(Almost) One Year

[I wrote this because my computers clock was off (a GMT versus MST problem) and so daily image archive viewer showed me the wrong day; it's actually tomorrow.]

It has been one year since my first Death By Mountain hike. Not a great year. I was very motivated right up until the surgery. Then I was bedridden for months, then I was unmotivated. As of today, I still have a broken ankle and I'm not allowed to walk or even drive.

I get around town in a recumbent hand pedaled tricycle that I borrowed from Warren. I get my cast off on Tuesday. Hand trikes are hard to ride because I'm weak in the arms.

My first post-accident yoga class is Tuesday as well. We will see how that goes in a giant plastic boot.

Overall I'm better off than I was a year ago. My change in diet rid me of illness, seasonal allergies, skin infections, and much of my happiness. I miss eating fried potatoes and chocolate as my primary diet. But, I used to be bed-ridden from illness for a week at a time several times a year, and it hasn't happened once since making the change. I used to devastated by allergies when the junipers bloomed, but this year my eyes itched a little. I used to have recurring problems with flesh eating bacteria on my bicycle seat and legs, and they have gone away, and I used to have infections on my fingernails, and they have gone away too (except when I binge on sugar).

Uphill and Downhill

Up until I broke my ankle my primary method of transportation was to ride my bicycle. With my broken ankle I'm not medically allowed to even drive, so for a little while I had to get rides everywhere. I still get rides, but I borrowed a recumbent tricycle with hand-cranks so that I'm not totally dependant on other people. The most amazing thing I've learned is how "hilly" Socorro is. I've learned this because it doesn't take much of a hill to suddenly make hand-cycling very hard.

In other news, I had a terrible reaction going on under my cast, but I assumed the pain and discomfort was a normal part of having had surgery after a broken ankle. I had started to get hives though, and they didn't go away with diphenhydramine. I went in to the clinic, and they gave me a cortizone related shot. It hurt a lot for the rest of the day. Serious pain, and I wasn't able to sleep either. But now, my ankle has about as much discomfort as it did before I broke it. I get those hives from Juniper, but a single diphenhydramine cures them for an entire year, and juniper season is long gone. I'm worried it is the staples, or the screws. I have the staples until the 22nd. Some of the screws have to be removed or I'll never be able to walk again, but not all of them are coming out. I'm kind of creeped out by the idea of metal inside my leg and I would really like it all out. But I suspect that the surgery to get that all back out would be just as major as it was to put them in, and that's a lot of trouble to go to.

Failure

I was very gung-ho to get back to this, but with a broken ankle it's all ground to a stop again.