Hey every one! Jules (he/him) here. For over a year, there was no activity on Disabled Kitchen and Garden. As much as all you all are going to tell me an explanation isn’t necessary, I want to explain what has been going on and what the future looks like for the site.
It all started in the spring of 2019 when I got ill. Because of my compromised immune system, it takes time to recover. I was also put on prednisone, again, which compounded recovery.
As soon as I was done recovering, I was the campaign manager for my incumbent NDP MP (we won) during Canada’s 2019 Federal Election. On election night, I found out that the new pain I was having in my lower back was because I have an inoperable tumour strangling my sciatic nerve right at the base of my spine. It was also around that time I was put on a biologic because my arthritis was killing me, literally.
To treat the nerve pain from my tumour, I was put on gabapentin, which caused me to retain fluids and make all my arthritis pain worse. By early 2020, my arthritis had also advanced to the point where I could no longer walk or use my thumbs without them dislocating. Then COVID hit and all my healthcare, including a wheelchair fitting, was deemed unessential. And then I got COVID in a healthcare setting.
I took 7 months before the wheelchair fitting happened (Beginning of March to end of September) and I’ve been waiting to see a surgeon to operate on my hands so I can use them again for the same amount of time. My wheelchair won’t arrive for a few more weeks and the surgery consult keeps getting postponed. My biologic was also doubled but it is doing nothing to prevent my arthritis from attacking my tendons and my my both Achilles tendons are permanently damaged.
This is all on top of the “regular” things like two kidney infections in the last couple of months and extreme hypertension because of pain.
So, that is the overview. It’s been a lot. I’ve had to shut down my business because I’ll no longer be able to work again in jobs that require using a computer keyboard for hours a day. I tried doing web development and marketing via voice-to-text but it just doesn’t work.
However, I am in the midst of writing a cookbook for the 1 in 5 North Americans who are disabled. Thankfully, I can still do that after spending time getting used to Microsoft Word’s Amazing voice-to-text capability. And I’ve learned food photography which I can do while using a wheelchair and without the use of hands!
This means, the site will start to get content again on a semi-regular basis! It just won’t be as frequently as before. It really depends on how everything above is treating me and how I’m managing, or not. There won’t be any new AeroGarden posts unless someone has a specific question or I think of something that hasn’t been previously covered.
The original recipes will continue! And not only for the Instant Pot but also the odd Air Fryer recipe now and then. The recipes just won’t be as frequently as the before times for obvious reasons. There will also be kitchen-related posts when relevant and that won’t fit into the cookbook.
I’m also going to be including some general managing disabled life posts as I figure out new things that help me manage and cope with my new reality.
There has also been a site redesign that is going to be on-going for the next little while so check it out!
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I’m happy to be back!
I had found your site a few years ago and was so excited and then I realized it wasn’t being updated. Wondered what happened. I am very sorry to hear of your new medical issues it sounds incredibly painful and debilitating. Have you ever considered having guest bloggers or a group of bloggers that are disabled all come together to create content. I’ve been asked any times to start a blog or group on Facebook but I know I could never do posts regularly enough to start and keep a blog running. That’s actually how I found your site looking for other disabled cooking groups and blogs.
Thanks for the kind words, Kerry. I’m slowly starting to be able to update here regularly again. With my publishing contract and being neck deep in working on this cookbook, that has been my priority at the moment. And with my publishing contract, bringing others on-board is complicated. I am very hopeful that once the book is off to the printers at the end of this year, I’ll be updating again on a semi-regular basis!