a broken toe and other fun stories (like vomiting)

I was running late to work on Friday for my 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. shift, so I called my manager from Cleveland Circle to tell them that I will need 15 minutes. I got out of the Government Center T stop at exactly 1 p.m. and hurried to get to work. I was jaywalking across Congress Street when I didn't quite catch the top of the curb, and my left shoe went flying. And I immediately noticed a throbbing pain in my second left toe. I put the shoe (which a nice guy helped me to pick up) back on and hobbled across the cobble stones to work. Hahaha. Hobbled on the cobble stones. I get my salegirl attitude on and started to be nice to people when I noticed that the toe is starting to swell. Hmm. I thought to myself that I should be able to tough it out until 8 p.m., no problem. At least until 5 p.m., which was my dinner break.

By the end of the second hour of my shift, I noticed that the pain had elevated to a pulsing pain. I lasted another hour, during which many people commented on my limp/hobble. One of my fellow coworkers said that it could be broken. I said, no way, it doesn't feel broken. It's probably just a sprain. At 4 p.m., I ask my manager if I can take off early to go to Mass. General, the nearest hospital, which also happened to be ranked as one of the best hospitals in the country. She said yes, and I was on my way.

I got to the hospital and did the paperwork. I wait. The nurse took a look at me and asked some questions and said she'd get me an X-Ray. X-Ray taken, and I was waiting again. The nurse came back and told me that I BROKE MY TOE, but it's a chip, and therefore too small to put me in a cast. So they're going to give me a hard-sole shoe and told me to return in two weeks for a look-see. I love it. I spent more time waiting in the hospital than getting medical attention, which was more than the give minutes I got with the orthopaedic resident. Well, YET another doctor (not the resident) wrote me a prescription for tramadol, which needed to be taken with Tylenol 650 mg. I got my prescription filled, and all is jolly good. Please note that the medication supposedly would make me drowsy and dizzy.

The next day at 1:30 p.m., I went apartment-hunting with friends of a friend, and I sat in the back seat of the car because the front seat was taken. Within five minutes of being in a moving vehicle, I started to feel my motion sickness coming on. Unlike other times, this was getting pretty strong. By the time we got to Davis Square around 2 p.m., I was fighting the urge to puke on the sidewalk. And I haven't actually puked from my motion sickness since I threw up on a plane (with the flight attendant holding back my hair) my junior year in high school. We got to the real estate agent's office and I thought I felt fine. But in 10 minutes, I was on my way to the back of the office to the restroom, where I immediately upchucked my lunch of canned peaches into the toilet. I rinse my mouth out and took a sip of water. In about 10 more minutes, same thing. More peaches, less dense. Another few minutes go by. More peaches, less dense, more water.

I ended up going in the car to see the five or so apartments for fear that I would mess someone's car up with more peaches, way more water. Instead, I walked to the nearest pharmacy without incident and bought Dramamine because it didn't have any anti-nausea medicine. I walk back to the real estate office (about 10 or 15 minutes) without incident to find the office locked because it was 4 p.m., and the office closes at 4 p.m. I was feeling really pukey after a little while in the sun, so I walked (calmly, I thought) to the sub place next door and asked the guy at the counter for a plastic bag. WHAT? A fire hydrant? No, a plastic bag. WHAT? Anti-histamine? No, a PLAS-TIC BAG. Oh. So I walked (quickly) out of the place after a quickly mouthed "thanks." I opened the plastic bag outside and immediately puked up more orange liquid. I threw away the plastic bag and they returned from the apartment hunting. Apparently, there were two real possibilities, and they ended up taking one of them. While two of the three roommates filled out applications and waited for the third to show up to see the place, I puked again. This time, all oatmeal raisin Powerbar, of which I had about a third. Tan chunks of grossness/former yumminess. We left Davis Square around 5 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. It was a fun day.

So. Note to self. Do not take medication that makes you drowsy and dizzy AND get into a moving transportation device. It is not a good idea.