Day 15 - January 5 - the most expensive pedicure known to man

I think I'm on the mend. I hope. Today was my third dressing change and while the pics are quite gross you can see that the swelling has gone down substantially. I have some bogginess on the big toes that comes from too much moisture in the bandages, and the ends of the first two or three toes have yet to sluff off (hopefully it's that easy) but today I could actually spread my toes. Also, the pain is still faintly numb and achy, but it's there on the tops of pretty much every toe. One blister, on left #4, has even healed over so that it didn't need to be bandaged up today.

With frostbite being such a rarity in Vancouver, there was a parade of doctors and nurses coming through the treatment room to observe. I don't mind the attention at all, made all the more enjoyable in that most of them were of the pretty female persuasion. Ironic that after ice climbing and skiing in the backcountry for nearly 10 years in the often bitterly cold Rockies that I wouldn't get serious frostbite until my first backcountry foray on the balmy west coast.

Adding up the costs of just one of these visits, I must say that I feel thankful for our great Canadian health care system. It was only a year ago that I was (almost) living in the USA doing the same outdoor activities; a visit like this must cost upwards of $300, maybe a lot more. One to two hours with one or two registered nurses, materials (the Acticote silver dressing is $65/sheet - their cost) plus margin. Quite a pedicure, and one to two time weekly to boot.

Ange asked me today if I were upset or sad about my situation. Yes, I suppose I am. Today I got a call from the BCMC confirming that I couldn't participate in the backcountry clinic over the next two weekends, and over the holidays I missed the Marmot trip with Kyle. These things are regrettable but I was able to accept my situation very early on, the first day in fact. In light of how much worse things could have been for me (bad things did cross my mind that day on the 20th) and now especially in light of the recent backcountry accidents in Sparwood, Mt. Seymour, and Whistler, I can only be more grateful that all I have to worry about having a patient recovery. I don't think I've fully resigned myself (is that the right term?) that I could lose some toes yet, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. That decision could still be weeks away.

Well, I start work, and my last semester of school, tomorrow. I'll have a lot less time to put into this blog I imagine, but I'll try to continue to post until I'm fully recovered. I'm learning a lot from this experience and I'm hoping that some one might read it and take a little extra caution when they're out in the backcountry too.

Day 14 - January 3 - Mr. Peanut

I tried venturing out yesterday and did pretty well actually. The streets of Vancouver, particularly the sidewalks and sidestreets (i.e. my street) are still covered with ice and snow. Like true Vancouverites residents (and the city) are counting on our balmy west coast climate to melt away the snow. It ain't happened in three weeks now: piles of snow, frozen slush, melted and refrozen sheets of ice all make for quite the obstacle course for someone with inhibited mobility, myself now counted among those. Anyone on a motorized wheelchair is guaranteed to be housebound. I, with my crutches, had enough trouble and found it easier to use them as two ice axes. That combined with my sore armpits, convinced me to replace the crutches with a cane today. Yolanda said all I need is a monacle and top hat and I could be Mr. Peanut - I do have a fedora so perhaps I could pass for an impersonator... although I think Mr. Peanut uses his cane for dancing, not to prevent himself from falling ass-over-teakettle on the street.

I also replaced my footwear - from hut booties (that are not waterproof and are starting to wear through) to $17 over-sized Canadian Tire duck shoes that have already given my ankles blisters. These new shoes wil not only keep my dry, but they won't look as ridiculous with a suit when I start my new job in the heart of the downtown financial district, on Monday.

My toes today are really, really ugly. I injected the water into the bandages as instructed. Tomorrow is another dressing change.

Day 12 - January 1 - Individually wrapped for freshness

Last night and again today I felt a need to get my dressings changed so I got a ride to the hospital after brunch and began a long, long day of waiting. Arrived at 2:30pm, got home at 8:30pm - 2.5 hours in the waiting room 2 hours of soaking my old dressings so they would come off, and about 1.5 hours of meticulously applied new dressings.

As you can see, there is some green going on underneath those old bandages, although I was told that the silver dressing actually causes green discolouration. Maybe some infection too though - the nurse said that she could smell... something. What you cannot see from the pictures, despite my best efforts to capture it, is the rainbow of sickly colours that my toes have turned since my last change on the 27th. Black, purple, blue, red, grey, and yes, green. To my surprise however the doctor and nurse were pleased with the way my toes appeared to be "healing" as if I could actually call it that. With the bandages (almost) off I still cannot wiggle or really feel my toes past the second (or is it third) knuckle. I test the function of my toes and try to lean forward, but my toes do not stop me from falling forward and I must catch myself.

Also to my surprise was the surprise that the doctor and nurse showed when they learned I had only had one dressing change in nearly two weeks, that I was not getting them far more often, even daily. Such is life during the holidays. I was instructed to get a change on the 29th then again on the 7th. Thank goodness I decided to come in today instead of wait until the 7th (another full week from now) as I thought I was supposed to.

Thirdly to my surprise was the extent to which the silver dressings decided to adhere themselves to my wounds. They simply wouldn't come off without tearing my toes underneath so I spent a large amount of time with wet gauze on my feet to moisten the wounds enough for the silver to release. Oh well, I had no where to be today.

Fourth, and lastly, to my surprise was the meticulousness with which my nurse redressed each toe individually. First cleaning each with sterile water and gauze, between toes and then carefully drying them. Application of gel, then silver, soaked in sterile water and carefully cut to the exact size of each wound on each toe. Then gauze, cut and and applied over each patch of silver, then each toe wrapped in thin strip of bandage, taped, and plastic wrapped. Finally each toe was covered with a protective little "toque". Elapsed time: must have been at least 1.5 hours.

My homework is to inject 1/2 cc of sterile water into each patch of gauze on Saturday to keep the dressing moist. And finally I am to report back on Sunday for another dressing change.

PS. the completed bandages now appear as in the final photo below. No more wrappings all around my feet. I can fit into some stretchy ski socks but not into shoes quite yet. ... It's been a long day, time for bed. Oh - and Happy New Year.

Day 11 - Back in V-Town

Just arrived home in Vancouver and thanks to Jeff and Jennie for picking me up at the airport. The flight was delayed again because the flight crew was late, again. They called my crippled ass over to the gate to pre-board with the kids and old ladies in wheelchairs. They even told someone to get out of my way so I they could check me in before them. First class! My toes were hurtin' something awful on the plane but it went away and I could almost walk better without the crutches by the time I landed. A couple of New Year's options tonight - one on... what?? East Hastings!!?? It would take me hours to hobble home through the wet streets of the rain city. Sorry Jessica. The other, closer by but I'm feeling like I need to rest... tbd. Wait let me check the mail... woohoo! My Powderwhore DVD* arrived while I was gone! I know what I'm doing tonight! Whoa. Spoke too soon - the hurt is coming back now.

*Shame on you, it's not that kind of DVD. But I supposed it might qualify as porn for tele skiers. http://www.powderwhore.com

Day 11 - December 31 - Cruel Hindsight

Despite being couch-bound for probably the rest of this ski season, I was in MEC yesterday checking out skis and came across these toe warmers. I normally don't use these things so even in hindsight I wouldn't have brought them with me. In the future however, I might just keep a few handy if things turn out to be a bit colder or drawn out in time.

Hindsight is usually 20-20 they say and I've been trying to figure where things went bad for my toes that day in the backcountry.
Being my first time out in a few years and not wanting to slow the group I tried to be well prepared. I replaced my lexan avi shovel with an aluminum one (read http://www.telemarktips.com/TeleNews69.html) and finally bought a real probe since the ski-pole probes that I've been relying on (but have never had to use) are garbage. I had new boot liners custom fitted at the Intuition factory in Vancouver, bought and studied a topo map, carried a compass, headlamp, a transceiver of course, extra batteries, plenty of trail snacks and lunch for energy, some water, and I left a thermos with hot soup in the car for afterwards.

What I didn't anticipate however was the bitterly cold temperature, and time spent in that temperature due to 1. the bushwacking (oh the bushwacking), and worse 2. the long waits due to the (slow) pace of the group.

First the bushwacking. You could hardly call what we did that day skiing. There was very little snow. We bushwacked amost all the way up and bushwacked all the way down. The slopes that were supposed to be our ski out were still fields of densely packed slide alders. Stepping through, around, under and over these fields was both exhausting and horrendously time consuming.

Second, the waiting. I had certainly not anticipated the group dynamics that caused the waits on this trip since it seemed abundantly clear that a prerequisite to join the group was fitness, experience, training, and field tested gear. While all of us were fit enough, and almost all were far more experienced than I, not all of us were. This made for a few long cold waits as the leaders charged ahead (myself among them) and then were forced to wait for the rear to catch up. The pattern went something like this ski, ski, ski (bushwack rather), stop and wait. Ski, ski, ski, stop and wait. Despite the warmth generated while moving there was a net cooling effect on my core, so that by the time we decided to turn back at 1:30pm, I knew that I had to keep moving or I was in trouble. The ski down proved to be much worse for losing heat - in my haste to keep moving, I found myself alone - ahead of the group with no one following - I thought I had taken a wrong turn. Believing I had fallen BEHIND the group, I was alone, in unfamiliar backcountry, getting constantly snagged in slide alder fields with one hour of light and at least two, maybe more hours of bushwacking, the temperature dropping (later confirmed to be -20 to -25C for most of the day) and my core temperature falling fast, I lost all concern for my finger and toes, and instead was dead set on finding my way back to the car. Somewhere on that trip down is when my toes took the worst of the damage. As it turned out, the leaders had sent two skiers to follow my tracks and the rest fared similarly as I did on their own bushwacking adventure. I emerged at the parking lot 30 minutes ahead of the two skiers sent to follow me, and 1-1.5 hours ahead of the rest of the group. Thinking I had become lost, I was convinced that I had fallen behind the group.

So what would have saved my toes?
Basically it comes down to experience. It's been some time since I've been in the backcountry and I've never been in a situation where it was so important to conserve body temperature. On this day, when it was so important to conserve it, I wasted mine:
My down puffy, waiting for me in the car, would have kept my core warmer; I watched with envy as the leaders pulled theirs out of their packs to keep warm during the long waits. Strike one.
I wasn't the only one without a puffy though. Others without puffys, obviously more experienced than I, were certainly capable of keeping up with the leaders but chose to move at the pace at the rear, so that they would not have to wait (and while waiting, lose core temperature). Smart. Strike two for me.
I should have avoided drinking water. I wasn't dehydrated, only a bit thirsty. My water was ice cold and cooled my core each time I took a drink. I took two. Strike three.
All of the above might have helped to keep me just warm enough to avoid the frostbite. Maybe not. But chalk this up to experience. The next time I hit the backcountry I'll know the importance of staying warm. It's a tough lesson.

Day 10 - December 30 - foot fetish?

The blisters on my toes a couple of days ago were a good sign. It's supposed to mean that the blood is flowing there, that they're repairing themselves. But if your toes are dying, I imagine it feels something a little like this: take a rubber band and wrap it tightly around your finger (or toe). Leave it there for ten minutes and watch your finger (or toe) turn purple. You'll feel some tingling, some burning and then nothing. Now take off the rubber band cause you don't really want to kill it. That's what my toes feel like except I can't take the rubber band off, and I can't see my toes because my toes are covered in bandages.

The last couple of days I thought that the pain I was feeling was good, and I still hope it is. But tonight at dinner I realized that I couldn't really feel right#2 and left2,3,&4. I thought the dressings were too tight on the left but I don't think that now. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me.

I've also imagined that maybe they're infected now. Been trying sniff them out a bit, but they seem to still be smelling clean. Yesterday it felt like my toes were swimming in fluid. But they're not. Maybe new blisters have formed completely around the toes and I'm feeling that fluid. Gross but maybe this is good. Maybe they've formed new skin underneath (like my thumb and fingers (yes I frost bit my right hand a bit too) and the old skin is just shedding off. I imagined this the day before I had the dressings changed too and when I actually saw them, they were far far from this rosy scenario.

I've imagined what it would be like to be toeless. Can I still run? Beach volleyball might freak some people out. Yoga in socks? I think I could probably still ski. This might make getting a new girlfriend even harder! At what stage do I reveal this? "Uh I just have this thing, with my toes - I don't have any" or maybe she'll say "Honey, why do you always wear your socks to bed?". Kyle tells me I have to make sure she doesn't have a foot fetish... how many girls have foot fetishes? Wes says toelessness is cool... maybe chicks will dig me more without toes. I do have to admit it will be fun to give the grandkids nightmares: I can tell the story about how grandpa froze then cut off his toes and then, to their horror, I'll whip off my socks to reveal my freaky toe-nubs. There's always a bright side.

PS. I'm caught up now. I started this blog today and the posts up to this point have been written from memory. New posts shouldn't be any older than a day or two old... will try to keep it as real time as possible.

Day 9 - December 29 - don't drink beer

The sensation has been coming back slowly to my feet. Some tingling, some burning, some freezing. Any feeling is good news but man oh man. I've been drinking a few beers in the evening pretty much all trip, but I went for a couple of suds today with Kyle and my feet bloated up and started screaming at me. No, SCREAMING at me.

Sometimes I need to keep them elevated to keep the pain bearable. I had some T3s yesterday morning - never again - I'd rather take the pain than feel as loopy as I did on those drugs. Okay well maybe I'll keep them just in case. I've been taking ibuprofen three times a day - theoretically, says the doctor, it should help. I dunno if it does though - even the placebo effect is enough for me. One good thing: I've been able to sleep just fine.

Kids and dogs. These feet are magnets for them - bouncing around, roughhousing, banging into them, stepping on them. Two nights in a row now I've had to retire to my bedroom to avoid my feet being banged up by the kids and dogs.