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Stepped on a Nail: An Adventure (1 Viewer)

Tom Skerritt

Footballguy
At some point, each of us experiences a traumatic event. And I would imagine that after we experience a traumatic event, we do some reflection. I will try to be as brief as possible, but I wanted to share my traumatic experience, my adventure for the past 8 days. I am at a point where sharing this here is finally physically possible. If you would like to participate then great. If you are not interested, then I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. And I welcome anyone who just wants to read along. I intend on describing it one day at a time... as best I can. So I will just get started.

DAY 1: Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018 (part 1)

Had just returned from out of town. Had taken my kids to see family over New Year's weekend. Today was the day I was going to start my off-week of home projects. For I had the entire week off from work, and plenty of things around the house that needed general maintenance and care. 

Started the day with loading a bunch of things into my truck that needed to be taken for donation or to the city dump... clothes and a bicycle... a broken lawn mower... old landscaping... bulk trash type stuff. I then began tearing down the old garden area and prepping it for a nice new one. There were some low-lying tree branches from my neighbor's yard extending over my fence line, so I went around to cut them down. I'm standing on a low branch, maybe 2-3 feet off of the ground. I finish sawing off the offending branches and proceed to begin my descent. Now... this happens to be the tree that my kids (and myriad friends) "used" many years ago... to hone their treehouse-building skills. They would take scrap pieces of wood and just hammer and nail #### together. Which would eventually become some wooden paths leading to a landing platform. But they would borrow my tools, hammers and nails... and I'm sure it's a total mess... but it was a fun thing for the kids to do. In fact, as I'm cutting the branches, I look down and notice my long lost wood planer lying on the ground... rusted from years of weathering. So I step down off of the tree branch... and if you recall... I'm a few feet off of the ground... and I have my full weight with my right foot stepping down onto a nice, smooth, flat-looking board.

Obviously it's not just a board. I step onto a nice friendly nail sticking up from the bottom. I am immediately aware of what happens. I have a moment of panic. I say a few choice words. My son is helping me at the time, and he is witnessing the whole thing happen. I find out later that he knows that I am injured, but he is not aware that I stepped on a nail. I rush inside the house, still in mild shock. What the ####?! WTF?!?! What do I do?! I need to clean it. I need to go to the bathroom and soak it in soap and warm water. I soak/scrub the entry wound with some iodine. I apply antibacterial cream, and that's that. After I calm down... it is a little sore, but otherwise it's fine.

I was able to finish my chores that day. Along the way, I stopped at a local urgent care facility, but the waiting room was packed. I didn't feel like waiting for several hours. It just so happens that a friend of mine runs an urgent care facility in a nearby town, but he is not working today. I wanted to know if it was critical that I get my tetanus shot right away. (It's not critical by the way) I found out that the incubation period for tetanus is anywhere from 3-21 days. So I'm good for at least 24 hours. And he says that I can stop by tomorrow, and he would take care of me... exam, tetanus shot, etc. And he was also kind enough to call in an antibiotic prescription that I could begin taking immediately. Great!!! Start my antibiotics... get my tetanus shot tomorrow... all good.

 
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Your foot will probably fall off. 

If it does, start working on your gait so you don't walk around in circles.

 
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DAY 1: (part 2)

Fell asleep in the evening. Wake up some time around 10:00pm. My foot is very sore, and it's swollen. I get a little concerned. I take some ibuprofen. There happens to be a local urgent care that is open until 11:00pm. I hop in my truck and head right there. I get a full work up. And I get a tetanus shot. The doctor wants to x-ray my foot to make sure that there are no foreign objects still embedded in the wound. Clinical assistant irrigates the wound with saline. And she is forcefully injecting saline into the wound itself. One shot was a direct hit, and the pain was excruciating. We had to stop soon after that one.

Everything checks out fine. Doctor says that this type of injury is showing very normal symptoms. X-rays look fine. She questions why I am on antibiotics. I explain the situation, and she understands. Though she says that she probably wouldn't have even put me on antibiotics at all... given my overall health (no fever, etc.). She gives me a prescription for pain and to help me sleep. I get my meds and go home. I was in some pretty good pain. Codeine made me feel a little woozy, but it did very little to lessen the pain.

I get maybe 2 or 3 hours of sleep that first night.

 
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30 yrs ago was camping and trying to split a short 2x4 for kindling to start a fire. 

Had the thing partially split so I whacked the hatchet against a stump to push it all the way through and split the kindling. 

Well there was a nail in there. A big long one too. Went clear through the middle of my right hand. Oops.

Pulled it out and had a nice little barely bleeding hole in my hand. Poured some peroxide on it, wrapped with gauze and just let it heal. Took about a week or so. Was sore/tender for a couple weeks but healed fairly quick.

Stupid nails

 
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Also... as I am waiting to pick up my pain meds... at 12:30am at the local 24hr pharmacy... the pharmacist on duty is an older woman, maybe 50 years old. There was a lot of activity going on at the pharmacy for an early morning overnight shift on a Wednesday. She was a little frazzled. At one point... while the phone is ringing, and the drive-thru lane bell is chirping... she yells out "Somebody shoot me!" Just thought it was funny and weird that the overnight pharmacist is stressing out a little bit. Meanwhile, my foot is ####### pounding over here!!! JUST GET ME MY ####### CODEINE!!!

 
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Turns out CVS can do a tetanus shot for you at just about any time, at least in the "Minute Clinic" ones.
Stopped to register at one of those "minute" clinic kiosks that first day. Told me that the wait was approximately 220 minutes. F that!

 
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What kind of shoes were you wearing?  Hope this didn't turn into a pseudomonas infection.

 
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Was wearing New Balance outdoor athletic/cross-training sneakers. 

Apparently it's potentially more dangerous to step on a nail while wearing a shoe. Supposedly the nail can pick up more (and nastier) bacteria from the bottom of the shoe and introduce that deep into the wound. Boy howdy!

And this is why my friend prescribed me a strong antibiotic on this first day.  

 
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Clinical assistant irrigates the wound with saline. And she is forcefully injecting saline into the wound itself. One shot was a direct hit, and the pain was excruciating. We had to stop soon after that one.
Without knowing the whole story, I'm assuming this is where it went wrong.  They probably should have gave you a local to numb the area to be able to clean it without pain.

 
Without knowing the whole story, I'm assuming this is where it went wrong.  They probably should have gave you a local to numb the area to be able to clean it without pain.
Agreed that this would have been helpful. I was thinking that instead of trying to try and shoot the saline in there, it would have been better to stick a pointed syringe tip in there and gently flush the area. However, it was closing time. And I'm sure she didn't want everyone to stay further into the night. Took an easier way. Who would have known how bad it would soon become. For crying out loud, she even thought that I didn't need any ab's to begin with. 

 
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Was wearing New Balance outdoor athletic/cross-training sneakers. 

Apparently it's potentially more dangerous to step on a nail while wearing a shoe. Supposedly the nail can pick up more (and nastier) bacteria from the bottom of the shoe and introduce that deep into the wound. Boy howdy!

And this is why my friend prescribed me a strong antibiotic on this first day.  
This is why I do all home improvement/yard work/construction stuff barefooted.  

 
Was wearing New Balance outdoor athletic/cross-training sneakers. 

Apparently it's potentially more dangerous to step on a nail while wearing a shoe. Supposedly the nail can pick up more (and nastier) bacteria from the bottom of the shoe and introduce that deep into the wound. Boy howdy!

And this is why my friend prescribed me a strong antibiotic on this first day.  
Yes. Classic case with the sneakers for this to happen and potentially really dangerous. Sorry you had to go through this.

 
Was wearing New Balance outdoor athletic/cross-training sneakers. 

Apparently it's potentially more dangerous to step on a nail while wearing a shoe. Supposedly the nail can pick up more (and nastier) bacteria from the bottom of the shoe and introduce that deep into the wound. Boy howdy!

And this is why my friend prescribed me a strong antibiotic on this first day.  
Prolly should go barefoot next time.

 
When you get your peg leg I suggest one like this: Link

A guy ran past me at the airport in something similar. He was hauling ###.

 
This is why I do all home improvement/yard work/construction stuff barefooted.  
stepped on a nail when i was kid. parents were remodeling the garage... area.

i foresaw your advice and went outside barefoot to pick up junk.

should have known you give bum advice even then.

 
Are you dead?
Not dead. Though at times, I wanted to be. 

Had to keep the foot elevated whenever possible. If I were to stand up, all of the weight, fluid, and pressure would all go down to the foot. Was terribly painful. Just going to the bathroom was an awful experience. 

Also, ice bags helped a lot that first night. Helped keep it cool (it felt hot), and I figured it would help with swelling. 

 

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