Day 52 of My Imprisonment

Little change. Toe continues to feel better and stronger.

One weird thing was a dream I had last night. I was at the doctor's office, apparently to get the bandages off. I'd taken my shoe off, unwrapped the tensor bandage and had just laid back on the examining table to wait for the surgeon to come in. I guess I fell asleep and when I woke up the bandages had been removed.

Hmmm. Thirteen days remaining. I'm waxing my skis.

Day 46 of My Imprisonment

Little change since my last missive. The affected joint continues to improve. I can wiggle other toes but definitely feel a solid resistance in that one fused joint. It feels fine, better than the other foot which will probably get the "treatment" next fall.

The bandages remain in place although they are starting to show signs of wear, despite the old sock that I keep on that foot most of the time.

I've been able to continue occasional biking because we still don't have any snow here at Lake level. This is fortunate, because otherwise I would be more or less housebound. I have found walking easier and am trying to get away from the limp used to keep weight off the front part of that foot. This means I walk slower than normal, more of a stroll, really. I'm not complaining.

Only 18 more days.

Easy Enchiladas

One of my favourite meals. The recipe goes sort of like this:

In a pot, brown some ground beef. I like to throw in some chopped onion as well. Add a cup of beef bouillon dissolved in water, a 14 oz can of tomato sauce and a can of red kidney beans. Spices: chili pepper, cumin and pepper. If you have it, you can add one of those little packets of enchilada spice/sauce things, but they really don't contribute anything to what we have here. Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes. What you want is something that isn't particularly runny.

Get out a package of flour tortillas and a rectangular baking dish about wide enough to hold a rolled-up tortilla. Spoon a bit of sauce into the tortilla, roll it up and pack them into the baking dish. Leftover sauce can be spooned over the whole thing when the pan is full of tortillas. Cover with grated cheese. Old cheddar.

Bake about 30 minutes in the oven at 350F, covered until the last 5 minutes.

When serving, I like to cover the enchilada with salsa, hot sauce, sour cream (or low-fat plain yogurt), some green onion and some shredded lettuce.

One final thing: you can make this dish with chicken in place of ground beef. Also good.

Day 34 of My Imprisonment

The days move inexorably along. Only 4 weeks and 4 more days to go until the bandages come off. I don't look at them much. Usually they stay wrapped up in tape and a tensor bandage covered by an old sock. The wrappings are looking a bit ragged and it's itchy underneath sometimes, but things are progressing well, I think. It certainly feels fine.

Last night I was sitting around wiggling my toes and noticed that when I tensed the muscles that would normally move my toe, all I felt was resistance. There is a screw in the joint, but I'm hoping that there is bone growing there.

I've discovered that I can ride my bike and so I've been out for a few rides in the area. Fortunately our roads are clear and dry near home so biking is a possibility. I don't think I'd want to try it with snowy or icy roads.

One minor inconvenience is not being able to get the foot and bandages wet. I'm sure I'm waterproof again, but the instructions were to keep it dry. Showers are out. I'm not sure if even a plastic bag with duct tape around my leg would keep the water out. Keeping one leg up on the side of the bathtub has worked OK so far. I wonder how someone with a broken leg and a big cast manages?

Walking isn't too bad but it's still slow and too much wandering around makes that leg quite tired just because of the way I hold my foot. I managed to limp my way around the grocery store yesterday as well as the mall in Nelson. Sitting in the rocking chair with one of the twins works well. I think I'm gaining a bit of weight since my activity level has declined byt my enjoyment of food has not.

Only 32 more days. It's over the half-way mark.