Bad month for toes

The silent war against my toes has peaked (I hope). As I mentioned in the Hellroaring trip report my big toenail on my right foot got thoroughly worked over, with its last hurrah a week ago (the toenail fell off). It was quite a gnarly process. First the swelling around the nail-bed. Followed by the use of a sterile 1/16 drill bit, drilling into the nail to relieve pressure and fluid. And then finally a quick pull, removing the entire big toenail. It feels fine now, but it is not pretty, not one bit.

This entire summer and spring I have lived in flip flops and my bare feet making it a point to have as little on my feet as possible, enjoying the warmth while I can. I caffeinated, chased the twins and planned out the day. I decided to get my stuff together and sight in my rifle. As I pulled the targets from the cupboard in the garage, I struggled with something heavy on top of them. I pulled harder and out fell one heavy ass piece of metal. The trailer hitch (10 lbs of steel) fell directly onto my middle left toe. A flurry of expletives and grossly exaggerated faces sent my twin girls into a screaming/crying mess.

I gritted in severe pain and tried to assess the damage to my middle toe. After the initial pain blast died down, I attempted to bandage and stop the bleeding on that toe. The tip of the toe had a 1" laceration near the nail and something (either the cuticle or bone) was poking up through the skin. About 20 minutes later the blood started to really come on strong. I headed for the emergency room.

With a very short wait, I was admitted to a room for assessment. Luckily, I was treated with some liquid Loritab (highly recommended) which took most of the pain away. Shortly after, the x-ray techs took some photos of my foot. The doctor deduced that I had an open fracture of the distal phalanx. He put in two stitches and did a bit of reduction to try and place the bones back together. I have to follow up with the orthopedic specialist next week to check on the healing process. Sounds like there is a good chance the tip of the toe may not heal back together, but with supposed little consequences.

If you got any tips (no pun) on healing a broken toe, holler at me.