I was all set to take a picture of my feet for Mim's contest - bare feet? I'm there! I hate shoes in general and go barefoot almost always, settling for very comfortable slip ons when I really, really have to have something there for protection.That was, until this afternoon, when I stepped down off a curb the wrong way. Instant, searing pain. This made getting back into my car and using the clutch rather tricky. Cursing my decision to check the mailbox via car rather than on foot, I gingerly used my toe, all the while gritting my teeth. Got thirty feet and into the garage and I was home. Ice, elevation, and rest for a while, then I figured I'd slap an ACE bandage on it for a few days and be done with it. Then I noticed that there was one, lone bruise on the top of my foot, not near the ankle. Ankle isn't swollen at all, and when I put weight on my foot the pain is on the top outside part of my foot - right where that bruising is. When I press there, it hurts like a $#%.
Dan and I decided I should go to our walk-in clinic that is available when my GP doesn't have office hours. Called them and was told to go to the ER since the clinic doesn't have an x-ray machine. That's when we sat down and really thought about what to do next. You see, the last time a family member went to the ER (younger son, deep cut on the eyelid that needed closure, trip to the ER on the advice of our pediatrician) it cost us almost $400, even with insurance. All I could think of is just how much x-rays, the cost of having someone read the x-rays, plus any wrapping or casting that might need to be done....how much would that end up costing us? That's money we really don't have, money that would have to go on a credit card and get paid back later. All when this could be a simple sprain that some rest and compression would take care of in time whether I go and see anyone or not.
It kills me that in a country full of such bounty and wealth that I even have to think about whether I should go to the doctor when injured, that money even comes into the equation. I am reminded of years ago when I sold my stereo to a pawn shop so I could get a prescription filled - one I desperately needed - because I had no insurance. It's so incredibly wrong that health care isn't equally available to everyone, that there are people who can't afford to be healthy at all.
I didn't go to the ER. Tomorrow I'll go to my family doctor and hopefully get wrapped up in a nice ACE bandage and sent on my way. It's most likely a sprain, but I'd like to be sure and get it wrapped up properly regardless. Very grateful tonight that I do have insurance, not so happy that I had to think through when and how to get treatment, regardless.
Ouch! But I think you did the right thing. I've broken a toe in almost that exact spot (it's the toe bone, but high up, inside the foot), and all they did was tell me to try and keep off it, gave me a walking cast and told me to wrap that toe together with the next one with cotton in between. Pretty useless to get an x-ray. I hope you feel better! And thanks for posting your feet even though they're all banged up :)
ReplyDeleteThat sucks so bad!!! Ouch...
ReplyDeleteI've torn all the ligaments (sp?) in both ankles and knees, so I know how painful it can be! :S
Feel better soon and take it easy!!
Ooh, that looks painful! I hope it's just a sprain, and that you feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone. I called my GP and am waiting on a referral to an Orthopedist, so hopefully I'll get in soon. Here's where I regret living in a two story house and driving a stick shift :-P
ReplyDeleteIt's times like this that I revel in the luxury of socialized medicine. Yes, I pay a fair bit for it every month but my employer covers most of it, and if I was unemployed the gummint would pay for it.
ReplyDeleteI shall never need to make the heartbreaking choice; do I feed child A or take child B to the doctor, or give up my own food to get medical care for my family and then be too hungry to take care of them.
It may at times suck to be me, and it may at times suck to be Canadian, but this brings it home to me how damned lucky we are.
You really are lucky in that regard. It's heartwrenching to have to make medical choices and triage based on how much money there is to pay for everything. People shouldn't have to pay for medical care as a commodity - it should be a basic human right.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's nothing serious.
ReplyDeleteThis whole dilemma angers me on a daily basis. I see people every single day at work that make those choices, sometimes with life-threatening results. People regularly have to decide between food and shelter and necessary medical care. We pay way more for the consequences than we would if we just paid for the care up front. I'm off my soapbox now!