Aubergine parmigiana with multigrain sourdough bread

I’m not saying mum doesn’t listen to me, but earlier today she had to make use of a new medicated cream. I got the box, read aloud the instructions on the label, then said the same thing in a slightly different way in case mum didn’t understand the first time. Mum nodded and said she understood. I gave her the box, and she said “so what do I do with this, then?” 🤦‍♂️

But I promised I’d write about something else today, so I’ll write about my trip down to the village to collect a prescription instead.

First, I’ll have to explain how my condition (whatever it is) affects me. I have what is termed ‘altered sensation’ in my feet, which varies from a sort of buzzy feeling, like when your feet have got very cold and you stick them in warm water, to feeling like I’ve got a bad burn – sort of tight, like the skin might split if I move too much, and with a fiery pain. At the same time, I often can’t feel my feet, which is truly unnerving when going down stairs.

I have the same thing, to a lesser extent, in my fingers, which greatly reduces my manual dexterity: it’s hard to pick things up if you can’t feel them (the cause of a great many escapee tablets).

I also still have weakness in my thigh muscles, which were worst affected by the rhabdo: on a flat surface, when I’m not tired, I can walk normally, but when I’m tired, or the ground is uneven, I really need my crutches tlo stay upright. You can tell how tired I am by how much of my weight I have on my arms and crutches.

I tire quickly, although I’m increasingly realising I always have – my muscles have to work that much harder than everyone else’s to achieve the same thing, which explains why I was always terrible at PE as a kid.

Finally, I have dyspraxia, so my balance and spatial awareness are a bit skewed at the best of times.

All of which adds up to trips out becoming something like a Crystal Maze challenge. I put everything I need in a cross-body bag, which I have to put either in front of or behind me so it doesn’t interfere with the crutches. I lived in cities too long to have my bag behind me where I can’t see it, so it has to be in front of me. Which means I can’t see my right foot when going down stairs and, as I’ve already mentioned, I often can’t feel it either. Every stair is like doing a one-person trust fall, with a bus-full of people watching your every move.

Then you get to the shop, and I have to hold things. [For the purposes of the following, I’m in a shop too small to have ride-on trolleys to borrow. Although those bring their own set of problems, of course.]

My hands are full of crutches, so I can’t hold a shopping basket, and I can’t put things in my shoulder bag as it looks like I’m the Island’s least subtle shoplifter. A pull-along basket is a good option, but not everywhere has them, and they produce the difficulty of getting items from the shelf – up here ⬆️ – to the basket – down here ⬇️. Bending is awkward, as I’m not always sure I’ll be able to straighten up again, and simply dropping items into the basket is contraindicated in the case of things like eggs.

Often I end up using one crutch for balance, and holding all my shopping in my other hand, hoping that the second crutch will stay hanging on my arm long enough for me to get to the till. And then I have to cram everything I have bought into my cross-body bag, as you can carry a carrier bag while you’re on crutches but it bangs against the crutch, and your leg, and throws you off balance, and is generally a flaming nuisance.

And then I get to the bus stop, where I can sit down to rest on a wall (just don’t lean back, as that shrub has thorns and isn’t afraid to use them), and dig through all the stuff in my bag to find my phone as it has fallen out of its designated pocket and slid down to the bottom of my bag, and mum’s calling as it has been at least 10 minutes since I last assured her I was OK, and then the bus comes and I’ve got to get up the steps again, and 😫.

Anyway, first dinner I made aubergine parmigiana, as it’s something that can be done in stages.

First slice the aubergine, fry the slices in a little oil until browned and cooked through. Put the cooked slices on some kitchen paper to drain. Then rest.

Then make a quick tomato sauce by frying some chopped garlic (from a jar is fine – I use it all the time) in the same pan, add a tin of chopped tomatoes, seasoning, and a little sugar if needed, and simmer for a couple of minutes. Take it off the heat, then rest.

Layer the fried aubergine slices with the tomato sauce in an oven-proof dish, finishing with sauce. Slice a ball of mozzarella and arrange over the top, then sprinkle over grated parmesan (from a packet is fine), grind over some black pepper, and put it in the oven until the cheese is melty and golden (about half an hour in our oven). Rest while it’s cooking, then serve with some good bread to mop up the sauce.

So there you go: not just a trip out but a recipe too. Now I’m about done for the day, with just enough energy left to lay on my bed and eat some of the chocolate Ibought earlier. I didn’t go to all that effort for it to just sit in the fridge, after all.