Took A Little Trip to the ER Last Night...

I learned a valuable lesson yesterday, and that is to not chop wood in sandals.

Within 5 minutes of getting to a campsite eight friends, I wanted to try a buddy’s new axe, and long story short, sliced my big toe through the nail all the way through 😬.

Went to Urgent Care, who took Xrays and they refused to stitch me up because they feared bone involvement and the emergency room would be better equipped.

So, I sat in the ER alone for 2.5 hours waiting to be called back. They’re not letting any spouses or partners in, so this added a whole other element of panic in me. I tried to stay as calm as possible, and for the most part succeeded.

When I was called back, the attending physician, RN, and NP reviewed the X-rays and concluded the bone was not involved and the injury would require stitches. Stitches are a first for me, but it wasn’t too bad. They nerve blocked the toe so I couldn’t feel anything besides some discomfort and mild stinging. They opted not to do antibiotics -just a tetanus shot- because there was no bone involvement, just an ointment and proper wound care, and the sutures come out in 10 days.

I feel like my mental state is in more pain and agony than my toe 😂. From being in the ER alone and watching everything around me ranging from mild to severe (they called a code blue when I was there😔😩) , to replaying the wood chopping incident, pretty much everything related to this situation was traumatic. I was able to sleep a little bit last night and this morning, but am completely on edge. I’m fearful of an infection. Terrified, actually.

Ugh, what a night.

Ow Blue, sorry to hear :O must have hurt a lot
But it's healing now, you don't need to do much. And don't worry about infection as they cared about your wound in ER, I mean there is no reason for it to get infection if you take care of it before sutures are out.

I have very unpleasant stitch memories from the deep cut I had in my right palm when I was 10 yr old.
Though the 6 months of disability forced me to learn to use my left hand :D

Get well soon !

Yeah a very deep cut in my palm because I tripped and fell while holding an empty glass bottle. After around 30 years my third and fourth fingers are still sort of numb.

True it's useful, using both hands. I still use my left hand for doing many things. My right is mainly for writing and drawing

Hi Blu,

Sorry to hear what happened. I am glad it is over and that you are okay. Keep it clean and let air get to it. I wish you the best. My niece who is 14 cut her foot with a hatchet. I saw the scar. It is really long. I cringe when I think about it.

Take care and keep hanging in there.

Hugs, Karen...