Learning How To Take Care of Myself
How I ended up in the ER, a few newsletter updates, and a recipe for peach fritters
If you’re wondering why I’ve been MIA, it’s because I spent the past week and a half unable to cook and write due to my right hand getting infected. I’m currently in the process of healing, typing on my laptop for the first time in a week. I figured I’d recount what happened, but if you don’t want to read all about how I ended up in the ER, feel free to skip ahead to the newsletter updates and recipe.
It started on August 24th when I thought I got bit by some insect on my middle finger. I’ve always been prone to getting bug bites and cuts, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. It will eventually go away, I thought.
The following day, as I was writing my morning pages, I got a callus on my index finger, which I guessed was a result of writing too much. Again, I didn’t think anything of it. It will eventually go away, I thought.
A few hours later, what I thought was a callus turned into a cyst that swelled up and made my arm heavy and red. I quickly applied a thin layer of antibiotic ointment, wrapped it with a bandaid, took a Tylenol, and called it a night.
As the days went by, I started to get a bad reaction from the bandaid, making my skin soft and susceptible to cuts. Eventually, I knocked my hand while making food and began to bleed. I started to develop painful rashes all over my hand. I knew right there and then that it wasn’t something I could ignore anymore. Luckily, I had just renewed my expired health card. Joe and I walked to the nearest pharmacy, hoping I could get an antibiotic prescription. This shouldn’t take too long, I thought. I’d get my medication and rest, and my hand would heal in no time. This would finally be all over.
I was wrong. The pharmacist assessed my hand and said I had to see a doctor because it was too severe for her to give me anything. I ended up buying bandages, thinking it’d help since it didn’t require taping something directly onto my skin. I contacted my family doctor as soon as I got home but didn’t hear anything back. I sent an email with images of my hand. That should do it, I thought.
That same morning, I had planned to meet a friend for coffee, so I wrapped my fingers using the new bandages and left the house. I did a good job keeping it off my mind because I didn’t feel much pain at that point, but as soon as I got home and removed the bandages, the rashes got even worse. My hands were sore, and I felt uneasy. I called my doctor’s office again, only to find out he was on vacation. The receptionist said she saw the images I sent and recommended that I have someone take a look at my hand right away.
She gave me three options:
Go back to the pharmacy and ask again
Call their After Hours Clinic
Go to the ER
One thing she made abundantly clear was that I couldn’t go to a walk-in clinic that isn’t associated with them. Otherwise, they’d remove me from their list of patients.
August 30th
4:00 pm: Going to the hospital was the last thing I wanted to do, but I also didn’t want to lose a family doctor (especially right now when getting one in Canada isn’t the easiest), so I went back to the pharmacy. I had a feeling the same pharmacist from earlier would still be there — and I was right. She told me the same thing: go to the walk-in clinic, talk to your family doctor, etc. I told her I already contacted my doctor and couldn’t go to a walk-in clinic because the receptionist said they’d remove me from their list.
5:30 pm: I called the After Hours Clinic that was recommended by my family doctor’s receptionist. A woman picked up the phone, and I told her I needed help right away. “The doctor will call you back in an hour and a half,” she said.
7:00 pm: My fingers were swollen, and my entire right hand started tingling as if I had just been burnt. The doctor from the After Hours Clinic finally called me back. He sounded alarmed and told me he saw the photos but didn’t want to prescribe antibiotics in case it was something else. “Promise me you’ll go to the ER immediately.”
7:30 pm: “It’ll be a three-hour wait,” said the receptionist at the hospital. Joe and I sat down in the waiting room and realized we hadn’t eaten dinner. I let the nurse know that we’d go to the food court and come back. Joe and I made our way to the empty food court. Everything was closed except The Bagel Stop.
9:30 pm: They finally called my name and brought me to a room. I waited, watching the nurses and doctors walk past me. A girl next door started wailing as she got injected with morphine.
10:00 pm: A doctor finally comes in to look at my hand. “How are you?” he asked. I just looked down at my hands. “Could be better?” I chuckled, “Yes.” I told him what happened as he examined my hand. He seemed gentle and kind, which made me feel relieved. He prescribed me antibiotics and referred me to a hand specialist, then he took photos of my hand and got one of the nurses to take a swab and check for infections or viruses.
11:15 pm: We were finally out of the hospital. I checked the time and realized we still had 45 minutes to get my antibiotics before the pharmacy closed. Joe drops me off at home and goes to the pharmacy. I’m relieved.
August 31st
The results from the swab came back negative for viruses. The rashes have stopped spreading, but I still wasn’t sure what happened.
September 3rd
A staff doctor from the hospital called to let me know they found Group A Streptococcus (the same bacteria you’d get if you had strep throat) on my hand. I’m guessing something could’ve gone in when I cut myself the previous week. He told me to keep taking my antibiotics and to ask my family doctor to prescribe me a different type in case the one I’m currently on doesn’t work.
I really wanted to eat frozen chocolate-covered dates with peanut butter, so I attempted to make them using one hand. It was a mess, but I did it.
September 5th
I checked into the hospital to see the hand specialist. I sat down and waited for them to call my name.
Inside the doctor’s room was a giant poster for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I looked at the illustrations and read the symptoms. Could I possibly have CTS? A doctor finally came in, but it wasn’t the specialist. She sat down in front of me and asked what happened as she placed a cloth on the table and gently moved my hand on top of it. “Strange,” she said as she looked at the blisters. The specialist comes in, and I tell them what happened. “Can you move your fingers?” she asked. I tried to form a fist and realized I couldn’t do it. She called a physiotherapist to the room and took me to hand therapy.
Septemeber 6th
After a week of only being able to use my left hand, I thought about what I’d do if I couldn’t use any of my hands at all. I realized I was neglecting my health, waiting for things to get worse before doing anything about it. Never again, I told myself.
I’ve started to type to get my fingers moving, and I’m feeling much better. I’m doing the at-home hand exercises the physiotherapist gave me. I have several hand therapy appointments booked throughout the next month, which I’m grateful for. I’ll be travelling again soon, so I’m glad I’m on the mend.
Joe’s still cooking all of our meals and doing the chores, but I’m able to help him a bit more. I really don’t know what I would’ve done if I lived alone and didn’t have a partner to help me. My fingers are still sensitive, so I’ve been wearing gloves and the cloth bandages I’ve been given at the hospital. Things are starting to feel normal again.
Exciting Newsletter Updates
Kitchen Gems is going premium-ish. After almost a year of sending these newsletters regularly, I’ve had some time to think about my offerings. I want readers to find Kitchen Gems valuable and worth subscribing to — whether it’s free or paid — and I’m ready to take this newsletter to the next level, so here’s what’s going to happen.
Future recipes in this newsletter will no longer be paywalled. Yes, you read that right! I hope you’re excited. That said, recipes that have already been paywalled will remain only accessible to paid subscribers. I also won’t be sending a new recipe each week, but I will still be sending at least a couple a month. My plan is to share more of a realistic look at what I’ve been eating rather than focus on one recipe a week.
Kitchen Tours is officially coming back! I took a brief hiatus from doing these because I wanted to figure out a better way to share them moving forward. I also wanted to branch out from home kitchens and start featuring some of my favourite restaurants, cafes, and bakeries, so expect to see a lot of those. That said, this will add an extra layer of work, from researching, interviewing, writing, and editing, so all of the kitchen tours will only be available to paid subscribers going forward.
Essays, recommendations, travel recaps, reading lists, and the comment section will also only be available to paid subscribers.
I’m planning to start using Substack Chat as a way to connect with readers outside of social media platforms. This is where I plan to share my weekly grocery list and meal ideas. I also want it to be a fun place for us to chat about other things. I eventually want to start a film club, and I think the chat would be a great place for us to all hang out.
I’ve started posting frequently over @kitchengemsworld on Instagram. I’ve decided that all things newsletter will be going here instead of my personal account, so if you want to see kitchen interiors, food paintings, installations, and restaurants I’ve been liking or am inspired by, be sure to follow along. I’m trying to separate work from my personal life on social media, and this is one of the ways I’m doing it.
Anyway, those are the main updates for now. I’m excited for this newsletter to evolve, and I hope you are, too. If you would like to upgrade your subscription to get all the perks, click the button below. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Peach Fritters
Every year, I rave about Ontario peaches. They’re sweet, tart, juicy, and I just think they’re the best. That said, while perfectly ripe peaches are amazing on their own, there are other delightful ways to consume them. Take these fritters, for example. They highlight the sweetness and tartness you get from a fresh peach, but they’re also crispy and reminiscent of funnel cakes you get from summer fairs.
Ingredients
For the fritters
2 large peaches
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plant-based milk
2 tablespoons coconut cream
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of kosher salt
Neutral oil for frying
For the glaze
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Roughly chop the peaches into half-inch squares. Set aside.
Combine the flour, cinnamon, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and coconut cream, then whisk them together until incorporated. Add the chopped peaches, then stir everything together using a spatula until well combined.
Combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together until smooth.
Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high for about 2 minutes. Add a good amount of oil, about half an inch high, then let it heat up for another 2 to 3 minutes. Drop a tiny dollop of the batter into the oil to check if it’s hot enough. As soon as the oil bubbles around it, you’re good to go.
Scoop 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan. Working quickly, flatten the mixture by using the back of a spoon to form a fritter. Add a few more into the pan, making sure not to overcrowd it to prevent the fritters from sticking together.
Fry each side for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown. They should be ready to flip once bubbles appear and the edges start to turn darker in colour. In the meantime, prepare a sheet pan with a wire rack.
Transfer the cooked fritters onto a wire rack to drain the excess oil. Brush a layer of glaze on top of each fritter while hot. Plate and serve immediately.
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