I Broke My Toe

Now, when Muffin leaves her toys laying around and we tell her she'd better pick them up before someone trips and kills themselves, we have evidence to back up the claim. Granted, she's too little to pick up her things so this accident was technically my fault and I didn't exactly kill myself, but the point is it could happen.

Shortly after Mike left for work this morning, I put Muffin in her bouncy seat and placed her in the bathroom while I took my shower. After the shower I took her out of the seat, placed her on the bed in our room, and proceeded to trip on the bouncy seat, jamming the metal bar of a leg in between two toes. I trip on things all the time and have probably broken several toes without even realizing it, so it took me a few minutes before I looked at my foot and realized something was wrong. The fourth toe, the one next to the pinky toe, was sideways. This was more than a stubbed toe; I needed professional help.

I called Mike, who was with our neighbor and their driver. As soon as they got to work, they sent the driver back to our building and the neighbor's wife showed up to help me package up Muffin and go with us to the hospital.

Once we got there, I walked up to the regular admitting desk and they said a doctor couldn't see me until 11:00. It was 9:00. So I walked over to the emergency desk. This wasn't an emergency, but if a doctor had time to check me out, why not give it a try?

Word soon got out that an American was in the hospital, and an American woman with a cute baby at that, and suddenly the service got very good. My friend sat with Muffin while I was whisked back to the xray room. Then in the exam room, my friend and Muffin joined me while a parade of doctors and nurses came in both to explain every little detail and to see the baby. One doctor even took out her phone and started taking pictures of everyone holding Muffin.

The xrays showed a small fracture of the bottom bone and dislocation of the bone on top of it. They popped the toe back into place and wrapped it up using the neighboring toe as a splint. They gave me some pain relievers and told me to come back in one week to have it checked out. I should stay off my feet and elevate my legs for a couple days, and use an ice pack.

All that for less than $40, and we were back home before 11:00. That's great healthcare.

I am so thankful that I had a driver and a friend available to help me, too!