Dan And The Toenail

Emily and Dan have left, along with Tucker the dog. My foot has been bandaged. Most of the bleeding seems to have stopped. The First Aid supplies are put away. I am dressed with socks on. Yes, I injured myself again. Yes, there was blood. Yes, I needed help.

A few weeks back, I ran into something with my power wheelchair, or perhaps my regular wheelchair, I'm not sure which. Apparently the impact was sufficient to rip the nail up on my middle toe. The nail sat in place, slowly dying, waiting for the most inopportune moment to fall off. It was black underneath and there was dried blood all round. I didn't notice for a couple of days; it's hard for me to see that part of my anatomy.

So I left it alone. Then, this afternoon while dressing, I snagged that toenail and off it came, mostly. Dan says it's still about half attached. Once again, I can't see that part of my body all that well, so I'm not sure. However I knew I was in trouble when the bleeding began. I grabbed a napkin from my dresser, where I keep a supply just for emergencies like this, and other. I quickly lifted my foot onto the bed, keeping the blood flow to a minimum, then blotted and wrapped. Crisis stalled.

What next? Why Facebook! What else? I posted a note asking if there was anyone nearby who could do first aid, and didn't mind ugly feet. Dan and Emily happened to be driving by, just a few blocks away. Actually he was driving; she was looking at Facebook and saw my message. So over they flew, along with Tucker the dog, to rescue my bleeding toenail. Dan used to work as a volunteer fire fighter and has seen his share of accidents. He has first aid training.

He, Emily and Tucker all showed up. Emily was the nurse. Dan was the doctor. Tucker was the sleeping object on my bedroom floor. Dan patched my toe up in no time. The bleeding seemed to have stopped. He put on a large gauze bandage to protect my toe and toenail. It also serves to make my compression sock slide nicely over the toes of my foot.

After a short but happy visit, they are on their way. I will see Emily next Sunday at Betty's Run. Dan may stop by after work for the post run pizza and wine. Tucker will stay at home. As for today, I am finally ready to start doing laundry. It's been at rough one so far, but much improved thanks to Dan, Emily, and Tucker the dog.