Hobble hobble, how I ended up in the hospital

On Thursday, as I left my home, I slipped on my flip flops and grabbed my Yoga mat so that I could run the Yoga class with staff at Washington-Lee High School or WLHS (the staff are so awesome by the way, they even had gotten me a x-mas gift!). I was wearing socks with the flip flops, so as I walked to class I was amusing myself with how the high school students might perceive my fashion faux pas.

So upon arrival at WLHS I grabbed the handle connected to the front door of the building, and yeah, you know what’s coming, I swung open the heavy glass & steel door and my left big toe took a hit from the bottom corner of the door.

“YEEEOW-OUCH!!” I cried. Oh man, that’s gonna hurt more in a second. I could feel my toenail ripped open then. Uh oh, here comes the blood.

I hobbled over to the front office and pleaded for help from Dawn (from yoga) and MaryLib (from Zumba), who both were in the office. At first they didn’t understand why I looked so distressed, but then they saw the blood oozing out from my left sock, and they immediately had me sit down. The nurse came and started treating the foot.

“Call my boyfriend Sunny,” I said to MaryLib, “since he can still teach Yoga!”

MaryLib gives me a concerned look. “How about we call Sunny so he can take you to the hospital? We’ll cancel Yoga class.”

“Aw, she’s still looking after her clients,” said someone. I was already doubled over at this point and had to start sobbing so I could tolerate the pain. I would have wailed like a banshee if I hadn’t been around my clients!!

My teeth started chattering, sweat drenched my body, and the shivers took over, all at the same time. Having taken first aid class before, I knew I was in the state of shock. “I don’t know how women give birth, this already hurts so badly,” I exclaimed.

Dawn replied, “It’s called an epidural!” I sure wish I had gotten one at that moment!

Since we live three blocks away from the school, Sunny ran over quickly and carried me into the car. We went to urgent care at Arlington Hospital and we made a dramatic entrance, with me in his arms. The staff led us straight to the treatment room. Now that’s a way to skip the line!

Be prepared to fill out paperwork when you end up in the hospital. They can’t treat you until it’s completed. Heck, they even needed my medical insurance card but I don’t normally carry it with me!

To make this long story short, the doctors gave me a ton of local anesthesia, which I loved, but still couldn’t numb my toe enough to be able to pull out my toenail (which was loose) without pain. They were perplexed at how resistant my toe was to anesthesia. They had never seen a patient like that before.

Is that a good or a bad thing??

So, I didn’t have to go through all that needle jabbing if I had listened to my first instinct, which was to leave the toenail alone and just let it heal by itself. Two and a half hours later, the hospital discharged me and sent me off with a bandaged toe and antibiotic prescription. The doctor said that if I see red streaks on my foot near my wound or if I get a fever, that would be a sign that I have an infection and would need treatment immediately. Whoa.

I’m so grateful for having received so much care from MaryLib, Dawn, the WLHS nurse, Sunny, and the Arlington Hospital staff. So many people got involved with caring for me when one big toe got injured!

And a foot injury really messes up your gait. Your gait, or how you walk, affects how the rest of your body moves from the bottom up. When you body is out of alignment because your gait has changed, different muscles in your body may or may not fire like they normally do. This can lead to muscle weaknesses or overuse, and then joint pain. The joint pain can happen anywhere, from the ankles, knees, hips, and up. A messed up gait is serious business. So although I can still walk without pain, I won’t be doing much of that this weekend so that I don’t mess up other muscles and joints in my body!

Hobble hobble. Check out my list of lessons learned!

1) Use I.C.E. — rescue workers are trained to look up in your cellphone first under the name I.C.E, which stands for In Case of Emergency. I learned this in CPR class. So get your cellphone out now, and put your emergency contacts on speed dial. Not only that, but put I.C.E. next to your contact’s name, like this:

I.C.E. 1 Boyfriend Sunny Singh (priority one since he can get to me first)

I.C.E 2 Mom

I.C.E 3 Brother Jerry

Rescue workers need to know the name of your emergency contact and which person they should call first. Give them three options just in case. Do this now or I’ll reach through the computer screen and do it for you =P No joke.

2) Call your emergency contact using YOUR phone first. In the age of telemarketing, I know a lot of people who don’t answer phone calls from unknown numbers. And don’t assume you can give out your emergency contact’s phone number correctly (I couldn’t!). You could be in shock when an accident happens (like I was), and may be incoherent too.

3) Carry your medical insurance card & ID with you at all times. Our healthcare system requires us to fill out forms first before we get treated. ‘Nuff said.

Please implement these tips and share them with your loved ones. They’re so important to carry out and give you some peace of mind.