Tread carefully

On Wednesday I was staying in a handicapped accessible hotel room and when my dinner delivery order came the delivery man pressed the doorbell which caused a loud buzzing noise (I'm not sure why that is a handicapped accessible feature-it seems like blinking lights would be better than a notification device that makes noise like a knock...but i digress).  Anyway, hearing this loud buzzing noise caused me to feel an (irrational) sense of urgency and I ran to the door.  Mid-way there I stubbed my right little toe on the bedstand.  HARD.  I paid for my food while thinking, "OMG I JUST BROKE MY TOE."  Once I was alone I sat down on the floor.  I was afraid to take off my sock.  What would my toe look like?  Would it be at a crazy angle?  Would it be swollen?  I took off my sock.  BLOOD!  I was not expecting blood AT ALL.  I had a pretty deep gash along the right side of my toe down to my nail.  There was a flap of skin hanging off.  And my toe hurt.

So I texted my parents, who are retired healthcare providers, a picture of my toe and called them to ask if I needed stitches.  They responded that my toe definitely did not look good but it was hard to tell over the phone.  My mom recommended that I go to the ER.  [I later learned my parents, who now live in VA, were with a group of people who had come from a wine tasting and all of their friends wanted to see my toe so they passed the bloody picture around the dinner table.]  So after my mom confirmed my suspicion that I should get my toe looked at I started crying and agreed to go.  I've broken my toes before and a broken toe is typically NOT a big deal in a healthy person-unless you are a runner.  I was sad.

Fortunately I was staying in NJ in my HOMETOWN in the 'burbs.  Talk about fortuitous.  Sometimes I stay in busy cities and sometimes I am in remote areas.  I was so fortunate to have close access to good medical care and that my mom could recommend a hospital.  So off I went.

Long story short: After convincing the ER staff that even though I hadn't gotten my period in six weeks I was NOT pregnant (that's normal for me when I run a lot) they got me an x-ray.  The result-my toe was NOT broken.  THEN, the Physician Assistant who was taking care of me decided the cut was superficial enough that I didn't need stitches and he could GLUE the skin together as a biological barrier while the skin underneath healed.  And I could run.  I got glued, got a tetanus shot, and was good to go shortly after arriving.  As I signed my discharge paperwork I was giddy.  They said I was the happiest patient ever in the ER and I told them that the health outcome was so much better than I had anticipated and I was thrilled.

I took one day off of running to not torture my poor bruised toe and delicate skin.  Then I started running again.  Today I ran a 1:09:56 10 mile PR on a wicked hilly course.  My previous times on this course are below:

2011: 1:12:20
2012: 1:12:13

I feel so lucky.  I have been wearing slippers and trying to practice safe preventative foot care (the hospital gave me a handout...)

Comments

[Beth]

Congrats on the PR...mucked up toe and all!!! :) Surgical glue is pretty awesome 'eh? I have a home supply...

[Gina]

Yay no fracture! Audj you are so accident prone!

[*jeanne*]

In 2008 I broke my toe by tripping on a HEAVY glass coffee table the night before a 10-miler. Needless to say...I did NOT run the 10-miler.
And the toe hurt for over a year, off and on, after that.
On Sunday, I fell at a race. Nothing broken, but my hand is pretty torn up.