Don't try this at home

I think that as the boys have reached their active ages, I've spent my time worrying about THEM getting hurt. But I learned yesterday, being a mother does not make you invincible.

I had a bit of an accident with a sledgehammer and my big toenail. It's a pretty gross story, so don't say I didn't warn you. We had a carnival at Butler--several large inflatables like slides and moon bounces, a batting cage type set up, a horse to ride, a dunking booth (filled with pickle juice!), and tables sponsored by school clubs with concessions, Make your Own Bracelets, and face painting and Henna tattoos (the last two sponsored by theatre). Well, off to one side (thankfully, just about 20 feet from the HEMSI unit), we had an old car that you could beat with a sledgehammer. It may be unfamiliar to some of you, but I've seen it at carnivals and heard of it enough to know that it's not entirely uncommon. Well, the students wanted me to do it, of course, and I did. Not a big deal. At one point I hit the side of the car, and the hammer hit the car and didn't stop. It swung through and hit my toe. It registered in my mind that the hammer hit my toe, but I kept right on hitting the car. It really didn't even hurt. I didn't even look down at it. About 10 seconds later, I started feeling weak--I thought because I was tired after swinging the sledgehammer--so I told everyone I was finished and walked away from the car. That's when I thought, "Hmmm...my toe does hurt" and looked down to see blood all over my foot...and my toenail sticking UP!

I am pretty proud to tell you that I didn't even cry. Don't get me wrong--it hurt like...well, fill in here with your own obscenities. It hurt BAD! But I used the breathing techniques I learned from birthing class ;) and was comforted by the paramedic who stopped the bleeding, Mr. Lopez who helped me sit up, and Ashley and Caila who took turns holding my hand. (MANY thanks to you guys!!) We put ice on it, which kept the throbbing at bay, and Sandy took me to the emergency room. We waited and waited, got an x-ray (which showed no broken bones), and...here's where I cried folks...two shots of Lidacaine. The shots hurt worse than anything! It felt like the doctor took a curved needle and pushed it around the entire base of my toe. Twice.

We waited about 10 minutes for the anesthetic to take effect but found out that it DIDN'T when...here's where I cried again...the doctor put my toenail back in place. So he gave me a THIRD shot of Lidacaine! It numbed my toe enough that the doctor was able to give me two stitches to hold the toenail down.

Eventually, my toenail will fall off, but it will grow back in a few months. And here's some toenail trivia for you. If my toenail had been pulled off completely and had NOT been put back in place, it would NOT grow back! I would have lived the rest of my life without a big toenail. (Not the worst prognosis in the world, I know, but not a pretty pedicure, either.) But since the doctor put the toenail back in place, he said the "matrix" is in place, so that it can, I guess, take root and grow back.

So I'm on Lortab and spending a lot of time sleeping or playing on the computer. The doctor said I could go back to work Monday. (Trust me, I asked him if he was SURE that I didn't need to lay around until Tuesday, pretty please.) The boys stayed at Momma's Saturday night, and Sandy picked them up just a couple of hours ago. They haven't paid much attention to my toe. Yesterday, at the carnival, we told Kieran that I hurt my toe really bad, and he wanted to see it. But I told him that he didn't need to see it; it was bleeding and I needed a band-aid. That satisfied him.

Topper Birney (who is a HUGE supporter of Butler and was even the King in Cinderella a month ago!) is...I forget how old, but older, we'll say. He challenged me to a race yesterday and said it was his chance to win for a change. Well, I think he's got a couple of weeks to make me take that challenge. After that, I hope I'll be back up to speed, literally. Just don't look at my toe...and keep the sledgehammers away, please.