Speed Trials

In January, I was sent off (in the very early morning hours) to the Civic Hospital for an MRI to find out exactly what was wrong with my left knee. I’d hurt it during a Roller Derby training camp back in November (on my birthday to be exact) and while I had done a little physiotherapy in December, I hadn’t stuck with it. But the pain and the aches weren’t going away, and what’s worse, I couldn’t run or skate.

I went to see my doctore, who sent me off to get an MRI, and also urged me to return to Physio. I chose to go to Motion Matters, which was recommended to me by a friend, and I’m so glad I did. My new physiotherapist is really, really good, and I clicked with him right away. He gave me a different diagnosis from my first physiotherapist, which was confirmed a week later by my MRI results. Turns out there are quite a few things wrong with the old knee:

1. I have a slight tear in my meniscus

2. I have a 50% of my Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL)

3. I have high grade focus of lateral chondromalacia patella. (Basically, that means that my kneecap was knocked off its track, and is now moving laterally whenever I bend the joint).

4. Small focal area of full fissuring (like a chasm) in the cartilage under my patella (kneecap).

So bascially, what’s supposed to happen is the cartilage under the kneecap, which is smooth and lovely, is supposed to rub fluidly over the femur whenever the knee is bent. But, what’s happening to me is that the kneecap is not rubbing in its proper track, and because the cartilage is worn in that one spot, it’s kneecap bone rubbing on femur bone, which of course causes pain and stiffness.

So we’ve been working pretty diligently on getting my range of motion back, walking without pain, and set goals such as riding a bike or climbing stairs. I was doing my physio exercises regularly, stopped doing anything that would worsen the condition (like walking to and from work) and made my knee my number 1 priority.

Then, last Thursday, I slipped on some ice. And I fell. On my knee. For serious.

The pain was acute. I was writhing on the ground, in a puddle of water and ice, holding my knee and gasping for breath, unable to get up let alone walk to safety. I stayed there for a good five to ten minutes, trying to take deep breaths and get my focus back.

When I did manage to get in the house, I knew I’d done something terrible. I got overwhelmed with thoughts of the further damage I’d done to my knee, the regression, and the worsened stiffness in the joint. The next few days were marked by added pain, inflammation, and soreness. I called my physiotherapist and told him about it, and he was able to calm me down a little. The way he explains things to me makes so much sense, and takes all the mystery out of the problems I’m facing. He said to ice it a lot, and to rest. I barely left the house all weekend.

And a full week later, my knee was still bruised and still (slightly) swollen:

And while I had an appointment booked with my physiotherapist this afternoon, I was SO NERVOUS about it. Nervous because I hadn’t done my exercises all week. Nervous because I had regressed, not progressed, and I didn’t want to “let him down”. But of course it went super well. I told him that I hadn’t done my exercises this week, and he told me he understood and was even glad I didn’t work through the pain. We worked out a new game plan with the knee as it is now, and after working out a few muscles, stretching out a few hamstrings, I was almost back on track.

Now my knee is tapped up nice and tight, I’ve got a game plan for the week ahead, my confidence has been restored – I will make a full recovery and be back on skates in time for the May 29th Roller Derby Bout!!

Looking back on my many food experiments over the last four years really makes me shake my head, and it prompted me to write a little wrap up on where it’s taken me. And so after four years of fasts, diets, vegetarianism, and veganism, here is what I found:

Background: When I went to Australia in 2006, it jolted me from the drunken haze I’d been in for the previous year and a half. It also shocked me into realizing just how much weight I had gained in those 16 months, too. I decided to stop drinking, almost overnight. I also stopped eating meat, and did my first Master Cleanse to get a jump start my weight loss. I quickly lost a lot of weight, and became obsessed. I wanted to keep losing more and more weight, but it was making me feel worse and worse.

Symptoms: In the following years, I suffered from two major symptoms: one physical (I became EXTREMELY constipated), and one mental (I became EXTREMELY depressed). I think it’s safe to say that I had a full-blown eating disorder for most of 2007 and 2008. I had NO IDEA what was happening to both my body and my mental state, and as I freaked out, I tried to get help from some doctors. My quest led me to a Naturopath who filled me with expensive herbal remedies and fibre supplements, a psychologist who charged a whopping $160 a session but who never really clicked with me, two endoscopists who each performed a colonoscopy (one who had terrible bedside manner, and one who was really great!), and hours and hours spent reading up on dieting, weight loss, eating disorders. But nothing was helping the situation.

Breakthrough: Then, in 2009, after realizing that doctors don’t always have the answers we’re looking for, I decided to do an “elimination diet” whereby I only ate very specific ingredients for two weeks, and then gradually reintroduced “suspicious” foods into my diet. I chronicled the “elimination” part of the diet quite well on this blog, but stopped once I got to the “reintroduction” phase. But what I discovered was that I had previously been eating WAY TOO MUCH SOY. (When I went vegetarian, I ate tofu, faux meat, and soymilk almost every day). When I reintroduced soy into my diet after the elimination diet, I instantly reverted back to the bloating, pain, and constipation I’d suffered in 2007-08. Since the elimination diet, I have SEVERELY cut back on my soy intake (I drink almond milk now, and do not eat tofu or faux meat) and my problem has completely been cured.

I also took advantage of the Employee Assistance Program at work, and was able to meet with a counsellor (6 sessions for FREE!) who was able to help me identify a lot of things that I’d been repressing for a long time, and gave me some invaluable tools to deal with them. I discovered that when I quit alcohol, I simply transferred my addiction from one thing to another (food and dieting). I discovered that I don’t react well to change and that I prefer routines. And while some things in my life were out of my control, I compensated by controlling my food intake and exercise output. Problem was, I was restricting calories so much, and then binging so much, and then overexercising so much, that my bowels could not adjust.

Conclusion: So I’ve worked hard improving on those two fronts: eliminating soy from my diet and dealing with stressors in my life head on without using food and dieting as an escape. Changing those two things have made me a much happier, healthier person, a better girlfriend, and I’m finally starting to reconnect with that optimistic, smiling, good-time girl I used to be!!

Last night Riot Squad took to the track for the first time, lining up against Vermont’s Green Mountain Derby Dames. This marked the season opener for the Rideau Valley Roller Girls, and catapulted Riot Squad into their bouting career.

First of all, I want to say how GOOD the ladies looked last night. We got our uniforms earlier in the week, and they are AMAZING! We had made the conscious decision to keep a certain level of uniformity, to come out looking like a united team (which goes with the quintessential varsity colours we use – navy and yellow). When I saw the ladies come out for their warm up, I literally stopped in my tracks and gaped at them for a while. They looked SO GOOD. Of course I wished I could have been there with them, wearing my own jersey and skating alongside these terrific girls, but seeing them so cohesive on the track was great.

In a last minute switcheroo of roles, I took the mic and emceed the event with none other than MC NMC (also known as Drunky Brewster, RVRG’s long-standing spirit leader). We had a great time emceeing, though we had a rocky start, with a lot of “deer in headlights” moments, not knowing what to say next.

The Derby Dames took the lead in the first jam and scored five points. But Riot Squad didn’t let it psych them out, and they came back hard and soon the score had shifted to 13 for Ottawa and 5 for Vermont. There were great jams for both teams, and TazSlamian Devil was outstanding as a jammer for GMDD. I was told that she is usually a blocker, but the way she tore through the pack and got lead jam practically EVERY time she jammed makes me wonder if she won’t have a change of heart and start jamming full time. Burley Quinn was another great jammer for Vermont, who was thrown in practically every second jam. And she never lost her steam!! Unbelievable!

As for Riot Squad, we knew that our jammers were our “aces in the hole” because they are all SO STRONG! N. ToxicKate cleared through the pack often, and the crowd cheered so loudly every time she emerged from the pack! Lady Shambles and Death From Below really came out into their own last night, finding the holes in the pack and never hesitating. And Arsenic Martini was this silent killer that stealthily cruised through, hugging that inside line, practically every time she jammed.

The blockers also had some GREAT plays and HARD hits! Brickfist at Tuffy Knees and Arya Dunne kept that back line like nobody’s business, and the Vermont jammers were often stonewalled at the back of the pack. Margaret Choke and Bella Hematoma also had some really big hits, and weren’t afraid to go out there and make something happen. Killer Kozac and Axxident were exceptional pivots. One thing I really noticed about the whole team last night was that they TALKED to each other, and communication is key in Roller Derby. It is a true team sport, where no one girl can win (or lose) a game. You have to be a cohesive unit, and they were!!

Unfortunately, we had a major injury with less than 2 minutes left in the first half, and Livid Loquita, a rookie player for Green Mountain Derby Dames (this was her first bout also) was laid up with an ankle injury. Paramedics treated her until the ambulance arrived (after some unforeseen delays, unfortunately) and she was rushed to emergency to reset the ankle. All our derby love and good vibes go out to her and we hope she has a swift recovery.

Finally, I gotta say that we had a GREAT crowd last night. They were receptive, warm, and cheered for the away team almost as much as for the Riot Squad. We also had great volunteers, some returning from last season, and some new faces that want to come back and volunteer at our next bout!

Oh god, I can’t believe I’m already thinking about the next bout… (May 29 – Slaughter Daughter / Riot Squad double header! Stay tuned!!)

I love you, pie!

On Saturday, I had a date with Bev to cook some food. We’d both wanted to get together to get a serious cook-on for some time, and we were stoked to finally have a day to do it.

We met up at around 2pm and headed out to the local Bulk Barn and grocery store, stocked up on some really yummy ingredients, and headed over to her place to get down to it.

First up, we whipped up a delicious apple pie. And I do mean whipped up! It was such an easy recipe, with no chilling or kneading involved. The dough is so simple, and with no shortening or any other terrifying ingredient that may have stopped me from making pie in the past. This dough is a total keeper!!! (It does call for whole wheat flour, which made it sort of dense. I think next time I’d substitute 1/3 of the ww flour with plain white flour)

It had to cook for an hour, so we let it do its thing – and in no time the whole kitchen smelled like warm apple pie. Mmmm-m.

While it cooked, we prepped the spread for our avocado bruschetta.

Don’t be scared off by the fact that it’s a Martha Stewart recipe. Though it seemed really fancy-pants, it was actually quite easy to make. (by the way, I love food processors!!)

And then, once everything else was prepped and ready, once all the dishes were cleaned and the counter wiped, then, we started in on the main attraction. The piece de resistance. The crown jewel of the meal. Our first risotto! We decided to go for a traditional mushroom risotto and though we did end up stirring and stirring and stirring, the recipe was quite easy and the payoff HUGE!!

Heaven in a pot:

All that stirring and slaving over a hot stove made us a little loopy…

Here is the meal all done up and served:

But as good as that meal was (and oh boy, was it ever good) it really all comes back to the pie. Here is my piece of apple pie:

As you can see, I’m over the moon about pie!

And Bev is pretty darn excited, too!

The whole day was just amazing: great food, great company, and it renewed my enthusiasm for cooking. I can’t wait to do it again. I think one of the reasons it was such a success is because we were able to find recipes that were new to us and challenging, but without going WAY beyond our competencies. Maybe as we go, we’ll get more adventuresome, but for now, it was a great day and a great meal! Thanks, Bev!