I always feel that somehow this is what my life has now become. I am the father that was too busy to spend time. I might not have been as drastic as the song writers version of the father but I feel I certainly spent a lot of time running and starting my business when the kids were little. It is hurtful to think that I could have neglected my family but not spending enough quality time.

What can I expect? I probably gave them the example of not calling my mother enough or visiting back home more often. I didn't share the need of connecting with my own mother so why would they think it should be any different. Now that she is gone it is painful to realize that I wasn't there enough as a son. I didn't make it a priority. That hurts. Sure I called, but not much......not enough. She was lonely.....and I was busy.....or so I always told myself. I'll carry that for a long time.

Even with today's technology, we are too distant. Too far away to connect even on the most minimal levels. A picture on facebook, a comment in a text, a five minute call.....hey how are you doing? We are all busy with our lives. With our OWN lives.....that is what I taught was important. That is was I thought was the most important. That is what should be expected. I didn't realize it until it was too late. But again that is my own burden to carry. My own grief.

What happens tomorrow? That I do not know. Time marches on and by no means am I getting younger. My meager attempts to gain respect and pride from those I care for really go unnoticed. Although I have worked hard to achieve better health to hang around this world for a little longer, I'm not sure it matters. I understand things differently as I look at life from a different perspective. Getting old doesn't appear as graceful as it sounds. Getting old just sucks. Being old just sucks. Now that I think about it, who can imagine an old Elvis, an old Michael Jackson, an old Marilyn Monroe? Their candles went out early and maybe that it meant to be for some.

The clock keeps ticking. The pages of the calendar keep flipping. There is a line in the sand that is drawn not we don't know exactly where it will occur. I push with each marathon to do just a little more....a little better......but the line is drawn as to my limit. Mine could very well could be soon. Could be that line just beyond my own father's. 52. Once that was a distant mark. Now I can nearly reach out and touch it. We will see. We will see how far I can run. We will see if I can reach some line that is far beyond the next few years. But then again, I don't see myself becoming an old Elvis. And would it even matter.

Cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon

Little boy blue and the man on the moon

When you comin' home, Dad

I don't know when, but we'll get together then

You know we'll have a good time then.

You know my friends......it will be a good time......then.

Eugene Thompson

ET This I Believe

The Purple Rose of Cairo

One of my favorite Woody Allen films due to it's surrealistic experience the main character Cecilia has at the movie house in New Jersey during the great depression. She loves the movies and escapes from the depressing real world life into the fantasy film world almost every afternoon. After her husband abuses her and her boss fires her from her job, she returns to the movie house to watch The Purple Rose of Cairo all afternoon.....until finally one of the characters begins to speak directly to Cecilia out in the audience. He leaves the films, walks up to Cecilia and encourages her to run away leaving the rest of the film characters stuck in limbo until he returns.

A complete fantasy that really hits home with me.  You see I love movies, I really enjoy relaxing after a long day and just unwinding in front of the television. It can be Sci-Fi, Action, Drama, Superhero (my favorite), even a good scary movie sometimes is fun.  The thing is that I enjoy the escape. I enjoy running way (in my head anyway) from all the surrounding realities in my world.  Just like Cecilia, it was her way of getting some peace from the life she struggled through.  She had it tough. The work environment of waitressing.....not promising during the depression. Not many tips but she could be thankful for it while so many didn't have work. Her husband, out of work and a bum. He would take her hard earned money and gamble it away on cards or pitching pennies. If he didn't loose it that way, he would drink it away.  Cecilia's last straw was when she came home and found another woman in the house. She was ready to run away with the fictional character from the film.

Trouble was, the character Tom Baxter didn't know anything about the real world and wouldn't be able to survive.  His money was fake, he only had one set of clothes, he only existed as what his character was created as. He was pure and wholesome....just not real.  The actor that played Tom Baxter was Gil Shepherd and needed the film counterpart to get back in the film to save his career.  After all, he couldn't have his clone running about town loose.

I guess the whole movie has an inspiring reaction from me with the fantasy of something fictional coming to life. A lot like my superhero blog recently. What a wild imagination.....especially in times that are really pressing. Like these days. Maybe not as much as it was a few years ago but still the world seems less than friendly. The surrounding environment is not a pleasurable one but rather a hostel one.  One that demands so much of us that we cannot exist within its boundaries. We require escape.

There are days that I wish I could run away.....if only my entire belongings would fit inside a single suitcase. That would be sad, but liberating. If there were the moral responsibilities of honoring those responsibilities. The struggle with being a perfectionist is that everything feels like a responsibility, feels like my responsibility, my need to complete to the best of my ability all the tasks that lie in front of me. But really what is so bad? What is so bad that you have to run away? Blessings abound it just isn't always easy to see them. We have been given so much to be thankful for. Sometimes we need to look at all the good things we have in comparison to bad. I am sure it will be very one sided......for the good.

In the end, Cecilia didn't get the fictional character and disappear into the film, she didn't get the actor....he was more concerned with his career.....she was stuck....at the movies. We should think about the real world and be satisfied with what we have....it isn't always that bad! We could be stuck in a film!