23 / MILE 62
was the situation I wanted, the pressure fueling my competitive nature. Ball in hand, I dribbled to the top of the key, juked around my defender, and hoisted a floater over the opposing team’s big man. Whether or not the shot went in, I don’t remember. What I do remember is the big man (all 6’4” 250 pounds of him) jumped to attempt to block the shot and landed heel first with enormous force directly on the toenail of my left big toe.
Immediately, I knew I was done for the day. I could barely walk and did everything I could to not put any pressure on my left foot. I drove home and iced it down thinking it would just need a few days to recover.
The next day, my toenail was a deep brownish-purple. I thought, “Just a bruise. It will go away soon.” Two weeks later, part of the toenail was still brownish-purple, the base of the toenail was beginning to separate, and disgusting, oozing pus seemed to be seeping out from underneath it. To top it off, it was starting to smell horrific –– too much information? What I’m getting is: I needed a doctor.
In my situation, it was very obvious that I needed my toenail looked at. My heart was fine. My eyes were fine. My blood was fine. It was my toenail that needed work. I called to make an appointment. I explained the problem and indicated that seeing a podiatrist was probably the appropriate action. Unfortunately, the podiatrist only saw patients on a referral basis; I had to schedule an appointment with my primary care doctor first. This doctor wasn’t available for another few days and when my appointment finally arrived, he made the brilliant deduction that I would need to see the podiatrist for my toenail. I paid my co-pay and made an appointment with the podiatrist for a few days later.
When my appointment with the podiatrist finally arrived, I paid another co-pay and he worked his magic on my foot for about five minutes, ultimately removing the toenail, making everything good to go (I just had to wait for the nail to grow back). While I was satisfied with what he ultimately did, I was extremely annoyed at having to wait so long to see him, at having to pay two co-pays, and at having to make two separate trips.
Had I been able to see this doctor off the get-go, I would have been much happier. However, seeing people I did not need to see, waiting time that I did not need to wait, paying money I did not need to pay,