freak accident

I am usually the first one to bed, the first one awake and the first one gone in my apartment. So naturally, a freak accident would happen when everyone else is asleep. It was a dark, Friday morning. I was so excited to get the day started because I was about to have a beloved three day weekend. My brother Scottie was coming into town and we had plans to gallivant around Provo together.

I was in the bathroom and realized I needed something that was on my dresser. I quickly ran back into my room to grab it when I noticed a toothpick just laying on my bedroom floor. I thought, "hmm, I should probably pick that up" but then thought "I'll just remember that it is there and do it in a second." That was mistake #1, because I totally forgot.

A few minutes passed and I heard my phone go off, so I ran to go turn it off. As I'm speedily walking to my nightstand, my left foot stepped directly on that toothpick that was sticking straight up out of the carpet. How I didn't see or remember it was there is beyond me.  

{Right after I stepped on the toothpick. Doesn't look like there's anything in there!!}

I stepped on it so hard that it inserted itself into my foot and I couldn't even see it. That is how deep it went in! Naive little me decided to get tweezers and try to pull it out. Didn't even remotely work: IT WAS IN THERE. Mistake #2.

I had no idea what to do. I had no sub plans and no one was awake. So I decided to limp into school and see what they thought I should do. The shooting pain began and my foot began to swell. I could barely walk. 

{Minor Emergency. The swelling begins}

I went into school and they sent me straight on out. I felt so bad for my little class! 

Minor emergency was floored at how deep this tooth engrained itself into me. He set an appointment with a podiatrist but it wasn't until 4pm. Unfortunately, he couldn't prescribe me any pain meds at this point. So I went home and laid with my foot up on a pillow. My foot only got more purple and the pain became really intense. 

{By 3pm. Which foot has a toothpick in it?! And yuck, why weren't my toes painted?}

As I lay on the bed, the podiatrist came in. He explained to me that toothpicks actually are not as easy to get as one would think. Because it is wood and flesh colored, it is actually pretty tricky to find. He numbed up my foot and began to dig. And dig. And dig. About 10 minutes later, he turns to me and says, " I think we are going to have to put you under, I can't find it." Me? On drugs? Oh, this was gonna be a good weekend. He told me he'd dig for about five more minutes, but if not, I was going to have to arrange a ride to come pick me up. 

About four minutes later, he finally got the part of the toothpick that broke off in my foot!! I felt instant relief. Come to find out, my coworker's Dad was actually my podiatrist! Small world.

{3/4 of an inch long. Ouch!}

For the next few days, I could barely walk and I mean barely walk. I was on pain meds and my foot just throbbed. It amazing how much we take the little things in life for granted. I also received this hilarious little card from a little boy, Levi, in my class. I loved the picture. All they knew was that I stepped on something.

On Monday, Scottie, Kurtis, Stacie and I woke up to go get breakfast. Of course I was on crutches and hobbling around. We ate breakfast at Waffle Love in Provo, went to the mall to get new Seahawks gear and headed back. On our way back home, I began to feel light headed, then sweaty, then REAL sweaty and I realized I was about to throw up. I told Stacie to pull over the car immediately, hobbled to the curb and threw up that beloved waffle with raspberries on top (tmi, but whatever). 

{right before I puked on the side of the road}

It took about another week for my foot to feel more normal, but I was still limping. The best part of the whole story? The doctor let me keep the piece as a souvenir. Haha, It was just the thing I wanted.