Left Toe, Day Two

Surprisingly, my toe did not hurt very much today, and all I took for pain (that I thought I might have) was extra strength Tylenol. I'd had a decent sleep during the night, with only the minor inconvenience of having to elevate my leg. It is possible the hydrocodone tablet before I went to bed had much to do with the decent sleep.

However, after I woke up and started to walk around, I could tell it was going to be difficult getting around today. I put on the 'boot' that I was given yesterday, but it caused greater discomfort, so I threw it in my bag (in case I might need it later in the day), and put on a pair of open-toed sandals, which felt more comfortable.

As I hobbled about the house getting ready for school, I noticed the pain was only in the lifting of my foot off the ground, not in placing it down, and not in standing on it. Just when I lifted my foot off the ground to take a step. It ached a bit, even as I drove to school, and walked into my classroom.

I anticipated the questions. Teachers and students would be asking me what happened. I hadn't told anyone about the 'problem' I'd had with the toe nail... it is not exactly a hot topic.  Kind of up there with an abscessed tooth or hemorrhoids. What would I tell them? I didn't have toe surgery, it wasn't even an ingrown toenail. Who hasn't seen those disgusting little fungus characters on the Lamisil commercials? Yuck!

One thing I've learned from being a classroom teacher is that some things you shouldn't lie about or tell stories about. Kids don't like it when they find out you've been hiding something from them. Especially regarding the teacher's health. They want to know what's wrong when their teacher is sick, or hurt, or wearing a huge bandage on her left toe.

When the fifth graders asked, just before we began the EOG math test, I decided to explain my toe problem with words of caution, how they should be careful if they've ever dropped something on their toe, or damaged their toe nail. They took it pretty well. They knew what I was talking about when I said the word fungus. I'm sure they'd seen the commercials. But they loved it when I told them about the options the doctor gave me, and when I hinted at what the doctor did, they squirmed.

First graders are a different breed. My concern with them was their lack of awareness of bodies in space, and my fear was that their little heavy feet would stomp on my very tender toe. These students I warned directly. "Do not go anywhere near my feet today, and don't even accidentally step on my foot!"

"Why?" the inevitable question came. Wide innocent eyes waiting for the answer.

"Because if you do, I will die!" Poor choice of words, but very effective.

"You will?" asked the most innocent of them. He took things literally.

"Not really, but if you step on my toe today, I will probably scream very loudly, and you don't want to hear me do that."

No one stepped on my toe today.... the kids were very careful around me. They don't want to see me die, and they don't want to see me turn into a screaming beast. Fortunately for me.

The good news is that the day went fairly well, I hardly hobbled after 8 a.m. I was able to give the test, and stand and walk about without any discomfort at all.

Doctor had told me to soak it tonight and replace the dressing. He said put a bandaid on it. I didn't dare just put a bandaid on it... I want some padding around that baby. So I wrapped it good. I'm hoping tomorrow will go as well as today.       

                             

                            Losing one's toenail isn't asbad as I thought it would be.