It's just a toe...

So I was moving a chair Sunday night at church (heavy & bulky) and went to step around it and caught my left pinky toe. I am naturally clumsy and have broken toes in the past, so I knew from the intense pain it was probably broken. Since we were still in our youth service I just sat down in my seat and tried really hard not to cry. I took my sandal off, looked at my toe and knew something wasn't right (the first picture).

Now, as you can see from the next picture this is how my right foot and toes look.  When the service was done I asked Jody to come over and help me, he came over, I told him I "stubbed" my toes, he looked down and said we probably need to go have that looked at.  I agreed and to make a long story short I ended up at urgent care.  They took a number of x-rays and in fact my toe was broken (I "stubbed" the toe next to it as well and thought I may have done something to my foot, thus all the x-rays).  Basically it was a large fracture (almost completely across) very close to the joint that joins your toe to your foot in my left pinky toe and that's why my toe was bent outward.  They numbed up my toe/joint/foot and the doctor pushed it back in place (set it) then took more x-rays to make sure it was set properly.  The doctor wasn't confident that the bone would stay in place because of the way it was broken and because it was my pinky toe.  So he referred me to an orthopaedic doctor to ensure I didn't need a pin to keep it in place.  They buddy taped 3 of my toes together, put a boot on my foot and gave me crutches.  I was told to be extremely careful until I saw the orthopaedic to ensure it stayed set, absolutely no walking without my crutches and the boot had to stay on!  Since I'm allergic to Ibuprofen they gave me vicodin (not a big fan because of all the side effects) for pain.  I had an appointment the very next morning with the orthopaedic where they took even more x-rays.  The Orthopaedic thought it did not require a pin at this time, but I had to keep it taped for the next 3-4 weeks.  I am to wear the foot boot as well as use the crutches for a while, crutches until I felt comfortable walking and wasn't really painful!  They will take more x-rays to ensure it has healed properly at my appointment in 4 weeks.

I tell this story to say that even though I've broken a few bones before (my other pinky toe a few times, a finger and a thumb), it's always good to go to the doctor to make sure it isn't more serious!  Although it's very frustrating having to use my crutches to get around and having to rely on others so much for our everyday life, I am very thankful that my injured toe wasn't more serious and especially that it did not require surgery and a pin!!!