My Toe Shouldn’t Point That Way

In the grand scheme of things it could have been far worse, but it’s still not a banner day. I’ve been working on prepping and painting my room. It is well due, but I guess now it will be a December task.

I was on the second step of the a small step stool. I stepped back aiming for the first step and totally missed. Splat, wiped out on the floor. When I first dusted myself off, I must have been in a vague state of shock because I didn’t have an immediate sense that anything was wrong. But I knew I landed on my left foot badly. I looked down and my toe was decidedly misshapen.

Oh dear…

I’ve been on a  night owl schedule lately which meant that at midnight, there’s really not a ton of options except an ER visit. I kept hoping maybe it was simply dislocated or something, but sure enough, the x-rays revealed what I already really knew, the big toe on my left foot is indeed broken.

If there’s a bright side to any of this it’s that it appears unlikely I’ll need anything other than time and staying off my feet to heal this wound. I broke an arm in 8th grade and it was a clean break that required just a cast. When I saw my toe pointing in a slightly wonky direction, I had visions of surgeries.

In the ER, they buddy taped my big toe to the toe beside it with just a little bit of gauze between. I have to continue this for six weeks and keep it elevated. I was given a prescription for pain, and I’ll probably fill it anyway just in case. Luckily there hasn’t been a lot of pain. There was in the car on the way there and while sitting answering questions for the paperwork, but pretty much as soon as I got on the table and had my feet up, it dialed back. All I’ve had since I got home was over the counter ibuprofen.

I’m told I shouldn’t need a follow up with a specialist unless I have issues with it. So, I will definitely be keeping this foot up and my fingers crossed. Time to do my best to sit and let the world go by for awhile.