In Ohio for a few days......

Hi everyone,

We flew back to Ohio for a few days to see the new ones. I am the one in the picture trying to hold all three of the new ones. Reed, Rowdy and Korbin. I have been busy while we are home just running around trying to hold them as much as possible. Picture me trying to feed both Reed and Rowdy at the same time, the phone ringing.............. do you get the picture?? Tiffany and Heather are handling being new mom's great.

We head back to San Antonio this Friday to continue our ride. We are riding north to San Marcos to do a presentation for an Alpha Support Group this sunday. We are looking forward to sharing our adventure with them. We haven't seen the newspaper article from San Antonio yet.

I was looking back at our map from the ride and it is hard to believe how far we have come. It has been some adventure. People have asked us what is the best part? Or the most memorable? That is so hard to say. But as far as places I would have to say Mt. Rushmore, Glacier Park, North Cascades Highway. Those are "places" that stick out. But really the best part has been the people that we have met. There are so many people that have helped us out, given us food or shelter or laughed at us. It's all good. When you actually spend time at 13 mph riding across our great country, you really get the opportunity to see, smell and sometimes taste the countryside. It is awesome. Would I change any of the trip? Absolutely not! Well, maybe the day it was 114 degrees riding into Billings................. or maybe the day of the WIND riding into Del Rio........ but those are the days that build character don't you think? We sure have alot of character! Some people might say that we are real characters.

It is really hard to put the thoughts and feelings about this past 7 months in words. Accomplishment? Survival? Maybe some of both? Someone asked us what motivates someone to do something like this. That is an easy question. Because we are still able to. Because we love to travel on our bicycle, under our own power, with no particular plan. Is that a good enough answer or one that others can relate to? I'm not sure. We don't think what we are doing is special or different than what we have been doing for the past 20 years. Hopefully we have been able to help spread the word about Alpha One. I think alot of people don't give a thought to a disease unless someone in their family or someone they know is affected. For us Alpha One is personal. We have watched Dugan, Sonnie and the rest of the family deal with it for 20 years now. Maybe something that we say to one person can help them to either be tested for Alpha or help them deal with it. As part of my job as wellness director at Berger Health System, I have worked with many people over the years who have chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, arthritis. One of the things that I have learned on this trip as we have met with Alpha patients along the route is that not all diseases are created equal. What I mean by this is you cannot put everyone in a box or a category who has a chronic illness. I have seen so many times a doctor or other healthcare giver will treat all diabetic or heart disease patient or any other illness the same. Oh, Mrs. So and So if you have diabetes do A, B and C. But it's not the same. All patients are different and may need steps D, C, and A. As I talk to Alpha patients I see so many differences in care, treatment, symptoms etc, etc. How do we change this pattern of healthcare?? I'm not sure. I don't have any answers, only questions. So far I would just give one suggestion to anyone with any chronic illness. You need to be responsible for your health. I am not saying that you don't need your doctors or healthcare providers. On the contrary they are part of the solution. You need to be a partner with your doctor. Learn more about your illness. What are other possible treatments? And of course you know that I am going to say that you need to exercise! No, you don't have to ride your bike around the country. You don't even have to ride a bike. Just move!

Sorry I got off on a tangent, but since I am not working at the hospital right now. I thought maybe all of you might want to hear what I would be telling them. The good part is that if you don't wanna hear it, you can just shut me up by one click.....

That's all for now. We will be on the road again from San Antonio this Saturday. So until then.....Happy New Year!