Update :)

After having two weeks off sick, I returned to Adelaide fired up and motivated to knuckle down and really focus on my riding. I put three solid weeks in on the bike as I had written in my program and was starting to feel strong again. Unfortunately, in that last week I started noticing pain in my heel when I put my cycling shoes on which worsened when walking. This continued to develop and at this stage I have had almost two weeks off the bike except for two little rides I really shouldn't have done this week -it only aggravated my injury. I have been really appreciative of the help and level of care that the physio student and his supervisor that I have been seeing at the UniSA physiotherapy clinic have shown to me. They're not fully sure what the problem is but I have thickening of my achilles tendon and extremely tight calves. They are trying to loosen my muscles and work on the tendon to ease the strain on the insertion point of my achilles on the heel bone. My bump on my heel has responded well to the treatment and hopefully I will be able to ease back into riding by the end of next week.

Those close to me know that I have also been struggling quite a lot with unquenchable thirst..no matter what, how much or how often I drink, I am thirsty. This has caused me to need to go to the toilet way too often and is beginning to frustrate me as I need to get up every night now. I am also really dehydrated...my parents encouraged me strongly to get checked out by a Dr as these symptoms are typical of a Diabetes mellitus diagnosis which we wanted to rule out. The dr I am seeing is showing me exactly what sort of health professional I do not want to be. He barely glanced at my foot when I discussed my heel problem to him, telling me to 'just have some more time off and see how it goes'. My blood test results came back fine which was great news, ruling out diabetes. Unfortunately though, it hasn't taken away my thirst/dehydration. I had to do a urine test and will get the results back next week. If these come back fine, the dr suggested I 'just leave it, it might go away' because he has no idea what it could be. Awesome. Thank you so much for your help and for caring about your patient's health...

It was after these sessions with the dr that I began treatment at the physiotherapy clinic and the difference in approach to patient goals and needs is overwhelming. Before I visited the physio clinic, I was beginning to feel extremely frustrated as I had no idea how to fix both my heel and thirst. In regards to my heel, I also wanted to know how to prevent the pain returning and what sort of time frame I was looking at. I hate being clueless and I hate not knowing who I can turn to help me with regards to health professionals. I feel so much better now though having these two physios help me, at least I'm getting on top of one problem :) (I think!) and it's also great to get some experience with a variety of different health professionals with completely different attitudes. The nurse who took my blood test told me she also doesn't like to watch blood tests and so also tries not to watch..the below picture was taken 6 days after..at least the swelling is pretty much all gone.

In other news, I am really enjoying uni this semester, it all seems a lot more relevant and clinical based which is far more interesting. I also have quite a few friends there too which makes the long days there so much better. We also had our college ball last Saturday night which was pretty good fun. Below is a picture with one of my beautiful brother's, Luke, who lives at college too. He's studying pharmacy at UniSA.

Today I am excited because Roey is picking me up after work and we're going out for tea at the markets with some friends and then I'm spending the weekend at the Roe's place at HC. I absolutely love spending time there with Roey, his family and their gorgeous dogs. This will be a good way to keep me happy as time off the bike does strange things to my head. Riding isn't just something I do to attempt to be competitive and physically fit, it's essential for my mental health. 

If all goes well, I am hoping to be in Mt Gambier for the SA state kermesse championships early October and then my focus turns back to the NRS for the Tour of the Goldfields in Ballarat from October 19-21. 

Between now and then, I'm hoping to sort out my heel and thirst. Of course, I also want to continue to have fun at uni and spend time with good quality people. I also have a quick visit to Tasmania from September 15-29, woohoo!