Thread Drift

[OakLeaf]

I'm sorry, NY. That's hard.

[Catrin]

So sorry NY Biker

[Crankin]

I am sorry, NY. What a shock. I hope you get to say "goodbye" in a more formal way. Is there going to be a funeral?

[Pax]

So sorry, NY, that's just heartbreaking.

[ny biker]

Thanks ladies. I don't know yet about a funeral or memorial service. She was from Boston and most of her family, including her mother, live in that area. But she lived down here a long time so I'm hoping there will be a service for her here, and if not then I will suggest to some other neighborhood friends that we have a get-together in her memory.

I haven't done a charity ride in a while and I was thinking it might be time to do a Tour de Cure this year, since my friend was just one of many people I know who have diabetes. There are several TdCs in this area. The one I'd prefer to do, in terms of location, is the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend and I was planning to be out of town then. There's another one in June. I'm not thrilled by the route they use for that one so I might volunteer to support it instead of riding it. Or maybe I'll look into the one on the eastern shore of Maryland. I'm not sure yet.

[OakLeaf]

Hoping all our PNW TE'rs are okay this morning...

[ny biker]

Hoping all our PNW TE'rs are okay this morning...

??

Local news website here is all about LIVE VIDEO: Ron and Nancy Reagan together again. (Unclear how this is possible on live video -- zombie invasion??) Anyway no mention of anything going on in the PNW. I hope there's nothing serious.

[lauraelmore1033]

Hoping all our PNW TE'rs are okay this morning...

What's going on in the PNW? Growing moss on the north side, but that's nothing new...

[Aromig]

I haven't done a charity ride in a while and I was thinking it might be time to do a Tour de Cure this year, since my friend was just one of many people I know who have diabetes.

What a great way to honor your friend. I'm sorry for your loss.

[ny biker]

Thanks Aromig. After looking into the dates, routes and expected average speeds -- there are four different Tours de Cure accessible from the DC metro area, five if you count Richmond -- I think I might end up volunteering for one of them instead of riding in it. I think I could help with SAG, or maybe as a ride marshall. Still thinking about it.

I've learned some additional information about what happened to my friend. As mentioned, she had diabetes, and almost two years ago she became very ill from complications (ketoacidosis) caused by a UTI. One day she had been texting back and forth with her sister (who lives in another state) about an upcoming trip. When she stopped answering texts, her sister became worried and called our local police department and asked them to do a welfare check (my friend lived alone). They found my friend unconscious and brought her to the hospital. Things looked very bad for a day or so but she slowly recovered -- very slowly, as it took a while to kill the infection and she was left very weak from the ordeal. But recently it had seemed that she was more or less fully recovered and she never mentioned any lingering problems.

Since then my friend's sister obtained the name and phone number of the man who lived next door to my friend (he also had a spare key for emergencies). The night before she died, friend's sister called the neighbor to ask her to check on friend, because she was acting strangely. The neighbor checked and agreed that friend seemed mentally fuzzy, so he called an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital. She died there the next morning. So it sounds like she had another diabetes-related problem, and unfortunately this time it was just too much for her to survive.

I am glad that she wasn't alone when it happened.

I know a fair number of people with diabetes. Most seem to have it under control but I guess things can go from controlled to not pretty quickly.