Toe-tally Fantastic

Tuesday morning I went to the doctor to finally get my toe "fixed."  It's a long, gross story, but basically I got a really bad blister running my first half marathon last April.  That, combined with a weakened immune system from my miscarriage and the wart virus (picked up anywhere I would have been barefoot) combined to give me an "atypical" infection in my toe.  It was disgusting and it hurt. I had already had it treated for when my PCP thought it was a fungus.  Since it wasn't a fungus, the treatment didn't work. So I chose to go to a specialist.

I have a great podiatrist.  If anyone in the Tulsa area ever needs one, I highly recommend Dr Jill Jackson-Smith at Metro Tulsa Foot and Ankle Specialists.  She impressed me.  She is kind, intelligent, and she explains everything to you.  I really hate doctors who act as if they are so superior or just make decisions for you without explaining them.  She is not like that at all.  She gave me several options, and let me know what they would each be like.  Plus, they have the best selection of magazines in the waiting room that I have ever seen.  Big bonus.  I had People and Health and Lee (who I dragged along to be my extra set of ears since I don't listen very well and only hear about half of what doctors tell me) had Field and Stream and ESPN.

Dr Jill put a solution on my toe to get rid of the yucky stuff.  The mixture is cantharidin (acid from a blister beetle) and salacylic acid.  And it hurts like heck.  It was some of the worst pain I have ever felt- I couldn't sleep.  It's been two days and I still can't walk or put weight on my foot.  My toe looked gross before, but now it seriously is one of the grossest things I've seen.  As one of my students would say, it's "nasty".  I'm taking Lortab, which is making me itch all over.   I have a nice little rash from it.  My skin hates medicine.  (Side note: I have also been lucky enough to have my Aunt Flow come visit during this toe experience.  The good news is that the Lortab totally took care of my cramps!)

Don't worry, I won't post any pictures of my actual toe.  I'm not mean.



I hadn't expected to miss so much work, so that kind of stinks.  I left at 9:30 Tuesday fully expecting to make it back by noon for a webinar I had signed up for.  But that plan failed....and here I am, 48 hours later, still on the couch, still in pain, still in the same pj pants.  Tomorrow is a training day, so I plan to get my disgusting toe up to work and learn something. 

Sorry for such an unglamorous post.  The Lortab has drained every smidge of creativity from me- I can't think of anything more fun to write about than my yucky toe.  That's sad folks, really sad.


Do you have any interesting or gross medical stories?  What do you hate or love about doctors?