I know I haven't written in a while

Just because I haven't written doesn't mean I haven't been thinking. I appologize for my absense; I have been fighting my body as of late, getting sick and what not.

I had an interesting conversation earlier today that got me thinking about impediments to active, healthy living. As an ostomate I am acutely aware of just how expensive it can be to have had or be unhealthy. I spend about $250 a month on ostomy supplies. That works out to around $3000 a year. Considering that the roof over my head costs me $350 a month, I'd say its fairly significant.

Now, I don't get the wear time out of my ostomy products that most others get; I sweat a lot, shower a lot and swim a lot; all that water leads to the products coming off like band-aids in a pool. This is a result of choices I make. If I lived a lifestyle that was geared more towards extending the wear time of my products, I would likely get 5-6 days out of them instead of 1-1.5. When my parents were paying for my supplies, they actively encouraged me to extend wear time (read nag, nag, nag).

At that time, I didn't participate in sports, I watched a lot of TV and ate a lot of chips... I was slightly overweight - enough so for my doctor to say something to me. I was also more prone to getting colds, flu and kidney infections. Now I don't get sick anywhere near as much, am not really overweight and watch considerably less television (but I never miss 24). I have to say that the wear time versus quality of life debate is strongly argued towards quality of life.

I live in Canada; my provincial medical plan covers some of the cost of my ostomy supplies - it has a large deductible ($1500) anything over it pays 70%; and my extended medical plan picks up 80% of my out of pocket expenses. So when all is said and done I figure I am out of pocket about $600 of the $3000 I spend each year. I had to put the money out first, but not bad coverage, really. I am fairly lucky, I have heard of quite a few people who don't have any help at all.

I'd like to know from all of the ostomates who read this blog: do you give up on quality of life, to get more wear time? Do you not participate in recreation or sport because you don't want to spend the money on ostomy supplies? Would this change if you had better assistance with your ostomy supplies?

Can we be supporting our athletes better than this?

I don't complain often, but...

When I started this blog I made a commitment to try not to use it in a negative manner.  In other words, I didn’t want to use it to voice my complaints.  But tonight, I am deviating from that commitment ever so slightly.

Ironman Canada was televised yesterday here in Canada.  I had been looking forward to watching all week.  I made sure that I freed up noon till one so that no distractions would bother me.  I unplugged my phone; I locked my doors; I made popcorn and I got down to business. 

I won’t say which channel; but if you live in Canada it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out the culprit.  Anyway, race goes off…  I’m waiting to see the story unfold.  I’m waiting to hear or see a mention of Canadian Trevor Williams who goes on to beat several pros and win the age-group overall title.  I’m waiting to see the story of Sister Madonna Buder, become the first 75-year-old woman to finish Ironman.  I’m waiting to see the drama of Ironman racing: the pain, the perseverance and the story of overcoming obstacles against all odds; this is what makes triathlon so great.    

I race triathlon because it just might be the last sport where pros and amateurs race together on the same course at the same time in the same race.  I race triathlon because of the respect that each and every athlete has for one another because we know that we are all suffering no matter how fast we finish.  I race triathlon because when you do, something changes deep down inside of you and the only people who understand this are the other participants of our glorious sport.

NBC’s coverage of Ironman Hawaii introduced me to triathlon.  Watching Peter Reid win in 1998 inspired me to take a turn in triathlon.  I wept when Simon Whitfield won gold in the first ever-Olympic triathlon event; I shouted him in to the finish as if I were cheering Joe Montana at the Superbowl.  I could do this because of television coverage.

So when Subaru Ironman Canada was televised and the coverage was inadequate at best, and uninspiring throughout, I wept for the missed opportunity.  It is nothing short of tragic that a national sports network could not get it together enough to convey the true nature of a 17-hour race in one hour of TV.  There simply is no excuse.  There is a plethora of triathlon resource people connected with Ironman, or other triathlon organizations to exploit.  Everyone in the sport of triathlon in Canada and around the world wants to see our sport grow; triathlon changes peoples lives for the better. 

So I say to that sports network (ok, no secrets anymore)…  next time tell the story of the race: all of it, not just the winners or the pro who crashed out.  You are a Canadian network and there were no less than half a dozen up and coming pros there who didn’t even get a mention.  You didn’t tell Trevor’s story, or mention his name.  When you fail in this matter you are not supporting our sport, or our athletes. 

Very few athletes in Canada can make enough in their sport to pay for their racing and training.  This will change if our athletes get the media attention they earn.  It will certainly change as our sport grows, and attracts many more participants.  TV coverage is instrumental in this process.  By conveying the story of the whole race, TV networks can inspire and motivate people to get out and try triathlon; perhaps if they did this, their advertising revenues would increase with their ratings?  Seems like common sense to me.       

I have to ask these questions after my rant:  Am I alone in wanting to see the story of the athletes who finish late in the race?  Am I alone in wanting to see the story of the athlete who overcame illness, accident or tragedy and is racing anyway?  Am I alone in wanting to see the story of the up-and-comers?  Write me and tell me what you think.