Oh, The Toe

This is a big, big disclaimer that there will be a picture lower in this blog post of my toe.   It is not a pretty picture.  If you like looking at daisies, pretty sunsets and fluffy puppies, this is not a picture for you.    Let this be your notice to delete this email, close the browser or put your device down because the picture is coming and it’s ugly.

Back in April (I think it was April) I ran the Rock and Roll marathon.   We didn’t complete that one because my friend was worried about her foot so we ran seventeen miles and ended when we could get back to the start line.    The weekend before we ran a marathon in a state park on single track trails and groomed bike and bridle trails.     At some point during one or both of those runs I injured my left big toe.

This happens when you run.   You get one toe hammering into the front of your shoe for several hours and it gets bruised.   It’s bruised enough that the nail doesn’t grow well for a period of time and when it grows out it gets disconnected from the nail bed and falls off.   Usually this has happened to me with my second or third toes.   It’s not common and I try to prevent it from happening by getting running shoes a full size larger than my foot size so there is plenty of room in the toe box for my feet to have ample room.

Feet swell when you run, so that added shoe size helps and is recommended.   Sometimes, for example if you get stuck in a downpour, your feet can slosh around in wet shoes and cause problems. In my case, I don’t know what happened, but the toe got injured.

Toenails grow slowly—very slowly it seems, and there is a reasonable portion of the toenail not visible that has to grow out before you even see there was damage sometimes.   In this case, a few months later I discovered there was going to be a problem.    The problem got worse as the toenail disconnected from the nail bed and then became concerning because I didn’t want to risk infection underneath the loose nail.

So I cut the nail off.    It was going to fall or tear off if I didn’t so I didn’t have too much choice in the matter.    Are you prepared for the picture?   Here it comes.  It’s not a happy toe, but it’s not as bad as it looks:

The nail bed is red and has done some bleeding, but it’s not infected.   So don’t worry, it’s all right—It’s just raw and freshly exposed.   I’ve been keeping it bandaged, but it needs to air out from time to time (usually overnight).   Does it hurt?  Well, yes, but not as much as you might think from looking at that raw, red picture.   I have several weeks before I need to be toe-ready to run two marathons.    Hopefully it will be happier looking by then.   

The Big Boy Update:  My son’s main teacher has changed and the new teacher is making a big difference for my son.   He has continued to become a kinder, gentler, more positive person since the change and we’ve been very pleased with his progress with the new teacher.   Even our music therapist today said he was a totally different child from what he’s been in past months. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter has been “scared” recently during the night.   She will come down to our bedroom with an unspecific scared feeling happening.   We will let her get in bed with us and try to talk to her about what happened, but she isn’t able to verbalize it well.   What we’ve found that works is giving her a flashlight.   For some reason this is empowering and fun.   She will take the flashlight and walk herself back to bed, content and calm.