Sunday, April 6, 2008

Some whining, some anatomy, and some Veganomicon

There are times when eating only fulfills the purpose of transporting me from the state of "hungry" to the state of "not hungry". Now is one of these times... Things have been a little sub-perfect here lately.

As I've mentioned before I'm doing my MBA this year. And I don't know why it has to be this year, but of all years this is the year when all goes wrong. So we had planned that I do my MBA. We had wanted to get married anyway so we scheduled it for August 2007 before business school started in September. Everything could have been perfect except that I ran and feel down some stairs and broke my food two weeks before our wedding (Note to self: never never never run down stairs again). Talk about horror. So we cancelled the wedding, and I started business school on crutches. Wonderful.

After the plaster came down and I slowly learned walking again, walking wasn't a pleasure at first. I resorted to my trusted friend - my bike. Nine weeks after I fell down those stairs I was riding my bike at high speed when I got caught in tram tracks on the street and the dream of flying came true for me - I was catapulted 20 feet across the street and landed on my wrist (should have remembered that judo class... never never never fall on your wrist).

The pain was intense but I didn't give it much thought - after all this had been one hard fall and my hand was supposed to hurt. But then I woke up at night and wanted to cry my wrist hurt so much. We went to the emergency room where I was treated by a doctor who didn't care about what I told him where it hurt but who told me where it was supposed to hurt according to the X-ray. Well, try arguing with a doctor!

After some weeks of further fruitless treatment at that clinic I went to a different doctor. It took me a few weeks to get that appointment, and the new doctor immediately referred me to a hand surgeon. Another 8 weeks waiting time for an appointment, which I finally had last week.

Let me tell you, it feels so good to finally be taken seriously. Only, things don't look too good for my wrist. Luckily there are definitely no bones broken but apparently two very important ligaments are ruptured. I have a surgery scheduled for May 8, and will have my arm in plaster for at least 6 weeks.

Um, have I mentioned it is my right wrist? That's where business school comes into play again. Great. The one year I take out a huge loan to pay heaps of tuition I screw up my wrist and can't write for half the time - no notes, no written exams... Wonderful. I've started talking to my professors and the ones I've talked to so far were really helpful and will find ways to assess me without written exams.

Still, this diagnosis has somewhat depressed me. It felt good to finally have a diagnosis and not be told over and over again that I only imagine the pain and that I should stop whining. On the other hand - the doctors are not certain the surgery will be successful. They say if things don't turn out the way they want them to turn out, they may have to shorten my ulna bone to take away some pressure from the torn ligaments. Hey, sure, I'd love to have them cut open my arm and chisel and saw away at my bones... This would mean weeks and weeks pf plaster again, just when I wanted to start looking for a nice job with my new and shiny MBA degree. Oh perfect!

So that's why things have been a bit silent at this blog lately. Please bear with me, there will be happier posts about happy food again. For one, a supermarket nearby has started carrying vegan ice cream. Pure bliss :-).

And, to end on a happier note: I have very successfully tried Veganomicons "Acorn squash, pear, and adzuki soup with sautéed shiitake mushrooms". If you haven't tried this soup yet you don't know what you are missing. On a scale from one to ten, this was a clear eleven. Yum!

13 comments:

J said...

What a year Anke! I hope things start to look up soon! :-)

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

yow!

"when it rains and pours"

I hope things get better soon

VeganCowGirl said...

Anke,
I am so sorry that you have had so many bumps along the road during a year that should be wonderful and exciting.
I know it doesn't mean much - but all of the strife will make the final product (your MBA) feel so much more satisfying. It will all work out - you seem like a great person, a together person and a dedicated person. It feels less than great right now, I am sure, but it will all get better - and until then you have vegan ice cream, veganomicon and your vegan blogger friends.

Best!

Unknown said...

Anke, I'm very sorry to hear of all your troubles. I had a serious accident two years ago on my bike and banged my head, and also learned to avoid the tramlines in future! A friend of mine had a similar accident with her wrist a couple of years ago and had to have an operation. She is fine now and so don't give up hope. Good luck!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Oh gosh, I am so very sorry to hear about all your injuries at such inoportune times. You are too sweet a person to deserve this, so hopefully things will start to get better for you soon!

AYE Admin said...

I hope this will at least be a bright spot in your day. I've given you an award, so go and see it at

http://artyoucaneat.blogspot.com/2008/04/thanks-joy-this-blog-is-excellent.html

Vaishali said...

Anke, I am so sorry to hear about all the troubles that have come your way. But you sound good, and obviously you're back to cooking some great food. I hope the bad stuff is gone out of your life for good!

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

that's terrible anke! take it easy on yourself okay? it's great that your profs are doing what they can to help you, but it still must be hard. I hope the surgery goes well (I'm sure it will!) and the soup looks delicious, I've been eyeing that recipe forever!

Anke said...

Thanks guys (gals) for your encouragement. I'm actually starting to laugh about it it's all so ironic... "isn't it ironic.. lalalala" :-)

Anonymous said...

I'm new here. Immediately you made me appreciate the good fortune of good health. Sorry your year isn't going well physically...keep your chin up emotionally and hopefully you will have a quick (relatively) and full recovery.
I love your photographs at Learning to See.
Please be careful.

Vegan_Noodle said...

Oh my goodness Anke, you have been through a lot!! GLad you finally got to see someone knowledgeable about your wrist. Things will work out, I'm guessing it's tough being patient in these times! Take care and take heart...

jd said...

Ugh! What a terrible chain of events! I'm so sorry for everything you've had to put up with involving your injuries - sheesh!

Hopefully your wrist is starting to feel better now. I'm just glad that you finally found a Dr. who is willing to listen to you. About that Dr. with the x-ray - um, hello? It's your body, I think YOU would know where it hurts! Duh.

Anyway, take care of your self. It'll all be better soon. Oh, & you might want to consider investing in a giant bubble so that you can get inside of it for protection before leaving your house again! Haha, only kidding!!

Keep plugging along with your MBA classes - I'm sure they're a LOT of work, but it'll all be worth it in the end. Nothing good ever comes easy, ya know? Plus, at least you'll have a good story to tell when you're trying to make small-talk during future job interviews!

Good luck with everything!!

dreamy said...

You know when u hit the minimum point on a curve, the only other way to go next is up :) No worries be happy!