threadwalker: (Good Sweat)
threadwalker ([personal profile] threadwalker) wrote2010-07-02 03:15 pm
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Ouch! Bad Runner! Take your Antibiotics

I have a big toe-owie. It's on my big toe and it's the result of a home-pedicure gone awry. That's enough detail.. it's my own dang fault and there are no pictures forthcoming.

Consequences of Owie: Pain. Lots of pain. I have been plagued by fears of toe-nail surgery, cauterizing, and foot casts so I spent the last 3 weeks coping and hoping it would heal on its own in time for next weekends race. No luck. I think it's getting worse, too.

I caved in and saw the doctor because I couldn't walk in my 1-inch heals without constant pain. And I LOVE my shoes. Yeah... it's all about vanity.

At lunch today she prodded, squeezed and pinched my toe; I let out one screech and then held my breath... Like who the hell expects a doctor to grab an inflamed, wounded toe and squeeze? I should have expected it though; she's remarkably unmerciful and very focused on the job of diagnosis and healing. Anyway, she wrote a prescription for antibiotics and referred me to a podiatrist. But to add insult to injury, she pointed at my running caluses and said they had to go too.

Gronk???? They got the same "treatment", but they don't hurt. I protested; aren't caluses the result of skin hardening up inorder to protect your foot from abrasion? She (unmercifully) disagreed, outlined certain risks and said they had to go. She seemed kind of regretful when she graphically described how they would be removed. I'm proud that I didn't puke. I'm very squeamish.

Yeah... we'll see about that. No one is cutting into my feet without explicit permission from me and without convincing me that my quality of life will be vastly improved. With that thought, I called the foot doctor right away for the sake of my toe, but he/she can't see me for 3 weeks.

Really? Wow! That seems like a HUGE wait to me.

After womaning up and going to the doctor I feel let down. I don't WANT to cope anymore. I want the doctor to do whatever aweful unpleasant thing is needful in order to make the constant pain go away. But now I have to wait 3 weeks to see a specialist? Who are all these other people filling the podiatrists schedule? And does this mean the podiatrist is good because people are booking him/her up or bad because once you see him/her you're never cut loose? My (unmerciful) doctor seems to like him/her so instead of retrenching I tried to convince the nice voice at the podiatrist's office that this was urgent, but they didn't budge; she suggested I get referred elsewhere if I needed urgent care. sigh.

I will take my antibiotics and cope. I will refrain from jumping jacks, jump rope, box jumps and maybe after 2.9 weeks I'll be healed and won't need to make my podiatrist appointment. And I'm taking my bike out next week; if it don't hurt to bike, I'm racing on 7/10. Fah!

[identity profile] thread-walker.livejournal.com 2010-07-02 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for advice. Hydrogen peroxide? I'm curious. I will have to try it this weekend.

I cringe at your descriptions. I wonder if they can put me on nitrous or something if cutting and blood are necesary. Or I could try watching and just pass out. But there's always the risk of puking before passing out and then I'd be grossly stinky. Bleck.

[identity profile] sarahbellem.livejournal.com 2010-07-02 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
To be totally honest, if you can get them to put you under or at least drug you to the gills before they even start with localized anesthetic injections, then I say you should insist on it. Especially if getting sick and/or passing out is a risk for you.

It's good to keep in mind that the procedures I had were done almost 20 years ago, so hopefully things may have changed and it may not be quite so awful. But yeah, if there's an option for some kind of sedation, beg and plead for it if you have to. And afterward, insist they send you home with something at least as strong as Tylenol 3/Tylenol + codeine, because when the anesthetic wears off, you are going to wish you were dead. For whatever reason, the after the first procedure, they sent me home without any pain killers and I can tell you, Advil wasn't cutting it by a long shot. The second time, they gave me a huge bottle of Tylenol 3. It was a MUCH better 48 hours post-surgery.

And I totally swear by H202 in either 1% or 2% concentration for this kind of infection. It's painless and totally speeds up the healing. Good luck!