Left toe down

By -

I am sitting on the edge of my hotel bathtub, soaking my feet in a warm salt water bath wondering how I exactly I got here. Maybe it was the 75 miles walked in 5 days. Maybe it was all the downhill walking. Maybe it was my slightly too small hiking shoes. Maybe it was my lack of preparedness for the challenge I signed up for. More than likely it was a combination of all these things. 


Regardless of what went wrong, I am now suffering from several blisters. An especially painful one lodged underneath my left big toenail specifically. The pain in my toe has been hiding suspiciously under my nail, unbeknownst to me for a day or two. It wasn’t until I took my shoes off after walking today that I saw the bubble pushing my toenail forward and realized where the pain was coming from. 


Seeing the blister beneath my toenail was quite unsettling. First of all, it hurts. Secondly, it makes walking normally very uncomfortable and I came here to walk. Lastly, as my toenail is being pushed forward, I’m wondering what will happen to the nail if it gets worse. All these are reasons why I decided I couldn’t let this thing continue to grow without a fight. 


So tonight after dinner, Professor Gayk assisted me in taking care of this blister. After consulting a medically trained family member via phone call for some medical advice, I tried the salt water bath soak before puncturing the blister. While this soak lessened the pain slightly, the pressure from the blister fluid was still present. So with the help of Professor Gayk and moral support from Sydney, Colbi, and Amanda, we finally punctured the bubble in order to release the fluids trapped within. 


I immediately felt a release of pressure as the fluids drained out. It’s still has some time until it’s completely healed and pain free, and my toenail may fall off before its healed but that is just another part of the experience. This is part of the pilgrim experience, and if I have to lose a toenail temporarily, it will be worth all the insight I’ve gained since starting the Camino.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is Pilgrimage? Expectations for the journey

By -
              To me, a pilgrimage is simply a significant journey. A pilgrimage is often towards a certain destination, but there are also internal and spiritual pilgrimages that can be done within the self. However, when I think about pilgrimage, I often think of a place pilgrimage such as the one we are doing to Santiago de Compostela. Although I am not necessarily expecting a life-changing revelation, I am hoping that the path will give me some time for inward reflection.               To be a pilgrim is to be in a liminal state. Pilgrims are at a threshold, or an in-between state. Perhaps I entered into this liminal state after I got accepted to this study abroad program. Or maybe it was when I started packing. Or when I stepped off the plane in Madrid. It could even begin with my first step on the Camino. To be a pilgrim is to always have new beginnings. A pilgrim is interested in the journey just as much as the destination.               One thing I am bringing with me
Read more

A Flight (and Middle of the Night) to Remember

By Anonymous -
It was my first time flying by myself. I thought for sure I would be late for boarding, lose my luggage, or miss the flight altogether, so it was a relief to be on the plane. Some of these nerves were probably excitement in anticipation for the Camino, but I was still prepared to ask a flight attendant for a bag. As I was searching for my seat,  a white tuft of fur caught my eye and led me to an old woman wearing a giant white fur hat (in May might I remind you). I got farther down the aisle and realized I would be sitting by her. I was so pleased. Another older woman was sitting in the aisle seat, and as I tried my best to politely climb over her into the middle seat, white-fur woman was giving me a glare only someone over seventy-five can get away with (I think she was upset she had to move her winter coat out of the seat). When I sat down, the woman on my left (aisle seat) greeted me with a smile and the woman on my right greeted her chest with a snore. I was a little bit disappoi
Read more

For all my fellow sufferers

By -
Image
Day four of walking the Camino! Today was a short (relatively speaking) 17 kilometers. My back no longer really feels my backpack, and fairly soon into the walk my feet—grown tired (at last!) from begging me to stop pounding them down uneven declines—have a tendency to go numb(ish). However, today I thought my right knee would explode. When I got out of bed this morning I slipped on a compression band, sliding it over the already swollen bulge that is my knee cap. The knee groaned, creaked, and shot warning fires in protest. I explained (polite but mildly impatient) that there simply is no other way, that it was time to walk it off (figuratively) even though walking (literally) was the cause of its inflammation in the first place. It protested violently with every step. I argued that Spain was beautiful and the journey lovely. The knee remained unimpressed—insisting that I should go on without it and it would take a taxi and meet up with me in Salceda. I did what I could to drown the
Read more